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I saw this quote on a discussion
forum. The main question here was does God always answer our
prayers? Which writer do you agree with?
Writer 1
"Put all your pain in His hands and expect that He will bring
you an answer. Expecting Him to answer you is very important.
For you see, the scripture says:
“Without faith, it is impossible to please
God, for he who comes to God must believe that He is God, and a
rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” - (Hebrews 11:6)
If you turn your need over to God, you must expect Him to
answer, or you haven’t really turned your problems and needs
over to Him.”
Writer 2
“God does not always answer. He is not required to do so because
He is sovereign. We must believe that He is God but that does
not infer an answer. You quoted Hebrews 11:6 one of my favorite
verses. I am unsure why you used that verse. It states that we
please God through faith in Him because without faith it is
impossible to please God. It then states that we must believe
that He is God. The final point is God is a rewarder of those
who diligently seek Him. When you diligently seek something the
reward is finding it. My responsibility as a Christian is to
diligently seek God and He will reward me. For years, God and
God alone has given me a overwhelming desire to seek Him and He
has rewarded me. My reward is not my problems being solved or
answered. My reward is that with my desire to seek Him and Him
alone He makes himself known to me or should I say I find Him. I
can ask for no greater reward in my life. To know God on an
intimate and personal level is more fulfilling and satisfying
than anything that I can ask for on this earth. My physical
discomfort, my financial needs, my desire for harmony with
everyone is not what I need or should desire. My desire, my
passion, my hope, my love should be to know God who is my first
love. My thoughts and ways are not always God’s thoughts and
ways. If this is considered an answer, then you are completely
correct. God’s answer is that He knows what He is doing and His
thoughts and ways are not ours.
Isaiah
55:6-7
6 SEEK the LORD while He may be
found, Call upon Him while He is near.
7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and
the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the LORD,
and He will have mercy on him; And to our God, for He will
abundantly pardon.
8
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my
ways,” says the LORD
9 “For as the heavens are higher than
the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts
than your thoughts.
I love that verse in Hebrews
because it is a promise. God promises to reward me if I
diligently seek Him. There are situations in life which may be
uncomfortable to my flesh and not my personal preference,
however; my mind, soul, and spirit know that the Almighty God of
the universe loves me and will always do His perfect will. I
pray that prayer that Jesus taught us “thy will be done on earth
as it is in heaven”. So I am not promised an answered or even
the results that I want but I do believe that God is perfect and
absolutely knows what He is doing all the time. I trust and
believe Him because of His reputation which is clearly
represented in the Bible. He can be trusted because He is God.
For example, Job in the Bible never got an answer to his
questions. He was questioning God because he felt he was being
treated unfairly. He was righteous and God was treating him like
he was being treated as if he was guilty (Job 9). God did not
answer that question.
Job’s final response was:
Job 42:1-6
1 Then Job answered the LORD and said:
2 “I know that You can do everything, And that no purpose of
Yours can be withheld from You.
3 You asked, ‘Who is this who hides counsel without
knowledge?’Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand,
Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
4 Listen, please, and let me speak;You said, ‘I will question
you, and you shall answer Me.’
5 “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear,But now my eye
sees You.
6 Therefore I abhor myself,And repent in dust and ashes.”
God can do
everything. God’s will is always done (“I know that You can do
everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from
You”). Job realized he did not understand God (“Things too
wonderful for me, which I did not know”) in the previous
chapters God spoke about His creation. He defined His reputation
for detail. He described His intentional lack of maternal
instincts in one animal (39:13-17) and His intentional instinct
of courage and strength to another animal (39:19-25). God asked
Job if he was able to do what He could do when it came to
justice (40:6-13).
In the end, Job repented in dust and ashes because his eyes saw
God. If we focus on our life, we miss the mark completely. Our
focus should always be on God. Our only question that needs an
answer from God is “What do you want me to do God”
If we focus on God, He will tell us what to ask for, seek, and
where to knock. Then we will be in His perfect will.”
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