In keeping with my blog rhythm, I was going to review another Bible software program today. But the publisher told me they are releasing their new version in November. So I’m going to hold off until then in order to test drive the new release.
Now on to today’s subject.
I’ve been a Christian for quite some time and amid the thousands of books and blog posts written by Christians, I’ve never heard anyone address the following problem.
The problem has come into focus recently because I keep a journal of my supplications and intercessions and write the date down when God answers them. The problem looks like this . . .
You pray fervently for the Lord to heal your friend of cancer.
Not long after, your friend sees the doctor and voila (not to be confused with viola!), your fervent prayers have been answered. Tests are performed and the cancer is gone.
So God answered your prayer.
But . . . 3 months pass and the cancer reappears.
What happened to your prayer?
You pray that God delivers your friend from alcoholism.
The Lord answers. Your friend puts the bottle down. He/she is free from their addiction.
8 months go by and they are still clean. You rejoice.
But not long after, you discover that your friend has returned to the bottle.
What happened to your prayer?
You meet someone who has a history of drug addiction. You lead them to Christ. They are free from their addiction. You praise God again for answered prayer.
They are free from drugs . . . for 2 months.
Then you learn that they are hooked again.
What happened to your prayer?
Have you ever encountered this? God answers your prayer . . . temporarily. Then it’s unanswered again.
I’m throwing this out to all of you . . .
How do you process this and keep it from discouraging you?
Seasons During Our Walk With God
Just wrote this thought on twitter and facebook this week: Sometimes we wonder why God does not seem to be answering our prayers. Could the reason be that we pray without giving our desired answer to God.
this is my last comment. we make prayer so complicated. Let us just find out what is God’s will, and pray that will. It is that simple. I have read so many books on prayer, and they just give me a bunch of rules and formulas. Prayer is a relationship with God, not a ritual. Prayer is a means to know God! Now, prayer and intercession are not the same. Intercession is a form of prayer, but not the whole of prayer. Prayer as the the greek lexicon exposes it, is an intense desire. a Divine Desire birth in us by the Spirit to see God glorified, enjoyed, and expressed. the key to prayer is to discern God’s will (His desire in a given situation) as simple as that.
Frank….Should we be heeding Paul’s admonition regarding prayer (Col.4:2) to “continue… and watch in the same with thanksgiving”…while acknowledging also, along with the Psalmist (Ps. 31:15), the truth that “my times are in your hands”?…Marj Linden
If we look at the prayers found scripture, they are generally very different from what believers typically pray about today. The prayers of scripture focus on our spiritual needs. Our need to be strengthened by His power, our need to see His perspective, our need to become more like Christ as we face tribulations, etc. Perhaps because our focus is often on the answer we want, we are not in tune with what the Lord wants to accomplish in these difficult situations; much like Peter when the Lord told the disciples He would be killed and would rise again. Peter rebuked Jesus and Jesus scolded Peter with,“Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” Mark 8:33.
I hate suffering and find myself often praying for God to relieve it in the lives of others; but then I remember that it’s in suffering that often the Lord is most glorified. We, too, must be careful to pray for the Lord’s work in each situation to prevail, that His purpose, not our desire, is accomplished.
What Rick Knock said, plus:
Jesus said go and sin no more lest a worse thing come upon you, and if demons see a clean empty house they will pile in. I think he was talking about natural consequences. The addict has to do two things — avoid the object of addiction, and deal with the issues that make it an overwhelming temptation–which involves letting Christ in to all the hidden hurt places of the heart, which is a process. (Dealing with the issues is MUCH harder than just going cold turkey.)If he is not willing, or tries and relapses (haven’t we ALL relapsed on a sin multiple times for years, even if it’s a more ‘kosher’ sin like temper or whining or selfishness?) does that mean God did not answer your prayer and isn’t still answering it? He hasn’t given up on his child just because they went back to the bottle/drugs. He’s still working on them. If they experienced some measure of freedom and sanity for even 2 months, that memory will stay with them to show them the way out. Maybe they need the BODY of Christ (ecclesia) to give them the moral support and safe place to heal and change. Maybe the person who was caring enough to pray hard for them needs to care enough to invest enough time with them for them to permanently conquer that addiction and go on to the next mountain they need to climb. Maybe God knows they have to go down three times before they will hate the thing that controls them, or really cry out to Him, or whatever.
I don’t think any true prayer is in vain, God loves everyone more than I do, and He is the only one that can see the whole picture. I don’t believe He will give up on anyone unless and until He knows with His infinite wisdom that nothing more can truly be done. Then there remains free will–Jesus had to watch the rich young ruler walk away. But it ain’t over until it’s over.
