What should I do if I dont trust God enough to give my heart to him?

[LPTSTR]

That was my point! The post I quoted left impression that God has obligation to answer everything which is not so and I pointed it out. As for reading the word, you are right, however even this doesnt guarantee that you get your prayers answered. It only gives you guarantee that you know what not to pray for. What I pray for seems to be the will of God at least but even this doesnt always guarantee the prayer answer. For example, prayer that some non-believer would become to Christ is in the will of God, but not all non-believer for whom we pray become Christian during their life time.
So to sum up, nothing is guaranteed, no matter how good or bad or average christian you are. An on the other times some non-bleliever might ask God for something just for fun to see if prayers work and if miracles are real and they get immediately what they ask for. 

[Heavenunlimited]

You have to understand that the bible is the LIVING word of God. When you pray, and believe, and DO Gods will, He WILL listen and He will help. But in the way He finds are the best.  For ex, if you want material goods to satisfy your desires you will most likely not get them. It depends on intent.  Sometimes, the evil is used as a tool, hes allowed to test you. Read about Job. But see, how it ended.  Its not as straight forward like God will give me whatever I want. You have to be righteous and do His will. 

[No124get1952]

LPTSTR,

 

Thank you for your response. I will do my best to answer your requests, but I ask a bit of leeway in doing so. I am going to start in a place you probably don't expect me to start.

First, Deuteronomy 28:1-14 is God Himself telling the children of Israel what He will do for them. As you read the long list, it is an impressive array of blessings that indicate material prosperity here on earth in the present. In addition, there are sections that indicate prosperity in mental, emotional and spiritual ways as well. To be honest, I have not yet attained all these blessings...but in that admission lies my true condition..that I have failed to maintain my part of this covenant that God obligated Himself to: I have not fully listened to and obeyed the commandments of the Lord my God. If I am truly honest with myself, there have been too many times when I talked a good talk about obeying God, yet I did not DO what He said. In every area where I have fallen short, God was not obligated to bless me....or even answer my prayers. If you have been praying for 5 years, I commend you. But I do not believe that God has not answered a single one of your prayers. Others in this forum have suggested you prayed selfishly or prayed in the wrong fashion. I do not make that assumption, but I DO know this: God always answers prayer. What I have discovered for myself is that I do not always hear God or recognize His answers. Yes, I have been in dire straits, waiting for money to pay my rent. And it seemed that God did not answer my prayer...He didn't tell me to go fishing and get a coin out of a fishes' mouth like He did with Peter; He didn't have me use the last of my flour to bake a loaf of bread for the prophet. When I got under such pressure, instead of trusting God and asking for help from His people, I tried to figure it out on my own. It has cost me bankrupcy, indebtedness, embarrassment, shame and a whole host of other negative things. It has almost cost me my marriage that a "man of faith" should suffer so.

The point I am trying to make here is that the fault for unanswered prayer is NOT God's. In the past 40 or so years of serving God, I have never gone hungry for a long period of time. Though there have been financially hard times, in the aftermath I discovered it was mostly my own stinkin' thinkin' that caused me to make bad decisions at crucial times. Those bad decisions caused more stress, which led to a greater "spiritual deafness" to what God was speaking through the Bible; through His Holy Spirit; and through Christians who were attempting to love me. At times I felt so rejected because I was so needy that it was hard for others to relate to me. But when I finally got sick of wallowing in my own self pity and ugliness, I began to understand that through it all, Jesus still loved me. Nothing I was going through had altered Jesus' decision to die for me. I believe that night in Gethsemane, Jesus sweat great drops of blood because He saw every face of every desperate soul who needed Him, and He chose to be crucified anyway!!! The Bible records that He looked with joy to the cross in Hebrews 12:2, " ² looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."

That means, he saw YOUR face that night and still decided to go to the cross.

