Tag Archive | Prayer

Being thankful for Not getting what you wanted!

Question: Should we give thanks for unanswered prayers?

Answer: Yes! Give thanks to God because He always answers our prayers. Remember, His answer may be yes, no, or not yet, but He always answers. We are reminded of this in 1 John 5:14-15, ” 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.” (NKJV) Note that what we pray for must still go along with God’s will for our lives. God’s will and our desires may not match. That said, God very much wants us to continue to pray to Him for the things we feel we want or need. We usually enthusiastically give God thanks when He answers our prayers with a “yes.” Of course, when we do this, we are doing the right thing. However, it’s very important to remind ourselves to give thanks even when God’s answer is “no.” Believers know that while we may think we know what is best for us, God truly knows what’s best for us in every situation of our lives. We must also know that our ways are not necessarily His ways, and our preferred timing for things to happen, is not always His timing for things to happen.

Here are two examples of God knowing what’s best for us better than we do. Consider the twenty-something young lady who has a strong desire to get married and even has her eyes set on the exact young man she considers her perfect match. He’s handsome, successful in his career, and regularly attends church. She prays to God to bless her to get married to this fine young man. After the two have dated for a while, the young man seems to lose interest in her and goes off to eventually marry someone else. Our young lady is crushed, and she doesn’t understand why God didn’t answer her prayer with a “yes.” Twenty years later, we find our young lady happily married to a wonderful man she first met in her thirties. She is surprised to learn that the young man she prayed to marry decades earlier is now on his third divorce. According to his ex-wives, he had been a terrible husband. Our lady is now very happy God answered “no” to her earlier prayer.

A different example: a middle-aged man prays to God to get a new career position that he thinks is just right for him. He’d be working for a great company and making a much larger salary than he’s making in his current position — something especially important as he starts to get closer to retirement age. However, this man watches in disbelief as someone else gets that prized position. He can’t understand what he had done so wrong that God would not reward him with the job of his heart’s desire. Later, it turns out the person taking his dream job lasts less than a year. The company down-sized and that position got eliminated. That person is now unemployed. Our middle-aged man is happy he still has his job. He’s also very happy that God answered his earlier prayer with a “no.”

If we are being really honest with ourselves, most of us can probably recall times in our lives when we were very upset when God said “no” to us. Likewise, as in these two examples, we can look back at one or more of these “no’s” and be thankful. We now shudder at the thought of how things would be if God’s answer had been “yes.” As believers, we know that we will never understand in this lifetime, why God answers us in the ways He does. Also, God knows, understands, and cares when we are hurt and disappointed when He doesn’t answer all of our prayers with a “yes.” He wants us to trust that He knows what is best and take comfort in this knowledge. We must pray to have stronger faith and trust in God. Then, we will be spiritually equipped for those times when we need to be thankful for NOT getting what we wanted!

One Nation Under God?

Oct5

Question: What should Christians do to get our country out of its moral decline?

Answer: Pray! Christians know that prayers do, indeed, change things. The Bible tells us in 2 Chronicles 7:14, “If My people who are called by my name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (NKJV) As Christians, we must make sure that we are living our own lives to please God. We need to repent from our own sins before we seek to witness to others about their need to turn from their sins. Unbelievers can often spot a hypocrite, and they are understandably turned off by them.

Plus, as Christians, we need not despair as we see evil gaining ground by way of some of the new laws being made in this country which go against the Word of God. Believers know that if God says something is sin, we know that it is sin no matter who says otherwise. Therefore, Believers should not give their support to any politician or group who supports such laws!

Also, Believers need not feel defeated as we witness polls that show the majority of people favoring what God’s Word clearly calls sin. We need to heed the warning found in Isaiah 5: 20, “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil…” The Bible also tells us that God will not be mocked (Galatians 6:7). He is still in control. When a nation continues to be disobedient to God, it invites the wrath of God upon it!

Additionally, America’s founding fathers were wise to include recognition of God in such places as the Declaration of Independence. Dr. Harold Pease, an expert on the US Constitution, wrote about the five references to God found in the Declaration of Independence. Most famous is the following reference about our Creator, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” (See http://www.libertyunderfire.org/2011/07/five-references-to-god-in-the-declaration-of-independence/).

Also, in 1954, US President Dwight Eisenhower was wise to get Congress to add the words “under God” to the Pledge Of Allegiance. ( See http://www.ushistory.org/documents/pledge.htm). There are even carved images of the story of Moses in the building of the US Supreme Court. Despite the many wrongs this country has contributed to like slavery and segregation, this country has done many other things right. For example, this country remains one of the nation of Israel’s closest allies. This country continues to be one that gives the most to address the world’s humanitarian needs. This nation continues to be considered the most powerful in the world. America has been blessed. America has a history of acknowledging God in its historical documents, national buildings, and patriotic songs. Most of its citizens call themselves Christian.

