Today I would like to share the grace of God under the title, “Prayer Answered by God.” God knows about the pain that we are going through and knows the answers to our problems. 1 Corinthians 2:9-10 says, “However, as it is written: ‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.’” God is a good God who prepares amazing things for us and waits to help us whenever we need it. We must clearly believe in this fact and pray by going before God. God loves us and gladly answers our prayers. How does He answer us? Even before He answers to our prayer, we must receive it through a dream in our heart. In our Christian life we cannot but mention the word dream again and again. It is because God works that way. Therefore, we must first dream about God’s answer to our prayer. Abraham prayed for ten years without having any dream about it. Genesis 15:2-3 says, “But Abram said, ‘O Sovereign LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?’ And Abram said, ‘You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.’ " God scolded him right there. Genesis 15:4 says, “Then the word of the LORD came to him: ‘This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir.’ ” Then God wanted to show him why he could not receive a son from his own body. Genesis 15:5 says, “He took him outside and said, ‘Look up at the heavens and count the stars--if indeed you can count them.’ Then he said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’ " He meant, “As you did not see a son in your heart, you could not receive him until now. If you see these countless children like stars in your heart, you would not complain at all. You must see what you will receive in advance by the law of looking.” Abraham was rebuked by God. A dream is our vessel to receive God’s answer. Even if heavy rain is outpouring from heaven, we can only store it in a vessel. Unless we prepare a vessel, even if we look at the heavy rain, it is to no avail. In 2 Kings, one of Elisha’s disciples died while leaving heavy debts behind. Then his wife cried out to Elisha, "Your servant my husband is dead. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves. Please help me." Then Elisha must have prayed once and replied to her, "Go home and prepare jars. Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don't ask for just a few. Tell me, what do you have in your house?" "Your servant has nothing there at all, except a little oil." “Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side." She left him and had her sons ask all their neighbors for empty jars. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring and oil kept flowing without ceasing. When all the jars were full, she said to her son, "Bring me another one." But he replied, "There is not a jar left." Then the oil stopped flowing. Then Elisha told her, "Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left.“ God blesses us whenever we prepare proper vessels first. If we keep following God without any vessel, we will undergo troubles. Next, we need patience to receive an answer from God. Through a parable of a widow and an unjust judge in Luke 18:1, Jesus taught us to “always pray and not give up.” Luke 18:2-3 says, “He said: ‘In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, 'Grant me justice against my adversary.' ” The judge laughed loudly at her. “What a miserable thing she is! I don’t care even if a wealthy and powerful man asks me a favor. I don’t need to answer to this poor widow!” However, whenever he commuted to the courthouse, she would sit at the front door and cry out to him, “Grant me justice against my adversary.” When he left the office, she did the same! Whenever he entered his house or came out of it or entered the courthouse or came out of it, she kept crying out, “Grant me justice against my adversary.” Finally he said to himself, “I can’t stand it any more! I don’t help her because I am merciful, but because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!” So even the unjust judge helped the poor widow! When I read the Lord’s parable, I thought that even unfair insistence could be answered. There is another example in the Bible. In Mark 7:25-29, Jesus went to the vicinity of Tyre and Sidon in the north of Israel and entered a house to take a rest. However, His presence could not be kept secret. A large crowd gathered around Him. Then a woman came and fell at His feet and began to cry out with a loud voice. “Lord, have mercy on me. My precious little daughter is possessed by an evil spirit. Please drive the demon out of her!” However, Jesus strictly told her, "Be quiet! I have come from heaven to help the lost in Israel. The time of Gentiles has not yet come. Let me go!” Then she clung to Jesus more and more. “Why do you refuse to help us while giving help to the Jew?” “Your time has not yet come. Why do you persist like this?” Yes, Lord," she replied, "but even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs. I didn’t ask you to put them in a bowl. I just want to eat the crumbs. Please give me even the crumbs." Jesus was amazed at her reply. Then he told her, "You said it! For such a reply, God is impressed and the demon has left your daughter. You may go. Everything is okay!" A timely word brings God’s answer! However, patience is most needed to receive God’s answer! And the Lord said that our patience would be required above all. "Listen to what the unjust judge says.”(Luke 18:6) “yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!"(Luke 18:5-6) We must compare the words of the unjust judge with those of Jesus. Even this unjust judge finally listened to this poor widow’s plea. “And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?”(Luke 18:7) Even the unjust judge answered to this ignorant woman’s persistence! How couldn’t God answer to His children? Jesus strongly emphasized this comparison! The terribly unjust judge surrendered to the persistent plea of a poor widow who was not related to him at all. How much more our righteous God can’t refuse to answer to our prayer! All your hearts are filled with pleas to God. God will double His answer to our prayer, but we tend to step back due to lack of patience. “But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him."(Hebrews 10:38) Matthew 7:7-8 says, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” The Lord says this with strong conviction. John 16:24 says “Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete. Psalm 145:18-19 says, “The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them.” Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Jesus said to His disciples, “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God.” Luke 12:7 says, “Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” God remembers and also cares about these petty sparrows and then how can He turn a blind eye to us whose hairs are all numbered by Him? When we have fellowship with God through prayer, we must endure with patience. We shouldn’t shrink back in spiritual warfare. In the Bible, in the era of Elijah, there was neither dew nor rain in Samaria for a few years so the Israelites were dying due to severe famine. Elijah was praying for rain and he told his servant after the first prayer, "Go and look toward the sea." At first he prayed and waited for rain, but there was no sign of rain at all. As he kept praying and sent his servant a second time and a third time, there was no answer from God. However, he kept sending his servant upto seven times to go and look toward the sea. As Elijah prayed with patience for a long time, a cloud as small as a man's hand was rising from the sea and heavy rain began outpouring soon. When we pray, there the devil begins to block our prayer. He is the ruler of the kingdom of the air and he is now disturbing our relationship with God. Therefore, we must fight against him and cast him out immediately. Then he will stop his interrupting. E. M. Bounds once said that only the Lord could move the mountain, but we could move His hands through faith and prayer. In Daniel chapter 10, we know that Daniel set his mind to gain understanding about the future of Israel in the latter days and to humble himself before God, but he didn’t receive any answer from God until the 20th day. However, he kept praying to God, and finally the angel of God came to him and said, “I have come in response to your words. But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia. Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future.” We should not be discouraged even if God does not answer us after one or two prayers. We tend to be in despair even after a short prayer. However, we should keep on praying without being discouraged. Daniel’s prayer was heard on the first day, but it took 21 days for his answer to come because of the hindering power in the air. Therefore, a prayer is spiritual warfare. Just as we should not step back when waging a war, if we pray for something that is God’s will, we should not be discouraged and then ask with faith until the end. You have already been given the power to resist the devil by God. Luke 10:19 says, “I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.” As you have authority, if you pray with that authority, mighty power will follow you. The devil always follows you to steal, kill, and destroy. Therefore, we must resist to overcome him. When we conquer him, we will also overcome any disease he supports and our problems in business will be solved miraculously. If we remove our enemy in the background, our problems will be solved. Our enemy devil does not directly attack us, but through indirect harrassment, he makes us be in pain, fearful, and helpless. However, if we do our best to resist our problem, its background will crumble and the real force behind it will also be destroyed.