Using life periscope to view past events in the world will reveal dangerous happenings, man inhumanity to man, outright wickedness of man on a fellow being and political oppressions of highest degree by the rulers on the ruled. The world has never lost events where a particular person or tribe or nation has been targeted for annihilation unjustifiably. Because man’s inhuman treatment upon another fellow, or designed attacks of one tribe on others or use of demonic influences to limit one’s progress, many resorted to vindictive prayers for their enemies to die of particular death or sicknesses. Prayers to stop one not expected to rule have saturated world’s prayer books. Thousands of books are written on “breakthrough prayers” and “deliverance prayers.” Against all these prayers, there stand seemingly evidences that God seems not answering prayers.
What this resulted to is people concluding that God no longer answer prayers. Many with this opinion have left churches. Some many others have chosen to combine Christianity with traditional ways to solve their problems.
By human wisdom, one might not blame these groups of people given volume of passages in the Bible which categorically support that God answer prayers exactly and speedingly. We have passages such as Matt. 7: 7 where Jesus taught that if one ask he will receive, seek he will see and nock, the door will open. It is seen in Mark 11: 24 that whatever we ask in prayer and believe will be received. In John 15: 7, we are told that if we abide in Christ and He abides in us, anything we ask in prayer shall be done for us. The Bible says that the eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous and His ears are attentive to their cries (Psa. 34: 15). We see in Psa. 145: 19 that God fulfills the desires of those who fear Him and that He hears their cries and saves them. Believing in these passages religiously has made many Christians set time for God and try to make God utter His agenda in favour of man’s time and will through prayers.
In today’s lead passages, Prophet Elijah asked God to kill him because his problems have become too much to handle. Job on his part said his utmost desire is for God to end his life. Jesus Christ the Son of God did ask His Father to allow the cup of sorrow that contained all the natures of His torments before He would be finally executed pass by Him. In this world, we have Christians who profess knowing God and others who understand God. As humans, we will neither set time tables of our lives for God nor influence His will in favour of our wills. The next devotional will be looking into why we will not insist God answer our prayers as we pray. His ways are not our ways.
PRAYER:
HOLY FATHER, enable my heart and mind to lean on you at the toughest time of my life so that I will wait to see answers to my prayers. Amen.
bishopubaudenyi@hopealivechurch