8.5.25 ~ Unanswered Prayer

Good morning!

In our Torah portion, va'etchanan, Moses pleads with God to allow him to see the Promised Land (Deut. 3:25). It has been said by deep students of God's Word that Moses prayed 515 times, pleading with the Lord, but God's answer was "No, we won't talk about this any more (Deut. 3:26). How could God say, no? Have you ever had your prayer requests ever go unanswered? Have you ever hoped for something, not even selfishly (Jam. 4:1-4), but on behalf of someone else and your hope was delayed or you got a "no"...it makes the heart sick (Prov. 13:12). 

With all the pressures and frustrations of life facing us every morning, enquiring minds want to know what's this prayer stuff all about? Is it just the law of attraction? A spiritual Santa Claus where I get my latest favorite toy? 

Let's begin at the beginning. Nice, Mr. Obvious :-). God is the absolute King and Ruler and Creator of the universe. In other words, God is in control of everything; not like a dictator, but as a purposeful Creator. Job tells us that no plan of God’s can be thwarted (Job. 42:2).  Solomon, the wisest man in history, tells us that the heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord and is directed like an irrigation channel (Prov. 21:1).  The prophets remind us that God uses both good and evil to bring about His plans (Prov. 16:4)...and all this time, I thought I was in charge (LOL)

It is also quite clear that God never makes a move that is not motivated by His purposes.  There are no accidental or incidental decisions in heaven.  God always does exactly what is the correct thing to do in order to bring about the divine objective of what is best; not only at the moment but in the long run too. 
 
 And lest we think God is some kind of Dictator in the sky or ultimate killjoy, let's remember that  God is good (Psa. 34:8; Psa. 100:5; 145:9; Nah. 1:7; etc.)  God is absolutely holy, has no second agendas and will always do what is necessary and essential to bring about the best result (Psa. 99:9 1 Cor. 3:17).  Of course, we might not think that what happens in life is the best result, but we are not God.  Thanks, Mr. Obvious :-)

When I forget these truths, it often seem as though what happens to us and to others does not make sense.  If we were to judge end results, we'd quickly start to look at life through our lens of what is good and right.  Obviously, His ways are not my ways (Isa. 55:8,9). None of us, not even Moses,  is able to see the biggest picture.  Speaking of myself, my finite mind is structurally insufficient to discern the ways of eternity and the infinite.  Consequently, I either trust in God’s character or I fight for our version of justice.
 
So, what is prayer really all about? And why when it's not answered the way I think it should do I become so bitter towards my heavenly Santa Claus? Throughout the good book, we call the Bible, the purpose of prayer is to transform our heart in such a way that I will be fully prepared to accept what God has to offer.  This is very different from my usual prayer asking God to provide what I think I need.  God centered prayer opens the door to the holy, sovereign God to choose what is best and give what is necessary.  It's always in perfect alignment with the will of the Father because it assumes that the issue at hand is not with the giver but with the receiver.  

God will always do what is right, holy, blessed and perfect.  I don’t have to convince Him of that.  It is in His nature to do these things.  What is needed is that I become the kind of person who is able to receive what God has to offer.  When I pray for anything else, I run the risk of being out of alignment with the will of the Father, finding my prayers (really requests) unanswered and ending up frustrated (and blaming). You know what I mean?

God doesn't always answer prayer the way I want...Ugh! But, 
 I can always count on God to do what is best for me, and for His entire creation (Rom. 8:28).  What I need to do is to prepare my heart to accept what He is doing.  Once my heart is in alignment, I discover peace, joy, purpose and power.  Why?  Because I know that the heavenly Father knows what He is doing, and all I have to do is completely trust Him.
 
Have a fantastic 3rd day of the week!

You've been prayed for!

Shalom,
Alan

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