skip to main |
skip to sidebar
One of the reasons God doesn’t answer prayer is because sometimes we pray for things that are under our own control. The scriptures say, “If a man won’t work neither let him eat”. Imagine this, there is a fellow who has the ability to work but he won’t, instead he prays to God for food. God is not going to answer that prayer for food because the man has the ability to provide for himself. That’s the easy one… how about these?
- A husband prays for a stronger marriage with his wife but is unwilling to follow God’s instructions to him as a husband. He’s selfish, unloving and doesn’t care about the needs of his wife. He always places her second. Will God grant him a stronger marriage in spite of his rejection of God’s Laws on marriage? Probably not.
- A man goes to the doctor and is diagnosed with Congestive Heart Failure. The doctor tells him to lose 50 pounds, change his diet and exercise more and sends him home with the appropriate medications. The man prays for healing but does not follow the doctor’s instructions. He goes to the cafeteria orders a chicken fried steak slathered with cream gravy, has sides of mashed potatoes and macaroni and cheese and ice cream for dessert. Then he sits down on the couch and watches TV. Will God answer his prayer for healing? Probably not.
There are several reasons God doesn’t answer prayer. One of them is that God won’t help us unless we’re willing to help ourselves. Follow God’s instructions and if you still have needs, pray to God and prepare to be richly blessed.
I turned 60 this year. When my mom was 60 she went with my Dad to find out why he was coughing. They told them he had stage 3 Adenocarcinoma and had 18 months to live and they couldn’t help him. That was in 1998. What a shock. I try to imagine how I would handle similar news if it was Julie. Mom went into full “save Dad” mode. Doctors, medicines, prayers, and non-conventional therapies… staining Dad’s feet with some purple concoction. I don’t know who had it worse… mother or dad… probably mom.
I try to imagine if I was Dad and maybe I only have two years to live. What would I do with that knowledge? Julie tells me that I’m healthier than Dad and will live a long time. Maybe.
I was 44 years old when Dad died and it seems like yesterday. I thought mom was too old to remarry at 60 but I was 44… how silly.
Dad’s younger grandchildren don’t remember him. I have two grand-daughters who are my life. I want them to remember me. I want them to cry their eyes out at my funeral. I want to go to Heaven but I really want to live and grow old with my wife and see my daughter marry and have children and be surrounded by kids and grandkids on holidays.
I pray every day on my knees and I pray that Pa’s girls will be protected and I thank God for my wife and my parents, my uncle and my aunts and my brothers and my cousins and for all of our children and I also pray for those who have passed on… family and friends.
God’s in control and I’m OK with that… I don’t have to understand it but I want to live circumspectly on this earth. I want to prepare myself. I want to feel and understand the pain of my parents so I’ll be better prepared when it’s my turn.
Malachi 2:10-12 reveals to us that God hates divorce. That’s not like me hating Beets. I do hate beets and refuse to eat them but when God hates something he goes a step further… he punishes the Beets (so to speak).
Malachi reveals that the people were weeping and wailing because God didn’t pay attention to their prayers or favor them with blessings. They were perplexed because God was not being a “God” to them.
The reason for this was because God was a witness when marriage vows were exchanged and they were breaking their vows and divorcing each other. God is faithful as a witness.
Something that is lost in wedding ceremonies today is the fact that the guests are there to witness vows and hold the married couple accountable to their vows so that when the day comes when a young couple are considering divorcing and breaking their vows the human witnesses can remind them of what was done and said on their wedding day.
God is faithful and accountable as a witness… he punishes people when they divorce. Their lives are not full of blessings.
I hate Beets and won’t eat them but I don’t go out and find a field of Beets and hoe them down. If God hated Beets that’s what he would do. Honor your vows. Don’t divorce so you won’t end up like a field of hoed up Beets.
