Does the Bible teach that God may refuse to answer prayer..?

God may refuse to listen to your prayers when...

- You are not a born-again believer in Jesus (Psalm 18:41, 2 Samuel 22:42)
- You're living in unrepentant sin (Psalm 66:18, Proverbs 15:29)
- You're living disobediently to God's Word (Isaiah 1:15, Zechariah 7:13)
- You're not treating your wife properly (1 Peter 3:7)
- You ask with wrong motives (James 4:3)

The following is additional clarification to what I believe the bible is teaching through these texts as well as others that support this.

My hope is to address some things, which I believe could be used to counter these teachings. To start quite simply, I stated God "may" refuse to listen...I was very intentional in phrasing it this way because I'd like to give God the freedom to behave as God - not that he needs it from me - but more so to not make presumptions and declarations in principle to how God must behave. To state it another way, I don't believe God is bound by formulas or anything of that matter; though He is a God of order and wants us to see Him as faithful/reliable, He also doesn't fit in a box that we often times like to put Him in. The Bible presents God as incomprehensible, yet as a God who seeks to be known by us through the condescending self-disclosure He provides through creation(the world), His Son Jesus, and His written Word. Simply put, the teachings of Scripture don't give us authority to define God on our own terms...

Now to consider some things that I believe could be used to refute these teachings. I believe strongly we must let all of Scripture form our view of God; not what's comfortable, not what's palatable, or trendy/culturally informed, or what's safe . 

Argument...1) That God is different in the OT and the NT - 

Response: The Scriptures very clearly teach that God is the same for eternity, which means He is the same God from the beginning of the writings of Scripture in OT to the roughly 1,400 years later at the end of NT writings. I would agree that God does interact with His people differently in the NT because of the new covenant of grace ushered in by Jesus. Another way to understand this is that the OT is the New concealed, and the NT is the Old revealed; the idea is known as progressive revelation. In the NT the Old is directly stated as being authoritative Scripture, the clearest example is 2 Timothy 3:16 and 2 Peter 1:16-21.. 

Argument 2) Because God is gracious there are not severe consequences for sin, and ignoring His Word - 

Response: A new covenant of grace is taught in the Scriptures to demand more obedience and not less (Rom 6:15-18). The less we think of, or see our sin clearly for what it is will cause us to see the sufficiency of Christ and the power of the Cross that purchased our new covenant of grace as less valuable than it truly is. So motivating the presentation of these teachings is to magnify and exalt the power of Christ's love and conquering of sin and death, not to present God as mean or cruel. 

Argument 3) Because Jesus died for sins everyone is always acceptable to God, even their prayers - 

Response: The bible very clearly teaches that those who don't believe in Jesus for salvation are enemies of God (Philippians 3:18, Colossians 1:21, Psalm 5:5), always wicked in all they do (Ephesians 2:1-3, Hebrews 11:6, Romans 14:23), sons of satan (John 8:44, 1 John 3:10), and have wicked hearts (Jeremiah 17:9, Romans 3:10-23)... 

Argument 4) Worship and idolatry are just what people did in the OT and that's not applicable today for us - 

Response: To think that worship and idolatry is an archaic, or simple issue of bowing and killing stuff before a graven image shows a false view of what worship and idolatry are. Worship is essentially what do you give yourself to, and thereby reflect (in your words, thoughts, actions, and intentions) in life the most. Idolatry is Worship in reverse; essentially it's been perverted, polluted, distorted, sin marred, and become a corrupted version because we give ourselves and reflect what doesn't deserve to be Worshiped. Idolatry is the exchanging of the truth for a lie (Romans 1:18-23). We make idols, and therefore worship our emotions, families, money, sex, drugs, food, media, security, safety, occupation, comfort, knowledge, reputation, acceptance, value, identity, material possessions, etc...Many of these things are inherently good, but they become false gods because of sin. Anything that is not God, but is ascribed to God could be idolatry because it's exchanging the truth of who He is for a lie.

