St. John Studies

How many times have you stopped and given thanks to God for life circumstances that are pleasant, days that are productive and relationships which are strong. God is there and He is at work in our lives, bringing good things to pass, but we just don’t stop and praise Him.

We all know we should, but most of us don’t.

In W. Bingham Hunter’s chapter on prayer for the grateful soul, he pinpoints three reasons why we neglect to thank God. We will discuss one of those reasons today.

At the risk of revealing too much of my simple joy, I am going to use my current recovery from my broken pelvis to illustrate common reasons for lack of thankfulness.

The first reason certainly relates to how much I can do right now. The fact of the matter is I can’t do as much as I have done in the past. I am recovering from my accident and I am experiencing a lot of happiness about basic things in life that I once took for granted. After three months of sitting and walking with a walker, I am walking again. While I was struggling with basic mobility, I had to depend on my wife for so much.   A single example is she brought me coffee in the morning [she had done so much more]. I could not get up and make coffee myself. I could not sleep well at night since I led such an inactive life. I struggled to get in and out of bed, put on socks, and go to the bathroom.

Now after getting a positive report from my surgeon, I can do some of these basic things. Every morning when I walk to the kitchen and start the coffee pot, I want to shout hallelujah! I sit in bed in the morning sipping my own coffee and I pray fervent prayers of thankfulness to God for what He has allowed me to do. I pray thanks that my increased activity is leading to restful sleep at night.

I am writing about this in this post but truthfully, my enthusiasm is curbed around loved ones and friends.

Why?

Most people I have talked to about my rediscovered skills seem to share my joy but most people are where I was before my accident.   They do a lot in life and naturally, they take most of what they do for granted. That is exactly what I did before my fall. Life is fast-paced and there is very little time to slow down; most the time we are struggling just to stay caught up. We lose our awareness of the wonderful things that we are allowed to do, thanks to God our Father.

When you lose your basic abilities to live life and then you have lots of time to think about what you once had, that’s when you appreciate. That’s when you long to do what you once did; you miss the simple things of life.

Most people don’t want to hear about such mundane things like being able to put on your socks.  We want to hear about more exciting stuff like what’s going on in the news, plans for an upcoming purchase, or maybe plans for an upcoming trip.   The joy of putting on socks just can’t compete with what is going on in most people’s lives. Everyday activity is glossed over; most don’t want to hear the sock report or the number of times someone has successfully maneuvered to the bathroom.

As I am recovering, I have been honored to run with a new crowd of people since my accident. I spend time now with people who have suffered debilitating injuries.   I see them at the rehabilitation facility where I exercise. Most people have injuries which are worse than mine.   Many people I am around now are older than me and they struggle more than I ever did.   Do you think I am going to shout hallelujah; I did five hundred bicycle kicks in the therapy pool? I feel like it but I suppress my joy out of respect for those around me.   I teach Sunday School at my church and one of the members and a good friend is battling stage four colon cancer.   I have thoughts about her struggles all the time.   I don’t want to share my victories in recovery with someone who suffers so much, someone who is going through a much darker time than I did.

When we have moments when we need to thank God, those moments are good. God deserves our thanks. First Peter 5: 6-7, 9 says “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you….Your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.”   Jesus is there for us with His grace in our time of need.

He is there for us 24/7. He is there in the “large things” of life…

And the small…

The Westminster Shorter Catechism is a document written between 1646 and 1647 by theologians in the Church of England.   It was designed to bring the Church of England and the Church of Scotland into greater conformity.

It reads simply: “Man’s chief aim is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.”

As I comment on the use of thankful prayers in the book The God Who Hears I would also like to comment on this famous document that gives Christian life a focus. The words give all of us a reason for living; obviously it is to glorify God.

The catechism begs the question. Why do we need to glorify God? W. Bingham Hunter says the obvious answer is that “God is to be glorified simply because of the splendor and perfection of His own nature and character. He is personally worth it.”

Then he says that there are three other reasons.

First of all, we should glorify God because we exist. God did not have to make you or me but He did. Even though we all go through hard times, it is far better to exist than not to exist at all.   Hunter cites Scripture from Revelation 4:11 “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things, and by Your will they were created and have their being.” To glorify God in this circumstance means we are thankful to be alive.

