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I’ve had some difficult questions pop up lately, and I’m wondering what kind of answers you all will come up with. There is not necessarily a right or wrong answer for this, I’m just curious to see what other people think about it.
If you pray for something, but are prepared in case the answer is no, are you demonstrating wisdom in preparation or a lack of faith?
Allow me to give a couple of examples: one that’s fairly trivial and one that goes a little deeper.
Scenario 1: A family is going camping. They’ve all been praying for weeks that it would not rain while they are there, but when they check the forecast there is a slight chance. If they do not bring any rain gear, are they being foolish in their preparation or demonstrating faith that God will answer them?
Here’s something a little deeper than camping.
Scenario 2: there’s a drought in the farmland. A farmer is praying for rain. Should he plant seeds in faith that God will answer his prayer, or wait until he sees evidence of an answer to plant his seeds? If he waits and it does rain, the seeds will not receive the full benefit. If he doesn’t wait and it doesn’t rain, he’s lost his seed for good. But is it demonstrating a lack of faith if he doesn’t plant his seed? Or merely financial and farming wisdom?
Thoughts? I’ll go ahead and tag @hope @kate-flournoy and @Daeus since they seem to enjoy hard questions, but I’d love to hear anyone’s opinion.
"Courage is action in spite of fear."
@corissa-maiden-of-praise Ooo, that is a tough question. Hmmm…
I could argue for both sides, so I guess I’ll start by asking is it a Biblical idea that preparing for an answer to prayer is a sign of faith. Or is it a sign of presumption?
I’ve not studied this but I think assuming the answer is a bit presumptuous. After all, when we’re asking for something we’re recognizing that God might say yes, no, or wait. Faith is defined as trusting and obeying God, even when one doesn’t understand or when things are bad. It’s not defined as thinking you already know what God will do and so preparing for that.
That doesn’t mean we should pray and give up though. We keep going and doing the best we can, and trust God. The farmer, for example, while praying for rain, can keep tending to his farm the best he is able. Or, like in Facing the Giants (where they talk about this) they are trusting God and doing the best they can.
INTJ - Inhumane. No-feelings. Terrible. Judgment and doom on everyone.
@corissa-maiden-of-praise
*this is a quote* “I heard a story once about two farmers who desperately need rain. And they both prayed to God for it. But only one went out and prepared his fields for it. Which one do you think trust God to send the rain?” (This is from Facing the Giants) 🙂Is constantly praying for something a lack of faith? God hears us right from the start. So why continue asking for it? Does it become nagging and a lack of trust? I don’t think so. God likes it when we talk to Him. Sometimes I think that God tests our endurance and faith in Him, by not answering straight away. And we can either walk away shaking our heads or continue steadfastly in prayer.
Good questions though. It’s something I’ve been thinking about.
Okay, I’m going to present some different viewpoints; I’m not saying I agree with them, I’m just saying I’ve heard them used and I’m curious how you will respond to them.
@hope Christ says in Mark 11:24, “Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” He’s obviously not saying that if we ask for a big screen tv we’re going to get it (although I have heard people use it that way, but I’m not going to go that far because I think that’s way off.) However, if we are truly aligned in spirit with Christ (some people believe) we will not ask for anything that is outside His will. So if we are sure we are right with the Lord and we ask Him for something, wouldn’t it be presumptuous to think He wouldn’t answer, rather than the other way around?
@Bluejay *just trying to clarify* are you saying that God never says no, only wait or yes? That He will always answer our prayers in a positive way? I’m just trying to understand exactly where you’re coming from so I know what you’re saying."Courage is action in spite of fear."
Good question. I’ve actually just been thinking today how little I bring my requests to God when I should. It’s like I forget that God also has the name Father.
That being said, I know God sometimes has his people go through tough times, and sometimes what we want isn’t what God has planned. I don’t see any way we can assume that every prayer will be answered the way we want it. Jesus asked that the cup of wrath might pass from him, but he tempered by asking that the Father’s will triumph.
So should people prepare for their prayers not to come into fruition? Maybe. I don’t think I could say it was a lack of faith, but still, sometimes you just gotta understand that God sure does seem to love to mess with our naturalism and give us good gifts when we ask for them. Personally, I would bring the rain gear in the first scenario, but plant the seed in the second.