Therefore, America needs to remain a country which recognizes the existence of Almighty God. America’s people would be wise to remember the part of the Pledge that says we are “one nation under God.” As Christians, we need to live out our beliefs and continue to pray for others to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. For the Bible tells us in Psalm 33:12, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD…” We need to rely on the teachings of the Bible when making laws for our country and not govern in ways that go against God’s Word.

Amen!

(Reposted and updated from my July 2013 Blog)

Weak-kneed about standing strong for God?

Aug5

Question: How do I stand strong for God in a hostile environment?

Answer: It’s not always easy to stand strong for God when those around you are hostile towards His teachings. Therefore, you must always remember to share God’s teachings respectfully, in ways that reflect God’s love. Make sure you don’t come across as hostile yourself by being mean, uncaring, or hypocritical. Instead, let your interactions with others reflect kindness, joy, and peace. (Read about these and other “fruit of the Spirit” in Galatians 5:22-23)

Still, even when you try to be loving when sharing your beliefs, there may be people who will accuse you of acting like you think you’re better than everyone else. Others may say you’re being too judgmental. They may even try to prove you’re wrong by quoting the verse, “Judge not, that you be not judged.” (Matthew 7:1 NKJV)

However, they fail to give the rest of that passage. For Jesus goes on to warn first against being a hypocrite — someone who points out the sins of others without acknowledging and repenting of their own sins. Using symbolism for sin, He asks,” And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?” Then, He goes on to say, “First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck out of your brother’s eye.” (Read Matthew 7:1-5) Jesus does want us to speak His truth to others about the consequences of sin and help them understand God’s Word.

Unfortunately, many people just don’t want to accept that it’s God — not man — who determines what is good and what is evil. Therefore, they may attack you verbally or even physically try to keep you from speaking God’s Truth. You may be ridiculed, not invited to parties, denied job promotions, be fired, or even sued for practicing your unpopular beliefs. This is all because you choose to stand strong for your Christian faith.

Even some Believers may get combative or turn against you for calling out sin in today’s culture. They may react this way for many reasons. But one reason might be that your boldness for the Lord makes them embarrassed and ashamed. Deep down, they know they have been failing to stand strong for their faith like God wants them to do.

In fact, Jesus said, “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 10:32-33)

In order to deal successfully with any of these situations, you must start with prayer! Our loving Heavenly Father hears our prayers and is with us to help us through our daily trials. His Word tells us to, “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.” (Matthew 7:7-8) God always wants us to turn to Him — including when we face attacks.

The Apostle Paul teaches us that these fights we face are actually spiritual battles. They are conflicts between those who support what God calls evil and those of us who support the goodness and righteousness of God and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Paul reminds Believers to “be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.” (Ephesians 6:10)

When we face challenges because of our faith, we, like Paul, should pray for God’s Holy Spirit to help us. Paul urged the Believers of his day to be praying for other Believers and for him, “……that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel… that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.” (Read more about putting on “The Whole Armor of God in Ephesians 6:11-20)

So, don’t be weak-kneed. Boldly share your beliefs with grace, kindness, respect, and love. In doing so, you’ll be helping to fulfill The Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) given by Jesus, to “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

****Enjoy this beautiful song of encouragement by the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir entitled, “Take Up Your Cross.” (Click on this link: https://youtu.be/77RHISYAD_E)

Stop trying to handle life’s challenges on your own! You need Jesus!

Jan1

Question: How do I stop feeling overwhelmed from trying to deal with all the challenges in my life right now?

Answer: Stop trying to handle everything on your own! As Believers, we must remember that we need to
lean on our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. God already knows we are going to face difficult situations in life. We will face situations that will make us feel everything from troubled and depressed to anxious and overwhelmed. Knowing this, He guides us to His Son Jesus through His Holy Word.

For example, Philippians 4:6-7 tells us to "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." (NKJV)

Therefore, we need to start refocusing our minds and hearts on Jesus. We need to carry all our burdens to Him in prayer. Pray for His Holy Spirit to comfort and guide you. Pray that He gives you wisdom to know how to deal with every situation in a way that pleases God. And remind yourself of Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

Also, know that "God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear..." (Psalm 46:1-2a) Remember this as you deal with your own physical illnesses, or with strained relationships with family and friends, or with facing other troubles in our world.

Just turn it all over to Jesus. He loves and cares for us. He says, "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28)

Amen!

Being thankful for NOT getting what you wanted!

Nov5

Question: Should we give thanks for unanswered prayers?

