Does god answer our prayers?

[FresnoJoe]

Welcome~!

~

Beloved, A Believer's Prayer

Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him. Job 13:16

That Is Always Answered

As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. Psalms 42:1

Love, Joe

[FresnoJoe]

On ‎1‎/‎13‎/‎2016 at 7:55 PM, Malcolm55 said:

I don't need quotes from psalms/the bible....

?

Indeed Dear One, Without Jesus

And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. Luke 4:4

The Holy Book Is

Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. Psalms 119:11

Closed

And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed:

And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.

Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men: Isaiah 29:11-13

Love, Joe

[missmuffet]

Question: "Does God answer prayers?"

Answer: The short answer to this question is, “Yes!” God has promised that, when we ask for things that are in accordance with His will for our lives, He will give us what we ask for (1 John 5:14–15). However, there is one caveat to add to this: we may not always like the answer.

We pray for a lot of things—some good, some bad, some really pointless. But God listens to all of our prayers, regardless of what we ask (Matthew 7:7). He does not ignore His children (Luke 18:1–8). When we talk to Him, He has promised to listen and respond (Matthew 6:6; Romans 8:26–27). His answer may be some variation of “yes” or “no” or “wait, not now.”

Keep in mind that prayer is not our way of getting God to do what we want. Our prayers should be focused on things that honor and glorify God and reflect what the Bible clearly reveals God’s will to be (Luke 11:2). If we pray for something that dishonors God or is not His will for us, He is unlikely to give what we ask for. God’s wisdom far exceeds our own, and we must trust that His answers to our prayers are the best possible solutions.

Does God answer prayers? – When God says “yes.”

In the first two chapters of 1 Samuel, Hannah prays and asks God to give her a baby. She had been unable to conceive which, in biblical times, was considered a mark of shame for a woman. Hannah prayed fervently—so fervently that a priest who saw her praying thought she was drunk. But God heard Hannah, and He allowed her to give birth to a child.

Jesus said, “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (John 14:3). If you have prayed specifically for something and God has granted it to you, then you can be assured that it is His will. Nothing happens without God allowing it to happen (Romans 8:28).

Does God answer prayers? – When God says “no.”

In John 11, Mary and Martha wanted Jesus to heal their dying brother, yet Jesus allowed Lazarus to die. Why did He say “no” to these grieving women who loved Him so much? Because He had greater things planned for Lazarus, things that no one could possibly have imagined.

“No” is one of the hardest answers we can receive. But, once again, it is important to remember that God is all-knowing and is aware of the entire timeline of history. He knows every possible outcome of every possible choice in every possible situation; we do not. He sees the “big picture”; we see a partial brushstroke. Proverbs 3:5 says to “trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.” When we get a “no” answer, we must trust that whatever we asked for was not God’s will.

Does God answer prayers? – When God says “wait, not now.”

Sometimes hearing “wait” is even harder than hearing “no” because it means we have to be patient (Romans 8:25). While waiting is difficult, we can be thankful God is in control and trust that His timing will be perfect (Romans 12:12;Psalm 37:7—9).

God wants the best for your life. He does not want you to suffer needlessly. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Be patient and know that He is your loving Father (Psalm 46:10).

Abide by Philippians 4:6 as you make your requests to God: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” Then, when God responds, be prepared to accept His wisdom—whether or not you agree with His answer.

http://www.gotquestions.org/does-God-answer-prayers.html

[kwikphilly]

Blessings Malcolm

    Welcome to Worthy,,,,,,,You did mention you WERE a Christian & here you are in the "Seekers Lounge",,,,,,,.does this mean you are questioning your Faith,lost it?

     God doesn't KILL anyone,,,,He does bring them Home to be with Him(Christians) when it is their appointed time to leave this place,,,,,,,,,,To God be the Glory                                                       With love-in Christ,Kwik

[Paper mache]

Hi, Malcom! Welcome to WCF. I hope it's not too late to answer to this post!

God always answers prayers. It's not always the way you want them to be answered, and it's not always right away. But he always answers prayers. It's not always the way you want them to be answered because if that's how God did things, just answering prayers the way others want them to be answered, we would have a LOT of problems in the world, we may not even have a world at all. God will always do what's best for you.

God did not abandon Rachel, he called her home. But whether or not she was a Christian decides whether she went to Heaven or Hell. Her death may even be a test of some sort. God is always testing us, not so that he knows whether or not we are loyal to him, he already knows the answer to that. but I believe that he tests us sometimes to help us grow stronger in him or show us something we need to learn. 

Blessings!

[FresnoJoe]

On 1/13/2016 at 7:47 PM, Malcolm55 said:

Rachel was generous to a fault....

Rachel Had Her Prayers Answered

And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb.
And she conceived, and bare a son; and said, God hath taken away my reproach:
And she called his name Joseph; and said, The LORD shall add to me another son. Genesis 30:22-24

And His Name Was Benjamin

And it came to pass, when she was in hard labour, that the midwife said unto her, Fear not; thou shalt have this son also.
And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Ben-oni: but his father called him Benjamin. Genesis 35:17-18

~

PS: I Will Feast With Rachel, Joseph And Benjamin

Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy.
Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage.
So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests. Matthew 22:8-10

How About You?