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Ooh, good discussion @Corissa-Maiden-of-Praise. I haven’t done a lot of thinking on this, but the first thing that popped into my head when I read your post was this verse:
The horse is prepared for the day of battle, but deliverance is of the Lord.
Proverbs 21:31Quite simply, we are instructed to prepare and leave the rest to God. As @Hope is saying, if I understand her correctly. And as for the ‘name it claim it’ argument, I think that verse is very often misconstrued. Yes, faith can move mountains, and yes, God answers prayer, but He doesn’t always answer it as we were hoping. Faith is not a tool— it’s a form of worship. Faith should not be used to ‘get what we want’; rather to humbly and carefully seek the will of God and the grace to submit to His will. While we can certainly pray for specific things, I think prayer is more in the spirit of ‘Not my will, but Thine, be done.’ Praying for peace and joy in whatever circumstances, and the humility to hear the Lord’s voice and follow where He leads.
Does that answer your question, or am I rambling? 😉
@corissa-maiden-of-praise I’m saying God says wait……………………………. then He either says yes of no. And what God answers is always right, even if we don’t see it right there and then. Faith is to trust Him no matter what the answer is or whether we understand it or not.
Does that help you understand my pov?So if we are sure we are right with the Lord and we ask Him for something, wouldn’t it be presumptuous to think He wouldn’t answer, rather than the other way around?
The logic here is backwards. We don’t make sure our hearts are in obedience to God’s will in every other area of our lives and then go to God and give him our own requests without any knowledge of his will and assume that it will be answered the way we want it because we abide in him in other areas. First of all, being perfectly in accord with God’s will sounds impossible this side of Heaven. Supposing we assume for the point of debate that I am right here, what that leads us to is that prayer is not very much about the request (God knows what we want anyways without our telling him). I am becoming more and more convinced that prayer is not so much about the requests, as the requesting. First, because God just plain likes us praying to him, then also it can sometimes be a way of testing us, and finally, I think one of the most important aspects of prayer, is that you grow just by being with Him. Relationship building happens through conversation.
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@Daeus beautifully said. I couldn’t agree more. God doesn’t need us to ask Him— He wants us to because He is a Father, and He loves spending time with His children. Prayer is a form of worship.
I for one agree with @kate-flournoy and @Daeus. God actually commands us to pray to Him in many places, one of which is Isaiah 55:6 “Seek the Lord while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near.”
☀ ☀ ☀ ENFP ☀ ☀ ☀
I am becoming more and more convinced that prayer is not so much about the requests, as the requesting. First, because God just plain likes us praying to him, then also it can sometimes be a way of testing us, and finally, I think one of the most important aspects of prayer, is that you grow just by being with Him. Relationship building happens through conversation.
Thank you for saying that, @Daeus. I was just wondering a few days ago why on earth we need to pray when God already knows our needs and is in control, etc.
Here’s my three cents: if I’m not sure that my prayer is according to His will, I ask Him if it is. If He says yes, then I have full faith that it will come to pass, and I act accordingly. If He says no, I ask Him how He wants me to pray. And of course, the hardest times are when I don’t hear Him, and when that happens I have to trust that He knows the situation, He knows what I need and He is in control.
Wow, that looks so simple and easy when it’s all typed out. It’s hard to do. For me, anyway.Thank you all so much for your replies @hope @Bluejay @kate-flournoy @Daeus @sarah-h I really appreciate all you taking the time to discuss this.
I agree with you all 100%. I have heard some pretty strong arguments for both sides of the coin and wanted to get a couple of different perspectives.
@Daeus just out of curiosity, what would you say makes the difference in the two scenarios for your different responses?"Courage is action in spite of fear."
@corissa-maiden-of-praise Mainly gut feeling actually. Rain in a drought just sounds like the type of thing God likes to do a lot. I guess on second thought though that it might depend on whether the rest of the community is praying too or maybe it seems pretty likely they’re being judged. Context can be important.
The camping issue is a little different since, first, it is mainly about convenience, which I know God cares about, but I don’t think it’s high in his priority like food for us to eat would be. Also, if you bring rain gear, and it doesn’t rain, no harm’s been done.
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One thing I want to add. If God has said in the Bible that something is his will and we pray for it, we better be praying with faith. For example, in Thessalonians 4 it says the will of God is our sanctification. In this case, we can be certain God will answer our prayer. It may not look the way want or imagined it, but we can be sure He will answer our prayer.
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