Now let me continue about the covenant of salvation. Covenants are like contracts. When you sign your cell phone contract, they agree to provide you with phone service...and you agree to give them money every month. You both have obligations. If they do not live up to their end of the bargain, you can sue them. If you don't pay your bill, they cut off your phone. However, God made a much more excellent covenant with us because the down payment is our confession of belief in Jesus Christ. And our part to activate the blessings is simply to be obedient to God's Word. I said "simple" not "easy". We are fallible humans and sometimes we get messed up because we want things a certain way...and it doesn't happen to be God's way...so we can't expect the benefits of the covenant when we break it. Thank God for Jesus, because His blood allows us to repent and be forgiven. That repentance/forgiveness process re-activates the covenant and we are again in good standing with God.

At this point, I must tell you though, that one of the biggest hindrances to answer prayer, receiving blessings, or even feeling good about myself is my ungrateful attitude. If I am not thankful to God for the life He has given me, it corrodes my attitude about God and ultimately de-activates the covenant from providing me blessings. A few years ago, God showed me that I had been thankless towards Him and it was a very hard time for me because I had not intentionally decided to do that....but it was true. Very few blessings came my way; not because God had not sent them; but because my ungrateful spirit did not recognize them as blessings and I had actually turned them away...thus rejecting God's blessings....and thus rejecting Him. I was so distraught that I thought I was lost and undone. Thank God that Jesus loves me enough to love me when I was despicable. Now I find, that the more I thank Him, even (and especially) when it looks like my prayers have gone unanswered, that God's favor and grace become more bountiful to me.

I suspect that you have not been totally grateful for all that God HAS done for you. If you are on this forum and able to respond, God has blessed you with a computer and enough resources to afford internet access. Moses didn't have that. If you have been praying for 5 years, God has given you the spiritual stubbornness to "pray it through". That really is a blessing, because after 5 years you still have not given up. That speaks of a basic spiritual strength that very few people have. If you are not thankful for that, I am. I am impressed. As you begin a ruthless evaluation of  your life and how you have made it through, I think  you will find evidence of God in every area. Perhaps God has not answered you in the way you wanted. But God is sovereign and He will answer according to how He wants to answer. It may well be that your prayers have been answered in a way that you cannot see. In other words, God may have been moving resources, people, situations, etc. in your favor in a way that you could not see. It may also have been that God answered your prayers in a way that you have had to go through some trials. Guess what? James 1:2-4

My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations, knowing this: that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, lacking nothing.

God wants you to be perfect and entire....LACKING NOTHING. Unfortunately, sometimes we have to go through lack in order to be worthy of the abundance God wants for us. And since I am nearly 65, let me tell you, not every trial can be solved in a month or two. I have personally suffered (mostly because of my own disobedience and ignorance) through periods of trial as long as 10 years. No, it hasn't been pretty and I have NOT enjoyed it. BUT: God has given me grace to endure and joy IN every situation so that I can honestly thank Him for preserving me.

Part of our basic issue as humans is that we do NOT acknowledge the spiritual side of life and how important and fulfilling it is. It is for this side of our lives that Jesus sent us the Comforter, the Holy Spirit. We sometimes only believe in what we see. If we look beyond the natural, we begin to recognize that God operates in many more dimensions than we realize. If we don't see into those dimensions, we will become very frustrated that God does not answer our prayers.

 

Please forgive me if I have offended. It is not my intent to do so. But I know God answers prayer and I know He has answered yours. My prayer is that your heart will begin to recognize how much you are loved and cherished by God and that His blessings will soon begin to "show up" as visible in your life. You are a treasured child of the Most High God.

 

Blessings

[TheMatrixHasU71]

19 hours ago, BK1110 said:

QFT.

Now LPTSTR, I noticed you quoted the part where No124get1952 said God has an obligation under the Covenant to answer prayers...but didn't say much about the following paragraph, where YOU have an obligation to read the Word, put it in your heart, let Him speak to you and grow you in that way, so you'll know how better to pray. Once again, you seem to be viewing this as a list of demands; rub the lamp, out pops the genie, here's my wishes, now grant them for me. Have you ever considered if what you're praying for is God's will? Because God has promised to answer our prayers if we pray for what He wills for us. He has never promised to fulfill all our desires as we please.