Argument 5) God's justice, wrath, goodness, faithfulness, righteousness, and holiness act separately from His love, grace, mercy, forgiveness - 

Response: For God to be loving He must remain true to Himself. God is always acting as all of who He is. God doesn't choose in one moment to be gracious to the repentant because He's ignoring/not being just. And God doesn't choose to be just in a moment instead of loving to others. While God is being just He is being loving, because it would be an unloving thing to be unjust and ignore sin. Everyone has sinned and rejected God's infinite gift of salvation and His Son Christ, so we all are always very ill-deserving of far more than what we receive; meaning that whatever we receive (including the sinner in Hell) God is being merciful and good and loving to us because He could always give us infinitely more of what we deserve than what He actually does....

Finally, I'll use two illustrations that I hope will shed light on what I think the bible is teaching on this topic. 

Scenario #1 - 

There is a king. The king has one beloved son that will inherent his kingdom. The king leaves. The king puts someone in charge of his kingdom. That steward kills the king’s son. The steward is now a murder, committed treason, and works to steal the kingdom. The king returns. What should the king do? He would be very just to have the death-penalty exacted on this person. The king would also be very just, and good, and righteous and loving to uphold the law for having the murderer, thief, and traitor exiled. The steward/murderer approaches the king upon his return. Instead of begging for his life, he assumes it, and instead asks for more of what would please him and help him steal the kingdom. He ignores what the king would desire and has asked him...How would you respond in this situation?

Scenario #2 - 

There is a husband. The husband has always loved his wife. The husband has been completely faithful, always provided and protected his wife. Some might say this husband is perfect. In fact this husband paid a 10million dollar bail for this ladies death penalty sentence because she was a prostitute and murderer on the streets. This husband still loves his wife unconditionally in spite of her dark past. One day the wife approaches her husband and asks for $100. He gives it because he loves. This happens dozens of times. The husband gets suspicious. The husband does research. The husband discovers his wife spending all the money he's giving his wife to sleep with other men, buy cars and tools for other husbands that are not hers. The husband knows his wife's wicked and adulterous schemes. The wife doesn't know he knows. The wife asks for more. The husband would be very just, very good and very loving to not listen to her requests for more of the money that hurts her, hurts others, hurts their marriage, and hurts him. How should the husband respond to his adulterous wife? How would you respond to an adulterous spouse? How hurt would we be by this scenario if we were the spouse being betrayed in horrible ways?...

In conclusion my motivation for presenting these teachings of Scripture is to move us toward evangelism, to be serious about pursuing Christ, to highlight that Christ paid an awful price, that Christ is sufficient for all sin, to encourage us to pursue biblical repentance from sin, encourage obedience to God and His Word, give clear teachings of the Scriptures, expose the truth of the bible, and because God's grace and love and forgiveness made available by Jesus' sacrifice are truly the most amazing realities that by faith we can lay hold of. 

Let us praise the One who paid our debt and raised our lives up from the dead!

A cynical, but honestly truthful response to john lennons "imagine" lyrics..

"Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky"...You're right, then Jesus died for nothing and this life is meaningless; eat and drink for tomorrow we die(maybe, we don't know because we don't have answers)

"Imagine all the people
Living for today"...Hey great idea, we should all ignore the fact that our choices have very serious consequences for tomorrow and even the next generation. God says He punishes the sins of the wicked to the 3rd and 4th generation, but blesses the righteous to the thousands

"Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do"...It's very hard to do. Good luck ignoring all the different beautiful skin colors, cultures, people groups, nations, languages, clothing, art, skills and trades...The value of something is based on the uniqueness and diversity of those who appreciate it. In heaven those who are saved will come from all nations, tongues, and tribes to praise God, proving once for all that He is the most worthy thing in existence.

"Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too"...I'm not so thrilled that this means you're not willing to stand up for anything, except the belief that we shouldn't stand up for anything. Besides you can't live without religion. By the dictionaries definition it's a set of beliefs that orchestrate how you comprehend the existence of all things, what you value, and human origins. So by saying things like "I don't believe in God," "Heaven doesn't exist", "We should all live like this and such," is making your own "religious" statement. By the root meaning of the word it means to reconnect to something/someone. So whatever you reconnect to the most is your religion.

