plodblog

Is prayer ever unanswered? Not really. Prayer is unanswered only in the sense that we may have not yet received an answer from God. Sooner or later God will answer all prayer when Christ returns.

Yes.

These are requests that are in line with God’s will and ask for things to be done in God’s way and in His timing. This is the answer we most prefer because not only do we get what we want, but it is a great encouragement to see God working and to experience our relationship with Him. Psalm 37:4-5 & 1 John 5:14-15

No.

These are requests that are not in God’s will. God may give a ‘no’ answer simply because He has other plans. A ‘no’ answer does not necessarily mean the request was evil and sinful in itself. It may mean God is simply going to do something else or the request does not fit in with His plan. Another possible reason for a ‘no’ answer is because the person does not really believe God can do something about the situation. But, some ‘no’ answers are requests that come from evil desires. Unless we ask for something sinful, we do not need to be discouraged because a ‘no’ answer helps to direct us into the will of God. James 1:6-7 & 4:3

Wait.

For whatever reason, God has let you know He will answer the prayer at a later date. In Genesis 15:2 Abraham asked God about an heir to inherit the promises God had made to him. In verses 4 & 5 God said that Abraham would have to wait for the true heir and it wasn’t until chapter 21 that God answered and gave him Isaac. This is not God’s usual way of answering prayer. He very rarely gives someone an insight into what will happen in the future. Just because a person has not received a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer does not mean God has therefore told the person to wait.

Yes to the request, but No to the purpose and motivation behind it.

We can ask for the right thing, but for the wrong reason. God may do what you ask, but the outcome is completely different from what you wanted. In 1 Samuel 8 the Israelites clamored for a king like the rest of the nations around them. They thought they would be better off with a king ruling them than with judges. God did give them a king, but they were not better off. Be careful what you ask for, God may give it to you!

No to the request, but Yes to the purpose and motivation behind it.

We can ask for the wrong thing, but for the right reason. God may do something totally different from what we asked, but the outcome is what we wanted in the first place. In Genesis 18 Abraham asked God repeatedly to spare Sodom and Gomorrah so his nephew Lot would not be destroyed. God did not spare the cities, but he did enable Lot to escape and so He did grant what Abraham wanted concerning Lot. It seems God answers many prayers this way by giving us what we want, but doing it differently than we thought.

No discernable answer yet.

Unfortunately, this is the category many of our prayers fall under. The first option here is that God may just not have gotten around to answering in any of the five previous ways.

The second option, which is more likely, is that we have missed God’s answer. We can miss God’s answers to our prayers if we are not paying attention. A prayer journal helps in this matter because as we look back over our requests and are reminded of them we can also remember God answering them. Many of our prayers are gone from our mind as soon as we speak them. When we miss God’s answers to our prayers we miss the encouragement and satisfaction that come along with God responding to our entreaties and we miss an opportunity to praise and thank Him for His continual goodness and mercy toward us. If we are not paying attention we not only miss out on the positive aspects of God answering our prayers, but we can grow discouraged and weak in prayer if we fail to see God answering and working in our lives.

Many know what it is like to not have anyone to pray for you, but don’t let that stop you from praying for others.

See this link.

Acts 20:32

Last week a group of men from our church went to the town of Salani in Mozambique to do some ministry and help build a clinic.

I can add Mozambique to the list of forsaken places I have visited that begin with the letter M.

The dump in Manila was the worst.  Thousands of people live on the dump.  There is even a Baptist church there.  It took me two days to wash off the smell of that place.  Little 2-3 year old children playing with broken glass in an open sewer is a particularly poignant memory.

Mozambique comes in a close second.  Salani is about a six hour drive from here and there is no electricity, no water, no sewage system, no health care, no postal service, nothing.  Poeple live there in the bush just as they have for the last thousand years.  A few weeks ago a leopard took down a guy who was riding a bicycle on the “road” through “town”. Click Here for pictures of our trip.

Moldova in Eastern Europe comes in third.  See below for details on my trip to Moldova.

In case you are interested, there is no missionary or native pastor of any kind in the area of Mozambique we went to.  If you are in the medical field and would like to make a difference, or if you are thinking about where God could use you as a missionary, then you might want to pray about the Salani area of Mozambique.

I have been in South Africa for eight months now and this is beginning to bug me. The music here is positively evil. Most of what is on the radio is accordion music, but not just the accordion music you find in the states. Notice I did not say “bad” accordion music because it goes without saying that all accordion music is bad.

