Having faith in the answers
Like i said yesterday, i've been thinking about prayer again. If you read my post from last week, you'll know that i realised two things on friday - 1) i dont praise God enough in my prayers, and 2) it's rare that I have the faith He will answer me when i ask for help - kind of vital parts of prayer! Anyway, given that i quickly went to work on thanking God more for just who He is, by monday my thoughts were hovering around the second issue, for me the harder of the two, which i think can be described as "having faith in the answers".
Sitting in work yesterday, it struck me that i think there are a three of possible mindsets when people - Christians - pray for help from God (ok, im generalising, but go with me).Christians pray because;
1. it's a habitual reflex to problems in life and not because they believe God will answer in any way.
2. they believe God can & does answer prayer - but don't neccessarily believe that will apply to them.
3. they believe God answers prayer and pray knowing He will answer them.
When i look at those possibilities, i feel uncomfortable, because i really dont know where i 'd put myself - or maybe i do know, but just dont want to admit it. As far as the first option goes, that is, praying without expecting God to answer - well that's pointless! it's the same as a non-christian praying, surely. It says in the bible (though once again im showing myself up by not knowing where) that we need to have faith if our prayers are to be answered.
But it is really between the 2nd and 3rd possibilities that i get very stuck, mainly because i get tangled between "the will of God" and "having faith". You see, this is my thinking; if, as in the 2nd scenario i explained above, a christian prays really believing that God DOES answer prayers, but not really convinced that He will answer THEIR prayer, then will God actually answer them? If we decide no, He wouldnt (here's me guessing the mind of God), then that would argue that we need to have absolute faith when we pray, and not doubt that God might not answer us. BUT - when i look at the third scenario, which is that we do pray like that - in "absolute faith" that God will answer our prayer - i cant help but feel that that does not fit with praying in accordance to God's will (which, like praying in faith, is also biblical), because it's nearly like we are trying to tell God what will happen and refusing to accept He may not answer how we are asking Him to.
Did anyone come out of there having a clue what i was talking about? I suppose my question is, how do we pray in line with God's will but also totally believe that the prayer will be answered? For example - imagine someone comes to you and says they want you to pray they will be healed from cancer. My first instinct would be "oh no ,run", im afraid, which probably gives you an insight into which category i stand in - man, i want to have so much more faith!!!!! But anyway - this person comes to you asking you to pray they'll be healed. And you believe that if they are going to be healed, you have to have absolute faith that God will heal them. But at the same time, you know that it may not be God's will, plan, whatever, for that person to be healed - so how can you pray in absolute faith that they WILL be???!!!!! my mind is tying itself in knots. The only conclusion i can come to is that we have to have absolute faith in God's ability to answer, and absolute trust in His will - and, the hardest part of all, to not doubt his ability if He doesnt answer as we want.
Oh man, i'm so annoyed, i have to go to work! that sucks, cos i want to write so much more. I might add later. Any answers or thoughts are welcome :)
Sitting in work yesterday, it struck me that i think there are a three of possible mindsets when people - Christians - pray for help from God (ok, im generalising, but go with me).Christians pray because;
1. it's a habitual reflex to problems in life and not because they believe God will answer in any way.
2. they believe God can & does answer prayer - but don't neccessarily believe that will apply to them.
3. they believe God answers prayer and pray knowing He will answer them.
When i look at those possibilities, i feel uncomfortable, because i really dont know where i 'd put myself - or maybe i do know, but just dont want to admit it. As far as the first option goes, that is, praying without expecting God to answer - well that's pointless! it's the same as a non-christian praying, surely. It says in the bible (though once again im showing myself up by not knowing where) that we need to have faith if our prayers are to be answered.
But it is really between the 2nd and 3rd possibilities that i get very stuck, mainly because i get tangled between "the will of God" and "having faith". You see, this is my thinking; if, as in the 2nd scenario i explained above, a christian prays really believing that God DOES answer prayers, but not really convinced that He will answer THEIR prayer, then will God actually answer them? If we decide no, He wouldnt (here's me guessing the mind of God), then that would argue that we need to have absolute faith when we pray, and not doubt that God might not answer us. BUT - when i look at the third scenario, which is that we do pray like that - in "absolute faith" that God will answer our prayer - i cant help but feel that that does not fit with praying in accordance to God's will (which, like praying in faith, is also biblical), because it's nearly like we are trying to tell God what will happen and refusing to accept He may not answer how we are asking Him to.