"Imagine all the people
living life in peace"...Think about your own worldview for a second, just one please...You can never achieve utopia through tolerance and acceptance because that would mean you'd have to accept and allow someone who believes that it's their right to kill, steal and do whatever they want without throwing a fit at them, and yet the reason you want peace is because awful sins like this happen. You're saying we want everything to exist, except you because you don't think or behave like us. At what point to you want the evil in the world to not exist. The war level, the murder level, the stealing level, the lying level, the swearing level, the thinking, the feeling, the motive level. You gotta be consistent, and as soon as you say you're not as bad as most people you've proven the Bible true when it says that our tongues and hearts are only wicked all the time by lying about it.

I am a Christian

I was reading a book about John Calvin by William Stacy Johnson - if you're interested in reading it - and towards the end was inspired to write this short list of "I am..." statements. My hope is to capture the true meaning of these words, people, or movements, and redeem them from where they have ended as we know them today. I do not endorse the idea that truth can be found anywhere, or even things that are helpful, but rather I hope that we're all encouraged to pursue and think critically about the things we say we believe, and even more critically about what we do about with what we claim to believe.

I'm catholic because I believe in the universal body and church of Jesus Christ.
I'm orthodox because I believe we should find the truth and proper ways of living for God.
I'm reformed because I believe we should fashion, shape, and make fresh to all the truth of Scripture.
I'm methodist because I believe what we practice and how we practice matters because it reflects what we believe.
I'm lutheran because I believe Martin Luther was a wise man, and as anyone who seeks to genuinely follow Christ should be respected as an image-bearer of God.
I'm baptist because I believe you must be born again to enter the kingdom of God.
I'm charismatic because I believe followers of Christ should have in them a zeal, and passion for God's glory unmatched by all else.
I'm evangelical because I believe the Gospel of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection as the message of God's only provision for our sins needs to be told to everyone daily.
I'm universalist because I believe Jesus calls everyone to repent from sin.
I'm exclusive because I believe Jesus is the only way to God the Father, to salvation, and to eternal life in heaven.
I'm protestant because I believe we should humbly, graciously, lovingly, and truthfully stand in protest against injustice, oppression, false religion, sin and evil; so that all may have equal opportunity to find joy in following Christ for God's glory.

What are you..?

9 Sinful Views of Sin

1) "Sin is just breaking some rule"...Actually sin is violating who God is, and breaking relationship with Him.

2) "Jesus died so I'm forgiven"...Actually Jesus died so that you'd stop sinning

3) "If I don't confess every single sin and forget one I'm going to hell"...Jesus died for all sins; past, present (meaning your current thoughts on God falling short of who He really is, thereby making Him something less than the true God which is idolatry), and future.

4) "God knows my heart, and what's there is what counts"...Your life is a reflection of your heart, so you can't say my heart is good, but my life is bad.

5) "Sin is fun, life is boring so sometimes I allow it in my life"...If you love Jesus sin is never fun

6) "It's not a sin if no one gets hurt"...No matter what sin hurts someone, especially you, and Jesus when He was killed

7) "It's only sin if I get caught"...God knows, you're always caught.

8) "If it's very popular - even in Christian culture - it must be okay"...Jesus was a rebel, He was counter-cultural. We are called to not be of this world, just passing through.

9) "Everything must be a sin issue, even when it's not a sin"...Sometimes it's difference of opinion, or conscience. And some times things just happen in the case of Job or Jesus. Open bibles. Open discussion, not open war.

Often times the most consequential and significant choices, or events in life that we make and go through are not really our choices, but God's.

Here I am, in a river of questions.
Can I pour my heart out to a listening ear?
I see this life, its valley's and mountains
And I think of all the roads that brought me here
I've questioned my reasons.
The life I'm living. I've questioned my ability
to judge wrong from right.
I've questioned all the things that I've ever called certain
My race, my religion, my faith, my mind.
I've questioned significance, meaning and relevance.
Does the work I'm doing really matter at all?
Well I've questioned my friendships, alliance, dependence
Who will still be here when I fall?

