Hi guys, It's been a minute since I posted.. :-)
Happy new year!! LOL even though we're in September but who cares!
I've had something on my mind recently and I thought hey why not bring it here.. Let me share my feelings with you guys. If you can read to the end.. and let me know your thoughts!
Disclaimer: I mean no disrespect to any pastor out there or any in particular, please bear with me whilst I state my opinion.
Here we go.
There is a particular verse in the bible that states
Matt 7:7 "Ask and it will be given to you;
I think a lot of pastors take liberty with this statement and quite frankly it's annoying. Let me state why.
First of all Let me state that I wholeheartedly believe in the bible as the word of God. but I also the bible needs to be read in context of the WHOLE bible and in the world we live in.
I recently heard a sermon that stated, Ask it shall be given to you. WHATEVER you ask for it shall be given to you, just ask in the spirit and it shall be manifested and come out etc. and I kept waiting for the second part I have grown as a Christian to realise. "and your prayers shall be answered according to the will of God"
The reason why I get annoyed at this statement is because frankly i find it a little insulting. Are you telling me that the people who have cancer and their families fast and pray day in day out for healing and the cancer patient still dies is not spiritual enough, they are not praying hard enough? what is that supposed to mean, when you read Ask and it shall be given to you.. you really need to state according to God's purpose. God's will is something I will not pretend to fully and always understand. Sometimes we see it as a great thing sometimes it bamboozles and confuses the heck out of us. But As Christians we know at the end of the whole day when we are with God, we will get our answers, not just now.
But another reason I really really need pastors/Christians to be careful about this is due to the fact that you need to be careful especially if you have new Christians in your congregations. You tell them this, they go and pray and IF they do not get answers they are expecting they become disillusioned that "this Christianity is a farce, please let's move on" and just like that we lose the new Christians we are working so hard to join us on our walk.
Let's face it you will not always get what you pray for. Think may not always work in your favour. You may not always know why. But what you ask you will not always get. So don't try and make us think otherwise. And that's okay. It's impossible to always know why stuff happens to us, especially in this life, but please please please do not insult us by implying we are not spiritual enough or praying hard enough if we don't get what we pray for. Do not deceive us and especially the new christians into thinking they will ALWAYS get what they want all they have to do is ask. Sometimes God says NO... we all need to accept that. Sometimes God is SILENT and we need to accept that too. It doesn't mean He loves us any less, It doesn't mean we are any less spiritual or holy. Sometimes He does it to test or build our faith. We are also warned in the bible that we should not act surprised when trials and tribulations comes our way. I mean even Paul did not get all his prayers answered (remember this prayer he said for God to take away his thorn in his side, but the Lord's strength was manifested in his weakness). That's what being a Christian is about. it's not always nice, it's not always hunky dory. Sometimes you battle with God and that's okay cos that's what makes your relationship genuine.
Normally when I feel like God has "hurt" or left me (i use this term loosely) e.g something I've been praying about doesn't change. I withdraw I don't talk to him from my heart. I pray I say the words, read my bible but it's not as genuine as God would like. God is saying talk to me.. Talk to me.. until I break down and just talk to Him and I feel a whole lot better and closer and most importantly at peace with Him when I do this. I see what David did a lot in his psalms, (my goodness this guy was emotional!!!) he cried out a lot but at the end of the day he always acknowledged God and praised Him. I am trying to follow this example.
Anyway back to the point, so my dear pastors, kindly note when next you say "ask and it shall be given to you" to also add, "according to God's will/purpose" yeah? Thanks :)
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