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Faith
hillsbororiver:
Hi FalgnOn,
What I have come to realize is that prayer does not (and is not intended to) align God's will to our desires but to align our desires to God's will.
We have promises and assurances throughout the scriptures that He will provide for us as we seek Him and also admonishments about worrying about what tomorrow might bring.
If we become anxious over what might or could happen we are prone to be unprepared to faithfully handle what is right at hand at the present, we can't turn back the clock to "fix" yesterday, we can't control what may happen in the future, we can only live the moment in faith.
Peace,
Joe
Falgn0n:
Thanks again you guys ... I do have a much better handle on just what faith is, exactly, now.
Heidi:
--- Quote from: Kat on August 11, 2008, 12:22:57 PM ---1Cor 15:28 When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subjected to Him who put all things in subjection under Him, that God may be all in all.
--- End quote ---
Hi there Falg0n,
When I read the above quote to Kat's post I suddenly saw that even Jesus is subject to the same....meaning that His life has been predestined and purposed right from the start and nothing that He did or said could have happened otherwise....yet...He still prayed to His Father every day.
That to me is a key to understanding whether to pray or not to pray...if we pray, let Thy will be done, not my will....your prayer will always be answered!
And I don't think that Christ had the same though process as what you are having, He also did not have any say in the outcome, and yet He said, I did not come to do my will but the will of my Father....He was happy with doing just that.
Just my two cents worth
Heidi
PS remember, just was Christ was, so are we in the world. Do not get discouraged but rejoice in the Lord!
Falgn0n:
Yeah, Heidi, I know what you mean.
I was reminded just now of a whole "stage" that I went through during my "exodus" from the charismatic church. (for a looong time I had had doubts and unanswered questions about alot of things, beginning with the issue of tithing and carrying on all the way to the question why does all the stuff the preachers claim should happen simply never happen...) but during this particular stage I was having trouble specifically in this area of "faith" and giving. the principle was "sowing and reaping" and it was claimed that if you had in your heart what you believed to be a promise from God regarding an "unbelieving husband" or a medical condition or financial situation or whatever, then God would direct you to perform some or other 'act of faith' which would then begin to 'unlock' the answer to that particular prayer.... well - it simply never happened. We were told that "Elijah was a man just like us and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain and it didnt" and "fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much" and all this stuff .... but it simply never worked. Then they would placate you by saying that "sometimes the answer is 'wait' and sometimes the answer is 'no'" and eventually i began to suspect that it was all jazz anyway. I began to cry out to God, even scream at Him at times, for understanding.
And yet, all along, there are these various scriptures telling to "ask and you shall receive" "it will be unto you in accordance with your faith" "the fervent prayer of a righteous man..." etc etc... - so I was just curious to discover the understanding that some of you have about these things - we are continually admonished in scripture to do this or dont do that, ask and pray and seek and change your heart and choose this or that... when all along we simply dont have the power to do any of those things anyway, so it does seem kind of pointless to have all the commandments and and encouragements about how to be and what to do - such as drink but don't get drunk, don't be angry without cause,
I eventually began to realise that Prayer is nothing more or less than the medium and channel through which God draws us closer to Himself - it is the method by which relationship takes place with God, and that's all it is. God is Spirit, and His worshipers must worship Him in spirit and in truth.
We have needs that drive us to prayer for the meeting of those needs and in the process we discover the heart of God surrounding the issue we at first came to Him in prayer about. We discover Him and Who He Is, and what He is, I have not yet, NOT ONE TIME received a direct answer to a specific prayer, and yet, somehow - things have always had a way of working themselves out, not always for the better (at least not from my very limited and narrow perspective), but in a way that allows my family to go on and not be utterly destroyed by the circumstances that we have had to battle through to survive.
And i also finally discovered the meaning of "Pray continually"
Which, I suppose, is the answer to the unvoiced question that was integrated into my reason behind starting this thread - lol.
I have been a church-going / religious type my entire life - ideas and theologies are built into me deeper than my bone marrow - since discovering Bible-Truths.com, I find my ENTIRE BELIEF SYSTEM SHATTERED and being steadily rebuilt from the ground up.... Casting Down Imaginations, i guess, hehehe
I have one more question, though I think it must belong to a new thread, if not to a different area of the forum entirely (ie: "Off Topic"),
and the question is this .... is there anywhere in the world (and maybe, with a little luck, here in South Africa) a community of some kind that shares these beliefs other than bible-truths.com / forums.bible-truths.com? If anyone knows of any - I would love to hear about them ;)
Falgn0n
AK4:
--- Quote ---And yet, all along, there are these various scriptures telling to "ask and you shall receive" "it will be unto you in accordance with your faith" "the fervent prayer of a righteous man..." etc etc... - so I was just curious to discover the understanding that some of you have about these things - we are continually admonished in scripture to do this or dont do that, ask and pray and seek and change your heart and choose this or that... when all along we simply dont have the power to do any of those things anyway, so it does seem kind of pointless to have all the commandments and and encouragements about how to be and what to do - such as drink but don't get drunk, don't be angry without cause,
--- End quote ---
Hi falgnon,
This alluded to a thread i wanted to start with the title "Does God answer your prayers". I dont know about you, but for me almost every prayer i have asked for in Jesus name, in accordance to His will and not mine, whenever He may bring this to me, has come to be. I accepted that if i had to go through a rough tribulation to get it, I'll do it because what i wanted most was more and more knowledge of Him and His spirit superabounding in me.
I'm a simple person. I dont have a want really for anything in this world except for 3 things.
1. Superabounding knowledge and understanding of Him and His spirit superabounding in me.
2. Custody of my kids
3. I cant remember anymore, but i believe i have already recieved this.
Since God when i first starting to get drug by God to come close to him things got real rough. I lost faith for about a month or two and thought i would give God another chance. (the nerve of me there) Since then God has delivered in his own time more and more of what i have been praying for and believe ive been paying for it, but i rejoice in it all and ask for more if it can bring me even closer to Him. Once God really started opening my eyes after coming to BT, man i tell you, more and more knowledge keeps coming.
Right now though, i am at a point were i asked God to hold up please i cant take anymore right now. Can You give me a short break? And right now and, God willing, a little while longer i am getting a break.
Praise Jesus. I thank Him every chance He puts the thought in my mind that he answers prayers and not just mine but yours too. Maybe you just havent noticed or maybe your are not seeing the process you are going to reach that prayer you requested. Looking back i notice the steps that He was putting me through to get to what i have asked for.
Oh i remember #3 now. Never let lose the knowledge, hope and faith that You gave me. Thiswould be the most devastating thing to me.
In Jesus
Anthony
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