Prayer is Ultimate Way to Solve All Problems
I feel great comfort when I read the gospels and notice that Jesus faced the same dilemma as us when prayers seemed to be left unanswered. He spent all night praying before he chose the twelve disciples, and even so, one of them turned out to be a traitor. In Gethsemane, Jesus prayed Matt 26:39a "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me." Was the cup of suffering taken away from Jesus? Of course not. Jesus' prayers sometimes seemed unanswered, just like our prayers seem sometimes see to go unanswered.
However, look at Jesus' prayer again in Matthew 26:39, but this time look at the second part of His prayer "Yet not as I will, but as you will." Wow! This is real trust! Jesus did not want His will to be done, but that God's will be done. In other words, prayer was for Jesus a way to converse with His Heavenly Father, a way where He could openly commune with His Father and where His Father would share with Him His will. Shouldn't our prayers be like His? "Yet not as I will, but as you will." Wouldn't all our prayers always be answered that way?
God's prayers does not always get answered either! How is that possible? Read Matt 23:37 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing." NIV Just like a man longs for his wife to return to Him, or just like parents who wait to see their children return to them, God longed, really longed for His people to gather together under His care. Was God's prayer fulfilled? Sadly no. Why not? Isn't He the omnipotent one? Isn't He all-powerful? He sure is, but He will never impose Himself on anyone, even less on His own children. This is real love, my friend. God loves you so much that although He wished for you to come back to Him-although He knows that you are going straight to a disaster if you don't listen to Him-He still respects your decision. God loves you, my friend!
Now, if God's prayers are not always answered, why should we, being sinful and not knowing how to pray as we should, expect all of our prayers to be fulfilled? Think about it: Can God grant us the desire to marry someone we love, when He knows that the end result will be an unhappy, broken home, where our own children would become derelict? Or, how could God grant us fame and fortune if He knows this would only puff out our egos and make us turn our backs on Him? No, God won't stop us from making wrong decisions. What He DOES do is everything, short of interfering with our power of choice, to protect us from harm.
The message found in John 11: 1-45 means so much to me. John writes that a dear friend of Jesus, named Lazarus, was on the brink of death. His sisters send for Jesus and pleaded for Him to come immediately to the rescue of their brother. Jesus delayed going to Bethany and Lazarus died. Mary's and Martha's prayers seemed unanswered! Why did Jesus not come, especially since He could have healed their brother? Why was Jesus silent to their request?
They buried their brother and went through the whole funeral process. Lazarus was embalmed and put into a grave, which was covered by a heavy stone. All were mourning and in despair. Where was Jesus? Why didn't He answer their request? Then Jesus told His disciple John 11:7 "Let us go back to Judea."
When Jesus got to Bethany, Lazarus had been dead for four days. Martha reproached Jesus and said: John 11:21 "If you had been here, my brother would not have died."
Martha was completely right, if Jesus had come immediately Jesus would have healed Him and her prayers would have been answered. However, would she have missed something if He had done that? Would her relationship with Jesus have had the same depth as when she saw with her own eyes Jesus ordering death to flee from her brother and seeing him standing up alive and well? Wouldn't she and all of us who read God's Word have missed that Jesus could boldly and truly say: John 11:25-26 "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" Would we have had the same assurance whenever a loved one died that Jesus one day would resurrect our loved ones? Wouldn't we have missed that if Martha's prayer were answered immediately?
When God does not seem to answer my prayers, is it that God's silence is going to bring into my life a greater revelation of my Heavenly Father than I have ever known? Doesn't it mean that He is going to reveal Himself to me?
I always pray through my sin checklist, as sin will silence God's voice in my life. If there is an unconfessed sin, God reveals it to me through His Holy Spirit and I repent from it, knowing full well that: 1 John 1:9-10 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." I confess it and make it right. If there is still silence from God, I begin to watch with great anticipation for what God is going to teach me about Himself. I wait, and sooner or later God reveals Himself. It is guaranteed! Mic 7:7 "But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me".
However, look at Jesus' prayer again in Matthew 26:39, but this time look at the second part of His prayer "Yet not as I will, but as you will." Wow! This is real trust! Jesus did not want His will to be done, but that God's will be done. In other words, prayer was for Jesus a way to converse with His Heavenly Father, a way where He could openly commune with His Father and where His Father would share with Him His will. Shouldn't our prayers be like His? "Yet not as I will, but as you will." Wouldn't all our prayers always be answered that way?
God's prayers does not always get answered either! How is that possible? Read Matt 23:37 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing." NIV Just like a man longs for his wife to return to Him, or just like parents who wait to see their children return to them, God longed, really longed for His people to gather together under His care. Was God's prayer fulfilled? Sadly no. Why not? Isn't He the omnipotent one? Isn't He all-powerful? He sure is, but He will never impose Himself on anyone, even less on His own children. This is real love, my friend. God loves you so much that although He wished for you to come back to Him-although He knows that you are going straight to a disaster if you don't listen to Him-He still respects your decision. God loves you, my friend!
Now, if God's prayers are not always answered, why should we, being sinful and not knowing how to pray as we should, expect all of our prayers to be fulfilled? Think about it: Can God grant us the desire to marry someone we love, when He knows that the end result will be an unhappy, broken home, where our own children would become derelict? Or, how could God grant us fame and fortune if He knows this would only puff out our egos and make us turn our backs on Him? No, God won't stop us from making wrong decisions. What He DOES do is everything, short of interfering with our power of choice, to protect us from harm.
The message found in John 11: 1-45 means so much to me. John writes that a dear friend of Jesus, named Lazarus, was on the brink of death. His sisters send for Jesus and pleaded for Him to come immediately to the rescue of their brother. Jesus delayed going to Bethany and Lazarus died. Mary's and Martha's prayers seemed unanswered! Why did Jesus not come, especially since He could have healed their brother? Why was Jesus silent to their request?
They buried their brother and went through the whole funeral process. Lazarus was embalmed and put into a grave, which was covered by a heavy stone. All were mourning and in despair. Where was Jesus? Why didn't He answer their request? Then Jesus told His disciple John 11:7 "Let us go back to Judea."
When Jesus got to Bethany, Lazarus had been dead for four days. Martha reproached Jesus and said: John 11:21 "If you had been here, my brother would not have died."
Martha was completely right, if Jesus had come immediately Jesus would have healed Him and her prayers would have been answered. However, would she have missed something if He had done that? Would her relationship with Jesus have had the same depth as when she saw with her own eyes Jesus ordering death to flee from her brother and seeing him standing up alive and well? Wouldn't she and all of us who read God's Word have missed that Jesus could boldly and truly say: John 11:25-26 "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" Would we have had the same assurance whenever a loved one died that Jesus one day would resurrect our loved ones? Wouldn't we have missed that if Martha's prayer were answered immediately?
When God does not seem to answer my prayers, is it that God's silence is going to bring into my life a greater revelation of my Heavenly Father than I have ever known? Doesn't it mean that He is going to reveal Himself to me?
I always pray through my sin checklist, as sin will silence God's voice in my life. If there is an unconfessed sin, God reveals it to me through His Holy Spirit and I repent from it, knowing full well that: 1 John 1:9-10 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." I confess it and make it right. If there is still silence from God, I begin to watch with great anticipation for what God is going to teach me about Himself. I wait, and sooner or later God reveals Himself. It is guaranteed! Mic 7:7 "But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me".
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