I've always had this back and forth frustration between having enough faith to believe when I pray that it's answered and I don't have to ask again, or that theory to keep being persistent, pressing in and seeking and knocking and begging until it's answered. Which is it?
I sat and listened to a Pastor state that if we've asked for something, that's it. You have to have faith without waiver that God will answer your prayer, and quit asking.
I sat and listened to a Pastor state that just like the lady in Luke 18:1-8 who was looking for justice for her adversary, that the reason she received it because she was persistent and keep pushing like a used car salesman and got what she wanted.
I was frustrated. Which way is it?
What's the secret, how do you get God to answer? Do you just believe and have faith, or do you push him?
Well, I've resolved in my heart an answer that satisfied my need to this frustrating question. I would say that God likes to answer our questions so that we can understand them. It's what I call a God Moment.
When you have a need, you pray. You need to continue to pray. Just as Scripture states in Luke 11:9. You are not released to stop praying. You do need to apply Matthew 21:22 which tells you that must believe that what you are asking God to do, he will. This however does not say that you ask once and then just stop. That part has nothing to do with faith, in my opinion. You believe and continue to seek God's face until there is an answer.
We can not be the deciding factor in our prayer. We can not believe that God will say yes and it will happen. We can not believe that God will say no and it won't. We need to seek God for his answer. We like to play God when it comes to receiving an answer to prayer.
We need to continue to press into God, we need to wrestle Jesus to receive a blessing, we need to trust that God's answer is the one we need. It is one of God's attributes to be persistent, to not give up. It doesn't mean we have to beg and whine and become upset thinking that God has not heard us. It does not mean that we have to force people to do what we want and be mean and manipulative. It means we keep seeking God's answer, there is more to learn, to understand, to receive...God knows.
So when do we stop praying?
When God tells you personally... "IT IS FINISHED".
I sat and listened to a Pastor state that if we've asked for something, that's it. You have to have faith without waiver that God will answer your prayer, and quit asking.
I sat and listened to a Pastor state that just like the lady in Luke 18:1-8 who was looking for justice for her adversary, that the reason she received it because she was persistent and keep pushing like a used car salesman and got what she wanted.
I was frustrated. Which way is it?
What's the secret, how do you get God to answer? Do you just believe and have faith, or do you push him?
Well, I've resolved in my heart an answer that satisfied my need to this frustrating question. I would say that God likes to answer our questions so that we can understand them. It's what I call a God Moment.
When you have a need, you pray. You need to continue to pray. Just as Scripture states in Luke 11:9. You are not released to stop praying. You do need to apply Matthew 21:22 which tells you that must believe that what you are asking God to do, he will. This however does not say that you ask once and then just stop. That part has nothing to do with faith, in my opinion. You believe and continue to seek God's face until there is an answer.
We can not be the deciding factor in our prayer. We can not believe that God will say yes and it will happen. We can not believe that God will say no and it won't. We need to seek God for his answer. We like to play God when it comes to receiving an answer to prayer.
We need to continue to press into God, we need to wrestle Jesus to receive a blessing, we need to trust that God's answer is the one we need. It is one of God's attributes to be persistent, to not give up. It doesn't mean we have to beg and whine and become upset thinking that God has not heard us. It does not mean that we have to force people to do what we want and be mean and manipulative. It means we keep seeking God's answer, there is more to learn, to understand, to receive...God knows.
So when do we stop praying?
When God tells you personally... "IT IS FINISHED".
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