Ummm what's QFT? And I am not sure but you responded I think to the wrong post.

[kwikphilly]

Blessings LPSTR

    Here lies the problem,you have not started at the beginning,as One Light said...Babies cannot do anything,not sit up,talk ,crawl or "trust"...they are completely helpless but through the LOVE &nurturing of the Mom,the one that hold them & satisfies their hunger & thirst they learn to TRUST.....you must start at the beginning & YOU are not expected to DO anything except RECEIVE......go to the Foot of the Cross,go to the Book of John....this is Gods LOVE LETTER to you,personally.......when you read His Words ,read them as though you just opened the mail & it is addressed to YOU & you alone........THe first step in beginning this RELATIONSHIP is knowing that you are LOVED,of course you are afraid to trust GOD ALMIGHTY......you are looking at Him from a distance ,,,Waaaaaay up there in the Heavens,out of touch,impersonally......reach up just a little my friend & I tell you,He Will reach down the rest of the Way....if your heart is earnest

   I've told you time & again,so have others,,,,you keep seeking his Hand,you have to seek His Face .....then when He Reveals Himself to you everything will change,those prayers you prayed will most likely become of no importance to you anymore .......You are probably jumping from here to there to everywhere in the Bible,go to the Book of John,make it PERSONAL ...you are sure that Kwik is writing to you,aren't you,you are TRUSTING that I am here? Well,read the Book of John in the same way because Gods Word is the Living Word,there is Power in His Word,it is ALIVE,our Redeemer LIVES!!!He hears you better than I do,He sees & knows your heart,I don't!HE knew you even before you were in your mothers womb.......can you trust anyone that you don't know? Of course not,how can you,you are not expected to.....He gives you FAITH,a measure of Faith & that FAith is what has brought you this far,asking,seeking,wondering   Because HE LOVES YOU! Now get to know Him,stop trying to learn ABOUT Him & get to know Him.....He is WAITING.........                                                                    Run,don't walk my friend

                                                                                                                                            With love-in Christ,Kwik

  

[BK1110]

6 hours ago, TheMatrixHasU71 said:

Ummm what's QFT? And I am not sure but you responded I think to the wrong post.

"Quoted For Truth." Just a way to show agreement.

[Willa]

I remember Jesus talking and saying that the Jews were like the children in the marketplace saying "we played the flute but you did not dance".  They had welcomed Him as the Messiah and then rejected Him because He didn't answer their prayers to set them free from Roman rule and set up His earthly kingdom.

We should pray as Jesus prayed on the Mount of Olives.  Father, let this cup pass from me.  Nevertheless not my will but thine be done.  

Corrie tenBoom said that it is not about a heroic surrender, but it is a simple sinking into the will of God.

So when I first started walking again with God, I took my problem area to Him, my inability to love my enemies, and thanked him for it all, and asked Him to love them through me.  It was all about Christ living in me and doing what I was unable to do in myself.  The answer took many years.

Then I started underlining verses that pertained to my problem, starting in the New Testament.  And I asked God to help me to do these things.  So I started applying Scripture to my situation.  Bless those who persecute me and pray for those who spitefully use me, obeying the directions even though I didn't really feel like it. I did it out of obedience.

God wanted to change me, not my situation.  He was not so concerned about answering my prayers as He was in making me an answer to the prayers of others.  Yes, He did answer prayers that were unselfish, but it took 4 years to answer the my next one--the salvation of my husband, and more years to answer the second half of that prayer, to make him a good example for our kids.  And during that time God was changing me into being a better wife and a better example for our kids as I tried to apply His directions in the Bible.  So I sought His Kingdom and His righteousness and trusted Him to meet out basic needs.  I sought spiritual treasures in Heaven rather than physical treasures.  Most of the answered prayers were on the order of where did I leave the car keys?  And please get the car started.  These little answered prayers built my faith for the hard ones.

