| QUESTIONS 10
- 15
Note: The questions
below are all addressed in the following answer.
Does
God Hear Our Prayer?
Will
God Answer Our Every Prayer?
How
Will God Answer?
What
Role Does Faith Have In Prayer?
What
Expectation Can We Have In Prayer?
How
Often Should We Continue To Pray Over A Particular Request?
No one can offer absolute
proof that there is a God - and no one can prove with any certainty that
there is no God, either. It is a matter of faith to believe that there
is such a Being as God, and that there is only one God! We cannot see a
wind, but because of its effects on the environment we 'know' by inference
and deduction that a wind exists. In a similar way, because of His work
around us we also 'know' that there is a God.
Rom.1:20
For His invisible attributes are descried from the creation of the world,
being apprehended by
His achievements, besides His imperceptible power and divinity,
Ps.19:1-4 The
heavens are recounting the glory of El,
And the atmosphere
is telling the work of His hands.
Day after day is
uttering a saying, And night after night is disclosing knowledge.
There is no audible saying,
and there are no words; their voice is unheard.
Yet into the entire earth
their voice goes forth,
And into the ends of
the habitance their declarations….
Because He is intangible, not
sense-able
by our physical faculties, it is the spirit in man that gives him the intuition
that God is. Men cannot see Him so they represent Him by images
of what they imagine Him to be. They cannot accurately
locate Him,
so they place Him somewhere high above the earth in a place called heaven
towards which they look when they pray. They cannot
identify Him,
so they ascribe to Him names and titles that associate with His presumed
attributes. So men grope for God, seeking to find favour with Him and to
worship and appease this powerful Being through various and many systems
and religions.
Each group believes
that it has reached the Deity through its rites and rituals. Each group
believes
that theirs is the right way to God. Though there is no tangible proof,
they believe it to be so. It is their 'faith'. Some, whom many accept
as being 'wise' teachers, concede that though there are many and different
paths, all lead to the same God. The path they show their followers
is, of course, the best.
1Cor.8:5,6
For even if so be that there are those being termed gods,
whether in heaven or on
earth, even as there are many gods and many lords,
nevertheless for us
there is one God, the Father, out of Whom all is, and we
for Him,
It is in our faith that
the God we believe in IS the true God. It is in our faith
that we believe that this One and Only true God has revealed Himself,
through His appointed Representative and Representation, in the pages of
Scripture and can be known, with certainty and assurance, only through
its inspired record. And Scripture asserts that this faith which we have
in Him, through Jesus Christ, is absolutely the gift of the true
God!
It is a fundamental principle,
therefore, that our belief in God depends, not on our wise deductions,
nor on our independent decisions, but on our belief in God's
declarations! When we believe and trust what God says in Scripture,
we are assuming, as fact, that God IS!
Heb.11:1
Now faith is an assumption of what is being expected,
a conviction concerning
matters which are not being observed;
2Cor.5:7 for
by faith are we walking, not by perception.
From Scripture we believe that
this God identifies Himself as the God and Father of Jesus Christ through
Whom we have this privileged fellowship with Him. We are given to
believe, from Scripture, that this is the one and only path to God.
Heb.11:6
Now apart from faith it is impossible to be well pleasing,
for he who is coming to
God must believe that He is,
and is becoming a Rewarder
of those who are seeking Him out.
Jn.14:6 Jesus
is saying to him, "I am the Way and the Truth and the Life.
No one is coming to the
Father except through Me.
Mt.11:27 … And
no one is recognizing the Son except the Father;
neither is anyone recognizing
the Father except the Son
and he to whom the Son should
be intending to unveil Him.
Now that He has shown us the
true path, it must be that He wants us to traverse it, to use it for access
to Him. Scripture declares that we are sons of God. It says that
we are the complement of Christ, His Son. It tells us that we are
in
Christ and, as such, are already seated with Him at God's right hand
among
the celestials. Does God hear our prayer? Is it not clear that He wants
to hear our prayers, that He is eager and waiting?
Eph.3:12
in Whom we have boldness and access with confidence, through His
faith
Rom.5:1,2 Being,
then, justified by faith,
we may be having peace toward
God, through our Lord, Jesus Christ,
through Whom we have
the access also, by faith, into this grace in which we stand,
and we may be glorying in
expectation of the glory of God.
Ps.94:9-11 The
One Who planted the ear, shall He not hear?
Or the One Who formed the
eye, shall He not look?
The One Who disciplines
the nations, shall He not correct,
The One Who teaches humanity
knowledge?
Yahweh is the One knowing
the devisings of humanity, that they are a transitory breath.
Ps.145:18,19
Near is Yahweh to all calling on Him,
To all who are calling on
Him in truth.
