Have you ever noticed how many times in the book of Psalms the Psalmist mentions that God is silent? Or the psalmist will ask how long God will wait before he acts. I have had that struggle myself many times in my christian life as I have sought God's guidance only to hear nothing in response.
Quite a while ago I created a prayer journal in order to record thoughts during Bible readings and also prayer requests. It is a good way to look back and see how God has indeed answered many prayers. Perhaps he did not answer them the way that we expect though. It reminds me of a lady that went to the church in Hull, Texas that I was a pastor of. We prayed for her healing as she was dealing with cancer. It was literally all over her body. You could just see the fatigue on her face the day she came to the altar and others laid hands on her and we prayed for her. She ending up dying soon after that. That wasn't the end that we wanted for her. But, God did in fact end her suffering.
Paul mentions prayer also often in his letters to the churches. In one, he mentions a thorn in the flesh that he asked the Lord three times for it to be removed. It sounds from what he said that it was some kind of physical problem. For his own humility; however, the thorn was allowed to remain for the rest of Paul's life. I am sure that is not the answer that Paul wanted. But, part of praying in Jesus's name means that we pray with the attitude that we acknowledge that God has the authority to answer any way he choses. We are his and not the other way around. Part of who He is means that He has the authority to do with His creation as He wants.
It bothers me to hear prayer used by many christians today as a tool to get God to do what we want. I see things all the time saying that God want to give wealth or other things to believers. You need to remember that the apostles and Jesus himself were relying on other people for even a bed to sleep in. Paul himself was often risking his life for the gospel and living near poverty. Many of the early christians had all of their possessions taken from them as a result of being a christian. Read Hebrews 11 and see how many of the early believers suffered during their time on earth and realize God doesn't promise us comfort, wealth and prosperity here on earth. He promises us eternal riches, glory and honor, but during our time on this earth there will be troubles.
Quite a while ago I created a prayer journal in order to record thoughts during Bible readings and also prayer requests. It is a good way to look back and see how God has indeed answered many prayers. Perhaps he did not answer them the way that we expect though. It reminds me of a lady that went to the church in Hull, Texas that I was a pastor of. We prayed for her healing as she was dealing with cancer. It was literally all over her body. You could just see the fatigue on her face the day she came to the altar and others laid hands on her and we prayed for her. She ending up dying soon after that. That wasn't the end that we wanted for her. But, God did in fact end her suffering.
Paul mentions prayer also often in his letters to the churches. In one, he mentions a thorn in the flesh that he asked the Lord three times for it to be removed. It sounds from what he said that it was some kind of physical problem. For his own humility; however, the thorn was allowed to remain for the rest of Paul's life. I am sure that is not the answer that Paul wanted. But, part of praying in Jesus's name means that we pray with the attitude that we acknowledge that God has the authority to answer any way he choses. We are his and not the other way around. Part of who He is means that He has the authority to do with His creation as He wants.
It bothers me to hear prayer used by many christians today as a tool to get God to do what we want. I see things all the time saying that God want to give wealth or other things to believers. You need to remember that the apostles and Jesus himself were relying on other people for even a bed to sleep in. Paul himself was often risking his life for the gospel and living near poverty. Many of the early christians had all of their possessions taken from them as a result of being a christian. Read Hebrews 11 and see how many of the early believers suffered during their time on earth and realize God doesn't promise us comfort, wealth and prosperity here on earth. He promises us eternal riches, glory and honor, but during our time on this earth there will be troubles.
