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Apr 19, 2022 18:00pm

Faith TALK: Before Your Prayer is Answered

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(The following is a family devotional guide with suggested questions and scriptures.)

Focus Verse: “Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe you have received it.” – Mark 11:24

T-Talk About It Topic

When do you typically say “please” and “thank you”?

For most of us, we typically say “please” if we want something, and then “thank you” after we have received it. And many times, we follow the same format when we pray to God: “Please, Lord, give me…”. When God has answered the prayer the way we life, we might even say “thank you” afterwards. But our TALK today will challenge us to give thanks a little differently and to pray a little differently. In fact, this change might just be what you need to really see God move in your life!

A-Anchor To The Bible

The whole idea of giving thanks before the Lord answers our prayer is modeled by Jesus himself. When his friend Lazarus died, Jesus went to his tomb and had the stone in front of the entrance removed. Lazarus’ sister, Martha, was shocked because it would have stunk terribly to do this…and it was in this moment, Jesus taught her, and others around, a powerful lesson in believing big things of God. Jesus said a prayer that began with thanking God and believing God would answer His prayer. And then, Jesus called Lazarus out of the tomb, alive. Jesus believed God and thanked God before the prayer was answered…this is the kind of faith and prayer we are to have!

In another example, Jesus got off of a boat and was greeted by a large crowd of people waiting on him. He had compassion on them and began healing the sick. After some time, evening came, and the disciples wanted to send the people home to eat…but Jesus had a different plan: an opportunity that would teach them a lesson on faith and praying. He asked them to gather whatever food they could find from the people. After the search, they came up with five loaves of bread and two fish…to feed a crowd of 15,000 people! It seemed impossible to imagine feeding them with such little food! It was then that Jesus taught them yet another powerful lesson on faith and praying. He took the food, looked up to Heaven, and thanked God for it. Jesus gave thanks in advance before feeding the people…and God was clearly pleased because they suddenly had enough food to not only feed the 15,000 people, but also had enough leftovers to fill 12 baskets! Again, this is the type of faith and prayer we are to have!

And our last example might have been the most challenging thanks to offer. It was on the night of the Last Supper, and Jesus was sitting down with the disciples for dinner. When he prayed, he gave thanks to his Heavenly Father for the bread and the wine that would represent his sacrifice on the cross. Jesus knew his time was near; he knew it would be painful and hard to endure, and yet, he gave thanks to the Lord for his sacrifice before it happened. God was faithful to answer that prayer, offering the free gift of salvation to anyone willing to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior.

L-Learn God’s Word

In these three examples, Jesus set the example by doing two important things: believing God and thanking God before God answered his prayers. These two actions brought forth miraculous things – that is why we are memorizing Mark 11:24 this week. Though God may not always give us whatever we ask for, this verse promises that if it’s in God’s will, we ought to believe He will do it and thank Him in advance. There’s something special about believing big things from our God and thanking Him first that can really activate the power of God in our lives!

K-Keep Each Other Accountable

Motivate each other to memorize our focus verse this week. Write the focus verse on a chalkboard and display it by the door. Have them say the verse each morning and initial as they do so.