Benevolence for those fearing
Him is He providing,
And their imploring is
He hearing and is saving them.
God will answer our prayers!
The problem we have in answering this question lies with us. We presume
that the only way God can
validly respond must be in the affirmative. We leave Him no room for a
'No!', or for a 'Wait awhile'. Though we should know better, we are always
putting the cart before the horse - we presume to initiate, and
God is expected to react the way we want Him to! The fact
is that God knows best - and He has set the rules so that everything will
work out according to His intention!
Isa.46:10b ...
Saying, `All My counsel shall be confirmed, and all My desire
will I do.'
Rom.9:19-21
… who has withstood His intention?"
O man! who are you, to be
sure, who are answering again to God?
That which is molded will
not protest to the molder, "Why do you make me thus?"
Or has not the potter the
right over the clay, out of the same kneading
to make one vessel, indeed,
for honor, yet one for dishonor?
We can pray that we will never
sin or offend God anymore. We can pray that we will always be able to do
the right thing for ourselves as well as for others. We can pray that we
will be enabled to understand Scripture more easily. We can pray that our
relatives and friends may be 'converted'. We can pray for good health so
as to carry out our responsibilities better. We can pray for the healing
of our loved ones who are suffering through pain and sickness. We can pray
that our children come to know the Lord and become saved.
Are these all not commendable?
But, will God have to grant all these requests, and fulfil our desires,
now that we have prayed sincerely and fervently to Him in faith?
This question requires clear
thinking and careful consideration - with Scripture, and not our unreliable
emotions, directing our understanding. We tend to take it for granted that
only good things, and not the evil, come from God. This is highly
presumptuous and contradicts Scripture!
At the forefront of revelation
we read of two special trees in the garden in Eden. The one Adam was instructed
not to eat from was the tree of 'the knowledge of good and evil'.
It is obvious that it was not possible to take the good without taking
the evil along with it. It was good to the eyes - but it would also bring
death!
Gen.2:8,9
And planting is Yahweh Elohim a garden in Eden, in the east,
and He is placing there
the human whom He forms.
And furthermore sprouting
is Yahweh Elohim from the ground
every tree coveted by the
sight and good for food,
and the tree of the living
in the midst of the garden,
and the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil.
Gen.2:16,17
And instructing is Yahweh Elohim the human, saying,
"From every tree of the
garden, you are to eat, yea, eat.
Yet from the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil, you are not to be eating from it,
for in the day you eat from
it, to die shall you be dying."
Scripture agrees with Job's
assessment of his situation that both the good and the evil come from the
same source! He knew that his sufferings came from God - he just wanted
to know the reason for them for he knew that they were not because of any
wrong that he had done!
Job.2:10 …Indeed
should we receive good from the One, Elohim,
and should we not receive
evil?
In all this, Job did not
sin with his lips.
Job.2:3 Yahweh
said to the Adversary, Have you set your heart on My servant Job?
For there is no one like
him on earth, a man flawless and upright,
fearing Elohim and keeping
away from evil. And he still is holding fast to his integrity,
though you would incite
Me against him to swallow him up gratuitously.
God, Himself, claims full
and initiating responsibility for the very presence of evil in the
world! Translators attempt to shield God from the 'taint' of evil - but
they are simply 'burying their heads in the sand', not daring and not wanting
to face the facts of Scripture! The facts are there all around the world
and written into the pages of history for everyone to inspect. Are we
going to say the God is not in control of the situation? Can we
propose
that He has lost control of it since the incursion of this 'un-foreseen
and un-accountable' factor, evil, into a world in which He had created
only that which is good?
Isa.45:7
Former of light and Creator of darkness, Maker of good and Creator
of evil.
I, Yahweh Elohim,
made all of these things.
Lam.3:38 Do
not both the evil and the good come forth from the mouth
of the Supreme?
Either God is GOD, omniscient
and omnipotent, or He is not! If He is not, then, why pray to Him? He may
not be able to help, because restricted by the evil that has encroached,
even if He wanted to! Let us take a bold step - after all, if our
God is not GOD, we would be able to get away with it. Why not be on the
winning team? Why not pray to the epitome of evil, the wicked one, whom
we assume has taken away the initiative and power from God? Does he not
seem to be winning the confrontation hands down? Scripture declares that
ALL who are unbelievers are under the control of the Adversary. And it
is obvious that unbelievers completely outnumber those who believe in the
true God! Even God says that things will get worse and worse rather than
better.
Eph.2:1,2
And you, being dead to your offenses and sins, in which once you walked,
in accord with the eon of
this world,
in accord with the chief
of the jurisdiction of the air,
the spirit now operating
in the sons of stubbornness
2Cor.4:3,4 Now,
if our evangel is covered, also, it is covered in those who are perishing,
in whom the god of this
eon blinds the apprehensions of the unbelieving
so that the illumination
of the evangel of the glory of Christ,
Who is the Image of the
invisible God, does not irradiate them.