And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:
And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.
Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
For many are called, but few are chosen. Matthew 22:11-14

~

Be Blessed Beloved

So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. Revelation 3:16-22

Love, Joe

[Kan]

On 1/13/2016 at 11:47 AM, Malcolm55 said:

I am very depressed. My cousin Rachel recently perished due to a severe case of acute leukemia. It was tragic indeed; nothing seemed to work. We prayed, we tried everything, but it only got worse. After a few years, Rachel died in her sleep. Rachel was one of the best people I knew. Rachel was generous to a fault, and god would have loved her. Why would He kill Rachel? Do prayers really work? I did a bit of reasearch... and unfortunately god doesn't even appear to be answering our calls to Him (based on a few google results). How do we even know He exists? If he does, why does He not answer our prayers? I've been a Christian all my life; I am shocked to learn of god's apparent apathy...

Dear Malcolm,

You have not asked for sympathy here, neither comfort.

Because anyone who loves and knows what love is, will never be comforted over this cruel injustice, not until and unless, they see their loved one fully alive and healthy in body again.

 

 

[other one]

Well, I asked God if it was ok to visit a particular web site the other day, and my computer died for three days...     Then as I was about to troubleshoot the problem I turned it on and it did some self diagnostics and rebuilt something in the Bios and it just started working all by itself....    in all the years I never see the trouble screens that were up.

I took it that It was not ok to visit there.

[thereselittleflower]

Malcolm, how are you doing?

 

 

[Earnest]

Howdy Malcom,

 

Firstly, the anger and hurt you feel validates the relationship you had with your cousin. Don't resist crying over her. But, with every tear, rejoice that you had those times with her and thank God for every moment you can remember. Cry with joy because you truly have something to cry about, rather than not knowing her well enough to cry at all.

 

Secondly, I think you are fully justified in asking the questions you have, and I strongly encourage you to seek the answers from God Himself.

 

I am confident that God is motivating you to ask these questions because He wants you to develop a deeper wiser relationship with Him. As you learn how to respectfully ask these questions of God, and earnestly seek His perspective in the answers, you will certainly grow in your relationship with Him. Then, with that wisdom, you can help others grow in their relationship with Him.

 

The questions you ask are where mature faith begins. Heb 11:6 says that faith is believing that God is worth seeking and then seeking Him. In this case, I suggest you try to understand God's eternal perspective, even though you are angry and hurt over your loss. It is up to you to choose to grow in your faith and seek God in answering these questions, or to be angry at God and condemn Him for the way He runs all of creation.

 

As an example, a few years ago, I got to wondering why God allowed so many people to be disabled at birth or thereafter. Instead of criticizing God about it, I tried to understand His perspective. The following is what I came up with and wrote to myself to help me understand it better. I think it generally overlaps the questions you are asking. I offer it in the hope it will guide you beyond our normal and human perspective and perhaps show that everything we see is not all there is.

 

Perhaps, God's eternal purposes are greater than our own experiences and feelings in this life.

 

(I just wrote this to myself a few years ago so I ask your consideration for it not really being all it could be such as if it were formally published.)

 

 

Christians and Disabilities

 

The paralytic who was lowered through the roof faced difficulties for the few years of his life, but for the last 2000 years he has been celebrating God’s mercy and glory, and will continue for eternity. He considers it worth it to have gone through what he did for the few short years he was on this earth. Ditto, the blind man in John 9. Do either of them now wish they had been born normal and healthy?

 

So what if you, or someone you know, suffers a little while in this life? Compared to eternity, it will be worth it to them.

 

Which is more important in changing the world for God: arms and legs, or a godly attitude? Nick Vujicic is a man who was born without arms and legs but is changing the world through his attitude toward God and his love for others.

 

http://www.lifewithoutlimbs.org/

 

How many people with full use of their arms and legs can claim to have accomplished as much as he?

 

By way of illustration, let's imagine a certain atheist with a healthy body who condemns God for allowing disabilities. (By condemning God for allowing disabilities, isn't he acknowledging the existence of God?) He claims that God must not love people if He allows so many to have disabilities. The atheist considers healthy limbs to be more important to God than the right attitude toward God’s Son, Messiah Jesus.

 

If there is a God, and if there is eternal life, isn't it reasonable to expect that the right attitude toward God in this life has more eternal value than whether or not one had certain fleshly protuberances, or eyesight, or clear hearing, or a fancy car or big house, etc.?

 

Is it possible that God has selected the disabled person to receive harder times on earth because they have greater character potential in eternity?

 

And isn't it reasonable that a few difficult years of this life will be far outweighed by the greater joy and happiness the person will enjoy for all eternity?

 

In eternity, will not that person worship God for blessing them with the disability which allowed them to grow so much closer to God than so many others, and to learn what is truly important to God?

 

It is not a pity that a child is born without arms and legs, such as Nick Vujicic. It is a pity that the healthy atheist with both arms and legs and a healthy mind is choosing to reject God for eternity.

 

For the atheist who dies an atheist, this life was the closest they will ever come to heaven. Why not let them have these few years with arms and legs? Since they have chosen to reject God's love through His Son, healthy arms and legs, and perhaps a comfortable life, may be all God can do for them.

 

Because they have chosen to turn away from Messiah Jesus in this life, in eternity, there is only one place where they can get as far from Him as possible. But even then they will have to face their hatred, pride, arrogance and foolishness because God will be there too. That is a far greater loss than not having use of ones arms or legs for a few years of this life.

 

In every area of life we see that the harder the challenge, the greater the reward. If there is any value to life at all, then that value can be increased or decreased by how we deal with the challenges we face. Everyone faces difficult challenges; some more than others. We simply choose whether or not to honor Messiah Jesus in how we face them.

 

The entire point of life is whether or not we choose to honor Messiah Jesus in any given situation.

 

The greater the challenge, the greater the potential God sees in us, and the more we will worship Him for it in eternity.

 

The choice is always up to us each minute of our lives.