Unanswered Prayer
Author: Ray
My passion is cultivating a deep relationship with God and helping others to do the same. I LOVE sharing with others insights that God has taught me and hearing what God has taught them... thus my blog, Stirring the Deep. My focus is on a relationship, not a religion. Life is in the relationship. I believe in a balance and unity of body, mind and spirit. I feel it's important to nurture all three for they all affect each other. I try to live in the present, where the Holy Spirit is. And I try to do all with the motive of love. I've come to believe life is a journey and not a destination. It isn't about perfection, is it about growth.
January 27, 2011 at 6:31 pm
With answered prayer a minimal requirement is total honesty. Having witnessed many attempts to summon God’s healing and coming across healing services where people who were being healed had previously been healed for the same condition at other healing services, I have had to rethink exactly what such prayer means. I certainly no longer believe that we can summon God to change or suspend any natural process. There have been a number of rigorous tests of the effectiveness of prayer, starting with Galton. If it happens you are interested in this topic, it could be that you would like to read my essay on the topic, posted on my site at http://billpeddie.wordpress.com
January 27, 2011 at 6:39 pm
Hi – thanks for your thoughts on this … I’ll check out the link. I think often people try to have God succumb to their will instead of seeking His.
January 30, 2011 at 1:44 am
Very good presentation, Rachel! Once again you have shown the truth in a clear concise manner. One thing we must all remember and that is as we are told in Psalm 84, ” No good thing does God withhold from him whose walk is righteous”. By God’s own nature, he cannot withhold anything that is good from those who belong to him. I present my requests to him. If I don’t receive what I asked for, I reason without doubt that it must not have been good for me.
January 31, 2011 at 6:52 pm
Hi Marianne – what a great point. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts.
January 31, 2011 at 11:16 pm
Rachel,
Great topic to address these days and very timely for me personally. I burning question many times is why are not these specific prayers answered even after so long! Your answers are insightful especially the ‘trust’ factor 🙂
Scott
February 1, 2011 at 5:25 pm
Hi Scott — if we are rightly related to God … He is answering them, but not in the way we expect. Sometimes it’s hard to see what God is doing because His ways aren’t our ways, but it’s perfect.
December 24, 2011 at 1:43 am
This is the message I got from your video. Trust in God = Answered Prayers. Thank you
December 26, 2011 at 2:50 pm
Hi – there are many promises instore for those who trust in God … He gives us what is perfect for us, which is often different and far better than what we were expecting when we asked.