Did anyone come out of there having a clue what i was talking about? I suppose my question is, how do we pray in line with God's will but also totally believe that the prayer will be answered? For example - imagine someone comes to you and says they want you to pray they will be healed from cancer. My first instinct would be "oh no ,run", im afraid, which probably gives you an insight into which category i stand in - man, i want to have so much more faith!!!!! But anyway - this person comes to you asking you to pray they'll be healed. And you believe that if they are going to be healed, you have to have absolute faith that God will heal them. But at the same time, you know that it may not be God's will, plan, whatever, for that person to be healed - so how can you pray in absolute faith that they WILL be???!!!!! my mind is tying itself in knots. The only conclusion i can come to is that we have to have absolute faith in God's ability to answer, and absolute trust in His will - and, the hardest part of all, to not doubt his ability if He doesnt answer as we want.
Oh man, i'm so annoyed, i have to go to work! that sucks, cos i want to write so much more. I might add later. Any answers or thoughts are welcome :)
posted by Glasgow Girl @ 10:51 am
3 Comments:
At 11:55 am,
Alan P Harrison said…
Something you said to me once kinda summed up prayer in a sentence. "God always answers prayers, and the answers are either 'yes', 'no' or 'wait'. So therefore, when this person comes to me and asks to be prayed to cure their cancer, I would pray with them of course, but to be honest, depending on the stage of the cancer and what their medical likelihood of recovery is, I would probably only pray with them because A) they asked me to and B) it would make them feel better.
This does show that I need more faith too, who doesn't, but I don't believe that God would put the fate of a person (or any matter which we would pray about) into the hands of humans who can lie, cheat, forget, manipulate or corrupt. I don't think anything happens because we prayed XYZ amount for it, but only that Almighty God saw fit to bless a certain situation.
I pray because I need to to keep myself afloat. I pray for other people for God to keep them afloat. I cannot deny examples I've heard of people being healed, people being brought to faith in dreams or being saved from certain-death situations.
I think what I'm trying to say is this; I believe God can and will heal a person of cancer. I believe it is right to pray for that person to be healed of cancer. I don't think the two are linked though. Surely if they were, then we could take some credit, saying "Yeah I prayed for you, you owe me." God must be given all glory in our prayers, and we must never fall into the trap of thinking that because we utter a few words of prayer that we possess God's power to heal.
At 6:10 pm,
Anonymous said…
at the risk of getting questions thrown at me and such like (gulp!)... i put my faith in His answer, that He will answer me, the type of answer is not my main focus but that i hear Him, for i know that my Father hear's my voice and acts in my best interests. Are not my best interests in accordance with His will anyway.
A person coming to you for prayer, the other thing to think of is 'was this person sent to me by the Lord for prayer?' for it is not only the faith of the person praying with them for healing but the faith of the person being healed that determines the outcome. In some cases, more so the person being healed.
I know of someone who was asked by the pastor to pray with someone for healing in a service, the person just wanted to continue with what they were doing and reluctantly went and prayed with this person, a simple prayer and the person was healed. What this is meant to convey if it doesn't is that it is the Power of the Holy Spirit that healed that woman and it was her faith. The person praying was a channel for that to happen.
At 9:00 pm,
Anonymous said…
I've been reading through Mark's gospel. People prayed to Jesus (in a literal way - "please heal me") and He often replied "Your faith has healed you." Is there any comfort in a parent who only wants our communication because it's 'healthy' for us, rather than the communication being something that thrills them like it thrills us? We are told to pray to "Our Father". that implies a lot about Him. He doesnt rate us on our faith in the sense of "hmmm, not doing well there, no playing out until you improve". He is simply delighted in our faith, like a loving parent is delighted with our personal development or sucsess, but doesnt love us because of it.
second thought; Jesus had prayers unanswered. Well, one in particular. "Dad, please don't let them kill me. But if it needs to be, then I will follow" (that was from the Daniel Johnson paraphrase). Jesus taught about a Father of love ("how much more does our Father in heaven want good things for our children") but equally, was aware of all the awful things that befall Christians. These things have no tidy answers. Do i believe Jesus' teaching in the gospels to be contradictory or hypocritical? No. Do i believe Jesus' power to heal is here today? Yes. Do i believe it depends on me?
Yes and No. Yes, in that our faith, according to the gospel miracles, can move the arm of Heaven. No, in that faith for it's own sake is like sweet-talking a parent into letting you do something you shouldnt. (invariably, daughters go to their fathers and get away with what brothers cant). Our whole salvation is and isnt dependent on us. It is, in that we need to hold onto the cross for, literally, dear life until we come face to face with the man who once hung on it. But it has nothing to do with us because God looks at the cross, seeing His Perfect Son and loves us with the same love. What's my point? Dont seek faith as something that will get us to the next level, or that will give us more heavenly approval. we're saved by grace alone. But hunger and thirst for faith because it was displayed in Christ, and must be therefore good for us. Will it bring blessings and healings and prevent us from catastrophe? It will most likely have the opposite effect. Following Christ involves us wearing a cross every day.
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