Now that I have studied why prayers are so often unanswered, I have decided to study some of the people of the Bible and see what God wants us to learn from them. Their stories aren’t included for no reason – there is a reason for everything God does. I am sure every one of their stories will show me something about their prayers.
In my ”http://christianchat.com/bible-discussion-forum/73811-why-prayers-unanswered-5.html ‘study journey’ thread, there were several people who missed or ignored my point that there are some prayers God does not hear, as well as those He answers with a “yes” or “no” or “later when the timing is right” and that we are sometimes the reason He refuses to hear or says, “no.” I still maintain, because scripture says so, that there are prayers God does not hear and it is because of impurity of some sort in us. So, I have undertaken another ‘study journey’ to discover the elements or attributes of effective prayer and learn from those who prayed those effective prayers.
To recap and pick up where I left off on that thread, I mentioned one of the examples of King David left to us in the Bible:
I don’t feel quite as bad about my shortcomings now – at least David, a man after God’s own heart, messed up once in a while so I’m in good company. Ah, it sure would be easy to use that as an excuse to drop this study before I even get started, but quitting is no way for me to ever become an “apple of God’s eye.” Now there's a goal to strive for!
Psalm 17:8 (NAS) “Keep me as the apple of the eye; Hide me in the shadow of Your wings”
In my ”http://christianchat.com/bible-discussion-forum/73811-why-prayers-unanswered-5.html ‘study journey’ thread, there were several people who missed or ignored my point that there are some prayers God does not hear, as well as those He answers with a “yes” or “no” or “later when the timing is right” and that we are sometimes the reason He refuses to hear or says, “no.” I still maintain, because scripture says so, that there are prayers God does not hear and it is because of impurity of some sort in us. So, I have undertaken another ‘study journey’ to discover the elements or attributes of effective prayer and learn from those who prayed those effective prayers.
To recap and pick up where I left off on that thread, I mentioned one of the examples of King David left to us in the Bible:
In 1 Chronicles 14, it is confirmed to David that God has set him up as king over Israel. Israel prospers, David has lots of children, and in general, things are going well.
When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over all of Israel, they determined to destroy him. I can just imagine the Philistines saying something like, “Aha! You killed our great soldier, Goliath, so now, David, we’ll fix your wagon!”
Hearing of this, David went to God and asked Him, “Should I attack the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?” God replied, “Attack, I will hand them over to you.” And because God said it, that is what happened. David’s army whipped the Philistines so badly that they even left their gods there when they ran away. Not wanting to pass up a rare opportunity, David ordered his men to burn the Philistine gods to ashes.
As could be expected, that didn’t set well with the Philistines and they came back and raided the valley. Again, David asked God if he should attack and this time God said, “No,” and told David to turn away from the Philistines and engage in battle with them in another particular location. God told David to listen for a sound in the tops of the trees that sounded like marching, and then move out and attack the Philistines. David did exactly what God had told him to do so of course, the result was complete success.
Reading this made me think about how important it is to inquire of God for every move we make, even if it is a repeat of a prior event. If David had assumed God would grant him victory over the Philistines the second time just because He did the first time, I dare say the outcome would have been different. Just because a circumstance is the same as before, that does not mean that the course of events will be the same again or even that the results would be the same.
Then after all this, chapter 16 is a lengthy psalm that David composed in praise to God, but look what happened in chapter 21. King David, the “man after God’s own heart”, is provoked by Satan, and gives in to the provocation without prayer!
When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over all of Israel, they determined to destroy him. I can just imagine the Philistines saying something like, “Aha! You killed our great soldier, Goliath, so now, David, we’ll fix your wagon!”
Hearing of this, David went to God and asked Him, “Should I attack the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?” God replied, “Attack, I will hand them over to you.” And because God said it, that is what happened. David’s army whipped the Philistines so badly that they even left their gods there when they ran away. Not wanting to pass up a rare opportunity, David ordered his men to burn the Philistine gods to ashes.
As could be expected, that didn’t set well with the Philistines and they came back and raided the valley. Again, David asked God if he should attack and this time God said, “No,” and told David to turn away from the Philistines and engage in battle with them in another particular location. God told David to listen for a sound in the tops of the trees that sounded like marching, and then move out and attack the Philistines. David did exactly what God had told him to do so of course, the result was complete success.
Reading this made me think about how important it is to inquire of God for every move we make, even if it is a repeat of a prior event. If David had assumed God would grant him victory over the Philistines the second time just because He did the first time, I dare say the outcome would have been different. Just because a circumstance is the same as before, that does not mean that the course of events will be the same again or even that the results would be the same.
Then after all this, chapter 16 is a lengthy psalm that David composed in praise to God, but look what happened in chapter 21. King David, the “man after God’s own heart”, is provoked by Satan, and gives in to the provocation without prayer!
Psalm 17:8 (NAS) “Keep me as the apple of the eye; Hide me in the shadow of Your wings”