Questions On Prayer
Last week, we wrapped up our series on prayer with a Q & A. Many of you sent texts in with questions and we answered as many as we could. But in each service, we were overwhelmed by the number of questions and could only get to about 10% of them. So I promised to answer as many as possible in this blog. I’ve tried to put them into categories so you may not recognize your specific question, but one that is similar to yours.How can I know if I’m praying according to God’s will and not my own selfish desires?First, I think it is possible to pray for something unselfishly, but for it to also be outside of God’s plan for what is best. Jesus wasn’t praying selfishly in the Garden of Gethsemane, but he seemed to be unsure himself if what he was asking for was part of the Father’s plan. So I’m not sure that we can be certain what God’s will is or what is best according to his plan. It’s ok to keep praying when we aren’t sure (Jesus did). But the important thing is to sincerely and continually surrender what we want to God and ask for him to reveal and do what is best. As we pray that way, something begins to change in our own hearts and our desires begin to align with God’s.How do I know that I have enough faith to receive?It’s not the quantity or quality of faith that matters, it’s the object of your faith. We only need enough faith to look to God and pray, surrendering ourselves to him. Jesus said it only takes faith the size of a mustard seed, which is about the size of the head of a pin. Big faith is more about believing a big God than it is about personal fervency.Is it right to pray for justice to be done, or curses on those opposing us, as David did?This question has to do with the imprecatory Psalms of David, when he asked God to demolish his enemies. It is important to remember the context of those prayers. David had been forced to leave his homeland, his family, his ability to worship in the Temple, and everything that mattered to him, and was living for decades on the run from Saul who was trying to kill him. I think we can understand how hard this was for him. We certainly can’t say that we should not pray for justice. But if we were to take the teachings of Jesus, he told us to pray FOR our enemies, not against them. While he was being crucified, he prayed forgiveness for those who were torturing him. He also told us to bless those who curse us and pray for them. So I think the New Testament teaching would lead us to grace in our prayers. On the other hand, if our children were being persecuted, I do think we’d pray for justice, just as the saints did in Revelation, and that would be understandable.I’ve been praying for a loved one to be saved for many years but it’s not happening. How could that NOT be God’s will?It is true that God loves your loved one, even more than you do. And Peter said, “The Lord is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). But we also know that it is not God’s will for him to violate any person’s free will when it comes to their relationship with him. He will not force himself on them. In all honesty, we can’t pray for anyone else to be saved except ourselves. They have to do that. We can pray for God to work in their hearts and for him to bring others in their lives who would impact them spiritually, but we can’t pray them into salvation. Ultimately, they must decide.Stay tuned. I’ll be responding to many more in posts ahead...