The accordion monstrosity here is much more sinister and a more vile twisting and distortion of “music” than anything you have ever heard or even thought of. Even the description of it is revolting.

It is best described as Mexican Polka, two words that should never be used together. Let that idea guide your imagination for a minute and your flesh will begin to crawl.

If you are from the states you know what Mexican music sounds like. If not, tune to your local Spanish station and see how long you last. Now, mix that with accordion polka music and you have the worst musical aberration on the planet. I really think it is worse than death metal.

Afrikaner Mexican Polka takes up about half of the songs played on the radio here. The other half is almost as horrendous. Not quite, but a very close second. For the rest of the music think Neil Diamond tribute band and you have the idea.

Had I known this before I moved here I would have seriously questioned whether God was leading me here.

Suffering for Jesus in Africa,

Steve.

Here are two excellent blog posts that deserve your attention, thought and comments -

Pyromaniacs on the “Emerging Conversation”

and

Paleoevangelical on the right way to have an Emerging Conversation.

Read the Pyromaniacs post first.

Also, Tony Jones of Theoblogy and Emergent Village is currently here in South Africa doing seminars on the emergent church.

Does anyone out there know what he is doing, where he is, etc?  Please let me know if you have any info.

Thanks,

Steve, Acts 20:32

The content of this post (and at least one more) comes from the most vehemently condemned and reproached sermon I ever preached. It was also the highest praised and appreciated sermon I ever preached. Still today people condemn and praise that message.

I think this is because it was a message that hit at some very core assumptions and misconceptions of those of us who hold to the complete inspiration, inerrancy and infallibility of the Bible.

Too often there is a gap between what we know is the right thing to do and then what we actually do. Paul experienced this in Romans 7:18-19, the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.

To close the gap between what we desire to do and what we actually do we need two things, the word and the Spirit. These are exactly what Paul entrusted his friends to in Acts 20:32, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

There is a branch of Christian theology known as Bibliology which deals with the doctrine of the Bible. It is the study of the Bible as a thing itself and it answers the question ‘What is this book?’ The answer Bibliology gives is that this book is the inspired, inerrant and infallible word of God.

An important and practical result of inspiration, inerrancy and infallibility is what is called the sufficiency of Scripture, as noted in II Timothy 3:16-17, All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

But, just because people are equipped for every good work does not mean they are able to do every good work, as Paul himself experienced in Romans 7. The facts of inspiration, inerrancy, infallibility and the sufficiency of Scripture do not enable people to put into practice the truth they know.

This is because there is no empowerment in Bibliology. There is no enablement in the truth of God itself. If there were then legalists would be right in thinking they are justified by keeping the O. T. Law. Christ would not have had to die on the cross if the truth of God enabled and empowered a person to live holy and righteously.

Knowledge of the Bible does not equal maturity and is no guarantee that you will do what it says. No one can say ‘I know doctrine, therefore, I am mature and holy’.

The word of God is from God and are His very words and always tell the truth and are sufficient for all of life and godliness. So, why doesn’t it stop us from sinning? Isn’t it sufficient for every life situation?

The last time you sinned the word of God did not stop you – even though you knew what you were doing was against God’s word. The Bible does not stop us from sinning because it does not have the power to do so.

For empowerment, for enablement, for the ability to live and do the good you want to do you need to go to another branch of theology called . . .

That is enough for now. This bit of information earned me the title of heretic and false teacher with some people. But, my accuser’s relationship with God was mostly defined by intellectual pursuits. They read and studied their Bibles religiously, which is a requirement for a mature and growing Christian. There is no such thing as a biblically ignorant and mature Christian.

But, many (most?) of the people I have known who know a lot of doctrine and biblical data do a poor job of doing the good they know they should do, as was Paul’s problem in Romans 7.

Perhaps the pursuit of the Bible and truth is their religious pursuit, rather than a pursuit of God. It needs to be said that the two pursuits are not mutually exclusive. I would even say that the pursuit of God requires the pursuit of the Bible. But, I think there are a lot of people sitting in pews who think they are mature in godliness, and they are perceived as mature by others in the church, when in reality they are mistaking knowledge and understanding for maturity.

Knowledge and understanding are a part of maturity, but they do not equal maturity. To grow and be mature we need not only the word of God but also what the next post will be about.