Tag: Godisincontrol

When Prayers Fail – Jesus’ Ones

When Jesus was praying in Gethsemane in Matthew 26:36 – 56 we
see Him praying to God. Now a quick note with Jesus’ prayers, isn’t it kind of
like talking to yourself? But in verse 26:39 he prays something that is not “granted”
by God:

Going a little farther, he fell
with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this
cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

As we know Jesus prayed this particular prayer so fervently to
the point of sweeting blood, yet God did not grant his request. Here the SON of
God was praying for His life and God did not honor this request. We see
Nineveh, who was evil, repent for a short time and God did not destroy them as
promised.

So don’t get so upset when we pray for God to do something
and it appears to God unanswered. I know I have prayed many times where God has
seeming ignored the prayer. Recently, I prayed for a lady to receive her
hearing back and it did not happen. Why? I have no clue, but look at Luke 22:31
– 32 to see another failed prayer of Jesus:

31 “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have
you, that he might sift you like wheat, 32 but I
have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again,
strengthen your brothers.”

Jesus had foretold Peter’s denial and prayed it would not
happen. As we know Peter denied Jesus three times shortly after he prayed. So
when we see Jesus’ prayers fall on apparent “deaf ears” of God why should we
expect every one of our prayers to be granted as we desire? We shouldn’t, but rather
understand that we may never understand why this is.

My prayer for the lady with hearing was from afar, I often
wonder if I had boldly prayed for her WITH her if the outcome would have been
different. I don’t know since I did not do that. But I do know that often my
unanswered prayers often become clear in time.

The key is don’t fret if prayers are not answered the way
you expected. Sometimes you have no clue what is in store. Also, as we talked
about yesterday, God’s number one commandment to us is freedom. With freedom
comes responsibility and with that we sometimes suffer the consequences. God
will not correct all the ills of this world that the world has inflicted on
itself by free decisions.

Mankind can derail God’s plan for a time, but will never
cease it. I think of this new home as a great example. As we walk around the
beautiful property and look at the wonderful scenery you start to notice little
things that show the damage man has done from logging to hydraulic mining of
our hillside. Yet in less than a 100 years that desolation is a faint memory in
the land. So like the land, God eventually can and will repair and restore us
to the path He desires. We just can’t get our panties in a wad when our prayers
seem to go unanswered and injustices we see are not righted.

Just remember God’s will be done!

The Story of How We Got Here

In reading Psalms 37:23 & 24 I begin to understand how
this is so true, no matter how ugly the path might seem it’s amazing in the
end:

23 Adonai directs
a person’s steps,
and he delights in his way.
24 He may stumble, but he won’t fall headlong,
for Adonai holds him by the hand.

 

I used the CJB for this one since it is closest to the
Hebrew and I like how it words the verses. The only way to start is to begin
with the beginning. It was early fall of 2013 and the “girls” announced we were
moving west to get away from the bad people. I immediately threw water on this
fire and informed them with a home that is worth so much less than the land the
ONLY people who would buy were “investors” and builders.

The “investors” were bottom fishers looking for a deal and
we did not have builders knocking at our do. So this was over and done with, we
were staying put in Georgia. Well a few days later we get a knock at the door,
a builder looking for an “assemblage” close to Town Center in Suwanee and ours
fit perfectly for this plan. Well they asked for a number, I asked for an offer
then told them what the property was under contract for before. They came back
with a very acceptable offer and we were on our way to making moving plans,
then the delays came.

The first being the “contract” and how it “looked”. We went
back and forth to eventually come up with something both parties were agreeable
with. This finally happened late fall of 2013 and things looked a go to move by
summer of 2014. We were ecstatic and looking forward to the move. Based on how
it was “working out” we could only see God’s hand in the game since it was
happening just as we wanted.

I was only a waiting game that eventually became excruciating
because now we had to have the builder work on our time table and not his!
Although the bumps along the way were “stumbles” with all aspects, it taught us
that God’s plans and directions do not always look like the way we envision. So
this new adventure begins and the clock starts to tick.