Major faith roadblock

[Outlander]

Thank you everybody for all your generous responses. I have read every one.

I don't think I have a humility issue. And I don't believe it was a faith or belief issue. It is true that I have never been baptized in a church. It has been on my radar but I never considered it critical mass, but perhaps I have been mistaken about that and several of you brought that to my attention.

Like all people, my life is fraught with problems. I have also had my share of blessings. I never blamed God for my problems and always thanked Him for my blessings.

I also tend to believe that to pray in the name of Jesus is usually not self focused, but prayer for others, although Jesus did pray, "take this cup from me", and obviously even that prayer of Jesus was denied.

And I do not think I am above or before other people and their problems.

However

There are scriptures that clearly state that your prayers will be answered.

Just a few examples, there are many more.

>>Mark 11:24
>>Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

>>John 15:7
>>If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

>>Matthew 7:7
>>“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

>>Psalm 37:4-5
>>Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.

>>Hebrews 4:16
>>Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

My top 3 issues, that remain unanswered and unchanged after years of praying, without going into specifics..

1. A sin issue
2. A life circumstance issue
3. A health issue

I am alarmed by the lack of any response from God related to my prayers.


I have never been an end times person but I see things like the "transing" of our children and the spectacle of what just happened at the Olympics...

Things look very ominous to me.


I have returned to prayer but I must admit that I am doubtful. I have no reason to believe anything has changed.

I hope I am wrong.

 

[homwardbound]

1. A sin issue
2. A life circumstance issue
3. A health issue

‘you are not alone. No one with help or by themselves can stop sin issue. Except harming others. Born again cannot harm others.
at least for me, I can’t, even though others can.
my life, has death in it. Started with my sister, she died at age 18, I was 14. Then my dad died at age 63, I was 17, then my brother at age 31, I was 21.
i was an alcoholic from 14 to 26-27, I am 67 now. Dry, still have troubles.
‘sin issue, for me was the desire to have sex. Who drank too much and had anger issues. Anger issues sometimes still arise and sex drive also.
God does love you, and we as people do not all get what we want. Yet I find we always get what we truly need. In my honest opinion, God knows best, even though I do not see it
Jeremiah 29:11 tells me God only wants what is best for me, you and everyone else. We the people think we know and want, many times to find out, what one thought was good is not good for them. At least me. I had to settle this. Raised my white flag to God and said I trust, you know what’s best, even if I do not know why you have not answered or I do not get what I asked for.

 

[Inquisitor]

I believed in God before I knew what religion was and have considered myself a Christian, although reading but not Church going, for most of my life. Finally a church going Christian for years...but...

I am at a major faith roadblock.

I have been praying over some critical life issues for years. I won't go into the exact issues because that is irrelevant. The only answer or result to my prayer efforts has been nothing, silence, no change, no intuitions, no gut feelings or signs, just absolute nothingness.

This has shaken my faith. It is clear there is a creator. And possible I misunderstand scripture. For example, Christ talking about moving mountains may only be intended for the apostles in their mission to grow the church. Christs prayer example asks for daily bread, not help in life's big problems, or struggling with sin, or anything else.

However, it seems like there are many passages that promote the power of prayer. For example:

Philippians 4:6 - Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Mark 11:24 - Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

Romans 8:26 - Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.

Matthew 6:6 - But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

I am painfully aware of all the "excuses" people make for God not answering prayers but honestly, I don't think an all powerful God should need people to make excuses for Him.

I see only a few possibilities here.

1. Regardless of what I may have thought, I am not one of His people and therefore not listened to, or cared about at all. I am merely a fish in this aquarium called earth. I exist for a while, then gone for ever. Temporarily animated dirt that only existed for a time to add a little more depth and background to His great narrative, and nothing more

2. The bible is not inerrant and is wrong. God exists, the bible is a good effort at understanding God, but it is fiction. Perhaps highly valuable fiction but fiction none the less.

3. Another that I loath to believe but seems plausible. People pop into existence by an automated process He created. With a few possible exceptions, He doesn't especially care much for some or even most of us. I am certainly not the only person who feels like I am standing in the bottom of a well shouting towards the little opening hoping someone will hear and throw down a rope but it never comes. It is rational to come to the conclusion that nobody is up there. Nobody hears your shouts. Nobody is there. It is contradictory to think God "wants" you to believe and pray to an absolute zero feedback loop. Especially when it contradicts scripture.

This got me thinking, when people pray for a child who is perishing from a fatal illness, does healing ever come? Ever? or is is 1 out a 1,000? 1 out of 10,000? This is a million times more important that my problems and inflicted on innocents. Children who are supposedly especially loved. If their prayers cannot be answered, what hope is there for any of my prayers to be answered? None.

When I close my eyes and in the quiet and darkness call to the Holy Spirit, listening intently, waiting for His spirit to draw near, I can detect nothing other that perhaps a feeling that I now question isn't just my imagination.

I miss my friend. My friend who I can reveal my deepest feelings to. My friend whom I have been speaking too all my life only to realize I have only been speaking to myself because I am the only one who is there.

