Praying for Divine Blessing

There are many promises in the Bible regarding receiving blessing from God. Sometimes, the promises are given in an individual way and at other times they offer blessings in a corporate manner. Usually, those blessings, while promised, are given in answer to prayer.

No doubt, we are aware of the need for prayer, but we are also aware that not all prayer is the same. How do we pray so as to get God’s blessing in a deeper way? Job, on one occasion, said that he would use arguments in his prayers in order for change to come in his circumstances. Here are some arguments we can use.

One effective argument is to say to the Father that the promised blessing we are seeking was purchased for sinners by Jesus when he died on the cross. It is a way of pleasing God when we mention to him the triumphs of Jesus at Calvary. Speaking in such a way to God reveals that we have grasped the significance of the sacrifice that Jesus made. One reason why he died was so that sinners could enjoy answered prayer.

Another argument that we can mention is that all the children of God are granted certain spiritual privileges because they belong to his family. We cry to him as the Father. Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount that the heavenly Father would give good things to those who ask for them. That promise is certain, but there is a condition, which is that we have to ask. It is not a wise expression of faith to speak to God merely in general terms and say to him words such as, ‘Lord, give me the blessings you promised.’ Instead, we should itemise the blessings we desire and also say to God why we want them.

A third argument we can mention to God is the glory of his own name. The Lord is glorified when sinners are converted and when converted sinners become more and more like Jesus. I suspect that the Father loves to hear requests connected to those two aspects of spiritual living. There is joy in the presence of the angels when a sinner is converted, and it is difficult to imagine that heaven does not have such joy frequently, probably continually. And he is very pleased when his people make progress spiritually and develop in Christlikeness. We may not be as Christlike as we should be, but we can tell if we are heading in that direction. Asking the Lord to save sinners and then to turn them into imitators of Jesus pleases him greatly and he delights to answer such prayers.