This is what I have learned from a rough life lived with the Lord, for example:
-My mom who believed in healing more than anyone I’ve ever met died of cancer at 56. Yes I still wonder, but I have peace and I actually did at the time even though we were VERY close.
-My minister husband was addicted to pain meds, abusive, and left me with 8 kids to raise. My prayers never changed him for long, but he went back and forth many times which was painful to watch. Boy am I thankful for my kids. God has always provided for me materially and spiritually.
-A good friend who was raised with horrific abuse and hardship, ‘adopted’ me as her mother 7 years ago and has since had an affair, a divorce, lived with a boyfriend, remarried an agnostic, and is addicted to meds, cusses like a sailor, but still believes in Jesus and is finally opening up about her wounds. (I have not always invested enough time with her as I think I am supposed to — I have my own issues I am being healed from–like being a Pharisee!) She has also nursed me through two nervous breakdowns–I think of her as having saved my life, metaphorically speaking. She is one of the most caring people I know.
-I finally have a local body of believers trying to live organically, and we have had some great experiences and breakthroughs, but also one split already (my best friend left!)and after 2 1/2 years are just beginning to learn to be honest with each other. This drives me crazy–literally. But they stood by me lovingly through another breakdown/breakthrough.
-A beloved daughter has left the Lord and pulled her sister away too, and is living an embarrassing lifestyle that is a constant thorn in my flesh. But she chose to marry another backslidden Christian kid, which I find significant and encouraging. When I was praying for her this year I distinctly felt the Lord saying she would be ok. I see no change other than that our relationship is better — I know that is because I have changed and learned to love her in a more unconditional way. I have a lot of patience with God’s slow way of working in others now because I am such a project for Him myself.
So maybe we need to ‘pray though’ to a definite answer from the Lord. Jesus said to pray and keep praying and not give up — and there are plenty of stories of that in the scripture (Elijah, Daniel). Also of people being told to STOP praying for something/someone because the Lord’s answer was a definite NO! (Samuel praying for Saul comes to mind. Hopefully Saul was not lost forever, but he definitely lost the kingship that was his. Abraham was told flat out that Ishmael could not be the promised child. Sodom was still destroyed, but Lot was rescued, yet his progeny was heathen nations– there is half an answered prayer for sure.)
Deep topic.
I don’t pray for others much unless I am reminded of them in prayer or they ask me to. I don’t necessarily think that I am not just a terrible lazy Christian. But I do know that if the Lord brings someone to mind, I am then able to pray confidently, boldly, and hopefully led by Him, and I spend enough time until I feel somehow that we are finished for that time. Praying for someone any other way always felt forced and hokey, so I am glad I learned how to fellowship with the Lord finally. It seems in scripture that people only healed others when they were led by the Lord to, or when asked during a time that ‘the Lord’s power to heal was present.’ I think this is both a LOT more healing than most of us are used to, but a lot less than some healing teachers would lead you to expect with their doctrine about it.
I was recently blest to participate in the Lord healing someone for the first time since I was young. The guy asked in obvious faith, I immediately felt strong faith that I can never work up on my own — the Lord’s presense felt very strong, we prayed, and he threw away his cane. The whole thing felt so ‘natural’ and ‘right,’ (there was nothing flashy or dramatic about it) that it will have a very little effect on me if his arthritis comes back. That could never take away from this truly mind/spirit blowing experience. (There was other internal and relational healing going on with this young man also to be even more thankful for.) I know something like arthritis comes and goes, and that it is a nutritional disease and this man may not be eating right. I have some different opinions about the ‘diseases of civilization’ like cancer, heart disease, and arthritis,etc. that we bring on ourselves as physical beings with generationally bad nutrition and drugs– I don’t think God feels required to save us automatically from those natural consequences, and that when He does, they can come back if we are not wise. We have not even begun to understand how the state of mind and spirit affects our health. It all has to go in the file with why does He allow any kind of suffering or evil or sickness at all — because He knows best — it’s the only way to allow free will–and do we trust Him REALLY? or not?
Ultimately, I choose to trust because I KNOW God is wiser than me.
What is God’s priority in prayer? The supremacy of Christ in the building up of His Church and the salvation of souls. We think prayer is based on our performance: if i live a perfectly holy life, then God answers me. It is not based on our works, but on His finished Work. All merit must go to the Crucified Lamb. We think we have to earn prayer answers by praying, but it is all of Grace. We boast on the Cross, not our good works. The ultimate goal of prayer is that we may know Him, not that our praying be glorified by answered prayer: because I prayed, God did this and that. That is very stupid. May I not be stupid in prayer.
