I can relate to huntingteckel & sweetpea. Even today i had bout of anxiety, making my heart beat faster and breathe more rapid. Hard to maintain a feeling of calmness and thoughts race a bit. I find it hard talkinv to people i don' t know well at the best of times but can make me really uncomfortable. It's like i can't get across hiw i want to come across. But even relaying this post now relating actually puts things in perspective a bit for me. And to have a certain acceptance of how we are at times i suppose. It's part of the human condition. I do tend to try and get past it though as much as i can . And i really try to resist worry because trusting God is more important than worrying. He says we are not to worry or be anxious. With physical symptoms of anxiety which i'd say mine is mild because i really try to control it and overcome not in my own strength but with God's , can be challanging though. I can also go very quiet and not talk much even to those i know well.
If You're Prayers Aren't Answered Does That Mean You Aren't A Christian?
- Thread starter autumn oddity
- Start date
This might sound like a strange question, how do you pray? Do you take authority or beg/ask? God has done everything for you already. He knows what you want before you do. I believe alot of Christians are timid in their faith and never take authority over needs. If you are in need of healing then in the name of Jesus command the healing to happen and have faith you are already healed. I can provide scripture where it talks about this if you need.
Look...sometimes God says NO....sometimes "not now but later" and sometimes we know not what we pray for...sometimes it takes action on our part...Joshua when he prayed a question asking God how will they cross the rushing Jordan God says everybody start praising and worshipping and have the priestly procession go first and just step in...in this case faith plus action produces miracles...and finally sometimes God answers in ways we miss because we are lppking for something else as the answer.
However, my wife Salome and myself have had many, many, prayers answered....thank you Father that you always hear us...
brother Paul
However, my wife Salome and myself have had many, many, prayers answered....thank you Father that you always hear us...
brother Paul
"for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34"So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own" (Matthew 6:32-34).
God knows our desires and needs. When we seek Him first He joyously and generously wants to bless us abundantly. When we love God and seek his will, He answers prayers before we ask. The highest form of prayer is submitting everything to God's will from love. From this humble heart God will abundantly bless with what he knows will be blessings for the humble beyond the believers imagination.
Also, "Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, 7casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you" (1 Peter 5:7).
If you lay all your burdens on God, trusting that He loves you, praying from faith in God's love for you, your anxiety will go because your faith is in His love, not your need and He will respond to your needs because you believed in His love.
If you lay all your burdens on God, trusting that He loves you, praying from faith in God's love for you, your anxiety will go because your faith is in His love, not your need and He will respond to your needs because you believed in His love.
Go sister O...amen and amen
"In this manner, therefore, pray:
Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
10 Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
13 And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever" (Matthew 6:9-13).
I just want to say a little bit about this:
"Our Father in Heaven, Hallowed be Your name"
This is recognition that God is holy and perfect (perfect love) so His will for us is perfect.
"Your kingdom come.Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven."
God manifests by His faith that which we ask which is according to His will in heaven and by faith and through the Holy Spirit it is manifested on earth.
"Give us this day our daily bread" Yes. This speaks of our needs, but we should remember, "Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty" (John 6:35). When we seek God first we are fed spiritually as well as physically. With the spiritual fed first (the kingdom being first) then the physical is provided for.
"And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors" Again when we love others with God's love from His Spirit (since we sought the kingdom 1st), our hearts are pure so open to receiving. When we seek God first, God's way is about giving. When everyone gives, everyone receives. There is no wrong doing debt in this type environment and when walking in His Spirit we bring His kingdom of love into this presence.
"And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one" When our hearts are humble and pure we are delivered from the evil one.
"For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever" When we seek Him we find Him and in Him is all good, everything we were made for to give and share blessings.
Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
10 Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
13 And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever" (Matthew 6:9-13).
I just want to say a little bit about this:
"Our Father in Heaven, Hallowed be Your name"
This is recognition that God is holy and perfect (perfect love) so His will for us is perfect.
"Your kingdom come.Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven."
God manifests by His faith that which we ask which is according to His will in heaven and by faith and through the Holy Spirit it is manifested on earth.
"Give us this day our daily bread" Yes. This speaks of our needs, but we should remember, "Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty" (John 6:35). When we seek God first we are fed spiritually as well as physically. With the spiritual fed first (the kingdom being first) then the physical is provided for.