2Tim.3:13
Yet wicked men and swindlers shall wax worse and worse,
deceiving and being deceived.
As mentioned earlier, we simply
have got to get our thinking straight concerning our God, the One to Whom
we pray! Our Father will not grant us something just because we pray
that He will. If what we pray for will not, in the overall perspective,
be really for our good - our assessment of it notwithstanding
- God will
not grant it. If evil and suffering will work to our
benefit, in the long run, that is what we will get! It is a matter
of God's will and intention, rather than our immediate 'needs' and
desires!
1Jn.5:14,15
And this is the boldness which we have toward Him,
that if we should be requesting
anything according to His will, He is hearing us.
And if ever we are aware
that He is hearing us, whatever we may be requesting,
we are aware that we have
the requests which we have requested from Him.
Mt.21:22
And all, whatsoever you should be requesting in prayer,
believing, you shall
be getting
Mk.11:24,25
All, whatever you are praying and requesting,
be believing, and it will
be yours.
Jas.1:6-8
Yet let him be requesting in faith, doubting nothing,
for he who is doubting simulates
a surge of the sea, driven by the wind and tossed.
For let not that man be
surmising that he shall be obtaining anything from the Lord--
a man double-souled, turbulent
in all his ways.
Phil.4:6,7
Do not worry about anything,
but in everything, by prayer
and petition, with thanksgiving,
let your requests be
made known to God,
and the peace of God, that
is superior to every frame of mind,
shall be garrisoning your
hearts and your apprehensions in Christ Jesus.
God has a reason for everything
He does, working everything out according to His counsel and intention,
to fulfil His purpose, to bring blessings to His creatures and, thereby,
bring highest honour to His name. This He emphasizes to us, especially.
Rom.8:28-30
…God is working all together for the good of those who are
loving God,
who are called according
to the purpose that,
whom He foreknew,
He
designates beforehand, also,
to be conformed to the
image of His Son, for Him to be Firstborn among many brethren.
Now whom He designates beforehand,
these He calls also,
and whom He calls, these
He
justifies also;
now whom He justifies, these
He
glorifies also.
We need to question our perspective,
then, when we run to God for relief and healing the moment suffering and
sickness assail us. We flock to 'healing ministries' and to 'situation
counselling' and 'group therapy' to rid ourselves of these unwanted
intrusions into our 'normal' lives. And we get others involved in 'spiritual
demonstrations' for God to remove these incursions into our 'human
rights' in which we have the right to decide what we accept
and what we do not! Forget about God's counselling in Scripture!
Forget about what God wants! Just what we want, is all that
matters!
We need to face our God and
to draw confidence from Him to cope with situations, and not to run for
shelter and plead for mercy at the first signs of trouble!
Jesus Christ, God's
Beloved, prayed fervently to His Father. If anyone deserved to be heard
and His will granted, surely it must be He. But, did His loving Father
remove the cup of suffering from His path? God had a reason and a purpose
for not removing it.
Isa.59:1,2
Behold! The hand of Yahweh is not too short to save!
And His ear is not too heavy
to hear!
Jn.3:16,17
For thus God loves the world,
so that He gives His only-begotten
Son, that everyone who is believing in Him
should not be perishing,
but may be having life eonian.
For God does not dispatch
His Son into the world that He should be judging the world,
but that the world may
be saved through Him.
Act.2:23 This
One, given up in the specific counsel and foreknowledge of God,
you, gibbeting by the hand
of the lawless, assassinate,
Act.3:18 Yet
what God announces before through the mouth of all the prophets--
the suffering of His Christ--He
thus fulfills.
Act.4:27,28
… in this city were gathered
against Thy holy Boy Jesus,
Whom Thou dost anoint,
both Herod and Pontius Pilate,
together with the nations and the peoples of Israel,
to do whatever Thy hand
and Thy counsel designates beforehand to occur.
Heb.2:10
For it became Him, because of Whom all is, and through Whom all
is,
in leading many sons into
glory,
to perfect the Inaugurator
of their salvation through sufferings.
Heb.5:7-9 Who,
in the days of His flesh, offering both petitions and supplications
with strong clamor and tears
to Him Who is able to save Him out of death,
being hearkened to also
for His piety,
even He also, being a Son,
learned obedience from that which He suffered.
And being perfected,
He became the cause of eonian salvation
to all who are obeying Him,
Job had to go through
a terrible period of suffering so that he could realise and appreciate
God better - an invaluable lesson there was no other way for him
to learn.