So if you ask God to conform your will to His and to make you the blessing to others He created you to be, He might start answering it if you pray it from the heart.  But that doesn't mean it will happen overnight.  It is a lifetime process.

[other one]

On 2/3/2017 at 0:34 PM, LPTSTR said:

 I know I should give my life fully to God, but what about areas where I am not able to trust Him? Please give me some advise on what and how I should deal with my inability to trust him.

I can only tell you from my experience, but some day you will come to a place where you have screwed up so bad that you realize that you can't get to heaven or even lead a really good life without him in control...

I'll spare you the details for they are kind of private, but try and look at your life and see how when you do things your way they don't usually work out well.   At least they didn't for me...   but until I got to that low point in my life I really didn't know how much of an egotistical ass I really was.  He let me walk right up to the edge of the Abyss and look over....   then caught me as I was loosing my Ballance.....     you don't want to go that route, but I know of others he's let do the same thing.

Do yourself a favor and just let go.    When I try and take back over I really do enjoy him tapping me on the shoulder or occasionally slapping me upside the head and telling me, "Don't do that."

 

We all have slightly different walks so it's not really possible to say do this, or do that....    just ask him for his help and don't be upset when you get it.

[Prophet of change Lou L]

Not gonna say a whole lot just encourage to listen to some very good advise above faith comes by hearing. Pray you have a ear to hear. These folks really CARE for you.

[TheMatrixHasU71]

On ‎2‎/‎9‎/‎2017 at 10:53 AM, No124get1952 said:

LPTSTR,

 

Thank you for your response. I will do my best to answer your requests, but I ask a bit of leeway in doing so. I am going to start in a place you probably don't expect me to start.

First, Deuteronomy 28:1-14 is God Himself telling the children of Israel what He will do for them. As you read the long list, it is an impressive array of blessings that indicate material prosperity here on earth in the present. In addition, there are sections that indicate prosperity in mental, emotional and spiritual ways as well. To be honest, I have not yet attained all these blessings...but in that admission lies my true condition..that I have failed to maintain my part of this covenant that God obligated Himself to: I have not fully listened to and obeyed the commandments of the Lord my God. If I am truly honest with myself, there have been too many times when I talked a good talk about obeying God, yet I did not DO what He said. In every area where I have fallen short, God was not obligated to bless me....or even answer my prayers. If you have been praying for 5 years, I commend you. But I do not believe that God has not answered a single one of your prayers. Others in this forum have suggested you prayed selfishly or prayed in the wrong fashion. I do not make that assumption, but I DO know this: God always answers prayer. What I have discovered for myself is that I do not always hear God or recognize His answers. Yes, I have been in dire straits, waiting for money to pay my rent. And it seemed that God did not answer my prayer...He didn't tell me to go fishing and get a coin out of a fishes' mouth like He did with Peter; He didn't have me use the last of my flour to bake a loaf of bread for the prophet. When I got under such pressure, instead of trusting God and asking for help from His people, I tried to figure it out on my own. It has cost me bankrupcy, indebtedness, embarrassment, shame and a whole host of other negative things. It has almost cost me my marriage that a "man of faith" should suffer so.

The point I am trying to make here is that the fault for unanswered prayer is NOT God's. In the past 40 or so years of serving God, I have never gone hungry for a long period of time. Though there have been financially hard times, in the aftermath I discovered it was mostly my own stinkin' thinkin' that caused me to make bad decisions at crucial times. Those bad decisions caused more stress, which led to a greater "spiritual deafness" to what God was speaking through the Bible; through His Holy Spirit; and through Christians who were attempting to love me. At times I felt so rejected because I was so needy that it was hard for others to relate to me. But when I finally got sick of wallowing in my own self pity and ugliness, I began to understand that through it all, Jesus still loved me. Nothing I was going through had altered Jesus' decision to die for me. I believe that night in Gethsemane, Jesus sweat great drops of blood because He saw every face of every desperate soul who needed Him, and He chose to be crucified anyway!!! The Bible records that He looked with joy to the cross in Hebrews 12:2, " ² looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."

