Chapter Four

"Dear Lord, why won't you give me this? I asked you so many times and I would like to know what I need to do to get this. Please Lord!"

One last issue remains on our agenda of defining the outer limits of what prayer is not. The fourth question remains unanswered. Question #1 was answered negatively and so was #2 as well as #3. The last question remains. "Do we have power to compel God to act in our own lives where He would not normally act, until we send a petition?"

As we saw in the previous chapter, God is not slack nor is He asleep. God cares for His people whether they ask or not. When it comes to others, we need to understand ourselves as instrumental since the task of salvation is of such vast intricate complexity. To complicate things, we have an enemy whose experience exceeds ours probably by billions of years. Let me ask you! Who cares to challenge such a foe? Some people do.

Devil, the Word of God says you have held my child captive to your will. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth to whom I belong, I bind your power and tell you to lose my child's will, leaving him free to choose Jesus and his plan for [child's name] life. Jesus' blood was shed for him/her.

My child will come to his/her senses and escape from your trap, My child's eyes will be opened and he/she will turn from darkness to light. translated from Satan's kingdom, [Child's name] will receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those sanctified in the Lord Jesus, I believe in the Lord Jesus, and my household will be saved. The Spiritual Warrior's Prayer Guide by Quin Sherrer & Ruthane Garlock p. 163

I don't know about you, but instrumentality will do fine for me. Thank you.

On the other hand, when our petitions concern our own lives, implications change slightly. One tends to think along the lines that if we choose something and ask for it, God will give it to us if we persist enough. The rationale is clear and simple. "You asked for it, you got it!" Whether for good or for bad, God could possibly feel justified in granting the wishes of such a person. The person took the responsibility on self and the consequences follow.

This, unfortunately, is aberrant thinking as well. This style of forming opinions is more likely for a single person living in a major metropolitan center having never related to an infant in their lives. To present such a thought to a mother with a young child is a little more difficult. Trying to convince that mother that her child should have the freedom to play with a butane apparatus and some matches, is probably even harder. Surprisingly the correlation is not that far apart and may be slanted in the less obvious way.

Some may think that this analog is unrealistic, yet, people with a perverse moral sense have advanced ideas as repulsive as an amendment to free young kids to form their own opinions about sex and orientation. Their plan would be to remove the parent from the sphere of this influence. A few years ago, I had an extensive discussion with a young man and his family. He was eleven years old, at the time. As the subject drifted from one point to another, he openly expressed that he was not yet sure of his sexual orientation. My reaction was one of consternation. Upon further discussion he revealed that this is a subject discussed in school openly. Whole classrooms are exposed and encouraged to discuss these issues and take stands as they see fit.

I remember in the sixties when some kids in high school were hotly debating, with their friends, that the parents should have no say so if kids decided to use drugs. Many professors backed the idea and supplied the kids with arguments as well as drugs. One day I found myself in the minority trying to defend the cause against drugs and the professor was the leading opponent. Needless to say, I failed that class.

Today, unfortunately, we, as a nation, reap the blessings, and the issue of our influential extent over God (in private affairs), is becoming clear. Today we are beginning to understand the democratic implications of the family circles in a direct way. Should God bend and grant us our wishes when we express our willingness to be responsible for the consequences? Let's consider the following contrast:

Is it acceptable for God to execute His will, which accomplishes the highest good, for all members of His family. Would it be better for God to bend occasionally and give in, just to give the people a little participation or breathing space? Knowing and being able to anticipate much better than man, could God be justified in court, should anyone claim, "You should not have given in to his petitions since you knew better and he had no capacity to perceive the entire depth and complexity of the issues"?

The television commercials that target the young people and exert an influence to "say NO to drugs", seem to be a long stretch, from my days in high school. I no longer hear the voice of the "defenders of the cause." It seems that with time humanity learns values, not by will, but, rather, by force. The human cost is immense, but the salt in the wound is that, whereas the freedom of an educated good will could have been exercised, now we have gentle persuasion that lands us in jail. Better called "mandatory compliance." On second thought, maybe we should have left things the way God exemplified it. Let the father of the family be a father, not a hypocritical democrat.

Yashua spoke plainly, but He spoke with power. "Seek to do the will of my Father" (somewhat undemocratic). The Father's will can only be bypassed if we leave Him and decide to wander away. At that point we have left His home and though He has not left us, we place ourselves at a greater distance from His reach; an undesirable state of affairs. The story of the prodigal son is one that describes this specific situation. Yashua knew that these issues needed clarification and provided them in this parable.

The answer to question #4 is a decided "No!" The petitioner has no power to change God's will concerning his own life. We have power to remove ourselves from His influence but God's will is not under our jurisdiction; a much better idea than family democracy.

This unchanging nature of God seems quite hard to bear and younger adults develop the opinion that God is stern. Yet that is not the case. Quite to the contrary, God is quite gentle and caring and will in no wise let anyone influence Him into lack of care. These are the implications of having a God Who is perfect. That unfortunately is misinterpreted as being stern. Be it as it may, what can He do to remedy that? Give in? Stop caring.

Again the text from Halcyon Wilson brings light on the subject.

We may think, at times, that prayer is getting something from God, which He may hesitate to give, but which persistent prayer will bring about. But prayer is not to get from God what we want, but rather to help us accept what we have. It is not necessarily to relieve us of pain, but to help us bear it. It is not to attempt to change God's mind, but to help us accept God's mind. Prayer is an endeavor not to outline some plan of action for God to follow, but to help us understand what God's plan is. It is to ask not that God's will be changed, but that God's will be done. Women's Devotional "The listening heart" January 26, 1994. Halcyon Wilson The works of God are our only safety and His works are a kindness. The result of His endeavor and work in us is described by the prophets as follows: Isaiah 13:12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of O’phir.

Isaiah 26:12 LORD, thou wilt ordain peace for us: for thou also hast wrought all our works in us.

Jeremiah 31:33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Jeremiah 32:40 And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.

Malachi 3:2 But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers` soap:

Malachi 3:3 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.

At this point, if man starts, to coach God, in any way, how will God be able to explain this? "We, kind of, worked it together. You know, sort of, democratically". Fortunately, outside of telling God what to do, there are plenty of interesting things for us to do. We need not be evasive. God is the master designer and we need to seek His will, to be able to come to terms with the blue-print. After all, this entire drama of sin is the outworking of God's plan to remove the plan of Satan who thought he had a better idea. This characteristic of meddling in the affairs of God is not found accidentally in our human nature. The heritage of sin has permeated this impulse throughout God's creation. Isaiah 14:13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:

Ezekiel 28:2 Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God:

Our task, now then, is to study this deformity and present it to the Lord, asking: "Lord, make me like Yashua, humble and meek." John 5:30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me. What a difference! How could this be real? Is this, even remotely, possible. One statement from the creature, and the other from it's Creator. This is the superlative juxtaposition of the ages.

Prophet Isaiah speaks out a song, in chapter 26, to inspire confidence in God. It sounds very different from Frank Sinatra's song "I did it my way." Verse 13, however, summarizes the entire thought. ". . . by Thee will we make mention of Thy name." In this state of sin, our incapacity seems, almost, limitless. Even the realizations of God's sovereignty, and love, is not a badge we can pin on our coat. We can't even originate repentance. "By Thee ", not by our own effort, we found Him. God sought out man in his own domain and brought him to the realization of His love. It is more likely that the songs in heaven will contain words like "I did it His way."
 
 

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