A Noble Berean

  Understanding God's Will #9c: When you isolate a verse, such as  Mark 11:22-24  (about getting what we ask for if we believe we'll get it) from other Scripture, it’s easy to misunderstand it.    It’s easy to make the Mark passage a “name it and claim it in faith” verse when you do not take into account the rest of Scripture.    And this then causes me to focus more on my faith’s ability to make things happen and less on drawing near to God and immersing myself in Him and His Word.    After all, if my faith is enough to get it done, how much do I need Him? Yes, Jesus says “whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”    And I still haven’t fully grasped what He meant by that.    But I think that it is best understood when we take a look at all of Scripture.    Verses cannot be taken separately.    The Word is not like trail mix, where we can pick and choose ...

  Understanding God's Will #9b: (No Calvinism information added to this post.) So, as seen in the point 9a, faith in God isn’t “claiming” something that He hasn’t promised, believing that He’ll do it just because we believe in His ability to do it.    Godly faith is trusting that He is the God that He claims to be in the Bible and that He will do what’s best, in His time and in His way.    And our job is to follow in obedience, not to lead.                And contrary to the “name it and claim it” way, I believe that we are off-base when we are “claiming” a particular answer to prayer before He reveals it, when we tell Him the answer that we expect and that we are going to wait for.    I think we need to not be claiming specific answers or blessings as much as “instructions” or “help along the way.”              While we can and should pray what's in our...

  Understanding God's Will #9a:   (There are no "Calvinism" updates added to this post): How come some prayers don’t seem to work, even when you believe that it’s God’s Will?    And how long do you keep praying for something (especially when it’s a painful issue) when God seems to not be listening or answering (this will be answered in a later post)?                   Boy, I tell you, I struggle with this one all the time.    I want something so bad sometimes (even something that’s good and beneficial), and I pray earnestly for it.    And when it doesn’t happen, I struggle with why my prayers aren’t getting things done.               When we were considering a possible adoption (of a baby of a relative who was possibly going to give her up), I was reading a book that basically taught the “name it and claim it” idea.    If I felt ...

  Understanding God's Will #8: (I am combining three posts - 8a, 8b, 8c - into one post here.) 8a.   If praying for God’s Will is necessary, then do I have to know the specifics of what to ask for?    How do we pray so that His Will gets done? (This is just some of my own thoughts and advice on prayer.) I think that it’s okay to ask for certain things and to make specific requests, but I also think that  God doesn’t always need us to know exactly what to ask for.    Because it’s not always about how  we  want Him to act or answer.    God knows the best course of action, so we don’t have to have the details all ironed out before we pray.    But we do need to pray.    We need to share our concerns with Him and give them over to Him, to be transparent and authentic with Him, to confess our sins, to honestly share our wants and needs, to be sensitive to the Spirit, and to ask for His providence, His wisdom, and His g...