Hey Frank,
Thanks for publishing what the Lord is doing in your life to benefit the church! The fruits of your labor is apparent as I am am one of them!
In response to this question, I have so many different examples to use (My story on Type 1 Diabetes at 18 years old, a marriage that is nearly lost, difficulties and difficulties more), and my stores pale in comparison to the testimony of so many others!
I have come to the realization, however, that the things that happen to us are in direct correlation to how Jesus addressed it in Matt 5:45: It rains on the just and the unjust alike. This would quickly summarize that there are great things and not so great things that happen beyond the scope of our comprehension. Especially in situations of pain.
Though I thoroughly don’t comprehend it, some of the most beautiful things in our lives are birthed out of pain, suffering, and tragedy (also in which I have many examples). However, look at the story of Jesus! Not a story (initially) with a happy ending to those who were right there in the moment. In those times of unforeseen difficulty, it becomes readily easy for us as finite beings to fixate on the initial outcome. Where problems seriously occur is when we take the initial outcome of it AND allow it do define WHO we will be, instead of deepening our resolve to press into our First Love (Rev 2:4). Please note that I am not condemning a period of grief and mourning for those who have experienced a horrible situation (that would be silly of me to do so). But I am encouraging you that if you find yourself in a situation where everything is falling down, NOW is the time to draw deeper into the arms of Jesus in recognizing that He is in control and will continue to define you on HIS TERMS and not by the results of the situations that have occurred (and praise Jesus for that!!!!).
In closing, I do the best that I can do draw closer to Jesus in my times of unanswered prayer. There have been some recent prayers that have been completely answered. And there are also prayers that are still in the works. But this I know without question:
“We are assured and know that [God being a partner in their labor] all things work together and are [fitting into a plan] for good to those who love God and are called according to [His] design and purpose.” – Rom 8:28(AMP)
When I am faced with difficulty, I place my trust in the love of Christ (1 John 4:16 NLT) to work its way in and through me. In doing so, I am believing that I will not be defined by my pain and anger, but by His design and purpose. Though it is not as simple as it lists out in this discussion, it is not impossible (Phil 4:13).
Thanks again Frank. God bless ya!
Brendon
Praying for someone is a gift we can freely give (they may not always know we prayed for them), but I rest in the peace that I have beseeched the Lord and given it to him. He gladly carries ths “burden” and takes the responsibility for the answer. I am at peace knowing that I am not responsible for the outcome. His perfect love may not look like I expect it to in terms that we as humans can measure (healing, etc.) or by what my eyes can see, but as I am becoming more and more “hidden” in him, I am learning to trust his heart of love for all people and his “answer” will go forth. His love is beyond measurement. He will even carry the pain when the answer doesn’t look like I expect it to!
Yes, God heals; yet He does expect us to use wisdom. Someone who returns to their drug habit may have continued to hang around with those who enabled/shared his/her habit. He gives us a list of “good foods” for us to eat to be healthy, but when we continue to eat unhealthy food, symptoms can return.
Plus we do need to walk in a close intimate relationship with our Healer. When we don’t stay under His shadow, doubts can cause the body to reject its healing.
I just keep praying. I know that if I pray according to God’s will, then He’ll hear me, and if He hears me, I have the petition I’ve asked of Him.
I don’t believe, though, that we always know what God’s will is in a given situation. We all die; we all suffer; we all experience losses — some worse than others. Who knows why? God — our Abba — He knows and He cares for us. This life is not heaven, though we can still live by His life. Suffering has its function in our lives, and He will give us exactly and precisely what we need. Because He loves us. It will be okay. He does have things well in hand and He WILL accomplish all His will. It’s for us to trust and obey and rejoice in our Father.
I enjoyed reading these responses. I myself know less than I did 30 years ago.
I was wondering about this subject Wednesday night. I have just recently started my wonderful journey with GOD. I want to thank all of you for replying. You answered so many of my questions. See…this is how GOD works….Here I was wondering about the question and the next thing I know I get a whole bunch of wonderful answers!
God told Paul that His grace was sufficient for him.
Frank, the best answer I’ve found came from an article of yours I read: nothing reaches us without first passing through the hands of our sovereign Lord first. To use your metaphor, we are living on pages 200-400 of a 2000 page book, and we can only see those pages. Only the Lord can see the whole picture, and work all things together for good (Romans 8:28). There is a supernatural element of faith to this. I don’t mean to simply repeat your words here, but I find comfort and peace in it when faced with these circumstances. BTW, I’m enjoying the new book 🙂 Blessings.
