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" 'Ask, and it will be given
you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be open for you. For
everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone
who knocks, the door will be open.' " " 'Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.' " - Matthew 18: 19 - 20 " 'Whatever you ask for in prayer with faith, you will receive.' " - Matthew 21: 22 " 'I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.' " - John 14: 13 - 14 I prayed with all my strength that my wife be allowed to recover from her heart and kidney diseases. She died eight years ago. The prayer was not answered. I did not understand why my prayer did not work. I prayed that she not be allowed to suffer in terrible pain as she did... that prayer was answered. Death came and took her away from a body that was literally destroyed by terminal diseases. The results of my prayer were not what I expected, and I was left asking God, "Where is the justice in my wife's suffering and her early death? How come you didn't come through for us, God?" For a time after my wife's death, God and I were in a definite wrestling match... I was angry as hell! It was only until the time when I moved away from the northern U.S. city where I lived and relocated to the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North and South Carolina, and received my sister's loving help in healing, when I finally cooled down, shut the mouth of my mind, and started listening for answers from God. I had asked God in Jesus' name to spare my wife; the 'miracle' did not happen. While my anger dissipated, my questioning did not, but at least with the space of a couple of years after her death I was ready to listen for God to speak to me. Like many victims of serious diseases, or physical and psychological accidents, my wife was a 'good' person. So, the question lingered: Why must good people endure bad things? And, why doesn't bad stuff happen to evil people? It seems there is no justice, and for many sufferers, it seems as though their prayers go unanswered. What is going on here? Christian disciple - this will be the hardest set of questions you will be confronted with: Why doesn't God answer my prayers, and why did a loved one have to die? When asked these two questions, there is no room for flippant or patent replies. Saying that it was God's Will just will not cut it, and very likely if you do say such a thing you will be considered either a false prophet, a religious hack, a deluded believer, or an out-and-out cruel charlatan. So why didn't my prayers work? And the individual prayers of millions of others, why weren't they answered? Or, could it be that all this time, we've labored under a misunderstanding that perhaps Jesus' words to his disciples - at that time - applied only to his disciples, and not to us believers two thousand years later? Questions like these come from a desperation that dwells within. To the opposite, it can be proven that many prayers offered to God in Jesus' name have been answered. Prayers I said regarding my sister's health were answered to the affirmative; so too those offered for my mother; likewise for my daughter; the same for other loved ones and dear friends. To the observer it seems that sometimes prayers work, and other times they don't. Let me clarify something. Bad things do not happen
to good people or bad people; bad things happen to people. " 'Whatever you ask for in prayer with faith, you will receive.' " (Matthew 21: 22). No faith, no answer. Blunt and to the point, and as I reflect on my past, my faith was lacking and my arrogance was overflowing. I wasn't asking that God's Will be done, I was demanding my will be done! And therein is the pitfall: we are in no position to make demands of God. How much easier things would be if there was no free will and everything in the Creation was under the direct determinism of God. No free will, no need of prayer. All prayer offered for the improvement of one's condition in life is egocentric in nature. It's all about 'me'. It's me who should receive a miracle or cure from God, and really, I don't give a damn about the others making their pleas to God in prayer. It's my problem that's important! It's my needs that require God's attention; not theirs. And... I want an answer 'now!'. Once again we go to the 'celestial bell hop' with our demands. A demanding prayer lacks one vital ingredient: there's no love for God. Therefore, if the roles were reversed and you were in God's position, what would you do? To demand is to doom your prayerful request. In Mark 8: 11 - 13 we are given this report: "The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, asking him for a sign from heaven, to test him. And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, 'Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation.' And he left them, and getting into the boat again, he went across to the other side." Demanding an answer to your prayer is tantamount to demanding a sign from God. It is not going to happen on your schedule, and certainly won't happen if a pharisaic attitude is present. Go to God with a contrite heart, honor God with your words, and then humbly present your needs. A beautiful illustration of this is found in Luke 18: 9 - 14 "He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: 'Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, 'God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.' But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' 'I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.' " Give God the honor due Him at the outset of your praying. To begin you can recite the Lord's Prayer, but as it is written the prayer was intended for a group offering by Jesus' disciples. I composed a different version of the Lord's Prayer for my own personal use when I am alone and pray: My Father, who is in heaven and throughout His
creation, Give me this day my Daily Bread, Lead me not into temptation, but deliver me For thine is the Kingdom, the Truth, Amen Say this with a contrite, humbled heart, but say it with determination as though you truly believe in these words. Then offer your petition. You need not repeat your needs. Don't ramble on and on... "Lord, I need money. Lord, I need money. Lord, make me wealthy. Lord, I need money." Such repetition is foolishness; as if your repeatedly voicing your needs ad nauseam is going to further ensure a successful outcome. Others may do this, and find justification for this method by adhering to the 'front part' of Luke's recounting of Jesus' parable in Chapter 18: 1 - 5: "Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: 'In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men, and there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, 'Grant me justice against my adversary.' For some time he refused, but finally he said to himself, 'Even though I don't fear God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!' " Some would say the only way to get results
from God is to wear Him down... exhaust Him by the petitioner's
becoming a pain in the neck. However, read further. In the next verse
Jesus says, (Luke 18: 6 - 8) "And the Lord
said, 'Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring
about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night?
Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, He will see that they get
justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find
faith on the earth?' " Jesus, in this parable, shows the
difference between a hypocritical 'just' judge who relents only
to get rid of the importunate petitioner; versus God, the true judge
who will render His justice and not delay in doing so. Note the last
thing Jesus says. It is a warning to all who pray with insincerity: Again I stress, demand
nothing of God. Instead, sincerely ask, and when you come to that
time of day when you go 'into your closet' and pray, you are
instructed by Jesus to persevere in putting forth your petition:
"And he said to them, 'Suppose one of you has a
friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me
three loaves of bread; for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have
nothing to set before him.' And he answers from within, 'Do not bother
me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in
bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.' 'I tell you, even though
he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at
least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever
he needs.' " (Luke 11: 5 - 8). This is one of those
exquisite comparison parables that only Jesus could master. Yes, even
at the most inconvenient time, you can become enough of a nuisance to
your friend and get them to relent to your needs. Such may be the way
with some of your friends, but it is not the way with God. He knows
what you need, but truly He likes to be asked, and not taken for
granted. He wants his children to pray for the significant and not the
superficial. Whimsical prayers will soon be forgotten by those who say
them; sincere prayers will not be forgotten by either he or she who
offers them, or by God who hears them. If a prayer concern is truly
important, then it is not to be dismissed with a single offering and
never thought upon again. No! If it is important to the believer, then
it is important to God. Friends, the key to having your prayers answered in
the affirmative is to believe in the power of your words to God. Friends, you have to believe. You first have to
have faith in God. If you have faith, your prayers will be answered.
They may be quickly answered, or they may not. Have a serious
conversation with God. Often, the one praying does nothing more than
recite a litany of complaints to God's ears. Instead, have your prayer
come from the opposite direction, and instead of complaining, ask your
Father to help you. Acknowledge the majesty and loving kindness of your
Father, tell Him that your love for Him is sincere and then present your concerns before Him,
as you would do with your natural father, "One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer - at the ninth hour of the day. And a certain man, lame from the womb of his mother, was being carried from day to day and placed at the door of the temple, being called Beautiful, to ask alms from the ones entering into the temple; who seeing Peter and John being about to go into the temple asked to receive alms. "And Peter gazing at him with John said: 'Look at us.' And the man paid heed to them expecting to receive something from them. And Peter said: 'Silver and gold I have not; but what I have, this to thee I give; in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene walk.' And seizing him by the right hand he raised him. At once the man's feet and ankles were made firm, and he leapt up, stood and walked; and entered with them into the temple walking and leaping and praising God. And all of the people saw him walking and praising God." (Direct translation - Novum Testamentum Graece). "...in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene walk." What if Peter had doubted his own command? If he did, it would be safe to say there would have been no leaping beggar recorded in the chronicles. But, why would Peter have doubts? He had been invested with the power of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. And previously, Jesus told his disciples that if they had faith they could command a mountain to move. (Mark 11:23) They, not God. Through Jesus and the Holy Spirit, the power of results-through-prayer and belief had been given to those who believe. They (we) are commanded by Christ to use this power. Peter and John surely believed in it and projected it to the cripple. Perhaps the most famous example of the use of invested power residing within prayer is provided in John 11: 40 - 44 — "Then Jesus said, 'Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?' "They lifted therefore the stone. And Jesus lifted his eyes up and said: 'Father, I thank thee that thou didst hear me. And I knew that thou always hearest me, but because of the crowd standing round I said this that they may believe that thou didst send me.' And having said this, then he (Jesus) with a great voice cried out: 'Lazarus, come out.' "Then came out the one who
had died, having been bound about the feet and hands with bandages,
and the face of him with a napkin had been bound round.*
Jesus said to them: Loosen him and let him to
go.' " Belief in the power that has been invested by God into everyone who believes in His Son, Jesus Christ, and is not ashamed to publicly demonstrate such belief, that power will, in fact, manifest through prayer. One last thing about prayer: Thankfully, God in answering our prayers ofttimes takes His time in order for issues to work out to a conclusion that is amicable and beneficial to everyone concerned. You may pray for a cure for your disease. It may happen instantly, or the curing process may take time. Whichever the case, because you prayed believing and asking in Jesus' name, God has heard your prayers and He will respond. *It was a common practice to wrap a rolled up napkin around under a dead person's jaw and tie it in a knot on top of the skull. This prevented the deceased's mouth from opening and presenting a grim countenance to onlookers. |
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