Christian Blogs, Discipleship Encouragement and Correction
About Praying
I am convinced; in fact I know that God answers all of the prayers of His people. Well, you ask, how can you say that? I can, because a fact by definition is something that is; it exists regardless of whether we have proof or not. For example, no one was here when God supposedly said, “Let there be light!” By faith, I take that to be true. However, my faith is based on more than that single statement in the Bible. It is based first on God miraculously opening my eyes as Elisha’s servant (2 Kings 6) by His grace, and secondly, I am able to see; as Elisha’s servant did the surrounding heavenly host, the cumulative evidences of the veracity of God’s Word as proven by history; with the resurrection of Christ the cornerstone of all (1 Cor. 15:14).
Now, at this point, you must be scratching your head. What has this to do with answered prayers? Well, as I said, God answers all of the prayers of His people and His people’s prayers are presented to Him by the Holy Spirit in accordance with God’s will (Rom. 8:26), and thus, our prayers are conformed to meet God’s will as it is in heaven, and at some point… presumably in the fulness of time… they come up as a memorial before God (Acts 10:4). Make sense?
The question now is, “In whom or what are you placing your faith when you pray?” Are you asking for God’s will being done here as it is in heaven, or His will being done in heaven, as you see it performed here? If the former, every one of your prayers are answered. We take that on trust and are humbly willing to accept ‘no’ or ‘not now’ as possible answers, especially if we made repeated requests (2 Cor. 12:8). As for the means of God’s answer, it could be, and usually is manifest in a way totally contrary to what is expected. However, if the latter is true… you want your will done, here; then you really might have placed your faith in faith; which is really blind because God, although mentioned, wasn’t involved other than observing your foolishness. God is not to be mocked or His name taken in vain. This is where our heart is most deceitful when we secretly expect only a ‘yes;’ while we’ve possibly even provided God the means; such as, I’m going to win Powerball! If that’s the case, you were most likely disappointed; possibly blamed God for the outcome, and to make matters worse, you still might suffer a ripple effect as your prayer plays out in the cosmic scheme of things. Ripple effect? Yes, keep in mind that while Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose,” it implies that some intermittent and unexpectedly bad stuff can happen. The verse doesn’t say that all things are good. That was true at creation (Gen 1), but not after the fall of Adam and the introduction of sin.
In either case, you may have gotten what you’ve asked for in that regard, but… you can find yourself stuffed sick with quail too. Israel wanted meat, and they got it (Num. 11). You see, even in that, God’s will is done but first to establish His honor and glory. Secondly, bad things can result but even then for His beloved it is for our good and instruction through His chastening (Heb. 12:5.) I just hope we aren’t as stiff necked and wind up as the generation that left Egypt; never seeing the promise land. That’s another story entirely and could take forty years to explain.
Anyway, what I’ve given here in observation are just the facts; which as I said by definition exist regardless of what you and I think. Nonetheless, may I suggest that at the beginning of each prayer we first ‘hallow’ His name as Jesus instructed? Why is that important? So that we’re mindful of Whom we’re approaching and through Whom. While we can go with boldness and confidence; I’d leave any self-righteousness and presumption here.