Secondly, we should glorify God because He made us in His image with individual personalities, unique abilities and the capacity to think and communicate.  We have all this but we also have a great deal more.   In Psalms it says “You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet.” Therefore God is seen in our lives, in nature, the sun and rain, the seasons, human nature and history [Hunter, 112]. The Apostle Paul gives a clear answer about how man is to glorify God in the words: “In Him you live, move and exist.”

Finally, Christians should glorify God because of the covenant relationship we have with Him. He not only made us and has given us so much, He also loves us. He sent his Son to redeem us from the penalty of our sins and by Jesus’ blood and the power of the Holy Spirit that resides in all of us, God has become our Father. Hunter uses capital letters to emphasize what we have become because of this covenantal relationship: “A CHOSEN RACE, A ROYAL PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION.”

Now one would think that the three previous reasons are reasons enough to glorify God but let’s return to the catechism that opened this post and let’s examine it closely. It says “man’s chief aim” is number one, to glorify God and number two, to enjoy Him forever. Grammatically if one has two of something it would be proper to says aims instead of aim. In the statement it implies that glorification and joy go hand in hand.   They are one and the same.

To extend this even more, what may be implied is that if you glorify God, you will also enjoy Him. Joy in this life is within our grasp if we could just learn to live a life that is devoted to God.   Again, the Apostle Paul says in First Corinthians 10:31 “So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” From the most complex of human behavior to the most mundane, honor God in all that you do and you will be able to enjoy Him forever.

What more can a Christian want?

Indeed, we do have a lot to be thankful for.

I am not an expert on prayer. You can read about my background by clicking on “About St. John Studies”. However, the book that I write about is written by an author who purports to be an expert on prayer. I have enjoyed digging into the book and maybe a few people have gotten something from a comment or two that I have made. The book is dense in the description of what constitutes a good prayer life. It may be good to warn you today; my comments about the “prayer-obedience cycle” may be some of the most important I share from W. Bingham Hunter’s book, The God Who Hears.”

Over and over in my Christian life, I have heard the idea that we must learn to “pray in God’s will.” If we can learn to do that, we will have an effective prayer life.   Hunter says that learning to pray in God’s will is a cycle and it is based on a relationship the supplicant has with our Lord and Savior.

Basically, the ability to pray in God’s will is based on the extent that a person can obey God.

To begin, he says that every Christian has relationship cycles with other Christians and they are good. Growth can come from those relationships but not like the growth we can experience with a close relationship with God. Second, he states that praying in God’s will is not a “system.” We should never think of praying in God’s will as exchanging our obedience to God for His answers to our prayers: God is not our prayer answer vending machine.

The cycle that Hunter speaks of is manifest in those Christians who delight in the Lord which means they have His Word in their hearts; they meditate on His Word and they seek to follow His statutes. What happens when Christians delight in God? Slowly but surely, the desires of their hearts become more in tune with God’s desires. God’s Word overpowers their own concerns. They want to submit to God.

Finally, no one should think that prayer is a way to avoid work. God has given all of us talents and special abilities and God intends for us to use them.   People who pray righteous prayers don’t turn to God to avoid what they can do themselves. God can and will act if a situation is beyond the capability of an “obedient child” but don’t “expect Him to do in response to prayer what He has equipped them [His children] to do themselves” [Hunter, 104].

The “prayer-obedience” cycle stems from obedience. If you obey God, you will read His divinely inspired guidebook. If you read it, you will do what that Word says. If you truly obey God, you will use the talents He has bestowed on you, making your mark on the world in God’s name.

Hunter uses words from Luke 6:46 to close his thought on the important idea of prayer effectiveness: “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?”

That is an excellent question.

What is your answer?

Obedience: “compliance with an order, request, or law or submission to another’s authority.”

We expect our children to be obedient and hope that our requests are helpful in guiding them through life.   Teachers have to have obedience in order to conduct a class in some reasonable, effective pedagogical manner.   As citizens, we are all expected to be obedient to the laws of the land so we can live together in some form of civilized order.

As Christians, God expects us to be obedient to His commands. After all, He is our sovereign Lord.

As a parent, I know what obedience from my child means to me and as a teacher [thirty-six years] I know that obedience from students is greatly appreciated [for the learning environment in the classroom].   Every day we hear of people who break the law; some get punished and some do not.   However, if you are a victim of a crime the whole experience is upsetting. The vast majority of us really wish people would follow the law.