"And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors" Again when we love others with God's love from His Spirit (since we sought the kingdom 1st), our hearts are pure so open to receiving. When we seek God first, God's way is about giving. When everyone gives, everyone receives. There is no wrong doing debt in this type environment and when walking in His Spirit we bring His kingdom of love into this presence.
"And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one" When our hearts are humble and pure we are delivered from the evil one.
"For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever" When we seek Him we find Him and in Him is all good, everything we were made for to give and share blessings.
Olivia I understand what youre saying I do, but faith doesn't make EERYTHING go away, it just makes it easier ...slightly. Even Jesus asked for his cup to removed and He more faith than moses and Abraham combined and still went through....
Not saying I have perfect faith..bc I don.t not even a mustard seed I think but it doesn't save us from everything ... hmm : /
And brother pau how do you get prayers answersed? how did God answer your prayers?
Not saying I have perfect faith..bc I don.t not even a mustard seed I think but it doesn't save us from everything ... hmm : /
And brother pau how do you get prayers answersed? how did God answer your prayers?
Well we do not ask for most things that are obtainable on earth (occasionally) because "things" and "amenities" are often OUR idea but we could work for those. And besides God did not say He would give us what we want but promised to meet our needs (Matt. 6:33). So that's one...
Secondly where God's word tells us directly what is God's will we pray His will back to Him (His word does not return to Him void) because if we pray according to His will we shall know that we will have what it is we ask for. There are exceptions. His will is that all would come to repentance but if the person simply insists on doing there own thing (say, an unrepentant alcoholic) God will not always intervene...they may have to come to an end of self before they come to God (God doesn't force people into the kingdom against their will)
Thirdly when we pray IF God says no we accept it (He has His reasons that we are unaware of) because we are trusting Him...
So far everyone we have prayed for for recovery from an illness has recovered...sometimes slower than others...sometimes thorugh the hands of the Surgeon...but they recovered. This is so apparent people actually call us and ask us to pray for them where of course we insist they pray...that they go to God...when possible we have them pray at the same time...
It does not stop here...once our friend was behind on her mortgage...she was just learning to faithe and so assured her it would all work out...we were all praying...the day before the bank was going to foreclose a friend knick named "Shotgun" showed up...he had heard she was hurting and broke out a wad of money he had saved playing drums....he said he wanted her to have it (no strings)...it was exactly $2500, the amount to the penny that she owed...He had no idea of how much she owed...now another time we prayed for this family for a similar reason but it turned out the mom had a coke habit and owed the dealer a lot...God did not see to it she got the cash (probably would have spent it on drugs)...
One year when my son was still young it was Easter time (Saturday before)...we had no money for amenities but prayed and told the Lord we would take our change and our bottles and buy something for Easter dinner but it would not be a feast...we thanked Him and got ready...as we were leaving I decided to check the mailbox just to see what bills etc may be there...there was a check there????? My school had apparently made an error on my insurance and were returning $354....WHAT? They made no mistake...I was there in fact just to pay I owed an additional $.84 (which I brought in at the time)....
I cannot list the 100s of answered prayers....tell us one thing you prayed for that you did not receive an answer for????
Secondly where God's word tells us directly what is God's will we pray His will back to Him (His word does not return to Him void) because if we pray according to His will we shall know that we will have what it is we ask for. There are exceptions. His will is that all would come to repentance but if the person simply insists on doing there own thing (say, an unrepentant alcoholic) God will not always intervene...they may have to come to an end of self before they come to God (God doesn't force people into the kingdom against their will)
Thirdly when we pray IF God says no we accept it (He has His reasons that we are unaware of) because we are trusting Him...
So far everyone we have prayed for for recovery from an illness has recovered...sometimes slower than others...sometimes thorugh the hands of the Surgeon...but they recovered. This is so apparent people actually call us and ask us to pray for them where of course we insist they pray...that they go to God...when possible we have them pray at the same time...
It does not stop here...once our friend was behind on her mortgage...she was just learning to faithe and so assured her it would all work out...we were all praying...the day before the bank was going to foreclose a friend knick named "Shotgun" showed up...he had heard she was hurting and broke out a wad of money he had saved playing drums....he said he wanted her to have it (no strings)...it was exactly $2500, the amount to the penny that she owed...He had no idea of how much she owed...now another time we prayed for this family for a similar reason but it turned out the mom had a coke habit and owed the dealer a lot...God did not see to it she got the cash (probably would have spent it on drugs)...
