Unanswered prayers

Six Men and one 2.0 showed up at Louis Grill to discuss the relevant issues of the day. Discussion ensued, read below for the main idea:

• Is He even listening to me?
• Why do THEY always seem to be getting what they want?
• Why is this happening to me?

In my opinion, one reason many people struggle with the Christian faith is “Unanswered Prayers.”  God is not Santa Claus, and simply sitting on his knee and asking for the things we want, will not make them so.

You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. James 4:3 (ESV)

e.g. When we ask, we don’t get it because our motives are all wrong—we want only what will give us pleasure.

Contrary to what Garth Brooks says, there is no such thing as “Unanswered Prayers.” Every prayer is answered in three ways: Yes, No, and Not Yet.

We as Christians have to understand (and accept) that No is a valid answer. Most often, the thing we need most is the answer No.  What we are asking for is not part of His plan for us.  We need to have faith that His No will serve us better than a Yes for what we want. We have to trust when we can’t see the answers to our prayer.

Likewise with Not Yet. Often, Yes doesn’t make us strong enough to handle the trials and tribulations that we will face down the road.  Not Yet gives us the tools to be successful when we do receive God’s blessing

Pray fully and unselfishly. Trust in God’s answer

 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Philippians 4:6

Discussion Questions:

• When has this been true in your life?
• In what ways will you change in light of this discussion?

Moleskin

• Thank you for the opportunity this morning.  The idea for this post came from my son.  When I asked him what he prayers for, he said “Toys!”  Looks like I have a little more work to do.
• Really great discussion this morning men.  Quote of the day: “God most certainly gives you more than you can handle, alone.”
• Great to see @BanjoBoy bring the little one out this morning and giving the M some time off.   Since he made it to an official post, his F3 name is @Mandolin.