We know what obedience means to us, but what does our obedience to God mean?

First of all, obedience demonstrates to God that we love Him. Most of us probably think that praise and worship is the best way to demonstrate love to God but in John 14 it says “If you love me, you will obey what I command….If anyone loves Me he will obey my teaching….He who does not love Me will not obey My teaching. These words are not My own; they belong to the Father who sent Me.”   For many of us, obeying God is avoiding the temptation to sin. John Piper, author of the book Desiring God, says about this demonstration of love, “The power of love for God overpowers the love for sin.” Obedience leads to a freedom that one experiences.   Sin can be a prison but obeying God can set you free from sin.

Secondly, obedience proves to the world that we are God’s children. We all observe others.  Observation of others is the most important way that a non-Christian can see the difference that a love for God can make. Matthew 5:16 says “Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”   A Christian cliché that is so often used is very true.   “You are the only Bible that a non-Christian will ever see.”   Your behavior in life’s circumstances speaks volumes. If God is number one in your life, it will show.

Finally, obedience is a way that God has established to help us pray more effectively. If you look in the Bible, you will see the term abide used.   Abide is not a word we use every day, and you may wonder what it means. See it in the context of John 15:7: “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish and it shall be done for you.”   This is a “tit for tat” relationship based on human moral and ethical behavior. If we obey God’s commands and learn to please Him, we are more likely to know how to pray within God’s parameters. W. Bingham Hunter says it is much more complicated than trading obedience currency for our prayer wishes. God is not some “divine vending machine.” We can’t force God’s hand with our obedient actions but we can learn to be more clearly aligned with God’s expectations if we read His Word, follow His commands and pray accordingly”.

In this relationship, God and Jesus begin to manifest themselves in our Holy Spirit.   This is how we know God lives within us. Hunter goes on to say that Jesus discloses how this works in various places in the New Testament. The Spirit teaches us how to respond to life, reminds us of what Jesus has taught us. The spirit allows us to testify about God and it guides us “into all truth.”

We are conditioned by obedience this way: as we come to know God, we begin to see the Word through God’s eyes.

Just as good parents instill values into a child’s life and a good teacher can inspire values in a student, God can train all of us in the way we should go.

With God, obedience is worth it.

In my thinking, the life of a mature Christian is a good life…a life that I would love to lead.

The pathway to my maturity is based on my obedience.

*This post is based on W. Bingham Hunter, The God Who Hears.

I have never had a problem going to God in prayer and calling Him Father.

I was raised in my church and in my home to refer to Him that way and my earthly father was a truly admirable man, one who sacrificed for his family, a hard worker who loved his family the best he could.

Not everyone has had my experience.   All human fathers are not perfect. I know as a father that I am not.   I have made my share of mistakes in the raising of my son. Some sons and daughters have strong negative associations from the word father due to extremely negative relationships with their earthly fathers.   To pray to God the Father, they may have to find a way to forgive their earthly fathers. Their lives have been an effort to curry favor from a demanding earthly father or to avoid disobedience from an extremely punitive earthly father.

In short, these negative experiences get in the way of Christian obedience which according to John should not be burdensome because God’s children obey God as an act of love (John 1: 5:3).

Where did we get the idea of God as Father?

In the Old Testament, the rabbis of Judaism would not allow themselves to be that familiar with God. In fact, to refer to God as Abba or Father was seen as a sign of disrespect. Yet in Isaiah we read “O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand” [64:8]. In Malachi we read “Have we not one Father? Did not one God create us?” [2:10].

When we turn to the New Testament context, many Christians feel we are justified in calling God Father due to the wording of the Lord’s Prayer. When asked how to approach the Lord in prayer, Jesus said to simply use “Father.” He gave his disciples a special way to address God that had previously been His alone.

According to W. Bingham Hunter* this implies a new relationship with God, a new relationship that was different from the Old Testament relationship. First of all, God is capable of mercy, compassion and love for his children [us]. He has a personal interest in His children and a “consistent concern for their good.” God has a willingness to provide for the needs of His children and an ability to share mature knowledge, judgement and wisdom in the guidance and caring of His children.

From our point of view as God’s children, we should love, honor and respect our Father. We should know we depend on our Father. We should trust our Father’s judgement, His integrity and His abilities. In addition, we should be ready to obey our Father’s desires and will and if we cannot, we should accept our Father’s right to discipline us for our own good.

