This is tough for me. I am not the prayer warrior in this house. That would be my wife. Regardless, it is my responsibility to persevere in my prayer struggles, perhaps we can learn together… We looked at the notion of answered prayer yesterday and focused on the truth that “no” is an answer.
1 John 5:14 – 15
tell us that if we ask anything according to God’s will that we will have those requests. In John 15:7 we read that if we abide in Christ and his Words abide in us what we ask will be done. John seems to be consistent here. It seems like our alignment with Christ and the will of our Father determines the answer to our prayer. So the answers to our prayers give us data. If we are getting a lot of no’s or waits it could mean that we need to look at whether we are abiding in Him or whether we are asking in accordance with His will. That is one of the reasons a prayer journal is so important. It is a way to track what we are asking and how He has answered.This Christian thing is a relationship, a two way street. He is interested in conversation not monologue. If we discern patterns of no’s or waits, perhaps we should be asking Him if we are missing something or if He just wants us to persist. Then we have to persist in listening for the answer.
In leading our families in prayer, it is important that we help them understand this. How have you done that?
In 2001, Garth Brooks released a song called 'Unanswered Prayers'. Although Mr. Brook's name doesn't appear as a credit as the writer of the song, it was a collaboration with a songwriter. The song has elements of truth in it for Mr. Brooks.
ReplyDeletePart of the lyrics; "sometimes God greatest gift is unanswered prayers".
You pointed out that we may not be asking for the right things, or we might not be in tune with what God really wants for us. The song is very relevant because what Mr. Brooks asked for, he was not wise enough to know better at the time. Isn't that true for all us much of the time??