Just wondering whether you believed in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ?

Do you confess the name of Jesus Christ?

 

[tourist]

But what does patient mean? 1 year, 5 years, 10 years, etc. It seems to me that the term patient has to have a time limit after which it is safe to conclude the check isn't in the mail.

I have prayed for a check to be in the mail many times, but still no check. Bills, yes. Plenty.

 

[Outlander]

Just wondering whether you believed in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ?

Do you confess the name of Jesus Christ?

Yes

 

[rrcn]

Yes

I would consider that the Eunich’s prayer was answered:

[Act 8:26-39 KJV] 26 And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. 27 And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, 28 Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet. 29 Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. 30 And Philip ran thither to [him], and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? 31 And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. 32 The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth: 33 In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth. 34 And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man? 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. 36 And as they went on [their] way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, [here is] water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? 37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. 38 And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. 39 And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.

May I ask, What is keeping you from being baptised?

 

[Outlander]

I would consider that the Eunich’s prayer was answered:

[Act 8:26-39 KJV] 26 And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. 27 And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, 28 Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet. 29 Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. 30 And Philip ran thither to [him], and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? 31 And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. 32 The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth: 33 In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth. 34 And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man? 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. 36 And as they went on [their] way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, [here is] water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? 37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. 38 And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. 39 And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.

May I ask, What is keeping you from being baptised?

Sure, you may ask. Nothing really. I had considered it mostly ceremonial and not essential and just never got around to it, but others on this forum have expressed that it is something I should take seriously.

 

[Inquisitor]

Just wondering whether you believed in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ?

Do you confess the name of Jesus Christ?

Interesting that Paul prayed and pleaded with Jesus, no doubt, on a thousand occasions.

2 Corinthians 12:7-9
Because of the extraordinary greatness of the revelations, for this reason,
to keep me from exalting myself, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh,
a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning
this I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might leave me.
And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.”

The Lord ignored Paul on this occasion and many, many, other occasions also.

I love the way the Lord walks with us and the way He ignores our prayer at times.

 

[ResidentAlien]

Outlander, bro, if I may just say, you're way overthinking this. There comes a time when we have stop thinking and just trust. I wish you all the best.

 

[Inquisitor]

Thank you everybody for all your generous responses. I have read every one.

I don't think I have a humility issue. And I don't believe it was a faith or belief issue. It is true that I have never been baptized in a church. It has been on my radar but I never considered it critical mass, but perhaps I have been mistaken about that and several of you brought that to my attention.

Like all people, my life is fraught with problems. I have also had my share of blessings. I never blamed God for my problems and always thanked Him for my blessings.

I also tend to believe that to pray in the name of Jesus is usually not self focused, but prayer for others, although Jesus did pray, "take this cup from me", and obviously even that prayer of Jesus was denied.

And I do not think I am above or before other people and their problems.

However

There are scriptures that clearly state that your prayers will be answered.

Just a few examples, there are many more.

>>Mark 11:24
>>Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

>>John 15:7
>>If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

>>Matthew 7:7
>>“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

>>Psalm 37:4-5
>>Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.

>>Hebrews 4:16
>>Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

My top 3 issues, that remain unanswered and unchanged after years of praying, without going into specifics..

1. A sin issue
2. A life circumstance issue
3. A health issue

I am alarmed by the lack of any response from God related to my prayers.


I have never been an end times person but I see things like the "transing" of our children and the spectacle of what just happened at the Olympics...

Things look very ominous to me.


I have returned to prayer but I must admit that I am doubtful. I have no reason to believe anything has changed.

I hope I am wrong.

Mark 11:24
Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours

James 1:6
But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea,
driven and tossed by the wind.

You said, "I have returned to prayer but I must admit that I am doubtful."

You need to be perfectly righteous, there is no place for doubt in any prayer.

 

[Wansvic]

... And I don't believe it was a faith or belief issue. It is true that I have never been baptized in a church. It has been on my radar but I never considered it critical mass, but perhaps I have been mistaken about that and several of you brought that to my attention.
...

Consider Paul tells Timothy that if we be dead with Jesus we shall also live with him. (2 Tim. 2:11)

“Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: 2 Tim 2:10-11

According to Paul the person we were is crucified and buried with Jesus by baptism. (Rom. 6:3-4) "Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: (a reference to being placed under the water in baptism) that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
FOR IF we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
For he that is dead is freed from sin.
NOW IF we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: Rom 6:3-8


Note the apostles consistently invoked the name of Jesus during water baptism. I’ve included the detailed scriptures that witness everyone is to obey the command. Hope this helps.

Acts 2:38-39 (Jewish)
Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.
Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.


Acts 8:12-17 (Samaritans-half jewish-half gentile)
But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.
Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done.
Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John:
Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost:
(For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)
Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.


Acts 10:44-48 (Gentiles)
While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.
And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.
For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter,
Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?
And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days.


Acts 19:2-6 (Disciples who did not realize they had to water baptized in Jesus name)
He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.
And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism.
Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.
When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.


Acts 22:14-16 (Paul's water baptism)
And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth.
For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard.
And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.