Job.42:1-5
Then Job answered Yahweh, saying:
I know that You can
do all things, And no plan of Yours can be thwarted.
Who is this who obscures
counsel without knowledge?
Wherefore I have professed
ideas when I was not understanding,
Things too marvelous for
me, that I did not know.
Hearken now, and I myself
shall speak; I shall ask of you, and you inform Me.
With the hearing of the
ear I had heard of You, But now my eye sees You.
Paul, too, had His request
put aside for a very important reason - an experience to bring on the realisation
of a fundamental principle. It is not for nothing that God ordains that
we undergo 'bad' experiences. Paul's is the example for our context in
this administration.
Mt.6:7,8
Now, in praying,
you should not use useless
repetitions even as those of the nations.
For they are supposing that
they will be hearkened to in their loquacity.
Do not, then, be like
them,
for aware is God, your Father,
of what you have need before you request Him.
2Cor.12:7-10
Wherefore also,
lest I should be lifted
up by the transcendence of the revelations,
there was given to me a
splinter in the flesh, a messenger of Satan,
that he may be buffeting
me, lest I may be lifted up.
For this I entreat the Lord
thrice, that it should withdraw from me.
And He has protested to
me,
"Sufficient for you is My
grace, for My power in infirmity is being perfected."
With the greatest relish,
then, will I rather be glorying in my infirmities,
that the power of Christ
should be tabernacling over me. Wherefore
I delight in infirmities,
in outrages, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses,
for Christ's sake, for,
whenever I may be weak, then I am powerful.
The wisdom of man is at variance
with the wisdom of God. We expect that since we are children of God, we
will be protected from dangers and that nothing but peace and prosperity
beckons. We would expect God to protect His children from every form of
harm and pain and suffering. Would not such a course prove nice and comfortable?
But, this is not God's way. He loves us and will put us through
whatever
experience is needed to form us according to His intention.
Jesus forewarned His apostles
about what to expect in the future because of their belief in Him. These
experiences were to escalate in intensity with the nearing of the Day of
the Lord.
Mt.24:9
"Then shall they be giving you up to affliction, and they shall
be killing you,
and you shall be hated
by all of the nations because of My name.
Mt.10:22 And
you shall be hated by all because of My name.
Yet he who endures to
the consummation, he shall be saved.
Jn.15:20,21
Remember the word which I said to you,
`A slave is not greater
than his lord.'
If Me they persecute, you
they will be persecuting also.
If My word they keep, yours
also will they be keeping.
But all these things will
they be doing to you because of My name,
seeing that they are not
acquainted with Him Who sends Me.
Not only does He not assure
us of physical comfort and safety, He even guarantees, because He
has graciously granted it, that there will be suffering,
and rejection, and determined persecution!
2Tim.3:12
And all who are wanting to live devoutly in Christ Jesus shall
be persecuted.
1Thes.3:3 No
one is to be swayed by these afflictions,
for you yourselves are aware
that we are located for this.
Phil.1:29
for to you it is graciously granted, for Christ's sake,
not only to be believing
on Him, but to be suffering for His sake also,
God is no sadist. He is the
Master Artisan forging character and brilliance into His masterpieces in
the fiery crucibles of suffering and persecution. Because He is
working on us, the finished product is guaranteed to be perfect,
and cannot help but bring glory and honour to Him.
2Tim.2:12
if we are enduring, we shall be reigning together also;…
Rom.8:17 Yet
if children, enjoyers also of an allotment,
enjoyers, indeed, of an
allotment from God,
yet joint enjoyers of
Christ's allotment,
if so be that we are suffering
together, that we should be glorified together also.
Eph.2:7 that,
in the oncoming eons,
He should be displaying
the transcendent riches of His grace
in His kindness to us in
Christ Jesus.
Eph.2:10
For His achievement are we, being created in Christ Jesus for
good works,
which God makes ready beforehand,
that we should be walking in them.
Rom.8:18
For I am reckoning that the sufferings of the current era
do not deserve the glory
about
to be revealed for us.
1Cor.2:9,10
But, according as it is written,
That which the eye
did not perceive,
and the ear did not
hear,
and to which the heart
of man did not ascend--
whatever God makes ready
for those who are loving Him.
Yet to us God reveals
them through His spirit,
for the spirit is searching
all, even the depths of God.
2Cor.4:17
For the momentary lightness of our affliction
is producing for us a
transcendently transcendent eonian burden of glory,…
Why does God tell us these
things? Is it not so that we may endure, with patience and confidence,
our lot in life that has been graciously granted by our loving Father and
so that
'the peace of
God, that is superior to every frame of mind,'
shall be garrisoning
our hearts and our apprehensions in Christ Jesus?
To this we can only say, Amen!
September 2001
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