What if God Said Yes

What if Jesus came to us today and told us that the answer was yes to every prayer we prayed this week? Would it matter? Would the world change at all? Would anyone be born again? Would anyone be set free from oppression or from sin? Would there still be sickness? Violence? Adultery? Murder? War? Oppression? Abuse? Or would our food be “blessed” and be “nourishment” to our body, and we would get that parking space we wanted the other day? Jesus knew that we have a tendency to focus on the things right in front of us, so when He taught us to pray, He included in it a prayer request that would transform the entire world for the better.

“God our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, as we also have forgiven those who have sinned against us. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.” Matthew 6:9-13 (emphasis added)

After acknowledging that God is our Father, and that He is holy and to be revered, the first request in the prayer Jesus gives us is for God’s kingdom to come here on earth. The second is for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. These two requests, if fulfilled, would transform our planet completely. There would be no crime, no addictions, no violence, no war, no poverty, no murder, no sickness, no death, no lying, no oppression, no hatred, etc., etc., etc. The world will be a completely different place when the Kingdom of God is realized on earth as it is in heaven. In Jeremiah we read:

“Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord. “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the Lord, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” Jeremiah 31:31-34

This implies that in the Kingdom of God we will all know Him, and that God’s law will be in our hearts, driving our behavior. In Revelation 21:4 we read that “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” Can we even imagine such a world? A world without sin. A world without anything to cry about. It is hard to realize that a day is coming when the nightly news will be very different from what it is today.

When we pray we should include the prayer that Jesus gave us when He answered the disciples request to teach them how to pray. The Lord’s prayer (as it has come to be known) covers a lot, especially the part about His Kingdom coming and His will being done on earth as in heaven. We can also use it as a guide to include specific prayers that God puts on our hearts, prayers for our specific needs, prayers for the needs of those around us, etc. Maybe when we go to the Lord in prayer we remind ourselves of the difference it would make if Jesus said yes to our prayers.

What are some of the things that you can pray for this week? Who are the people that you can pray for this week? Whose salvation can you pray? Whose spiritual growth can you pray for? What prayers could you pray for your city? For your state? For your nation? For the world? For your workplace? For your neighborhood? For your family? What other countries could you pray for? What oppressed people group can you start praying for regularly? What are some scriptures that you could start praying for the people around you? For yourself? For your city-state-nation-workplace-neighborhood-church? What or who would you be willing to fast and pray for for a day? Two days? What would you pray for if you knew that Jesus’ answer would be yes? I encourage you to seek the Lord in prayer, praying for people and things that you would love to see Jesus say yes to.

God our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, as we also have forgiven those who have sinned against us. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.

We pray that the gospel would be proclaimed in the entire world, and that all people would get a chance to know You through Your son Jesus. We pray that You would set those under oppressive governments free – set the North Korean people free, set the Iranian people free, set the Chinese people free, set the Russian people free, set the Cuban people free. We pray that You would end human trafficking, that You would end hunger, that You would end homelessness, that You would wipe out disease, that You would end violence and murder, that You would end all wars, and that the divorce rate would drop to zero worldwide. We pray for healing for all people who have illness or disabilities of any kind – that You would empty all hospitals of patients. We pray that You would end drug addiction, mental illness, and gender confusion in our world.

We ask that You would remove the evil one and all of his workers from our world. We ask that you would teach us to follow You in all that we do, that You would write Your Ten Commandments on our hearts, and that we would live by them all the days of our lives. We ask that You would show us how to love You with all of our heart, soul, and might, and that You would help us to love our neighbor as our self. We pray that You would restore the hearts of fathers to their children, and that men would be faithful to their wives and honor the covenant of marriage, and that both men and women would realize that our children are more important than our careers, our golf game, social media, time on our phone, hobbies, or anything else that we have made more important than our marriage and children.

We pray that there would be no unnecessary abortions in the world, and that people would quit sacrificing their babies on the altar of sex and lust through the practice of abortion. We ask that You would end hunger and poverty worldwide. We pray that all people would be free to pursue life, liberty, and happiness. We pray that You would heal our planet – heal the oceans, rivers, and streams – heal the mountains, plains, and deserts – heal the animals and plants – heal our world and teach us to be good stewards of the planet You have given us. We ask that You would establish godly governments in all countries of the world, that they would have free elections, and that their governments would be built on the ideas of truth, liberty, goodness, justice, and equality. We pray for the salvation of all Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Mormon, and Hindu peoples worldwide. We pray that all people would know You, call upon Your name, and be saved. We pray for a worldwide revival, starting with a revival in me. We ask these things in Jesus name. Amen.