1 Cor 1:13-15
Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?
I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius;
Lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name.

 

[Ballaurena]

I believed in God before I knew what religion was and have considered myself a Christian, although reading but not Church going, for most of my life. Finally a church going Christian for years...but...

I am at a major faith roadblock.

I have been praying over some critical life issues for years. I won't go into the exact issues because that is irrelevant. The only answer or result to my prayer efforts has been nothing, silence, no change, no intuitions, no gut feelings or signs, just absolute nothingness.

This has shaken my faith. It is clear there is a creator. And possible I misunderstand scripture. For example, Christ talking about moving mountains may only be intended for the apostles in their mission to grow the church. Christs prayer example asks for daily bread, not help in life's big problems, or struggling with sin, or anything else.

However, it seems like there are many passages that promote the power of prayer. For example:

Philippians 4:6 - Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Mark 11:24 - Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

Romans 8:26 - Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.

Matthew 6:6 - But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

I am painfully aware of all the "excuses" people make for God not answering prayers but honestly, I don't think an all powerful God should need people to make excuses for Him.

I see only a few possibilities here.

1. Regardless of what I may have thought, I am not one of His people and therefore not listened to, or cared about at all. I am merely a fish in this aquarium called earth. I exist for a while, then gone for ever. Temporarily animated dirt that only existed for a time to add a little more depth and background to His great narrative, and nothing more

2. The bible is not inerrant and is wrong. God exists, the bible is a good effort at understanding God, but it is fiction. Perhaps highly valuable fiction but fiction none the less.

3. Another that I loath to believe but seems plausible. People pop into existence by an automated process He created. With a few possible exceptions, He doesn't especially care much for some or even most of us. I am certainly not the only person who feels like I am standing in the bottom of a well shouting towards the little opening hoping someone will hear and throw down a rope but it never comes. It is rational to come to the conclusion that nobody is up there. Nobody hears your shouts. Nobody is there. It is contradictory to think God "wants" you to believe and pray to an absolute zero feedback loop. Especially when it contradicts scripture.

This got me thinking, when people pray for a child who is perishing from a fatal illness, does healing ever come? Ever? or is is 1 out a 1,000? 1 out of 10,000? This is a million times more important that my problems and inflicted on innocents. Children who are supposedly especially loved. If their prayers cannot be answered, what hope is there for any of my prayers to be answered? None.

When I close my eyes and in the quiet and darkness call to the Holy Spirit, listening intently, waiting for His spirit to draw near, I can detect nothing other that perhaps a feeling that I now question isn't just my imagination.

I miss my friend. My friend who I can reveal my deepest feelings to. My friend whom I have been speaking too all my life only to realize I have only been speaking to myself because I am the only one who is there.

I can't say I exactly understand what you have experienced but I can tell you what I know. First off, God is absolutely real, cares very much about us, and answers prayers. I have had hundreds of encounters with Him to know this, many unexplainable by anything else.

As to why you have not gotten an answer I can give you several possibilities, though I don't know definitively why.

1) Purity matters. God answers the prayers of the righteous. This basically means living life without moral compromise, though we can sometimes get knotted by the enemies lies. Consider the following verses:

"Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." James 5:16

"If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened" Psalm 66:18

"Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers." 1 Peter 3:7

Related to this, God knows the difference between His real followers and those who just want a free meal (Consider his speech to those wanting more free bread in John 6), those who have truly repented and those eager to give a cheap "Sorry" to get something. He loves us even in our sin, but He gives the main bread to his real children that He is calling (Mark 7:24-30).

2) Sometimes God is growing your faith. While God has done amazing things in my life, and is very really available there for my needs and requests now, for many years He was mostly silent. Even when Holy Spirit initiated me asking for healing of a lifelong ailment, it was another few years before God fulfilled the request. Therefore, don't give up, but flex those faith muscles and keep going.

3) Be sure to do your part. Have you heard the joke about the guy who kept praying to win the lottery till God said "Buy a ticket, already?" I had a season like that where I kept praying for a job but was too scared to really pursue getting one. After I finally stepped up and followed through where I got one, I happened to read a newspaper clipping that someone at church had given me that I never really looked at. It was for the very job I'd ended up getting. I think God was trying to get me there earlier but I had been putting on the brakes.

4) FAITH, FAITH, FAITH! Faith is an absolutely essential ingredient for the miraculous to BE ABLE to happen. It's like the currency of the spiritual world or something. I don't know what it would look like exactly in your case, but faith means you truly trust that God is there and will take care of what really matters, although it might look different than you expect. You then proceed based on that faith.

For example, when God took my roommate and I through a year of no regular income, at first I was afraid to eat the meat we had for fear of running out. It was the only time I didn't have what I really needed there. I never got to perfect faith, but as we trusted God enough to eat a more reasonable serving, we didn't have any more days of such lack. In fact I was amused that when we didn't have meat at home, we would get to go out to McDonald's or Wendy's because I had been blessed with gift certificates instead of something I would have to fix myself - Not the means of provision I would have expected.