Unlike earthly parents, God is a perfect parent. He acts only for our good. He does not want to discourage us; He acts to encourage us. Unlike earthly parents, He does not use us to meet His own needs. When discipline comes, it is given to us in love, for our own good and never out of frustration and anger.

If we can just find a way to think of ourselves as God’s children, our obedience becomes a signal to Him and others that we love Him.   This is perfectly in accord with the role we have on earth. In Matthew 5:16, we find we are to “Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” Our obedience may cause others to offer their praise and thanksgiving.

Obedience opens up an avenue for prayer. God will not answer prayer that will encourage a disobedient lifestyle. A Christian who feels more obedient is more likely to be open to prayer communication with God. Over time, obedience can also train us to pray according to His will. The more we study the Word of God and the more we pray to God, the more we can begin to understand God’s motives. Of course, we can never see things from God’s perspective, but we can begin to understand which principles of behavior are aligned with God’s teachings.

As I stated earlier, some people have major hurdles to overcome to think of God as Father, but there are real benefits.   In order to have a strong prayer connection with our Heavenly Father, it may be worth it to reconcile with an earthly father.   If reconciliation is not possible, can you find it in your heart to forgive your earthly father his shortcomings?

To have a Heavenly Father to talk to can make a world of difference to you.

It has made a world of difference to me.

*author of The God Who Hears

The role that God plays in tragedy is discussed so often because we have so much tragedy to deal with in our lives.   Every day the Christian and non-Christian alike have tragic circumstances to deal with but since the book we are working through is about prayer, the bottom line is how do we pray when tragedy strikes?

First of all, let’s stop trying to be God and come up with some reason for tragedy.   Too often Christians put on stoic faces and say that horrible events require us to be strong, have faith and all we have to do is wait until God takes bad events and turns them into good.

I like what W. Bingham Hunter says: “What we must stop doing is trying…to figure things out, and admit that we are creatures who cry. There is no victory in putting on the façade that we can smile when it hurts. This is deception and non-Christians can see through this behavior and label our behavior hypocrisy.”

David, in Psalms 31: 7-10, is a role model of a Godly man who is suffering and praying to God: “I will be glad and rejoice in Your love, for You saw my affliction and knew the anguish of my soul. You have not given me into the hands of the enemy but have set my feet in a spacious place. Be merciful to me, Lord, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and body with grief. My life is consumed by anguish and my years by groaning; my strength fails because of my affliction, and my bones grow weak.”

Recently I was asked about the accident I had with the ladder and the resultant surgery I have had on my broken pelvis. A man asked why it happened and shared the idea with me that either God pushed me off the ladder for a reason or the devil pushed me off the ladder for a reason.

I see no value in this speculation.

It happened.

As a Christian, there have been many times when my faith was tested in this life episode. A long night in the trauma ward, awaiting surgery alone in a room with a large wall clock [not able to sleep], coming out of surgery unable to get out of bed and do anything.   Was I fearful? Was I praying? Why did the fear not go away? I wanted it to but God did not take it away.   I had fear. I am human.

Recently I traveled to see my surgeon and I was praying he would say my bones were knit back together. Was I scared he would say there is a problem?   You bet I was.   My faith was just not strong enough even though I had people praying for me and I was sending up fervent prayer from the doctor’s office. I am human. Hunter cites this prayer by Joseph Bayly and it is so real: “ I cry tears to you Lord, tears because I cannot speak. Words are lost among my fears, pains, sorrows, losses, hurts but tears you understand. My wordless prayer you hear. Lord wipe away my tears, all tears not in distant day but now here.”

I believe God understands the truth we speak when we say in prayer that we are shaken. I also believe God can identify with hurting people. Hunter cites the popular book by Philip Yancey who poses the question in his title “Where is God When it Hurts?”   Hunter has the answer: “on the cross, taking to Himself, in Christ the pain, agony and terror of all the suffering in the whole universe.” Second Corinthians 5:19 “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself.” He is not sitting above the earth, arranging things for His creatures, shoving us around a chess board like pawns. He is with us, by our side as we cry our tears of fear and suffering.

Instead of worrying about praying to a God who lets people hurt, we need to pray to a God who died for people who hurt.

