The Key to Answered Prayer

By Rabbi Kirt A. Schneider

Have you ever wondered what prayers always move God into action?
 
This book will guide you to pray biblically founded prayers so that you can have a meaningful relationship with God, fix your heart on His plan and purposes, and experience answers to your prayers.
 
In the beginning there was no need for answered prayer. God placed Adam and Eve in the center of a bountiful garden, gave them dominion over His creation, and walked with them in the cool of the day. They had no hunger, no sorrow, no disease—it was a paradise on earth. The relationship God first established with humanity was one of unhindered communication and companionship. He was enough. We needed no answers other than Him. He was our Father, Friend, and Provider.

Today, despite all our knowledge and understanding, we live on a planet full of the hunger, sorrow, and disease that were absent so long ago. How did we get to this point? Where is the God of the Bible in the midst of all this loneliness and pain? Why do our prayers often seem to go unanswered?

In The Key to Answered Prayer, Rabbi Kirt A. Schneider takes readers on a journey through the Scriptures to discover the heart of key prayers in the Old and New Testaments. Examining prayers of safety, provision, deliverance, vindication, forgiveness, thanksgiving, and more, this book reveals why there are certain prayers God always answers.
 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Charisma House
• Release date: May 3, 2022
• ISBN: 9781636410746

Book preview

Introduction

PARADISE LOST

IN THE BEGINNING there was no need for answered prayer. What an amazing thing to consider! The Book of Genesis—B’resheet, or beginnings, in Hebrew—tells us God created male and female, giving them every seed-bearing plant, tree, and fruit to be their food. Adam was placed in the Garden of Eden to cultivate it, and Eve was created as a helper suitable for him. God walked with Adam and Eve in the garden, and they had no hunger, no sorrow, and no disease. It was a paradise on earth.

This was the relationship God first established with humanity, one of unhindered communication and companionship. We needed nothing other than Him. He was our Father, friend, and provider.

Many, priding themselves on our scientific and technological advancements, would say we’ve come a long way since the first man and woman walked the earth. Adam and Eve wouldn’t recognize the world we now live in, with our cars, computers, and cell phones. Are we any better off, though? Obesity is epidemic in our nation, even as starvation rages in areas around the globe. We have devices able to connect us at lightning speed, but loneliness and feelings of intense isolation are on the rise. Our medical knowledge, though greater than ever before, is still put to the test by challenges such as COVID-19. Despite all our human understanding, we live on a planet full of hunger, sorrow, and disease, which were absent in the beginning.

Where is the God of the Bible in the midst of all this loneliness and pain? Why do our prayers often seem to go unanswered? As we hear of mass shootings in the news and of cancer rates across the land, it can seem as though God has turned away and left our messy world behind.

Searching for Something More

This sense of separation is real. As a boy, I had no idea I could connect personally with God. I lived in a large Jewish community in a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio, where I attended synagogue, memorized prayers, and learned our Jewish religious traditions. I went to Hebrew school three days a week in preparation of my Bar Mitzvah at age thirteen, but my hunger for God was still not satisfied, and I was left feeling spiritually empty. In my late teens I was so intrigued by a yogi from India’s claims of supernatural feats that I bought a copy of his autobiography, convinced there must be something more to this life than chasing after money and recognition.

People all around the world are searching for something more. Where does this deep longing come from? Why do so many of us feel isolated and alone?

Our sense of separation goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden. In Genesis 2:16–17, before Eve was even created, the LORD God commanded the man, saying, ‘From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.’

When the serpent later offered Eve the fruit, he (the devil) scoffed at God’s warning. You surely will not die! the serpent told her. For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil (Gen. 3:4–5).

Yes, Eve was deceived, but Adam knowingly disobeyed God’s direct orders to him. Together he and his wife ate of the forbidden fruit. Thus armed with the knowledge of good and evil, they might have thought they had all the answers they needed—but that’s not the way it played out. Because of their rebellion, sin entered the world, and separation from God was the result.

Therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden.…So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life (Gen. 3:23–24).

Twice this passage describes man being sent out. Sin cut us off from the presence of the holy God. Spiritual and physical death became earthly realities, and we now live in a paradise lost.

How does all this relate to the subject of prayer?

While there was no hunger, sorrow, or disease in the Garden of Eden, we cannot escape such issues in our modern world. Many of us go to work each day just to put food on the table and cover another week’s worth of bills. Each of us wrestles with tough questions and private grief. We all know friends or family members struggling with serious medical issues. In the midst of this, prayer often becomes a last resort. Instead of first reaching for God out of intimacy with Him, we often complain to Him at the end of a situation and blame Him for its outcome. Our faith wavers. If we continue praying at all, we might do so simply to impress others or to make them feel better, relying on empty words that never really align with the heart of God.

