Insight: God does answer all prayer, however not always in the way we may expect or want for that matter. We may be praying for good weather and God may let us have rain which is "good" for crops. God answers prayer according to His will. If you are praying for something that will harm you in the long run God is not going to give it to you. He loves you and wants what is best for you.
When we pray one thing we need to do is be specific. If you ask for blessings, God's idea of blessing may be different from yours and you may not recognize that He has answered. Sometimes His answer is "Wait", however in our society where everything is based on convenience this is not the answer we want. Just remember God loves you and He wants the very best for your life, so if His answer is "No", "Maybe" or "Wait", be patient because His best for us far outweighs our own.
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Insight: Do you have health, food, clothing, shelter? Does the sun rise and set each day? These are God's blessings for us, sometimes we just take them for granted. I also wanted to remind you that God has an enemy. This enemy is Satan and He will do everything he can to draw you back away from God. Do not allow any problems or set backs that you come across to draw you away from God. Instead run to God and ask Him to help you get through these difficulties. Ask other Christians you know to pray for your situation as well.
Insight: God knows everything including the future. It may be that this is not the right time for what you are asking Him for. I will give you an example from my own life. God placed a call on my life to move to Kelowna, so when He confirmed this call to my heart I expected it to happen right away. We kept telling people we were moving and then it didn't happen. This brought me a lot of embarrassment and discouragement. I kept praying that God would make a way and then I would try to make the plans and they all would fall apart. Finally, last year I gave it completely over to God and sure enough within the year God had made a way and we moved. The reason my prayer was answered at that time was because God could not make the way if I kept trying to make it happen and refused to surrender it. Secondly, we weren't ready spiritually for the move before God made a way. God knew that so He waited.
Another reason for unanswered prayer is that it may not be in God's will for your life. When I was in Bible College I had planned out my entire future. God had a better plan for my life than the one I had, so He did not answer those prayers. He had a better plan, He did not want me to settle for second best. Another reason is that answering it would not bring God glory. There are times that we ask for things that are selfish or that would make us look better to others. God will not answer those prayers either. He wants to see us grow stronger and mold our character, this will not happen if God gives us everything we ask for. Do parents give children everything they ask for? If they do the child becomes spoiled and as they leave home they expect everyone else to give them everything they need; however, when a parent says no to their child for their best then the child is taught how to be responsible with finances, and learns what is important in life. If what you are praying for lines up with God's will for your life, it just may not be the right timing and just persevere. Abraham waited 25 years before he received a son, which God had promised him. Abraham tried to do it his own way, and had to change to be ready to receive the answer, and God received all the glory because Isaac was born to him and Sarah when they were well past the age of child bearing. Never give up! Insight: Depression is an issue that has really hit North America hard in the last few years. From my experience depression is no respecter of persons. it can target anyone no matter how close or how far you are away from God. Depression sometimes has a medical cause, in these cases I would consult a physician in order to receive treatment. In the cases without a medical cause, there are many things that could be the cause and it could take a great deal of time and reflection to discover it. Counseling can be an effective tool in order to discover the cause and be able to deal with it effectively. Another way to discover the cause is to ask God to reveal the cause to you. The one thing to remember is that God will never give us more than we can handle so if he does not reveal the cause to you right away, it may be because you are not strong enough to deal with it at this time.
There are two choices when something like this occurs in our lives, one is to run to God and the other is to run from God. Just remember in this difficult time to continue to run to God. It can be difficult to continue to run to Him if we feel like he is not answering our prayers, however He is listening and He will answer your prayers in the timing that is best for you. His desire is His best for you. Insight: I myself have had times in my life when I have felt overwhelmed. I find that talking about it helps me see what exactly is causing me to feel overwhelmed and I can address it. I also try to delegate tasks that I can, for the tasks I can't delegate, I then prioritize them. I think about what is the most urgent of the things on my plate and I do them in order of urgency. Once I get some of the more urgent items off my plate it is much easier to bear the rest of it. I have also found that prayer can help in these times of feeling overwhelmed. God can give us the strength to deal with everything we need to and he can give us the wisdom to prioritize well. Lastly, comparing yourself to others is taking your focus off what needs to be done and causes added anxiety where there doesn't need to be any. Place your focus on God and the tasks before you and you will find less anxiety. We are all unique with unique gifts, so trying to compare ourselves to others is like comparing apples to oranges, there is just no comparison.
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Connie BlackwoodI strive to help others by being a safe place for others to ask questions and pose issues they face. Archives
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