The Study Watchtower, "Article 21", Week of July 17 to 23, 2023, How Jehovah Answers Our Prayers, Answers.

The Study Watchtower, "Article 21", July 17-23-2023, How Jehovah Answers Our Prayers, Answers.

“We know that we will have what we ask for because we have asked him” (1 JOHN 5:15).

1, 2. What might we wonder?

It is very possible, especially when we are going through a difficult time in our lives, if Jehovah answers our prayers. That is why we will analyze in this study that we can be completely sure that Jehovah answers our prayers.

JEHOVAH MAY NOT ANSWER US IN THE WAY WE EXPECT

3. Why does Jehovah want us to pray to him?

Jehovah, our heavenly father, like every father, loves us very much and we are very valuable to him. He does not leave any child behind or helpless, that is why he wants us to pray to him because he loves us, to ask him for help to help us and to stay close to him, under his protective mantle to avoid and endure all the problems we may have.

4. How do we know that Jehovah answers the prayers of his servants? (See also image).

We know this for sure because there are many examples of God's help to his faithful servants when they have asked him to, as we see in the illustration saving King David once again, who begged for his help and prayed for him to protect him from all his enemies, and he did so, because Jehovah is close to all who call on him as Psalm 145:18 says.

ILLUSTRATION

David dodges a spear thrown at him while playing the harp. Jehovah answered David's prayers by rescuing him from his enemies. (See paragraph 4).

5. Did Jehovah always answer the prayers of his servants as they expected? Give an example. (See also image).

Sometimes, the question at the beginning of this study, if Jehovah answers our prayers, it may be in a way that we do not expect or that we do not have a direct solution to the problems for which we ask for help, like the apostle Paul, and that is why we may think that he does not answer us... Jehovah did not remove the thorn from his flesh, but that does not mean that he did not answer his prayers, just that in another way, he gave him all the stamina he needed to bear it.

ILLUSTRATION

The apostle Paul pleads with Jehovah for help. Jehovah answered Paul's prayers by giving him the strength to endure. (See paragraph 5).

6. Why can it sometimes seem that Jehovah is not answering our prayers?

As in the case of the apostle Paul in the previous paragraph, our problem may not disappear or we may continue to feel the same pain or suffering. But Jehovah knows us perfectly and knows what we need at the right time, so he can answer our prayers at a certain time and in a specific way that we did not expect.

7. Why might we need to modify our petitions to Jehovah? Give an example.

Brother Martin understood that Jehovah's help in this difficult moment was going in another direction. The brother wanted release from prison but soon realized that Jehovah would assign him an important task inside the prison, and his prayers changed, from wanting to get out to wanting to strengthen the other imprisoned brothers and perhaps other prisoners to know the Bible. Jehovah answers all our prayers, and I understand better than we do what we need at any given moment, and we must pray in such a way that we consider what is best for God's will.

8. What is important for us to remember when we pray?

It is very important when we pray to be aware that Jehovah always has a very clear purpose and revolves around the promises that we all know. For the fulfillment of the same, he can use his people so that they give praise and honor to his name, and so we must pray and ask God for help, to contribute to his work while he brings his heavenly government and puts an end to the hand of Satan.QQA

IN WHAT WAYS DOES JEHOVAH ANSWER OUR PRAYERS?

9. How does Jehovah help us when we have to make decisions? Give an example.

Jehovah cannot decide for us, but he does give us great wisdom so that all our decisions are in accordance with what the Bible says, as happened with sister María. She knew that God was not going to decide for her, but that he did provide them with all the tools and even well-directed advice from the Bible from experienced people that helped her make a wise decision about her ministry service and her marriage

10. According to Philippians 4:13, how will Jehovah help his servants? Give an example. (See also image).

Jehovah, as Philippians 4:13 that we have just read says, will give us all the strength we need because God has the power, and we see him reflected in his living word the Bible as the brother in the image, who through reading it is obtaining the strength he needed to live with the situation of being in a refugee camp, he got the inner peace and courage he was looking for to live there and continue preaching the name of God.

ILLUSTRATION

A brother living in a refugee camp reads the Bible. How does Jehovah give us the strength to endure? (See paragraph 10).

11, 12. How can Jehovah use our spiritual family to answer our prayers? (See also image).

One of the ways that Jehovah has to answer our prayers and supplications, to respond to the fears that we have is through the help and company of our spiritual family. He already did it in the past through angels, even with Jesus himself or currently with sister Miriam who found comfort in a tragic and irremediable situation in the current system of things.

Another example is the one we can see in the image. Changing a country to live may not be easy, even if the decision is voluntary, much less easy is if you have to flee your country like this mother and her daughter who arrive as refugees without a male head of household. But Jehovah knows his fears and sent them the help he needed through the love of his spiritual family.

ILLUSTRATION

Have you seen how Jehovah has used the brothers to help you? (See paragraphs 11 and 12).

13. Give an example of how Jehovah can use people who do not worship him to answer our prayers.

Another example through which Jehovah helps us is through people who adore him or even believe in him, as could be the case of King Artaxerxes with Nehemiah or the rulings of the current superior courts of justice in favor of Jehovah's Witnesses and their rights to preach and worship.

14. How does Soo Hing's experience encourage you? (See also image).

Sister Soo saw the hand of Jehovah in the attitude of the attending physician regarding her son's illnesses and his accident. Due to this, they had to stop working to take care of her son and the doctor, beyond his work and faculties, helped the couple to get help from the Government as well as a cheaper place to live. The couple saw the power of Jehovah in action through this unbelieving doctor.

ILLUSTRATION

A doctor shows a printed document to a married couple How can Jehovah use non-Witnesses to help us? (See paragraphs 13 and 14).

WE NEED FAITH TO SEE AND ACCEPT JEHOVAH'S ANSWER

15. What helped a sister to see that Jehovah did answer her prayers?

Sister Yoko was helped by keeping a record of everything she asked of Jehovah and over time she saw how he answered absolutely everything. Some things, obviously, without the record, she could not imagine that they were answered or she did not even remember. Jehovah will not do the miracles of old but he does answer each of our prayers in one way or another.

16. How does faith help us when we pray? (Hebrews 11:6).

Faith, as the text of Hebrews that we have read rightly says, brings us closer to Jehovah and makes us firmly believe in his promises and in how he acts to ensure the spiritual well-being of his people, assigning to each of us what is best for us, such as Mike's marriage, even if what they asked for was different, Jehovah answered their prayers with the best that was for them.

17, 18. According to Psalm 86:6, 7, of what are we sure?

We can be completely sure that Jehovah hears our prayers and the help we ask for. In fact, even without praying, Jehovah already watches over all of us and knows our worries and helps us, all the more reason we have to ask with an open heart for the help we think we need and we are convinced that he will answer us, one way or another, with the best because no one knows us better than our creator.

WHAT WOULD YOU ANSWER?

Why might Jehovah not answer our prayers in the way we expect?

We may ask for a particular problem, but Jehovah knows better than we do what we need and will give us the help and all the tools so that we have endurance and hope, and overcome problems and situations praising, glorifying and honoring the name of God.

In what ways does Jehovah answer our prayers?

Jehovah can answer prayers indirectly, providing us with a different way out that we had not considered, help that resolves other circumstances, or through the help of his spiritual family spread throughout the earth with signs of love, affection and charity or even, by people who do not belong to his people or the Government itself.

How does faith help us when we pray?

Faith creates within us a very strong feeling of confidence that everything we ask Jehovah will grant us, in one way or another, faith helps us to believe without any doubt that God is with all his servants, he never abandons them, and he is there with us together in the problems we have, offering us his protective shield.