12 Nov IHOP (International House of Prayer) I Heard You the First Time! Part 3

Imagine with me once again that you took your friend to a beautiful, expensive restaurant and your friend orders over and over again.  It might look something like this:  “I’d like the lobster, please.”  Then two minutes later the waiter walks by and your friend grabs him and says, “I’m not sure if it’s the will of the chef, but if it is, I’d like the lobster, please.”  By the third time your friend repeated his order you might be hiding under the table with embarrassment!

This may seem like a ridiculous scenario to you, but unfortunately Christians do this all the time when it comes to their prayer life!  Over the last couple of weeks, we shared with you that if we want to know our prayers will be answered we must have a basis for it.  The right basis will give you confidence in prayer.

Over the last couple of weeks we also talked about two primary things needed in prayer:

1.      The thing you are praying about

2.      The title that gives you ownership

Then we began “Three Common Misperceptions Concerning Answered Prayer”:

Misperception #1:  Quantity is what determines answered prayer (Matt. 6:7).

This week let’s continue…

Misperception #2:  Feelings determine answered prayer.

We live in a country that is dominated by feelings.  There is a culture coming from “Hollyweird” that falls in and out of love like they do socks.  They perpetuate a lie that says, “When my feelings run out, so does my love.”  After 23 years of marriage, my wife and I love each other very much but we don’t wake up every morning to a chubby baby angel playing the harp while we gush over each other with feelings of wedded bliss!  Feelings don’t frame my decisions.  Decisions frame my feelings.  Remember this, you don’t feel your way into acting…you act your way into feeling.

In the same vein, we try to know God through our feelings.  We say things like, “I just ‘feel’ God is in this place”, or “I feel the presence of the Lord.”  “Did you get your prayers answered?”  “Yes!”  “How do you know?”  “I just felt like it.  I had goosebumps.”  “I started to cry.”  Now don’t misunderstand me, thank God for feelings.  God has feelings and is touched by ours (Heb. 4:15).  However, God answers prayer…by faith (Heb. 4:16)!

Remember this, it’s ok to let “feelings” into your car…just don’t let them in the driver’s seat!

Next week, we’ll continue our series!