When my dear wife of 38 years was dying, a good friend asked if he could pray for her. Our church and many good friends were constantly sending prayers to God pleading for her healing from cancer. My friend said that perhaps my faith was weak and someone with a stronger faith should pray for her. My rather sarcastic answer was that a prayer by such a strong “prayer warrior” would need to come from a person at least 200 years old or better, 300 years old or more. This would prove that the “prayer warrior” had used their faith to defeat death and dying and all the diseases that would have come their way over the centuries. Needless to say, my friend was put off by my response.
I know the Bible has promised certain healing and answers to prayer. When I see the answer not fitting my expectations, I then want to either doubt my faith or doubt God.
Neither position is correct for a true believer.
Just before she died, my beloved wife began to glow with the peace and assurance of her and our prayers being answered. She could see a thin veil between life here and life with Christ there. This thin veil was physical death, and was simply a passage into her homecoming.
She saw her healing and the new body God had made for her. She was filled with delight that her prayers were granted even though it was beyond the grave.
My question of faith and healing was also answered. Where in the Word of God does it name a timeline for God to act on his promise to me? Could it be beyond our grave? Hmmm how about Abraham’s promise being filled of a great nation hundreds of years after his earthly death! I will never put God in a time box again…….Thomas
Thomas, thank you for sharing the precious experience of you and your wife. Your answer to the prayer warrior made me smile. Though well-intentioned…many of us believe that we know when a persons life has been lived to its fullest. We will have such a different perspective of it all on the other side, don’t you think? Thanks again for sharing and hopefully your “wisdom” made an impression on the prayer warrior that had a transforming affect on how he ministered to others from then on 🙂
Let us not forget that our minds are finite. God’s mind is infinite. His wisdom is infinite. God sees perspectives that we cant see. He sees from the vantege point of eternity. HE knows what He is doing. I dont always understand God, but I trust His loving heart. We need to discern what is God’s heart in a given situation. for instance, I wanted to marry a girl from an adventist denomination, but the Lord kept naggin me not to do it. I prayed to the Lord, please Lord give her to me. but from the throne of Heaven came a thundering NO. I know what is best for you. We must discern His will.
Our “stories” go on after our deaths. God continually weaves lives and situations and impacts us. We only see short term. Won’t it be fun to see it all when we go through that thin veil?
I’m a plowhorse and not thoroughbred racehorse so I just keep on praying away until Hell lets go and heaven understand I’m serious about my prayers.
God made us to have a freewill. I think even God has sad feelings about how we exercise that freewill sometimes. But He also rejoices when we freely choose to be apart of our destiny in Him.
I heard this somewhere, “Don’t lean on the shovel and pray for a hole.”
We are to pray and work. We may get God’s quick blessing of an answered prayer, but we must do our part to continue in good health. Or maybe God’s answer won’t come quickly. We are to continue to pray. Who knows, his blessing may come tomorrow. Pray and don’t quit.
I apologize for not reading all of the above responses – so if this is a duplicate….
It has been my experience that “YES” is not God’s ONLY option for an answer to our prayers – and that to assume so makes Him nothing more that our own “personal genie”, responsible to make all of our whims and wishes to become reality. He is definitely not even remotely akin to this notion. Many times God gives us a definitive and resounding “NO” answer, sometimes perhaps a “not yet – you are not ready for this at this time” answer. Many times when he does answer with a “yes”, it is only to teach a lesson that perhaps we do not always want what is best for us and the consequences for receiving what we want is a fate worse than what we thought we had before we got what we wanted.
As far as the “cancer” illustration in your question, I have been there many times personnally. I lost my dad to cancer in 2000 after many, many fervent prayers. Why did God not say “yes” to heal him? Perhaps it is because that through his death someone else found Christ. I do not know for sure why – only that God is in control and wants what is best for His Son’s bride – and God will get what He wants. So if my dad – or anyone – dies from cancer, is killed by a drunk driver, commits suicide or dies from a drug overdose I have to believe that none of these things take God by surprise and while He may not cause the incident He will allow it for His own purpose – whether revealed to me or not. For His glory.
I have been thinking this last week about prayer. What is prayer?
For me, prayer is surrendering to the will of God in my life, acknowledging Him everyday as a lifestyle… much like worship is a constant and lifestyle rather than a ‘session’.
Intersession is something I have not really thought much of yet in this process. Regarding personal prayers, I accept that God is sovereign and all the good and difficult things in my life are for His perfect work in me. (Romans 12:28)
Amen and Amen..