Answer: Yes, give thanks to God because He always answers our prayers. Remember, His answer may be yes, no, or not yet, but He always answers. We are reminded of this in 1 John 5:14-15, ” 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.” (NKJV) Note that what we pray for must still go along with God’s will for our lives. God’s will and our desires may not match. That said, God very much wants us to continue to pray to Him for the things we feel we want or need. We usually enthusiastically give God thanks when He answers our prayers with a “yes.” Of course, when we do this, we are doing the right thing. However, it’s very important to remind ourselves to give thanks even when God’s answer is “no.” Believers know that while we may think we know what is best for us, God truly knows what’s best for us in every situation of our lives. We must also know that our ways are not necessarily His ways, and our preferred timing for things to happen, is not always His timing for things to happen.
Here are two examples of God knowing what’s best for us better than we do. Consider the twenty-something young lady who has a strong desire to get married and even has her eyes set on the exact young man she considers her perfect match. He’s handsome, successful in his career, and regularly attends church. She prays to God to bless her to get married to this fine young man. After the two have dated for a while, the young man seems to lose interest in her and goes off to eventually marry someone else. Our young lady is crushed, and she doesn’t understand why God didn’t answer her prayer with a “yes.” Twenty years later, we find our young lady happily married to a wonderful man she first met in her thirties. She is surprised to learn that the young man she prayed to marry decades earlier is now on his third divorce. According to his ex-wives, he had been a terrible husband. Our lady is now very happy God answered “no” to her earlier prayer.
A different example: a middle-aged man prays to God to get a new career position that he thinks is just right for him. He’d be working for a great company and making a much larger salary than he’s making in his current position — something especially important as he starts to get closer to retirement age. However, this man watches in disbelief as someone else gets that prized position. He can’t understand what he had done so wrong that God would not reward him with the job of his heart’s desire. Later, it turns out the person taking his dream job lasts less than a year. The company down-sizes and that position gets eliminated. That person is now unemployed. Our middle-aged man is happy he still had his job. He’s also very happy that God answered his earlier prayer with a “no.”
If we are being really honest with ourselves, most of us can probably recall times in our lives when we were very upset when God said “no” to us. Likewise, as in these two examples, we can look back at one or more of these “no’s” and be thankful. We now shudder at the thought of how things would be if God’s answer had been “yes.” As believers, we know that we will never understand in this lifetime, why God answers us in the ways He does. Also, God knows, understands, and cares when we are hurt and disappointed when He doesn’t answer all of our prayers with a “yes.” He wants us to trust that He knows what is best and take comfort in this knowledge. We must pray to have stronger faith and trust in God. Then, we will be spiritually equipped for those times when we need to be thankful for NOT getting what we wanted!

(Reposted from my November 21, 2013 Blog Post)

Follow me on Twitter: @ValClarksPlace

Helpful Links:
Focus on the Family    http://www.focusonthefamily.com
Crown Financial Ministries   http://www.crown.org
The Christian Broadcasting Network   http://www.cbn.com
World Magazine        http://www.worldmag.com

The re-education of the Christian

Sep10

Question: How can I help my child maintain Christian values when challenged at school?

Answer: Those who want to change long-standing moral beliefs in our society know that the easiest place to start is with those easiest to influence. The old saying, “the hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world,” can be true. Any parent, teacher, or child care worker will tell you that children are like little sponges ready to “soak up” whatever they are exposed to. That’s why children can be quicker than some adults to learn the latest dance craze or technology device. So whoever becomes the first ones to teach them what to believe will possess a great deal of influence in these young lives. As Christian parents, we are the ones who should make sure our children know what they are to believe. We cannot afford to leave this teaching to others who may not share our faith.

Unlike in decades past, American schools no longer reinforce traditional Judeo-Christian values. Today, they teach such things as sex outside of marriage is fine as long as you use birth control. At some schools, they’ll even tell you how to get the birth control or actually provide it for you. Also, they might teach students that if they believe the biblical values taught them by their parents, they are being naive and old-fashioned. Since most young people spend a great deal of their lives in school, the values these “institutions of learning” teach really do matter. Christian parents must stay aware of what values their children are being taught in school and discuss these issues at home.

There are many examples of schools trying to force Christian students to hide or change their beliefs. For example, a Christian student at the University of Wisconsin was told by her professor to remove all religious references from her class project. (See the story: http://www.christianheadlines.com/blog/college-student-told-to-remove-religious-references-from-project.html) Legal Counsel representing this student had to remind school officials that students still have their First Amendment right to religious freedom even while they are attending public schools and universities.

High school Christian class valedictorians have also faced instances of push back when they wanted to include their faith in their speeches. Several have been threatened with having their microphones cut off and worse if they gave credit to God in their speeches. Jeremy G. Dys writes about this in his article titled, “When ‘God’ is a bad word at graduation.” (Read it here: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2015/06/11/when-god-is-bad-word-at-graduation.html?intcmp=obinsite.)

Of course, plenty of Christian students make it through school with little or no real problems expressing their beliefs in school. For example, students are still allowed to have student-led Bible Clubs alongside other clubs at school. A school in California even welcomed Bible clubs held at their school, attracting even some gang members who attended and wanted to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior. They no longer wanted to be in the gangs. (Read: http://www.christianheadlines.com/blog/gang-members-being-converted-through-california-schools-bible-classes.html.)

Christian students should be taught to not be surprised or feel defeated when faced with opposition to their faith in school. Jesus warned in Luke 21:17, “And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake.” (NKJV) And, when challenged concerning your faith, pray to God for wisdom to know what to do. For Jesus promised in Luke 21:15 that He “will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist.” Amen!

Updated and reposted from my 9/30/15 blog

Follow me on Twitter: @valclarksplace