I was watching a classic Christian movie this past weekend, God’s Not Dead. Though I had seen it before, I watched it with fresh eyes. I really got into it and got choked up a few times, but hey, I’m a sap, and I own it.
One idea which was brought up and sat with me was when God says, “No” to our prayers. I loved Garth Brook’s song Unanswered Prayers, but I did not remember the idea of God saying “No” from my first viewing of the movie. I was curious as to how they would explain it. They did. To me, it made sense.
In the movie, they said, and I’m paraphrasing, that God hears our prayers but knows what the results would be if He did answer them. God knows the rest of that story, and I’m guessing it doesn’t end well. As we know, every decision we make has unseen consequences, both good and bad.
It reminds me, too, of lessons from some of my Christian mentors. The reminder that I need to pray for things with the right motivation. I must also ask in His name. For example, I can’t ask for revenge in a prayer that is not Biblical and probably will not be answered. Revenge is His, not ours.
It’s hard when we can’t possibly see the reason not to answer our prayers. Like most people, I remember being heartbroken and asking God to mend a relationship, but my prayer went unanswered. Years later, I clearly could see that it was a great thing that the relationship did not work out at the time. It would have been worse. He was right, though, at the time, it was incredibly painful. I was blinded by emotion. As Garth says, “Some of God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayers.” When God tells us, “No,” Maybe we could then ask Him to reveal why? Then, keep your ears and eyes open. You just might find out.
(Reminder, this is just a journal of my mistakes, experiences, and thoughts along with my journey to having a closer relationship with God. I do not claim to be an authority on the subject. If you want to know The Way, read The Bible.)
What church do I attend? Verve Church in Las Vegas
http://vivalaverve.org
P.S. Thank you, especially for grace.
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