One year when my son was still young it was Easter time (Saturday before)...we had no money for amenities but prayed and told the Lord we would take our change and our bottles and buy something for Easter dinner but it would not be a feast...we thanked Him and got ready...as we were leaving I decided to check the mailbox just to see what bills etc may be there...there was a check there????? My school had apparently made an error on my insurance and were returning $354....WHAT? They made no mistake...I was there in fact just to pay I owed an additional $.84 (which I brought in at the time)....
I cannot list the 100s of answered prayers....tell us one thing you prayed for that you did not receive an answer for????
Yes. Again it must be according to God's will. Maybe you should tell me what part or parts of what I am saying you are questioning so I can explain a little more. I was speaking more of love in prayer than faith, but the faith I spoke of is faith in the love of God for you. Although I think faith as bringing manifestation into the earthly realm from the physical my be what your questioning. Maybe we should go over it more slowly because I think your missing a lot of what I am saying.
However, what is extremely important is seeking God first. God knows what you need. When you pray you should first be praying for yourself spiritually, before you even ask for something materially.
Do you trust God to help you spiritually first? Maybe you could tell me what is happening. Do you always have faith when you pray?
God loves you and is not singling you out. He definitely wants you blessed. Maybe we need to discuss what I mean by faith or maybe seeking His kingdom first and how blessings manifest from that, not because God is asked, but because God wants to give them.
Yeah! Prayer and/or faith are not magical powers that can manifest things or circumstances from the eternal to the temporal. Like name it and claim it...is that what has been going on?
I am talking more of when we seek His kingdom first, God blesses us without us even asking. When we are in the Holy Spirit having faith in God's love then we are actually often blessed beyond what we desire, because God wants to bless us. Often God suggests a blessing to me that I never thought of. It is His idea to bless me. He doesn't want me focused on needs, He wants me focused on Him. When we are trusting Him for everything then even things we do not know of He takes care of because our faith is where it should be, that is on Him. We need to ask for our spiritual needs first really wanting to submit our spiritual selves to Him above all things. This is seeking God. When we put the spiritual first we walk in His kingdom and He does manifest blessings for us according to His will but taking into consideration our personal desires. Sometimes, like you say prayers aren't answered and it could later be known that it was a blessing He didn't answer the prayer. Thank God He sometimes doesn't answer, because we don't know all things, but He does.
Also as far as faith, when we are walking in His Spirit consistently, our faith is built up because we constantly give all things to God trusting Him for all things. Yes, I have seen many things I just desire manifest in this state. I can imagine what you mean by name it and claim and that would be going to far, for there are a lot of factors that go into it, yet shying away because of the extreme is not recognizing who we are in Christ. God wants us so in faith, trusting Him in all things that if an army comes to our door we don't even fear. This is not name it and claim it (which sounds like it has to do with only earthly desire, but tell me if I am wrong). Instead it has to do with being so filled with His presence that power emanates from us and God can immediately work through us, because we have taught ourselves to continuously submit to His love by faith.
I do believe that God creates the manifestation in His kingdom. He told me this and showed me that the spiritual is side by side with the physical. Manifestation is spiritual. What do you think miracles are? They are God's faith manifested in the material, just as creation was manifested. I am not sure what name it and claim it is, but I want you to know that yes, I definitely believe that if it is God's will He does manifest it in the spiritual and He uses our faith to bring it into the material. However my point was that God will work through the faith that someone has in His love to manifest blessing for the one who loves Him because He wants to bless them even when they don't ask for the blessing he will reveal it and give it because He desires to give it.Now does this always happen, no. Does God ever hold back blessing, I believe yes and sometimes it is even the believers will with God's will to have the blessing held back for a greater purpose. For instance someone may give up things or suffer persecution willingly for the sake of the gospel. There was a man on here about a month ago that when I wrote to him I felt my heart leap from God because I knew that he was one of those people and when I asked him if he had made that commitment with God he said yes. Also, some times prayers answered come not as miracles, but the mundane as you yourself stated. For example some one may pray for healing and God will tell them a natural remedy. I don't know if I am fully answering your question. If not, let me know.
The focus however is that the greatest blessings are spiritual. The fruit of the Spirit. Why do people desire material things beyond their basic needs. It is because they want the fruit of the Spirit through earthly things. They want the material abundance to make them happy when they could already be happy by living in God's Spirit. They go with wrong person for love when they could have real love by remaining in God's Spirit. This earth will be destroyed. Our physical bodies will be destroyed. God is most interested in the spiritual because that is eternal. So although He may bless us we should be free of the attachment to the blessing because the blessing is just a way of showing love, not the love itself. If someone clings to the blessing instead of God they lose the blessing because they are looking for it in a material thing rather than in God. We are to seek God first. In Him is the real blessings.