It seems to me that whenever prayer doesn’t “work” we create a doctrine around the reason why it didn’t. Such as “they must have sinned…again” or “God is sovereign.” The problem with these ‘answers’ is they end of high-jacking our faith. How can we possibly pray in faith the next time around if we entertain thoughts like that? It’s the devil’s candy, I believe, to get us to subvert our faith and have ‘life’ shape us instead of God. And I do know that if Jesus were in the room, that individual wouldn’t suffer with the kind of answer we would give. He would never say, “it’s not your time,” or “God has a sovereign choice and He decided not to heal you,” or “you still have sin in your life.” I know Jesus would stretch out His hand or simply say, “you are healed.”
We have Christ in us, the hope of Glory. Therefore Jesus is already on the job- He lives in us. Scripture says when we have faith the mountain moves. But I think that often we pray out of ‘fear’ and not ‘faith’ (Oh God, pleeeeeez heal Jimmy!) because we are afraid our loved one may die. But fear is never faith. Faith is knowing who you are in Him and knowing what He would do about the situation and responding the same way. And if we see no answer or half answers we remain solidly knowing that His will is to always heal–how do we know? Jesus is the exact representation of His Father and I never saw Jesus turn anyone away.I have personally prayed for countless people and have seen tumors go, fibromyalgia leave, migraines, arthritis and skin ailments have fled in Jesus Name. And recently I prayed for a 17 year old boy who’s cancer had returned. He got better for a time, then he passed away last week. He was my daughter’s friend. I will not beat myself up, nor will I create a doctrine to make my sore heart feel better. I will go after that thing the next time it rears it’s ugly head because I know I do not stand in awe of any sickness, disease, or devil. I stand in awe of my Lord; Who is willing and able. I believe ALL of scripture. I believe the righteous will never be shaken. Be encouraged!
(I have addressed this on my blog as well as well as the “sovereignty of God” in my book– sorry for shamelessly promoting)
I do agree that we should boldly ask of our Father that which our heart desires. And, yes, sometimes our hearts need to be better aligned with the will of GOD. But somethings we know what side God stands on. We are created by God to desire life, health, and wholeness and I believe we are fully within God’s will to pray against those things that are opposed to God and pray for life, health and wholeness, even in the physical world. Is spiritual life, health and wholeness the bigger priority? Absolutely; however I believe we must pray our heart until God changes our heart. God IS sovereign and has final say over all things…but He invites us into a dialogue…an honest dialogue. We can say all the canned lines we want, all the “go to” phrases we think he wants to hear, but God is still going to see what our heart truly desires…so why not just speak it aloud as well. Quit trying to be PC with God…David, Daniel and especially Jesus are perfect examples of laying it out there boldy, honestly. Even Jesus asked that the cup pass from him if possible…but ultimately accepted what must be. That, I believe is the place we need to be. Speak our hearts honestly and expectantly to God…but receive His answers graciously and do not allow a past answer from hindering future requests. Many people do not have a continuous daily unending dialogue with GOD…verbal words, thoughts filtered back and forth, visual recognition of things that flash a thought to God or from God. If you have a live dialogue with him daily…then the dialogue you have at moments of crisis will be very natural and honest as well…not the wish list some repeat at scheduled times of “prayer.”
Amen..
my dear sister, must of us think that death is the worst that can happen to a Christian. But Paul considered GAIN. I see all the suffering and persecution Christians go through in this dark world, but think about: an Eternity of PUre Pleasure. So i dont care how much I suffer now, or how much i sacrifice for christ’s purpose. The eternity of Heaven excceeds the second of time on Earth. What about the un-saved? well, our responsability is to sow the seed, and God gives the increase. We are not Life-givers. Our purspose now is just to do God’s will, and leave the results in God’s infinite wisdom.
I am really loving this question and the answers and perspectives of those on this blog. This is on a less serious level, but in our home we’ve had the discussion about is it appropriate to pray for insignificant things like a victory in a sports event…is God really interested in something “trivial.” In our home, sports are not trivial LOL… we play and compete at many things. I’ve expressed to my children that I believe GOD cares about everything that we care about. So then the question comes, well what if two teams are playing each other and both have praying believers…is God going to bestow victory on one over the other. I definitely believe that GOD intervenes in all sorts of arenas, serious and trivial, for his purposes. God can use victory in one persons life and use defeat in another…God is using all the things in our lives to finish what He has started in us. And I agree with comments above that there is a free will variable and environmental variables that certainly God could over-rule, but doesn’t.
IMO:
Something caused cancer to occur the first time; and even after God heals it, something can cause it to occur again. Similar situation with addictions.
We might ask, “What are the reasons why God would heal someone in the first place?” He raised Lazarus, though we assume that Lazarus died again. But through this healing, God received Glory, and many came to believe in Jesus.
We won’t be completely healed until we receive our glorified bodies; but in the meantime, God makes His presence known in various ways. One of those ways is through healing. But each person who is healed, for however long, will die again. This is as it must be. Death, on both the spiritual and physical level is the door to life through which we all must pass.
