Trillions and trillions of prayers every day asking and begging and pleading for favors. 'Do this' "Gimme that' 'I want a new car' 'I want a better job.' And most of this praying takes place on Sunday. And I say fine, pray for anything you want. Pray for anything. But...what about the divine plan? Remember that? The divine plan. Long time ago God made a divine plan. Gave it a lot of thought. Decided it was a good plan. Put it into practice. And for billions and billions of years the divine plan has been doing just fine. Now you come along and pray for something. Well, suppose the thing you want isn't in Gods divine plan. What do you want Him to do? Change His plan? Just for you? Doesn't it seem a little arrogant? It's a divine plan. What's the use of being God if every run-down schmuck with a two-dollar prayer book can come along and fuck up your plan?
~George Carlin~
There are many Christians who are able to recite a few verses which speak to the Lord granting our prayer requests. Jesus has spoken on the validity of asking for that which we need. That if we have the faith of a mustard seed that we will be able to move mountains {Mathews Account 17:20}. But think of this, what if God does not intend for that mountain to be moved at this point in time? Is He denying your prayer, or simply saying 'Not yet?' Too many people, myself included, seem to forget that our ways are not His ways {Isaiah 55:8-9}. I was again reminded of this truth this week as I was in prayer for a certain situation in my life. In the end, what I perceived in that God did not honor my prayer, and that hurts a bit. But I failed to see the big picture in this situation. Sure, this was deeply personal to me, which is why I emptied my heart in prayer to Him. Yet one thing I can be assured of is that God has not forsaken me. I might not see the end game of what He has chosen to accomplish in this situation, but I know that He will reveal it to me in His timing. Like many believers, I was taught in the church to approach God with my requests, assured that He would hear me and honor those requests. Well, they got it half right, God does indeed listen to our requests. Yet I feel that we do Him a great disservice when we began to treat our prayers to Him like a common lottery ticket we've just won. After all, at its base, prayer is more about our communing with the Father than having our individual needs met. This in no way means that He is not concerned about our needs. On the contrary, the Father already knows what our heart desires even before we ask Him {Matthews Account 6:32}.
We do well to take our minds off of the microwave speed of this world in our matters concerning prayer. God does not work at our pace. What He does do is keep our best interests in each and every one of His actions. This exemplifies His true nature, which is love {First Epistle of John 4:8}. We are His creation created in His likeness {Genesis 1:27}. He has given us the breath of life {Genesis 2:7}. We are His every thought. So it is that we should never take a perceived delayed answer to prayer all that personally. We're not seeing the larger picture. Whose life will be affected? Are we growing in our knowing of Him? All of this is in play as we seek His provision. Like I said, we should never view our prayers from the church perspective of constantly receiving something from God. Jesus, in His time in prayer with the Father, used it for intimate conversation, not His personal needs. The exception to this came when He asked that He be removed from the fate which awaited Him {Lukes Account 22:42}. Yet, Jesus was quick to point out, 'Not My will, but Thine, be done!' Jesus wasn't looking for a way out at this point, but the revealing of the Fathers will for Him. We do well to follow His example. Does it hurt when our requests are not answered right away, of course. But the Father knows and feels our pain as well as each and every tear that falls. We can be comforted by this as I was this week.
The Lord is not tardy as to His promise, as some are deeming tardiness, but is patient because of you, not intending any to perish, but all to make room for repentance.
Peter to the Dispersion 3: 9, Concordant New Testament
~Scott~
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