That means, he saw YOUR face that night and still decided to go to the cross.

Now let me continue about the covenant of salvation. Covenants are like contracts. When you sign your cell phone contract, they agree to provide you with phone service...and you agree to give them money every month. You both have obligations. If they do not live up to their end of the bargain, you can sue them. If you don't pay your bill, they cut off your phone. However, God made a much more excellent covenant with us because the down payment is our confession of belief in Jesus Christ. And our part to activate the blessings is simply to be obedient to God's Word. I said "simple" not "easy". We are fallible humans and sometimes we get messed up because we want things a certain way...and it doesn't happen to be God's way...so we can't expect the benefits of the covenant when we break it. Thank God for Jesus, because His blood allows us to repent and be forgiven. That repentance/forgiveness process re-activates the covenant and we are again in good standing with God.

At this point, I must tell you though, that one of the biggest hindrances to answer prayer, receiving blessings, or even feeling good about myself is my ungrateful attitude. If I am not thankful to God for the life He has given me, it corrodes my attitude about God and ultimately de-activates the covenant from providing me blessings. A few years ago, God showed me that I had been thankless towards Him and it was a very hard time for me because I had not intentionally decided to do that....but it was true. Very few blessings came my way; not because God had not sent them; but because my ungrateful spirit did not recognize them as blessings and I had actually turned them away...thus rejecting God's blessings....and thus rejecting Him. I was so distraught that I thought I was lost and undone. Thank God that Jesus loves me enough to love me when I was despicable. Now I find, that the more I thank Him, even (and especially) when it looks like my prayers have gone unanswered, that God's favor and grace become more bountiful to me.

I suspect that you have not been totally grateful for all that God HAS done for you. If you are on this forum and able to respond, God has blessed you with a computer and enough resources to afford internet access. Moses didn't have that. If you have been praying for 5 years, God has given you the spiritual stubbornness to "pray it through". That really is a blessing, because after 5 years you still have not given up. That speaks of a basic spiritual strength that very few people have. If you are not thankful for that, I am. I am impressed. As you begin a ruthless evaluation of  your life and how you have made it through, I think  you will find evidence of God in every area. Perhaps God has not answered you in the way you wanted. But God is sovereign and He will answer according to how He wants to answer. It may well be that your prayers have been answered in a way that you cannot see. In other words, God may have been moving resources, people, situations, etc. in your favor in a way that you could not see. It may also have been that God answered your prayers in a way that you have had to go through some trials. Guess what? James 1:2-4

My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations, knowing this: that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, lacking nothing.

God wants you to be perfect and entire....LACKING NOTHING. Unfortunately, sometimes we have to go through lack in order to be worthy of the abundance God wants for us. And since I am nearly 65, let me tell you, not every trial can be solved in a month or two. I have personally suffered (mostly because of my own disobedience and ignorance) through periods of trial as long as 10 years. No, it hasn't been pretty and I have NOT enjoyed it. BUT: God has given me grace to endure and joy IN every situation so that I can honestly thank Him for preserving me.

Part of our basic issue as humans is that we do NOT acknowledge the spiritual side of life and how important and fulfilling it is. It is for this side of our lives that Jesus sent us the Comforter, the Holy Spirit. We sometimes only believe in what we see. If we look beyond the natural, we begin to recognize that God operates in many more dimensions than we realize. If we don't see into those dimensions, we will become very frustrated that God does not answer our prayers.

 

Please forgive me if I have offended. It is not my intent to do so. But I know God answers prayer and I know He has answered yours. My prayer is that your heart will begin to recognize how much you are loved and cherished by God and that His blessings will soon begin to "show up" as visible in your life. You are a treasured child of the Most High God.

 

Blessings

The Spirit clearly spoke wonders through you here my friend. Amen to all of it.