So, what does a temporary healing accomplish? God’s presence, love and compassion is made known. Valuable time is gained for special time with loved ones. A witness usually goes forth. We likely won’t know all the effects of the ripples in this life, but God knows what He’s doing. We can trust that any healing, however temporary, accomplishes something of eternal value, even if the full value isn’t known by us in this life.
The first thing to acknowledge is that God did answer prayer and He did heal, restore, deliver.
Not that this is the answer to your question in every circumstance but Jesus himself instructed those he healed or delivered not to return to their sin or a worse thing would befall them. Could it be that in some of these circumstances they get saved from their ailment which is but a symptom only to return back to the same mindset, unforgiveness, iniquity or sin that allowed a evil spirit to attack them in the first place?
Prayer isn’t the exercise of convincing a reluctant God to do what we think He should do, but won’t unless we beg Him to.
Our prayer too, doesn’t override the will of another person.
So perhaps we’re in need of a radical understanding of what prayer is and what it’s intended to accomplish. Yes it changes the one praying. I think it’s a cop-out however to say that and then leave hanging why prayer doesn’t seem to “work” in view of passages of Scripture that speak of its power to work effectual change around us and to move mountains.
For me, prayer is me aligning myself with God’s work and not seeking to align God with mine. When I’m in that place prayer becomes powerful in a way that begging never has.
I love this reply.
Thank you, Bart. This is a brilliant reply. I wish I would have written it. 😉 You are right. While Frank Viola remains my all-time favorite author, on prayer nothing can help us understand prayer more than Larry Crabb’s “The PAPA Prayer. PAPA is an acrostic for movements in prayer, and when understood and used, I’ve seen it transform many lives.
These cases seem to be that we have free will. Your friends chose to drink and use drugs. You cannot be responsible if they “fell off the wagon”(or jumped). They are ultimately responsible for their own actions. If your first friend does not make the lifestyle changes necessary to prevent the recurrence of cancer, that too is his choice. A healthy body is capable of fighting cancer and curing itself. (I will not get on my soapbox here.)
I think it was Oswald Chambers that said…it is not about the answered or unanswered prayer that we should approach the throne room of God with our intercessions and petitions…but it is in the joy of knowing that we commune with a Sovereign, Almighty, Holy God that makes prayer what it really is. I might have added to it a little. LOL Anyways, what we need to do is stop worrying about “what happened to my prayer” and continue to pray without ceasing! We must be attune to God’s sovereignty and providence in our lives no matter the situation. To me, it seems that prayer is a private, relational continuous commitment to God!
Paul…yes, “pray without ceasing…continuous commitment.” Reminds me of something that has stuck with me for a long time. Many times I’ve heard people say…”make an appointment with God.” “You schedule business meetings, hair appointments, dates with spouse…put God in you appointment book.” That really opposed something in my spirit…and I realized…GOD is not like my business colleagues, he’s not like my hairdresser, or my spouse…he doesn’t need an appointment and neither do I…the uniqueness of Him is that He resides with me always, eternally…yes I need to make sure I’m keeping the airways clear and that my thoughts, actions, ideas are filtering and rebounding off Him…and yes many times I need to really get alone and either outloud or silently be with Him…but those who only communicate at their specified quiet times miss alot. the more we incorporate diaglogue with him in word, thought, even if they are instances and flashes…He becomes more and more of our daily life…that invisible companion…and our prayerlife becomes much more dynamic and powerful…and leaves us with fewer questions.
The way I see it is that God in His sovereign plan has left out many details for us to understand. I choose to look at situations like those as part of His working in the friends’ and my life. I am in the middle of reading “From Eternity to Here,” which is fantastic, and just finished the part about God making us into gold, pearl, and precious stone. We cannot escape these processes if we are to grow in Christ; we are going to be refined and tried. So I guess a better question for me would be, how do we come along side that brother or sister who is struggling in their faith without losing our own faith or becoming hard-hearted and cynical? I am tired of the pat response: “All prayer is answered, but maybe not the answer you are looking for.” That does nothing to show love and compassion to the person who is suffering and does not help restore or build others, including myself, up into Jesus Christ.
Yes, I am tired of pat answers too. My least favorite is, “Jesus is enough”. Just be honest and tell me to go away because you don’t want to hear any more!
So, what is an example of a response that you would like to hear or have heard in the midst of struggle and prayers that seem unanswered?
I am here, and I love you no matter what. And really mean it! This is the way we show Jesus to others.