I have been involved with a study of Revelation, a book of the Bible that is pretty challenging to understand.   I am trying to understand it but it is doubtful that a layperson such as myself will be able to have a solid grasp of the book’s meaning. But one thing I am understanding is that God will eventually wipe all our tears away. God wins in the end. There will be no more death, or mourning or crying or pain. When Jesus returns He will make everything new.

He cares for you and he cares for me.

He cares so much that He will help us through our time of tragedy. He is there with us. He understands.

That’s why we call Him Savior.

Every day we hear of the tragedies.

The teen who is killed in a car wreck.

The small child who suffers from some mysterious illness.

The fire that wipes out a family home and all of the family’s possessions.

Suffering.

Why does it happen?

As a Christian we don’t understand and yet we see it every day. Our human nature wants an explanation and God won’t furnish one. All He gives us is silence…and we are left to guess what is going on.

Some Christians respond by losing their faith. They can’t believe in a God who would allow such suffering. When it is your teen, your child or your home, the grief can be so all-consuming that the personal loss is too much to bear. The bottom line for them is this: how can a loving God allow this to happen?

The silence of God shatters faith.

Other Christians take another tack.   They say things like “God can take horrible situations and make good happen from those situations.”   On one level that sounds excellent. Maybe support for this explanation is based on Romans 8:28 “in all things God works for the good of those who love Him.” But on another level, the horrors that can happen in our world should not be attributed to a God who allows suffering just so He can do good. W. Bingham Hunter* states “no parent would choose to let his child be cruelly murdered so that these ‘good things’ would result. Friends who have faced tragic losses are not usually comforted by well-meaning friends who tell them ‘someday you will understand God’s reasons.’”

I have written on this before. There was a time when there was no evil in this world, no tragedy. That time was in the Garden of Eden when God created man in His own image but He gave man the ability to make decisions about good and evil. Instead of creating humans as automatons, God wanted to give men and women choices and they chose evil on their own.   Man introduced evil into this world, so we had better think long and hard before we imply that God is a part of that.

With the advent of man, came the ability to love but also the ability to hurt others.   Man has the ability to glorify God but also the ability to sin.   Man’s freedom makes possible agony, tyranny and oppression [Hunter, 86].

“God does not make evil into good. Evil remains evil no matter how much God may eventually be pleased to reveal” [Hunter, 87].

We just can’t stand not knowing what God is up to.   What happens to us is that we try to play God with our explanations.   We can’t stand not being able to explain tragedy, pain and suffering.   When evil people in the world seem to thrive, we are dumbfounded. It seems too unbelievable but some evil people do seem to thrive. Job is totally confused in 27: 7-8, 11-15 when he says “Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power?”

Jesus was divine and He knew why He had to go to the cross.   That did not make His impending suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane any easier. In Luke, He was in anguish and sweating profusely. In Hebrews, it is reported that He cried. He asked for the help of friends who failed Him in His time of agony [Mark, 14:32]. In Luke, He needed help from an angel to continue [Luke, 22:43].

If Jesus was not accepting of the evil that man was about to do to Him, why do we as Christians feel we have to accept evil with a happy face and say things like “God can use horrible things and do good.”

I have learned that it is ok to just say “I don’t know.”   I have learned that it is better to accept the pain of suffering and just suffer.

It is ok to be human.

It is ok to realize the limitations in our knowledge.

It is not our job to be God and know why everything happens.

Instead of our questioning God’s motives and pondering His role in suffering, it may be much better to think about our holiness and justice, our choices that we have made in life.

We should question ourselves, not God.

When we do that, we will get a sense of why suffering may be occurring. We introduced evil into the world; maybe we need to own it.

*Author of The God Who Hears

“Examine the situation in light of Scripture and common knowledge, seek the advice and counsel of other believers, evaluate your skills, abilities and gifts, and consider the impact the alternatives will have on yourself and others. Review the factors involved with the Lord in prayer, ask for His help and then make a decision. Trust the Lord to direct your steps. With His word in your mind, His spirit in your heart and a desire to please Him impressed on your will, you may follow what seems the best course and assume that such a course is God’s answer to prayer” [Hunter, 80].*

This is our author’s advice about what to do when God does not answer prayer.

This situation can be disconcerting, discouraging and downright confusing. You have prayed and prayed. You have poured out your heart. You have sent God your most fervent words of supplication and

Nothing…

Some people continue with prayer in spite of not getting an answer.

