Answers to Prayer – 2017 New Year Message

And Jeremiah said, The word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Behold, Hanameel the son of Shallum thine uncle shall come unto thee saying, Buy thee my field that is in Anathoth: for the right of redemption is thine to buy it. So Hanameel mine uncle’s son came to me in the court of the prison according to the word of the Lord, and said unto me, Buy my field, I pray thee, that is in Anathoth, which is in the country of Benjamin: for the right of inheritance is thine, and the redemption is thine; buy it for thyself. Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord. (Jeremiah 32:6-8).

When you study the book of Jeremiah, you will understand that this was the 17th prayer by Jeremiah in the time when the Babylonians had surrounded the Israelites. In the middle of that prayer, this word of the Lord came to him.

Babylon is a system. This system had surrounded the children of Israel and sought to frustrate them. God ignored the issue of Babylon and told him of Hanameel, his cousin, the son of his uncle Shallum who had a field and was going to come and ask him to buy it, which field was in Anathoth.

Now the Hebrew name Shallum is translated as retribution. It is the full price in taking vengeance and exercising wrath on somebody or something that frustrated you. Shallum begat Hanameel. Hanameel is the Hebrew name translated to mean God is gracious. Retribution(Shallum) begets grace(Hanameel).

What does this mean to the Christian? Retribution(Shallum) satisfied the wrath of God through him sending Jesus who knew no sin. Man had sinned and God got angry. He needed his wrath to be satisfied and assuaged. He revealed his vengeance against sin through Jesus. This Jesus came full of grace and truth (John 1:14).

When God appears to Jeremiah and speaks of Hanameel the son of Shallum, we understand that God is gracious because he fully revealed his wrath against sin in Christ. Now this grace, comes to you to say I want to sell you your redeemed possession which is Anathoth. The Hebrew word for Anathoth is answers to prayer.

However, remember that the man Jeremiah who is praying is surrounded by Babylon but to God, at this point, Babylon is not the problem. His mind is that there is something Jeremiah needed to possess, which when he possessed, Babylon would cease to be a problem.

The system that surrounds you is not the problem. When he sends grace, grace says, I come with this field whose right of inheritance is yours; it is called Anathoth which in the Hebrew is translated to mean answers to prayer.
Despite the circumstances around you, understand that they are not the problem. All you need is a certain grace on your life which allows you to be answers to prayer. When you have answers to prayer, you have answers that men who pray are seeking. For example, in prayer, a man may pray and say, ‘Jesus, I want the anointing’ if you have this Anathoth, you have his answer. When a man prays and says, ‘Jesus I want a job’ Anathoth means you have their answer. You have the ability to be the solution to people’s problems; the answer to their questions.

I saw the word freedom written in the spirit. I asked God, ‘freedom from what and to what?’ He said, ‘freedom to answer prayer.’ God wants you to go past having your personal prayers answered to you being answers to prayer because the ultimate answered prayer is the possession of that divine grace of answers to prayer (Anathoth).