Knowing God’s heart is key. He knows each of us intimately, having formed us in our mothers’ wombs (Ps. 139:13), and He wants us to know Him too. He proved this to me one summer night in 1978 in my home in Pepper Pike, Ohio. With my eyes still closed, I was awakened from sleep and experienced a vision of Jesus Christ on the cross. A beam of red light shot down from the skies above, washing over Jesus’ head. Though I’d received no Christian witness in my life, I understood for the first time that Jesus is the way to God.

I bought a copy of the New Testament soon afterward and threw away the yogi’s autobiography. At twenty years old I started my journey out of darkness into the light.

Our Deepest Need

We all have an opportunity for a relationship with God. Though it was lost in the Garden of Eden, it was restored fully when Jesus paid the penalty for our sins upon the cross. He bridged the separation between God and humanity. Matthew 27:51 says that at the moment of Jesus’ death outside Jerusalem, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. God tore away the barrier and now allows us to draw near to Him with confidence through Jesus’ blood. (See Hebrews 4:16.) We do not have to hide in shame. We are now able to talk with Him and know His will.

This is a crucial part of the gospel, the good news. Without it we would have no chance of moving God’s heart, and there would be no reason to write a book about praying in such a way that our prayers are answered. We would live only for ourselves, feeding our bellies, working for earthly treasures, and trusting our diets and exercise regimens to fend off sickness. Many people do exactly that.

Instead, through the sacrifice of Jesus we have been reunited with our Father, sons and daughters of the living God, heirs of His riches and grace. Our deepest need has always been relationship, and we were created for companionship with God. In Him we live and move and have our being. He wants us to come boldly into His presence. There’s no need to be shy or afraid. This is the confidence which we have before Him, declares 1 John 5:14, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.

That is an incredible promise! But how can we know His will?

In the coming chapters we will study the prayers of patriarchs, kings, prophets, the apostles, and even Jesus to see why their prayers moved God’s heart and caused Him to respond. You’ll even learn about a regular person, a nobody, whose short prayer has become known all around the world. God loves working through little people to do big things, which is especially encouraging to me since I stand barely five feet seven in my shoes.

As we study the prayers of these individuals who walked closely with God and see how God answered them, we will learn how to pray in a way that moves God to act on our behalf. You see, when we pray according to Scripture, we can have great confidence and expectation that God will answer, because we’re asking God for the things He desires for us.

No matter what circumstances life throws your way, there is power to be found in talking with God. Are you ready, beloved ones, to study His Word with me? Let’s throw open the doors to a deeper relationship and to prayers that resonate with God.

PART I

The Patriarchs: From Wrestling to Blessing

Chapter 1

A PRAYER FOR PROTECTION, PROVISION, AND DELIVERANCE

Then Jacob made a vow, saying, If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take, and will give me food to eat and garments to wear, and I return to my father’s house in safety, then the LORD will be my God.

—GENESIS 28:20–21

IN GENESIS 28, Jacob was running for his life after robbing his twin brother, Esau, of their father’s blessing. You may know the story. The name Jacob—Ya’akov in Hebrew—means trickster or supplanter, and it was a name he lived up to. Jacob came out of the womb clinging to his older brother’s heel. Then, years later, when Esau came to him famished after a hunting trip, Jacob agreed to feed him on one condition: that Esau would sell him his birthright. Esau did just that, trading his birthright for some bread and lentil stew.

That was bad, but it only got worse. When the time came for Jacob and Esau’s father, Isaac, to bless his firstborn son, Jacob conspired with his mother, Rebekah, to steal the blessing that belonged to Esau. While Esau was still hunting for the game to make the stew his father requested, Jacob was at Isaac’s bedside, serving him a meal Rebekah had prepared. He even went so far as to wear Esau’s clothes and put animal skin on his hands and neck to fool Isaac into thinking he was with his hairier son. Just like that, Jacob stole Esau’s blessing.

As a result, Jacob found himself running from his brother, who wanted to kill him. In the midst of his running, Jacob was in the wilderness sleeping on a rock when he had a dramatic dream.

Behold, a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants. Your descendants will also be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.

—GENESIS 28:12–15

Jacob’s dream marked a significant turning point in his life. There in the wilderness, God revealed Himself to him. He was no longer just the God of Abraham and Isaac. Now He was promising to also make Jacob into a great nation, to give him the land on which he lay and make his descendants like the dust of the earth.

When he woke up, Jacob knew something profound had happened to him, and he said, How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven (Gen. 28:17). Jacob named the place Bethel, which in Hebrew means house of God. Then he made the vow quoted in part at the beginning of this chapter: If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take, and will give me food to eat and garments to wear, and I return to my father’s house in safety, then the LORD will be my God. This stone, which I have set up as a pillar, will be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You (Gen. 28:20–22).

