Freedom House Church and Healing Centre

Really?!

•  So Jesus answered and said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' it will be done. (Matthew 21:21)

• "And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive." (Matthew 21:22)

• "Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. (Mark 11:24)

• "And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. "If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.(John 14:13-14)

• Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.  And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him. (1 John 5:14-15)

• " So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  "For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. (Luke 11:9-10)

• Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass. (Psalm 37:4-5)

And a hundred more could be added!

 Hello Saints,

It’s probably one of the most difficult things I have to deal with as a pastor: “Why is God not answering my prayer; not healing my…; not saving my…; not giving me…”. We’ve all asked the question, “why?”. Honestly, I don’t know! If I quote scripture, people hear they don’t have enough faith. If I try to explain from God’s perspective, they blame God, get mad at Him or just quit asking. It can be a real dilemma for anyone if they don’t receive the answer to their prayers or see results for their persistence. The scriptures seem to give very clear and simple formulas – “ask and you will receive”. But the scriptures also add a bunch of other criteria for receiving from the Lord: sufficient faith (mustard seed size faith Matt. 17:20); lack of doubt (James 1:6); asking according to God’s will (1John 5:14); obedience (1John 3:22); persistence (Luke 18:7). Meeting all the criteria can feel like a heavy burden and turn into a random checklist of do’s and don’ts which can discourage and frustrate. That’s not what prayer is all about!

I believe we need to look beyond that which we are asking of God and continue to trust the God we are asking. Remember David fasting and praying for his son conceived in sin with Bathsheba. He did not receive that which he was asking even after 7 days of persistence. When the news came that his son had died, the first thing he did was get up and worship God (2Samuel 12). His relationship with God was more important than answered prayer! He focused not on the tragedy of the situation, but on the future of seeing his son in the afterlife and chose to comfort Bathsheba and get on with life. His theology or understanding of God got him through the tragedy. Like Job, David realized that God is sovereign – He gives and He takes away and worshipping Him is of first importance. When Paul prayed 3 times for his thorn to be removed, and it was not, it was his theology of the grace of God that got him through to continue serving the Lord – God’s enabling grace is able to supply all he needs whether he has a physical impediment or not. For Paul it was all about the cause of Christ, not his own comfort, “That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2Cor 12:10) God is worthy of serving no matter how difficult our life is. 

Ultimately, prayer is about trusting God as we get to know Him more. The more we get to know Him, the more we find delight and joy in His presence, and the more it becomes not about getting what we want but receiving what we need – more of Him. If you read Paul’s story in the letters he wrote, it became about being content in every circumstance, knowing that he was in God’s will, doing what God had asked Him to do.  Prayer is acknowledging that there are things beyond our control that only God can fix, heal, or take us through… “in this world you will have trouble, fear not”. Prayer according to His will is based on the revelation of God in scripture. He will do what He wants to do. Prayer is realizing that God’s will supersedes our will – His ways are not our ways, and He knows best how to answer our prayers according to His ways, for His glory. Can God move mountains? Absolutely! So can we, if God wants that mountain moved. Can God heal? Absolutely! He wants to and He does! And He wants to do so through us! But His timing and how He heals will always supersede our desires. Prayer increases our faith. Believing for what we cannot see makes us totally dependent on the only One who can make our prayer a reality. Do we really believe above all else that God is able to do what He says He can do, and is the Only One who can do it? If that is true, a surrender happens as we wait for His will to be done. If the trials of life lead to surrendering to the God we love, then ultimately, the goal of the trial has been achieved – joy in His presence in the middle of the trial (James 1:2).

 What are we to make of the above scriptures that seem to imply a cosmic sugar daddy who will give us whatever we want. For me, they teach that God can and wants to answer prayer. They teach that God can do anything, anywhere and anytime. They teach us that God holds the power, authority, and final decision and that He wants us to see Him like that…. He is the giver of all good gifts. They teach us that God hears our prayers and answers – that’s incredible intimacy between Father and His children. They teach of a God who cares, is close to the afflicted and broken-hearted, and is able to bring comfort in every trial of life. So, let’s grow our faith by reading and believing God’s word. Let’s believe for God to do the impossible because He can and wants to. Let’s free ourselves from the burden of trying to achieve perfection in the way we pray. Let’s just trust God for the outcome of our prayers, as we persevere with faith. Let’s continue to be obedient to our Lord who said, "Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give” (Matt. 10:8). Instead of the doubting question, “Really?”, let’s believe that God Really wants to do the miraculous for us and through us for His name’s sake and live believing who we are in Christ (Mark 16:15-20). Pray fervently with faith. Pray expectantly with hope. Pray gratefully with praise. Pray always for all things. Prayer really works!

Be Blessed!

"Advancing the Kingdom of God by releasing Spirit-filled followers to serve Jesus in freedom and joy."