I’m going to apologize in advance for a long reply. Rom. 12:15 says to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. Prayer is only part of what we need to offer those who are hurting, struggling, and even questioning. We also need to extend the love of Christ that comes alongside and walks that road with them. It’s easy for me to say I’ll pray for someone — in fact, it’s almost a way of keeping my distance from their problems. It’s much more difficult to pray for them AND be there for them every day, to help them when it’s uncomfortable or inconvenient for me, to just let them talk, cry, and even voice those questions about faith and God.
I have a close friend who had cancer. She went through the radiation and chemo then relapsed and went through chemo and a bone marrow transplant. It was a long haul for her, and without getting into any details, her family and most of her friends in the IC really weren’t there for her. I had young children and was trying to run my own business at the time, and about all I could do was talk to her on the phone. So, that’s what I did. I called her every day and let her talk, even though my customers complained that my line was often busy (this was before call waiting 🙂 ), because sometimes she needed to talk for a couple of hours. I didn’t feel like I did much because I wasn’t able to help her in more practical ways, but, 20+ years later, she still tells people that those calls are what the Lord used to get her through it all.
Yes, I prayed with her and for her. I prayed for healing and many other things I felt she needed during that time. We both trusted in God’s will for her, but, when she relapsed and was in the midst of her suffering, I just didn’t have an answer for why my prayers seemed to only be half-answered. I’m glad to say she’s still in remission, but, even if she wasn’t, I know that God heard my prayers…although His will for her life didn’t look like what I prayed for.
Maybe we struggle with what we consider half-answered prayer because deep down we really think that God owes us an answer or explanation. I like the quote in Paul’s comment that “it is in the joy of knowing that we commune with a Sovereign, Almighty, Holy God that makes prayer what it really is.” If we call pleading, begging, and even making demands “prayer”, then we’re bound to be disappointed with our Father’s response or lack of response. However, if our desire is that our prayer be a time of communing with our Lord, we can be sure that prayer is ALWAYS answered. And I can still bring requests to Him and trust in whatever answer He gives.
As a believer who spent over 30 years thinking that pleading and begging was “prayer” (and that my prayer was fervent if my pleading was impassioned), I still struggle with that mindset and am learning how to just commune with our precious Lord.
The thing that I find most striking in all of your examples is they are all things that seldom if ever have an instant fix.
Cancer is something that God can and does heal – but the real proof is not the next doctor’s appointment but the one the following year. We should rejoice when a battle is won but should not confuse it with the end of the war.
With both alcohol and drug addictions it is even more complicated. The instance of stopping is not as important as the long walk of continuing to stop. In my opinion, miracles in the first instance open the door for us to participate in the healing through the messiness of relationship. This is also part of God’s sovereign healing.
Interesting blog….
This is such a good point!
Good question!
I don’t have the answer either, but I was thinking that there may be a connection between this and Luke 18 where Jesus is teaching his disciples to pray and not give up or lose heart.
Of course, the situation in the parable is not the same as what Frank has described, but Jesus’ point that we need to trust the goodness of God and not give up still holds true. God is not an unjust judge and neither is He one who gives only to take it right back (though He has the right to–ask Job).
I also think of the “partial” healing of the blind man. Jesus did not lose heart, but prayed for him again. Might we also say that the disappearance of visible cancer, visible alcoholism and visible drug addiction may not have been the whole story? There are things underlying cancer and addiction that we don’t fully understand. Maybe we are being led to pray, not just for the healing of these outward manifestations, but also for their root cause?
Wow…that is not a short answer kind of question. But this is my perspective. First, though I know my GOD loves me perfectly and what His best for me…any good blessing He bestows upon me, my family, my friends, etc. is undeserved. I am so greatful he allows me to pour my heart out; to lift my own and others needs to Him and hand them over, but ultimately the imperfection of this world will consume our fleshly bodies, short of Jesus’ return. No matter how many times God snatches us from the jaws of death or danger, our fleshly bodies will forever remain vulnerable to this world. Be thankful for the 3 extra months, be greatful for the periods of sobriety, but remain mindful that GOD guarentees us He will always be with us and that he will carry us from life to life…but our fleshly bodies will not be unscathed on this journey. Each obstacle, challenge, heartache & loss; each gift, triumph, and joy are part of the course, the race, of this life on earth…and we are to find HIM at each turn.
Hi Frank,
I’ve wondered at the same thing myself many times. I’ve asked why things work that way all to often. I beleive that it may have something to do with free will. God answered your prayers. That person you prayed for responded for a time to God’s Grace. But they then decided for themselves what kind of life that they want to live. I beleive at that point there freewill overrules your prayers.