God, Protect Me!

In this simple prayer, Jacob was sharing his deepest needs with his Father—to feel protected and secure. When Jacob prayed, If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take…, he was looking for assurance that God would not leave him. He was saying in essence, God, I need You. Please don’t leave me alone. Guard me on this journey. Beloved, when you ask God to keep you, He hears you. In fact, when God made you in His own image, He put a need for Him in your heart, and He wants you to depend on Him to keep you safe.

Psalm 27 says, The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the defense of my life; whom shall I dread? When evildoers came upon me to devour my flesh, my adversaries and my enemies, they stumbled and fell. Though a host encamp against me, my heart will not fear; though war arise against me, in spite of this I shall be confident.…For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle; in the secret place of His tent He will hide me; He will lift me up on a rock (vv. 1–3, 5). When we were newborn infants in the world, we thought everything was going to be OK. I realize some people grew up in difficult situations and didn’t feel safe at home, but in general God makes children feel safe. When people grow up in a healthy environment, they feel nurtured and protected by boundaries and family structure. This is the way God intended it.

As a young person in Cleveland, I felt secure. I trusted that my dad and mom had all the answers, and I was unaware of all the dangers lurking outside our home. Only as I got older did I understand that murders and kidnappings were happening and that people were getting into car accidents on the road.

As we get older and realize this world is a dangerous place, God wants us to turn to Him to feel safe. David wrote, Surely I have composed and quieted my soul; like a weaned child rests against his mother, my soul is like a weaned child within me (Ps. 131:2). David had come to feel so safe and secure through his relationship with God that it reminded him of the safety he felt as a little child being held by his mother.

This is what the Father desires for us as His children. He wants us to know we can depend on Him to keep us. In Him we can abide. Even though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we need fear no evil (Ps. 23:4).

God, Provide for Me!

Jacob didn’t stop at praying for protection; he pressed further, asking God to give him food to eat and garments to wear. He prayed for provision, that the Lord would put a roof over his head and food in his stomach.

God wants us to have confidence that no matter where we go on this journey we call life or what stage of life we’re in—whether we’re ten years old, young adults, middle-aged, or elderly—we can depend on Him to be with us, keep us, and provide for us.

Beloved, don’t take this for granted. Believe this promise from your Father. Confess that Father is keeping and providing for you and will continue to do so. Declare that you don’t have to fear the future because even when you’re old, God is going to keep you, provide for you, and bring you everything you need to lead an abundant life in Him.

In addition to your confession, ask Father God to keep you safe and provide everything you need. When you go outside your front door and get into your car, ask God to protect you as you’re driving, to give His angels charge over you lest you dash your foot against a stone. Ask Him to supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus (Phil. 4:19). When you ask God to keep you and provide for you, He will be faithful to do those very things because your Father is concerned about your needs.

Perhaps like Jacob you need to feel secure and safe. Perhaps you’re feeling vulnerable or threatened by life. Maybe you’re fighting fears of sickness or of running out of money. I want you to know that God loves you, and just as He answered Jacob’s prayer, He will answer your prayer as you cling to and depend on Him. God is going to bring you to the end of your journey safely, and He will provide everything you need along the way because He is the God of lights and every good and perfect gift comes from Him.

Perhaps you are irritated by all this talk of needing God and relying on Him. You feel pride rising up in you, a sense that you can handle it all on your own. You like to believe you are an independent person, in need of nobody. Could this attitude be keeping you from experiencing an intimate and trusting relationship with your Creator? Please hear me: the spirit of pride and independence is demonic. You have an opportunity to break Satan’s hold by getting down on your knees this very moment and asking Father God, in the name of the Lord Jesus, to forgive you and cleanse you of pride. Ask Him to come into your life and develop a love relationship with you. It is perhaps the most critical decision you will ever make.

Jesus said if God knows how to take care of the sparrows that are here today and gone tomorrow, if He clothes the lilies of the field in a grander fashion than King Solomon, how much more will He take care of His own children? (See Matthew 6:25–34.) Father is going to provide. Not a sparrow falls to the ground without Him knowing it. He knows what you’ll need even before you become aware of it. You are safe in His arms, and you can have confidence that when you pray for His provision and protection, He will answer.

God, Deliver Me!

Fast-forward twenty years. Jacob is married to Leah and Rachel and has eleven strong sons. After spending two decades working for his father-in-law, Jacob had acquired vast livestock and was exceedingly prosperous (Gen. 30:43). It was just as God promised him at Bethel.

Yet Jacob had a problem. God told him it was time to return to his homeland, Canaan, because that’s where God would bless him. But that’s also where Esau lived, and the last time Jacob was near his brother, Esau was plotting to kill him. Jacob needed God, and