I have no idea why I went on this tangent. God bless everyone.
It was really good sis, thanks
\Pancakes: God has NEVER answered even one of your prayers?
It is important for the believer to remember the gospel in all things. We are raised to new life as new creations in Christ. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here" (2nd Corinthians 5:17).
"Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. 2For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed.a 3Now we who have believed enter that rest" (Hebrews 4:1-3).
When we are saved, we put our faith in Christ for not only salvation, but we are believing that we become new creations in Christ. Basically, we now no longer live unto our selves, but our life is in Christ.
"For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; 15and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf" (2 Corinthians 5:14-15).
So we die to self and we are controlled by God's love, which can only be done by entering His rest. That is the works we do are no longer from ourselves, but they are done by the righteousness of Christ which comes through us by the power of God's love from His Holy Spirit. This is true of faith. Faith is not name something and claim something, because then it would be a self work rather than God's work from His rest. Our faith as new creations is in God and His love, which is what we abide in.
"Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me" (John 15:4). Our fruit is not our own, but His fruit. Prayers answered are not our works being answered, like having great enough faith to self produce the thing, rather it is having faith in God and by His will He knows our desires and works His righteousness through our faith.
"faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead" (James 2:14). What are those works? They are the righteousness works of Christ, His works working through us (the washing and renewal of the Holy Spirit producing life in us from which we do outer works from by faith in His works, not our own). This applies to prayer because when we live in His Spirit in His love, that is where the real power is, from His Spirit and then we hear him clearly. Our faith is in Him which is where all manifestation comes from. Our faith is not in our own faith, which is why even faith the size of a mustard seed is enough.
So let's say someone needs a new job. If they pray, yes God may just bring it through a friend or they might just meet someone and the subject comes up and the stranger knows of a job or offer them one. It doesn't usually come to someone's door, but it could. God can do anything. However, maybe they are looking for the job on Craigslist. There are 10 possibilities that they see. They prayed and as they go through the list they pick the top 6 to apply to, yet the other 4 don't sound so good. God however moves their heart and says, to go apply at number 7. Well if they are resting in God trusting Him they will obey. If they aren't (maybe the drive is too far or the pay is too low) they ignore God thinking He doesn't know what He is talking about. Well the person resting in God arrives at number 7 for the interview and they love the person and hire them, saying they are opening a new location right by their home and they offer a better position them for more pay. The one who ignored God gets offered a worse opportunity or none at all. There is another person however. They pray and are trusting God and yet no job is offered from all the interviews they go on. Well God knows that a great job is coming up in three months because He is working out the details with the company so that it will come up, but it will take some time. The person doesn't know this however, yet because they are trusting God, He miraculously provides for them while waiting even though they don't know the job is coming up. God was answering their prayer, even though the person didn't know, but He had to work out the circumstances first for the job to come into reality.
Answered prayers can come in many ways. We need to rest in God by faith in Him for what we want.
Someone may pray for a spouse to come in their lives, but God may have to do some changing in the person praying or the spouse or both before He can bring the people together. If He brought the person before they were spiritually right then the marriage might have great problems or end in divorce.
Sometimes it isn't God isn't answering. Sometimes we just need to wait, trusting that He loves us and only works things for our good.
Only if they not heard John 9:31. But you won't know that unless you look back on your life.
What exactly are you praying for?
As for confidence of being a Christian, if you can call Jesus, Lord 1 Cor 12:3 and judge yourself truthfully 1 Cor 11:31 that you submit to His authority Gal 2:20 you are a Christian. Prayers answered or unanswered as qualification is rather insulting to Him don't you think?
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He answers some, I can prob count on one hand. I dont have frequent prayers answered.
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God does answer prayer: even from the sinners! He answers, for example, prayers of repentance, and to show His mercy!
"And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us: and if we know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him."
So find out what His will is for you: and He will hear! Simple, huh?
We = Christians. John 9:31 is clear that he does not hear sinners. Your example is the only prayer He would hear as it is not a prayer from a sinner but someone who is repenting.
What prayers are you judging Him on as answered / unanswered? God takes care of us, no prayers needed for many things. There are prayers and then there are prayers.