Trials and prayer
So one of the songs this Sunday was about when you have trials, to take them to God in prayer. My question is what if you do that and nothing happens? What do you do then? What if you don’t have peace about it, you don’t have an answer, and you still don’t know what to do? Matthew 7:7 was brought up later too…”everyone who asks will receive…” Well how long do you have to ask for? How long before you are answered? What if you have been asking for years and years, and nothing has been answered?
it depends
I wonder if the process of praying and waiting is part of the answer?
What if the answer is "No"?
One of the hardest things to deal with is when you are praying and you feel like you don’t see or hear results. Questions of doubt begin to arise. Is God even listening? Has God abandoned me? Does God really exsist?
Sometimes the answer to prayers are “no”. I’m sure we all can give examples of prayers that have been prayed about for many years which we felt we not answered. God may have given an answer, but since it is not the answer we desire, we assume that our prayers have gone unanswered. It is hard to wrap our brains around why God doesn’t answer an emphatic “YES!” to our prayers, especially those asking to rescue people from tragic, terrible injustices.
Even Jesus got a “no” response when in the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus prayed “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me.” But, He then closed with “Yet not as I will, but as you will.” (Matt. 26:39) That closing part is the part that I think we have the hardest time with. I don’t know if I will ever be totally okay with fully accepting God’s will in my life. I want it to be as I will, on my terms, and within my timeline.
I think Sue hit on something really important. Sometimes the process is as important as the answer. What have you learned during the time of waiting? How have you grown through your suffering? And, how are you accepting God’s will in your life? Because, let’s face it, some things in life are going to be bad. Sometimes, really bad. I am not in control. The only thing I can do is to figure out how I can best deal with whatever comes my way and choose to trust that God will use me just how He designed me to be used.
Your story is your ministry.
Two more responses...
Besides “Yes” and “No,” I think there are at least two other ways in which God can answer prayer. The first is, “Wait;” the other is, “I’ll give you something better.”
First, we’ve already hit upon the process of waiting, but what if that is indeed God’s answer? In the beginning of Exodus, the Israelites were asking for God’s deliverance from slavery in Egypt. God’s answer was, “Yes, but not yet.” He could have delivered them immediately, but He did something else instead—He sent a total of ten devastating plagues on Egypt. Before He would rescue His people from their troubles, He determined to punish Pharaoh for his arrogance. Pharaoh was worshiped as a god in Egypt, but the LORD showed in an indisputable way that only He was to be worshiped as God (esp. Exodus 6:7). It served to show the Israelites that their faith in God was not in vain.
Secondly, God may offer something beyond what we are asking. In John 11, one of Jesus’ close friends Lazarus is dying, and his sisters send word to Jesus to come and heal him. Jesus’ answer to their prayer was, “No, I have something grander in mind than you do.” Jesus delays in coming to Lazarus’ aid, and Lazarus dies. When Jesus arrives, he raises Lazarus from the dead. Why? Jesus: “… so that you may believe” (John 11:15, NET). He did so that those who believed in him would know that their faith in him was not in vain.
I have Asperger’s Syndrome (just Google it). I often feel socially inept and awkward, as though everyone else was given a rulebook about socializing at birth and they’re keeping it from me. So I try my best to figure out “the rules.” What do I talk about? How long do I talk about it? What questions should I ask? What should I do with my hands? My posture? Where do I look? Somewhat out of necessity I have become a perpetual actor, and I pretend to be normal. I ask God, “When am I going to be normal?” I know that the answer is, “Not in this lifetime;” I believe that the answer is, “Just trust me.”
Matthew “Skippy†Tuck
“Life is deep and simple, and what our society gives us is shallow and complicated.†Fred Rogers
Well said
Well said, Skip! So many of my prayers I wish could be answered with an email from God with a direct yes or no. But it just doesn’t happen that way all the time. I have always said hindsight is best. When I look back at some the prayer requests I have made, I thank God he did not answer them with a YES but said “Absolutely NO WAY!” But there are some prayers that still haven’t been answered and maybe never will. And I struggle with that somedays. But when I look at the Bible (great examples above in Skip’s response) and look at the evidence in my own life….I can trust God and know that there is a BIG PICTURE that I can’t see—-that only God can see. And He knows what I need and what I don’t need. He knows what will stretch me, grow me, strengthen me…even if it is through discomfort.
easy to say, hard to do
I grew up in a Christian family where my mom has always taught me to have faith in the Lord. As a child and teen, I put my trust fully in God because I was so helpless. After my dad passed away when I was 7, I promised my mom that I would be a good son. For the most part, I’ve kept that promise.
I wasn’t always academically inclined in my early teens so I prayed for wisdom and intelligence. Then God provided just as I’ve asked.
Over the years, I’ve learned to become self-sufficient because I became “smart.” Looking back, I saw that I had become proud and arrogant because I was seemingly smarter and wiser than those around me.
I started to stray from the Lord in my college years. It wasn’t until 3 years after I graduated that I started going back to church. I know that God has allowed certain trials and heartache to come into my life because He wanted me to return to Him.
What I’m having so much trouble with is being able to differentiate between what God is telling me and what my subconscious is actually manifesting to myself (driven by my own selfish desires). Now I feel as if I am stuck in a rut. Despite throwing myself at His mercy, I don’t feel any relief or comfort.
Those close to me have said, “Just have faith and put your trust in God.” I’ve tried, but I find myself doubting everything. It’s just incredibly hard to be “optimistic” when things look so bleak from where I’m standing.
What are your thoughts?
-Phong
Re: Trials and prayer
When you are in that kind of rut it can really help to get out and serve someone… do something for someone in need that is outside of your comfort zone. Sign up for a short term mission trip… volunteer for City Team… help a neighbor move… etc. Whenever I am tempted to gripe I remind myself of people in other countries who have so little and would do anything for even a little bit of what the poorer people of our country have.