PRAYER IS NOT BASED ON FRIENDSHIP !

PRAYER IS NOT BASED ON FRIENDSHIP : There is another aspect of this parable that we need to notice. Jesus said, "Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend. . . He had a reason for saying that. He is not just throwing in unnecessary detail. He is portraying a spiritual truth. Once Jesus said to His disciples, "I call you no more servants but friends. A friend could go to the palace of the king or some high authority, knock at the gate, and be led in immediately. If he was not a friend, they would send a servant to tell him whether or not he could come in. Jesus is no longer calling us servants, but friends. But the Word of God does not say anything about God answering prayer on the basis of friendship. Prayer is not answered on the basis of friendship. It is answered on the basis of the legal contract or the Word of God made with God the Father. Because you have been born again, you are the seed of Abraham. Jesus Christ is the Lord of your life; you are a child of God; the spirit of God bears witness with your spirit; you can come boldly to the throne of grace. You can say, "Father, I stand before You without fear, without condemnation, without a sense of guilt." This right or boldness is not because of friendship, but because of the new covenant. God is the God of the new covenant, and he answered prayer based upon the promises of that covenant. You and I can come boldly before the throne of grace to obtain what is stated in your contract with God. Now God answers the prayer of faith ! Not the prayer of if, and not the prayer of maybes. Now it may take you some time to develop the prayer of faith based upon the promise, However, take your time to find what God said about what it is that you are praying about and accurately pray the Scriptures and "This is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us; And if we know that he hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him." (1 John 5:14-15).