Prayer can be the most dangerous activity if one expects to receive an answer and it is not forthcoming. It may lead to a condition of despair and depression.
I know, I know, we must have faith. Where is it available at Walmart or anywhere else? Personally I cannot remember a prayer that was answered and I don’t expect any answers any time soon.
“Prayer can be the most dangerous activity if one expects to receive an answer and it is not forthcoming. It may lead to a condition of despair and depression.
I know, I know, we must have faith. Where is it available at Walmart or anywhere else? Personally I cannot remember a prayer that was answered and I don’t expect any answers any time soon.”
There comes a point in the process where you hit bottom and stop asking God to do things for you. You surrender to God and ask to be His servant. You then pray for God to use you and guide you to do His Will.
I'm not trying to be judgmental, but if what you say is true, I would go back to the very start and start again. Dedicate your life to Jesus and even get baptized again if need be. You must see a change in your life because you love Him. It cannot be "mustered up". The gifts of God are supernatural. If you aren't living a supernatural life, you can't be living a life of faith.
13These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. 14This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him. 1 John 5:13-14
The key requirement for answered prayer is to be a follower of Jesus, the Son of God.
Answered prayer is conditional upon our prayer being in accordance with His will.
I hope this provides you with some comfort.
The church today is filled with Job’s worthless friends.
There are lots of people out there who think they have God all figured out and know exactly how He works and how He ought to be working in your life as well as theirs.
And when He doesn’t do what they expect Him to, something that doesn’t fit in the nice, tidy box they have Him locked in, they sit back and pass judgment on you and condemn you. It’s ALWAYS the fault of the person struggling or suffering.(in their eyes)
Don’t listen to them.
When I was going through a time of struggle where it seemed like God hadn’t answered anything I had prayed for in a long time, I found a prayer journal I had kept while in a Bible study and was rereading it and noticed that God had answered virtually everything we prayed for in the way we had asked. I had just forgotten it.
God does hear and answer prayers and there’s no easy answer for why we go through seasons, or years, where it seems that prayer is completely ineffective and a waste of time. It’s a tough place to be. I’m sorry you’re going through that.
Funny story about the father of John the Baptist, Luke 1.
Anyway, Zacharias is in the temple, performing his priestly duties, when Gabriel shows up *in answer to his prayers*.
That's what we know from the plain text:
Luke 1:13 But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.
But then Zacharias is incredulous, saying basically, "Huh? My wife and I are too old for that."
So what exactly was going on here? Gabriel told Zacharias why he was there - it was in answer to Zacharias' prayer. But if Zacharias had been praying for a child, he would not have responded in that manner. He would have been all excited that finally, his prayers for a child had been heard! Whoo-hoo! Instead, it's more like, "Right, how would I know this? This is illogical."
He did not believe Gabriel. Yet this is fact: Gabriel showed up in response to his prayer. So what was he praying?
All the priestly courses had duties at main festivals, and at Passover who was everybody praying for to arrive? Elijah.
Poor old Zacharias. Struck mute because he didn't believe Gabriel. Guess he forgot that Sarah was ninety and Abraham one hundred? Not any excuse for that. Well be that as it may, sometime afterward, Elisabeth conceived. Give it three months (plans gets routinely delayed when there's a lack of faith), and John (Elijah) would have been born the following Passover.
The take away message is that people might not even know what they are praying for when they pray, so when those prayers are in fact answered, it sails right over their heads. Gabriel even gave Zacharias some details (And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias...). Regardless, he and Elisabeth were the parents God chose for John. God has a selection process that is different than man's.
It would make plain dumb simple sense if Zacharias had been praying for Elijah to come, whether it was actually Passover or not. Gabriel would have then showed up with what else, but the reply. You just have to laugh. :)
On the subject of [old] people laughing, the traditional date for the birth of Isaac is 15 Nisan (Passover).
I know, I know, we must have faith. Where is it available at Walmart or anywhere else?
It could be in the clearance aisle with the end-of-season items. Life is weird like that - go to Wal-Mart for an ice scraper, but come home instead with a bird bath... for next Spring.
How sad...