Some people get so frustrated that they have a loss of faith.

Some people just throw up their hands and move on to other concerns.

This situation can be damaging for Christians who are serious in their relationship with God. In our world today, we expect answers.

My wife recently told me about overhearing a fellow shopper interact with a store employee in a local grocery store. This woman had been a frequent shopper in this store for quite some time.   She could not locate an item she needed for a recipe and she asked a store employee to help her find the item; she needed it.   The employee tried and eventually said, “I don’t think we have it any more.” The woman would not take no for an answer.   My wife listened to her interact with the store employee. “I need to speak to someone else. You just don’t get it. I have bought this here before.” The employee said “I am sorry; I can’t find it.” Again and again, she expressed the idea that “You just don’t get it; you just don’t get it…” My wife said it was as if she was purposefully trying to cajole the employee into producing the item through humiliation. Her strategy did not work.

Surely we don’t try to humiliate God to get what we want but how do we take no for an answer?

Our problem may be that we may be unwilling to act on our own behalf.   What this means is that some Christians use the “no” as a reason to do nothing. We act in a passive manner, procrastinating on taking any action that we could take.

My belief is that God has given each of us specific skills and abilities. Maybe God is waiting on us to act to help ourselves before He steps in.

Hunter* cites the relationship that Jesus had with his Father as support for this idea. He says that Jesus led a life of personal responsibility while He was on earth. He gave responsible service to God, never expecting God to do something He was capable of doing. We want to pray to God “If you loved me you would help.” We can’t believe that God would say “Because I love you, I won’t. I’ll help you do it yourself.”

God knows us intimately and He knows what we are capable of doing. He is our Savior but He may not be open to our mechanical manipulation and exploitation.   He has made us and expects us to use our God-given skills when we can.

Some of us [I am speaking about myself] won’t let concerns be handled by God. I keep worrying myself over matters that are beyond my control. Others may be too quick to pray and turn everything over to God. God is supposed to do all the heavy lifting and we are left with nothing to do at all.

Worrying about things beyond our scope of action is not good but inaction when we could take action is not good either. God is my treasure in heaven.   He gives me strength, wisdom, peace and understanding beyond my capability.

He has also given me some skills and I appreciate those skills.

I think He wants me to use those skills or He would not have given them to me.

Skills to help myself

and others…

Ephesians 2:10 “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

*W. Bingham Hunter The God Who Hears

Persistence

I had a student at my college who was an extremely devout Christian. I got to know her pretty well since she was a member of the speech team I coached. I also got to know her parents.   I know that her father and mother raised her to pray.   She also had a personality trait that some may call “obsessive” which really means that once she set her mind to something, she did not give up. I remember her telling me one time that her heart hurt for an older brother who had fallen away from his faith in God.   She said she prayed for him morning and night and had done so for years.   She wanted him to come back to his Christian faith upbringing.

This is what I would call persistence.

God values the trait of persistence.   Just look at James 1: 1-5 as James talks about not giving up during trials in our lives. He says we should welcome situations where we have to persist or persevere.

In Romans, Paul prays for the opportunity to go to Rome and he asked God to arrange it. Every time he got ready to go, his plans were ruined. Yet Paul continued to pray. His desire to go to Rome was not diminished but God was not helping him reach his destination. He finally received assurance that he was going to go, but he was imprisoned at the time. Paul was in prison for two more years before he began his trip. When he finally boarded his boat, he set sail through a two week storm, the boat wrecked and he was delayed for three months on an island due to foul weather. God got Paul to Rome but Paul’s prayers took two and a half years to be answered. His persistence paid off.

In other places in the Bible, Paul prayed for a physical discomfort to be eliminated and God replied that He would not remove the weakness. Paul found that answer sufficient and he did not persist.   Moses prayed for God to allow him to enter Canaan.   God had already said he would not. The Lord said “That is enough. Do not speak to me anymore about this matter.”   Maybe Moses did not have the same peace as Paul about this matter but he knew not to persist.

When do we continue to pray when we don’t receive an answer?   When do we continue to pray when we get a negative answer? W. Bingham Hunter* says we should persist in prayer when the opportunity for God to act is not gone and He has not told you to stop praying. If we don’t continue to pray our request will never be granted. In my opinion, this idea is based on Matthew 7:7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” If you don’t ask, you will not receive. One never knows when God will be gracious to us.

