A Noble Berean

  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 ...