Monday, March 19, 2012

God Always Answers Our Prayers

Then Jesus told them, “I assure you, if you have faith and don’t doubt, you can do things like this and much more. You can even say to this mountain. ‘May God lift you up and throw you into the sea,’ and it will happen. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” -- Matthew 21:21-22

Do you believe that God should grant every request you make of Him? Do you think that this passage of Scripture entitles you to whatever you want, whenever you want?

Sounds silly when we talk about it in this way but truthfully many people do believe just that. They get upset with God when He says no or when He doesn’t say anything. It’s like a spoiled child being denied his every whim.

Let me ask you another question: Do you really believe you can throw a mountain into the sea merely by calling on God in prayer? Now don’t misunderstand what I’m asking here. God can do anything -- including throwing mountains into the sea. But what about you? Can you do it?

Jesus frequently used what scholars call hyperbole when He told stories and parables. Hyperbole is an overstatement or exaggeration used to make a point.

Let’s look at an example. In Mark 10:25 Jesus tells us that it’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God. Do we really believe that a camel can go through the eye of a needle? No. But that’s not the point of what Jesus is saying. He’s telling us that it’s so very difficult for a rich person to enter heaven because they place things -- their money and possessions -- before God.

So, when we look back at the Scripture in Matthew it’s easier to see that maybe, just maybe, Jesus wasn’t telling us we’d get everything we asked for. It doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have great faith and ask boldly for whatever it is we want. It just means that maybe God has something better planned for us. Maybe God has a better way planned to use us for His glory.

Answered prayers also aren’t about how “good” or “deserving” we are. Remember that God refused to take away the Apostle Paul’s “thorn,” instead telling Paul that His grace was sufficient for him. (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)

And let us also remember Jesus, as He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus asked God to take the cup of suffering from Him. Then Jesus prayed something truly profound that we would do well to remember: “Yet not what I will, but what you will.” (Mark 14:36b)

God’s will, not our own. Do we selfishly pray only for what we want or do we ask God what He wants? Do we present our requests to God, then bow down before Him and submit our will and requests to His wisdom?

God always hears us and answers our prayers. We may not always get the answer we want but we will always get the very best answer.

Sunday, March 18, 2012

God Always Answers Our Prayers

“But true wisdom and power are with God; counsel and understanding are his.“ -- Job 12:13

Have you ever given up on God? Have you ever prayed and prayed and prayed and felt God either didn’t hear you or didn’t care? Has God ever told you “no” when you asked for your heart’s desire?

Welcome to the world of unanswered prayers. It happens to all of us. We ask God for something we really, really want and we don’t get the answer we wanted. Or expected. Because isn’t God supposed to fulfill our requests?

Not really. We’re not here for our own glory but for His. Not that God doesn’t want good things for us. He does. It’s just that sometimes the best answer is the one we don’t want to hear.

Have you ever been thankful that God said “no?” Probably. Most of us can look back and be so very glad that God chose a different spouse for us, a different job, a different road. We’re glad that He knew best. We’re not always glad to admit we were wrong and He was right -- again.

God’s ways are not our ways. How many times have you heard that? It doesn’t make it any less true. He sees the big picture and we only see what is in our immediate world. Our fallen world. Our world where people get sick, where evil runs rampant, where people hurt each other.

For example, God always heals us when we are sick. We are His children and He loves us. Sometimes God takes away the cancer, repairs the heart, fixes whatever is broken, while we still live on this earth. Other times God calls us home for healing. But He always heals. We forget that sometimes.

God also always provides us a way no matter the circumstances. We get in a hurry and try to fix it ourselves. We believe someone else rather than waiting for a word from God. Or we take a different path rather than the path He has chosen for us. We’ll find that out. And He’ll pick us up and help us back to the right path, the one He chose for us.

So does God always answer our prayers? Absolutely. We just don’t always hear what He has to say. We’re too busy telling Him what we want from Him to hear what He thinks about it all. Where is that relationship when we treat God as a vending machine rather than a Heavenly Father who loves us so very much?

God is filled with wisdom and caring, with kindness and understanding. He is all-powerful and all-wonderful. And He wants us to come to Him with requests and concerns. But He also wants us to hear Him and follow Him. So take time to listen, really listen, to God. He’ll bless you in ways you can’t begin to imagine.

Friday, March 9, 2012

We Want. We Want. We want.

My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest. -- Psalm 22:2

We pray and pray and pray. And the only answer we hear is silence. It hurts. Has God abandoned us? Has He stopped caring? Do we not matter to Him?

It’s hard not to be afraid. Gas prices keep going up. The economy, while better, is still scary. Earlier this week a local company announced plans to close. Hundreds will lose their jobs. That sort of thing reverberates through the communities around it. Add a few health issues, work stresses and other issues and that peace God promises seems elusive at best.

If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. -- John 15:7

Okay, God, I want … (fill in the blank here). Isn’t that what prayer has become for us? Oh, we thank Him for His blessings but we also are filled with requests. We have a list and we treat God as though it is His job to fulfill our desires. We forget that our lives are not about us. We forget that He is the Almighty God and it is all about Him.

Does He want good things for us? Absolutely. But we stop before reading the next verse, which says that Jesus’ disciples produce much fruit that will bring great glory to God. Perhaps what we should ask for are things that bring God glory -- and that’s what He will do for us.

“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” -- Luke 22:42

Sometimes God says no. It’s that simple and that complicated. It’s not about you. Remember that. Because it is about you too. If God would not spare His own Son a horrible death in order to save you and me, why do we expect Him to spare us the pains of this life?

But we do. We want an easy ride. It isn’t realistic. Life isn’t easy and to live without trials and pain just isn’t going to happen. God promises to carry us through the tough times. He doesn’t promise to keep them from happening.

God hears our prayers. He loves us unconditionally. He is with us always. Those are promises to hold on to, no matter how He answers