This has often been a question I have had. I think the answer lies in the fact that often times we have to participate with God and partner with him in some of our prayers being answered. In other words we have to do our part. For me to not get discouraged I always try to remember that we have the ability to choose a different path than God would like. So for things like people being delivered of addictions there is a part the person has to play in partnering with God to have that prayer fully answered. So my way of not getting discouraged is to realize and accept people’s shortcomings and who they are at a given time. Now on the problem you posed about 1/2 answered prayers for things like health issues where people may not have a choice about what’s happening to them. I think as long as they’re doing their part (i.e. seeing doctors, doing what the doctors tell them etc.) then they are doing their part to partner with God. If it doesn’t work out, i.e. the cancer comes back after 6 months, then to not get discouraged requires acceptance. Accepting life on life’s terms. That’s not to say a person gives in, but rather when one accepts and RESTS in God’s love and abilities it will turn out the way it is supposed to.
That’s my two cents although it won’t buy you a cup of coffee!
Its not all about us and our prayers. God is working in EVERY single life. He is working out HIS plans in each life..regardless of our prayers. If we pray according to His will/plan, our prayers will be answered 100%. If our prayers don’t match His will/plan, then we get half answered or “unanswered” prayers (they are actually answered, its just that the answer is “no”). He isn’t Santa..we don’t get everything we want just because we ask for it. He is working out what is best for each person..according to HIS plan/will. Sometimes His idea of “best” is confusing to us. How can it be best for someone to have cancer, or be addicted to drugs, etc? Only God knows what He is doing. As He has said, His thoughts are not our thoughts, His ways are not our ways. This is where trust and faith come in.
I’ve wondered about that. So we can pray “Thy will be done” and let it go at that?
While every circumstance can have a wide range of “reasons” for the apparent 1/2 healing… no matter what they are I go back to the truth found in 2 Cor 2:14-15 “But thanks be to God, who in Christ ALWAYS leads us in triumphal process…” that triumphal process comes after the battle is won. If we do not see the triumph, then we are not at the end of the situation/circumstance/battle… we must choose to stand believing that He will triumph over all sin, sickness, evil and satan’s works – it just may not be in our present time that we see it, but it is going to happen. We only see in part, so if my perspective does not include His victory, then I purpose to get alone with Him until I do get that perspective. We have had many difficulties in our walk (over 40 years) and one thing has proven to be very true – God is Good… no matter what circumstances, my emotions, fear, or thoughts say. I love what I heard one time, that if my circumstances are bigger than my God, am focusing on the wrong thing.
Amen. Jesus prayed ” if there be any other way…” but ultimately obeyed his Father’s will and went to a cruel cross and a father’s wrath. His suffering, though innocent, would have been baffling to his enemy, but defeated sin and death. Complete victory and incredible glory in the end. Life in this present world is so little of the big picture of life in Christ and his life in us. Not to make small our struggles, but to put them in the eternal, and currently unseen, perspective of faith and life in the God of grace.
First, I’m wondering if you are making a distinction between God initially answering prayers and then things go back to the way they were before the prayer was answered and prayers that never receive the expected answer? My simplistic approach to both of these (which actually only happened recently when I have not seen prayer perform according to my expectation) is that God’s eternal plan is far beyond human comprehension. I have found rest in knowing that the dialectic tension between God’s sovereignty and our free choice is something that cannot be stacked neatly into a box that man explains. The very nature of Divine God means we are precluded from always knowing why He does what He does and allows what He allows. This is a place of rest and security, when God is supreme and I am able to depend completely upon Him – not only His actions, but His reasons (which He often does not disclose) as well.
I always have to remind myself who prayer is for. Is prayer for God or is prayer ultimately for me? Does my tiny little prayer actually change God’s plans and redirect the lives of others? Or is God a sovereign, all-knowing, all-powerful God. My vote is for God. 🙂
So if prayer is for me, prayer doesn’t change the world around me but changes me. It helps me to understand God’s plan. It helps me understand that humanity is fallen and I must continue to love others as Jesus has called us to. Prayer is to give me the heart and mind of Christ. Prayer is the fertilizer that grows the Spirit of God within me.
Just my two cents.
I agree with what you’ve said here, Brice. I think the issue has more to do with our relationship to God and trusting Him.
Perhaps the issue isn’t so much our perceived response from God, but what happens to each of us in the journey. Even during a time of loss, sorrow, or struggle there is beauty. Are we (those who pray, those who have faith and receive prayers, and those who don’t have faith but are willing to receive prayer) willing to hold His hand? Better yet, are we willing to hold each other’s hand and come along side those who suffer when it’ within our reach to do so?
In the end, it is the Beauty we behold that remains…
Genoise,
Great comment. Couldn’t have said it better myself. 🙂