Prayer: From God’s Perspective

Have you ever thought about prayer from God’s perspective? Imagine for just a moment that we are privileged to be a guest in God’s throne room. What if God allowed us to stand beside His throne, as a casual observer, and listen in on all of His conversations?Supernaturally empowered by God, we are allowed for a few moments to hear all of the prayers coming before Him. We can quickly discern that there are prayers of worship and adoration, praise and exaltation. These are constantly present and clearly heard by God. These gloriously appropriate words are added to the continual praises of the angelic hosts surrounding the throne.Then there are multitudes of cries for help. Oh, how our compassionate heavenly Father discerns and knows every minute detail behind each request! He sees each life, each heart, and the motivation oozing from the emotion behind every cry.He knows instantly the circumstances surrounding each situation. He knows if it is the cry of a victim or of someone He has in a season of needed discipline. He knows if it is personal cry or one that flows out of empathy for others.And then He responds ... immediately pouring forth an abundance of care, dispatching angels to provide assistance, prompting one of His children to think of the needy person and then revealing what to do next in order to bring relief.Sometimes He seems to ignore the cries, knowing the hearts behind them are not where they need to be, discerning a lack of needed repentance, seeing that there is yet more to be pruned from a life intended to bear much fruit.Finally, there are the prayers of intercession—individuals and groups of believers crying out on behalf of others. Toward these requests, the Father leans forward as if to listen even more intently.As in the case of many of the cries of supplication, the majority of the requests do not appear to even be heard by God. For what does He seem to be listening so intently? Why is He so meticulously leaning in to every word?Then it becomes apparent. He is listening for that which He has already spoken concerning each need. He is listening for those requests that line up clearly with His will and timing. Then, as soon as such a request is heard, a flurry of supernatural action occurs, setting the answer in motion.In that same instant, the Father is glorified in the Son, and great praise fills the expanse of heaven. Indeed, in that moment the evidence is clear that Jesus has accomplished the goal of bringing God’s children into a place of intimacy with the Father, a place where they hear the voice of His Spirit and have His mind and heart. Again the heavens are filled with praise as angelic hosts cheer on the advance of God’s kingdom on earth.If indeed we had the opportunity to find ourselves listening in on God’s conversations with mankind, how would we see Him respond to our cries for revival and spiritual awakening? Would they line up with God’s will? Would we see God immediately setting in motion a flurry of activity that would lead to countless numbers of churches being revived and multitudes of souls being saved?As with every person’s conversations with God, the health of the relationship between that person and God is a critically important factor in whether or not God will answer or respond at all. The prayers not heard by God are the ones that come out a heart selfishly hardened by sin or weakly voiced by a person of little faith (Psalm 66:18; James 1:6-8). The cries not heard are the ones that totally fall short of God’s will and timing.Knowing that some reading this article have been praying for revival for a long time, please do not be discouraged. The answer may not be related to your heart, but to the collective hearts of the ones for whom you are praying.Historically, God very graciously disciplines His children when they are walking in disobedience. Then, at the first sign of genuine repentance, He changes course or stops the discipline already in progress.So what should we do? Continue to place our trust in the only One who can change our land. TURN from sin, PRAY for God’s will to be done in reviving our hearts, and UNITE with others in crying out to God for revival and spiritual awakening. May we again see the Father glorified in the Son!