Posted on 02/08/2016 6:57:31 AM PST by Gamecock
Sometimes we all feel as if our prayers lack the power to penetrate our ceilings. It seems as though our petitions fall on deaf ears and God remains unmoved or unconcerned about our passionate pleading. Why do these feelings haunt us?
There are several reasons why we are sometimes frustrated in prayer. One is that our expectations are unrealistic. This, perhaps more than any other factor, leads to a frustration in prayer. We make the common mistake of taking statements of Jesus in isolation from other biblical aspects of teaching in prayer, and we blow these few statements out of proportion.
We hear Jesus say that if two Christians agree on anything and ask, it shall be given to them. Jesus made that statement to men who had been deeply trained in the art of prayer, men who already knew the qualifications of this generalization. Yet in a simplistic way we interpret the statement absolutely. We assume the promise covers every conceivable petition without reservation or qualification. Think of it. Would it be difficult to find two Christians who would agree that to end all wars and human conflict would be a good idea? Obviously not. Yet if two Christians agreed to pray for the cessation of war and conflict, would God grant their petition? Not unless He planned to revise the New Testament and its teaching about the future of human conflict.
Prayer is not magic. God is not a celestial bellhop at our beck and call to satisfy our every whim. In some cases, our prayers must involve the travail of the soul and agony of heart, such as Jesus experienced in the Garden of Gethsemane. Sometimes young Christians have been bitterly disappointed in "unanswered" prayers, not because God failed to keep His promises, but because well-meaning Christians made promises "for" God that God never authorized.
Coram Deo
Do you have unrealistic expectations that account for seemingly unanswered prayers? Are you treating God like a celestial bellhop?
Passages for Further Study
Psalm 102:17 he regards the prayer of the destitute and does not despise their prayer.
18 Let this be recorded for a generation to come, so that ha people yet to be created may praise the Lord:
Psalm 141:2 Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice!
Well, sometimes the answer is no.
Ping!
“God is not your celestial butler.” —Dennis Prager
The ‘Sermon on the mount’ should be the shining example: don’t pray for things, especially that your candidate-with-feet-of -clay wins. Pray that you are not ‘led into temptation’ and pray that ‘God’s will be done’ and that generally sums it all up.
[One is that our expectations are unrealistic.]
GOD still performs miracles.
Please put me on your ping list. Thank you.
Sure He does. Don’t think that is the point though.
.....”In some cases, our prayers must involve the travail of the soul and agony of heart”.......
Any who have been in this pace would find it difficult to describe I think.
This is so basic and SO needed. Young believers must have trials, but mature Christians should help them out with some clear talk about basics like the above. Instead they often just get pushed into the System where many chuckleheads have pulpits they shouldn’t have, and feed the sheep poison while the “elders” smile on.
If you are a mature Christian, please keep watch over the flock yourself. There’s a great ministry for you toward other BELIEVERS.
“You” meaning “whoever” (not specifically Gamecock).
bkmk
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