A mistake we can make is the attitude that we can wear God down.   We should not treat God as if He is a stubborn friend who could easily grant us a favor.  We just need to keep asking and asking until the friend is so irritated that he relents.   We need to be careful that prayers not get mechanical over time. They can become meaningless. Sincere prayers can become rote over time and I cannot imagine that God is pleased with that type of prayer. If your heart is no longer in your request, you have to ask if you are merely going through the motions.

We need to remember that we are totally dependent on God. He is our Savior. He is our sovereign Lord. He is in control. We are not.

If we are not getting an answer to our persistent prayer request or the answer is a repeated no, maybe there is a good reason.   God knows what is best for us.   God knows what we need better than we do. Sometimes persistence is just stubbornness on our part and I am not sure that God honors human stubbornness.

We must always remember that we are the petitioner.   We are not God.

Persistence can be good if it does not fly in the face of a clear negative response.

If God says “Do not speak to me anymore about this matter.”

Accept things as they are and move on…

To other prayers.

Skepticism…

When one declares to others that they have heard from God regarding a prayer concern, the response that many Christians and non-Christians alike may have is skepticism.

Does God really communicate directly to us as He did in the Bible?  Bingham Hunter* states “most Christians in our day do not routinely experience these types of responses to their prayers. Many never do.”

But that does not mean that direct communication from God does not occur.  Some believers may feel they have had a word from God but they hesitate to tell others about it because they feel they will be judged as mentally unstable. Others may just tell their closest friend in hopes that their friend will keep their trust and not repeat the information to others.

Let’s assume that it is possible.   Let’s assume that people do get direct communication from God. Are there any guidelines that would confirm His words?   Hunter admits that some people may just have ideas inspired by a dream or possibly even indigestion and we know there have been people who have been arrested with guns or bombs who have said “God told me to do it.”

Obviously those people could use some guidelines for discerning God’s word.

What are some clues that would help the rest of us discern that a word from God may be authentic?

One thing we could do is compare the response from God with His word.   The trick here is you have to be a dedicated reader of His word. People who read the Bible so much that they are familiar with Scripture have a definite edge.   I know of some members in my church who have not only read the Bible; they can cite large chunks of God’s word by memory.

If you don’t have Biblical knowledge at your fingertips, go to your pastor or elders in your church.   Hunter says a good guideline is that God’s “response to prayer is not extraordinary. Prayer is not an invitation to a side show.”

God’s response to prayer may come in the form of a devotional reading. Many devotional readings cover general principles which can relate to a prayer petition you may be making to God.   Devotional readings are Scripture-based. God’s answer can also come in the form of a word from your pastor or Sunday school teacher.

Hunter cautions us about the Christian who says things like “I have peace about a situation.”   Seeking peace can be real and God-inspired but he says that peace can also come from fear or just pure laziness. Some people report peace about a concern but this may just be an effort to quit thinking about their problems and they are tired of praying.   Maybe they need to keep praying or thinking about their problem but they have thrown up their hands and have decided to let God handle the whole matter for the wrong reason.

That is not all bad.   Too many times, we think we have to control life and we don’t control life. God does. However, when it comes to prayer, I personally believe that God is sometimes waiting for us to do our part.   It may be prayer. It may be undergoing a personal change.   It may be reaching out to someone who needs to be a part of our lives.

First, we act.

Then God will respond.

Just turning everything over to God may not be the best thing to do.

Hunter says that God may indeed respond to our prayer by changing our circumstances. We know that for a prayer to be addressed, God is going to have to put us in a new place.   Maybe He is going to have to introduce a new person into our lives. Maybe He is going to have to help us accomplish a new task, one we are not used to doing.   If this be the case, our action is part of the answer to prayer.

If an opportunity to change passes and we take no action, we have missed our answer. Our efforts in the future may feel like a no from God but maybe the answer is no because we failed to act when the time was right. When He presented the circumstances, we balked.

Skepticism is a common response to people who report that God has communicated to them. Maybe Bible times were so special and today we are not living in special times. But then we read Scripture like Matthew 7:7 which states “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”

If you believe, really believe–you know you will find your answer, you know that the door will be opened. You know you will get your word from God.

The author of The God Who Hears