Do You Expect Your Prayers to Be Answered?

But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.

Luke 1:13 (ESV)

Luke started his gospel with an encounter between Zechariah, an aging and childless priest, and Gabriel, an angel of God. Zechariah was offering incense in the temple when Gabriel appeared to him. Zechariah was initially frightened, but Gabriel had good news for him. His prayer had been heard, and his wife would have a son.

Gabriel went on to describe the role that Zechariah’s son would play as a mighty prophet, preparing the way for the coming of the Lord. Zechariah’s head must have been spinning, trying to comprehend all Gabriel had told him. It was quite an unexpected answer to prayer.

Zechariah’s response was likely the same that many of us would have made. He and his wife were both too old to have children. Even having a son, much less one like Gabriel had described, seemed unrealistic. Consequently, he doubted Gabriel’s message and spent the next nine months unable to speak.

We do not know the specifics of Zechariah’s prayer. But it would seem to involve their childlessness. And it was likely something they had prayed for over a long period of time. What we do know from this account is that God told him his prayer had been heard and would be answered. And that Zechariah did not believe it.

On the surface, it seems strange that someone would spend time praying for something if they did not expect their prayer to be heard and answered. The opposite should be true—that we expect God to hear and respond to us when we pray. Why else would we pray?

But all too often, I am afraid we are like Zechariah in this respect, praying without any expectation of an answer. And that lack of faith may well be why our prayer is so often unfruitful.

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

Mark 11:24 (ESV)