Inspired by my Monday and by Jenn's posting. Keep the prayers coming.Why is it that when we get an immediate answer from God we are amazed?
We prayed!? We believed he would answer ......
but when the answer was swift and the answer we were wanting to hear we were amazed.
I find that funny although, I am as guilty as the next.
I am awed by how obvious it is that it is from God. And how releived I am that God is still listening to my prayers-sinful person that I am.
God has always answered prayers.
Sometimes, it is just more obvious than other times.
It is when the answers do not come as we want that we often begin to fall away and lose faith. We need to remember that God holds the master plan and he is looking at the big picture and we are seeing only one little minute bit of the plan.
God does answer our prayers. He will answer according to His will, not our will and according to His time, not our time.
God Will! God's Will!
that is so true and i too am often amzed at His answer or that He answered. and for me, i think it may be that i don't really think my small needs are a priority to God, He does have the WHOLE WORLD to take care and crises to intervine in that are much bigger than mine. i guess we need to remember that we are important and He takes care of us all the same, just in different ways.
ReplyDeleteDarla, i am so blessed to know you and be your friend. you are such an encouragement to me. Thank you for your comments and your love and prayers. i love you
I'm not so much amazed at the fact that the prayer is answered but at how it is answered. God exceeds my expectations all of the time and I am left feeling small and humbled. I think that is the point of prayer - to discover God and the enormity of who he is (and who we are in relation to him).
ReplyDeleteMaster plan? What would such a master plan look like? Has God blueprinted out the life and times of each person down to the final detail? Is there a set path for our life that we must discover or else be "outside of God's plan"? What if I choose the wrong profession? What if I marry the wrong girl? How can I divine the invisible tight-rope I'm supposed to walk?
ReplyDeleteI think we are surprised that God answers prayers because we think he has already decided everything that is going to happen to us in advance and that our life is destined to be whatever he has chosen for us. Subconsciously, if not consciously, we recognize that if this were the case, our prayers would be nothing more than the ineffectual cries of a doomed prisoner.
I don't buy it. God answers prayers because his plan for us is hardly a blueprint of events - but rather a consistent plan of response. God will always respond to us consistently - but our actions can change what that response will be!
So be confident that your prayers are never ineffectual! Never be surprised that God has chosen to respond to you - it is always the will of God to respond. Let me say this more boldly - God doesn't rarely change his mind because of prayer, he changes his mind every single time someone prays. The very act of prayer, regardless of content, will cause God to respond.
No, Drew I do not believe that God has a "master plan" in the way you describe. It is obvious to me after living and experiencing life for half a century that God WILL take us from this moment and help us through it no matter how far off the path we have strayed.
ReplyDeleteOur lives are not ruined because we choose the wrong person to marry or choose the wrong profession. What I meant is that HE KNOWS the outcome and we do not.
Yes, we KNOW that God responds to our prayers but that does not stop us from being awed when the answer is so obviously straight from God and plain as the nose on our faces. It is a comfort and humbling to know he is still there watching out after us.
And no I do not believe that God has laid out my future plans that I have to discover in order to "make" it.
I will choose my words more wisely in the future.
I can tell you feel very strongly about this.
Okay. I have to join in. Drew, I think you and Darla are actually saying the same thing. She is just pointing out that when we are able to cause a response in all-powerful God, it causes us to catch our breath and feel awe that He cares enough to listen to us individually. Since we don't see and hear him in our everyday lives, we forget that he is always there and willing to listen. I do think that sometimes he refuses our request because he knows it isn't best for us in the long run or maybe it would hinder someone else or a thousand other reasons that only he would know. In that respect, there is a "master plan"- to lead us all to him. (Linda)
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry, I meant no confrontation!
ReplyDeleteI was setting up a straw man - a diatribe, to be precise. I was asking questions that someone else might ask in response to your posting and then responding to them.
Given the question straightforwardly, I don't think anyone would claim that "God's Will" is an "invisible tight-rope" (if I may quote myself) - but I hear in our everyday language this sort of understanding. To be quite blunt, I see a lot of fatalism wrapped in religious language and it drives me crazy (yes, I do feel quite strongly about this - I think its done remarkable damage to the Church.) I hear Christians use the term "God's Will" as though it were interchangeable with "Fate" or "Destiny." Again, I don't think it's because anyone thinks that that is true - but I think we have somehow allowed fatalism to slip into the Church's worldview, and it has undermined our belief in prayer without us ever seeing the change on the surface.
In other words, I really wasn't trying to accuse you of anything - but I really do think this is the answer to your question, "Why are we surprised when God answers prayers?"
Aren't you glad I dropped by to answer your question? I'm still young enough to know everything, so feel free to ask anything else you need an answer to! --WINK--