Waiting in prayer is never easy. We go to God’s Word and know without a doubt of the great things God can do. We read of the many miracles that God has done. Jesus healed the sick, changed lives, even raised the dead back to life again. So, we know, and are sure that God can do anything.
But in prayer there are many dimensions. We are instructed to pray and pray in faith. Yet, there is that promise in John – 1 John 5:14-15 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: (15) And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him. God’s will is both determinative and undetermined. God is sovereign, He is ruler of this universe and He does have a planned course. In that course of His divine purpose, He certainly will carry forth His plan and purpose. But does that mean God’s will is ALWAYS determinative? If so, why would we pray? Why would we be challenged to pray about things.
Marshall wrote the following – “But, if prayer is to be made according to God’s will, why pray at all? Surely his will is going to be accomplished, whether or not we pray for it to be done? To speak in such terms is to assume that God’s will must be understood in a static kind of way, as if God has made a detailed plan beforehand of all that is going to happen-including the fact that we are going to pray in a particular way and at a particular time. But while the Bible does speak of God’s plan and purpose for the world, to speak in such deterministic terms is inconsistent with the freedom which the Bible itself assigns to God’s children, and it wreaks havoc upon the biblical idea of the personal relationship which exists between God and his children.”
Can the mind of God be changed through our prayer? The Bible seems to indicate that it can. There are many examples. Yet, in the changing of God’s mind about a matter, it that what is best? After all, we only see the past and present, God also sees the future.
God does care. God does hear us when we pray. God can do anything. So we pray, but as we pray we try our best to discern the perfect will of God. His plan, His course, His direction for our lives is always best for He knows what we do not.
Pastor
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