But the one thing I don't question is you
God, You really love me like you say you do.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dgrigf-Ca48

Just a thought...
Maybe we don't know as much as we think we do…
Science still can't explain yawning.
Like you never took your world view to it's furthest conclusions?
That if human behavior is just what protoplasm does at this temperature, then there is no need for humanitarian effort,
because these atrocities weren't wrong,
it's just the universe weeding out bad genes
Them is fingernail-on-chalkboard words, ain't 'em?...

“The study of doctrine is both an intellectual and devotional discipline. It is a passionate search for God that should always lead the student to greater personal transformation, obedience, and heartfelt worship. Therefore, the student should be on guard against the great error of seeking only impersonal knowledge, and not the person of God. Neither mindless devotion nor mere intellectual pursuits are profitable, for in either case, God is lost.”

 

~ Paul Washer in "The One True God"

Pride is a state of being, and lifestyle completely of God-forgetfulness, so we must combat this with a constant state of self-forgetfulness.

Recent Activity

Good day Folks,

We're a little late on today's blog. I actually won't be getting to what I really am excited to write about and share with you all. I spent over 3 hours at breakfast this morning during our local men's breakfast at the Golden Glow (aka, old n' slow).

It's probably a good thing that I won't be getting to what my next topic is. To satisfy curiosity I'll be titling my next post "Why I love religion and I think Jesus does Too; When it's Pure and Faultless." Yes, long title I know, but I want to remain clear that these are my thoughts, not all facts, and because it is a touchy, hot-topic, remain as clear and concise as possible to what I mean to say. So there you have it, teaser for next week.

Today I'll just be sharing some links to sermons I've been watching, articles I've been reading, and songs I've been really enjoying lately. That's all, just a window into my spare time and how I use it.

http://www.theopedia.com/  - Great resource like dictionary.com but for Theology


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tST1MVD9jEk  -  Who Is He music vid by Json ft Lecrae

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmwQQNbydZI  -  Responsibility by 116 Clique


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUDg8UxgGHI  -  Envy by 116 Clique

http://marshill.com/media/real-marriage  -  Real Marriage Series of sermons by Mark Driscoll

http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/seminars/tulip-part-1  - Tulip Part 1 Seminar by John Piper


http://biologos.org/uploads/projects/Keller_white_paper.pdf  - Article on "Creation, Evolution, and Christian Laypeople"


http://www.monergismbooks.com/Practical-Religion-p-17111.html  -  Book "Practical Religion" by J.C. Ryle


http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/articles/biblical-texts-to-show-gods-zeal-for-his-own-glory  -  Article by John Piper, "Biblical Texts to show God's Zeal for His own Glory"


http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/read-your-bible-more-and-more - Article by John Piper, "Read your Bible more and more"



That's probably enough for now. Hope you take the time to check something out that interests you

Grace & Peace.

1st Blog Post Ever - Suffering: Grief and Joy

Intro:

My name is Jacob. I'm from planet earth. If you're here reading this you most likely know me in person and so that is all that needs to be said. If not, that's all I feel you need to know at this point, you'll know more I'm sure out of curiosity and interest, or perhaps you'll leave it at that intrigued by mystery. Whatever may be the case I digress. As the title says this is my first blog post ever. One more thing to note about myself is that I'd much prefer not to be on a computer, I'm pretty old school, preferring books, face-to-face conversation, walking, resting early and waking with the sun (the latter does not always happen in accordance with life). I tend to have many words when I know, or perhaps more accurately 'believe' someone/thing is listening. That flows from my many thoughts. I am not alone in this, I know we all think, so that's okay, and we all want someone to listen to us and our thoughts. I believe this stems from a deep desire to be known and have communion with others....All that being said, you may ask 'why the blog?' That my friend is the right question. So I've got this friend, he suggested I do it. He said it'd be cool to share thoughts, learnings, songs, sermons, etc and try and become more diversified, or something like that. He's pretty much like my best friend, and though I don't always agree with him, I trust him. Blogging just may be the thing. Afterall, I really like to teach and I presume this is a good platform for that hobbie of mine. Not that I have anything important to teach, but jus' sayin'...As the title says these entries will be my 'Thoughts for Thursday.'

I imagine much of this blog will be personal thoughts, reflections, things I am learning, sermons or books I enjoy, latest songs from my fave artists, and journal entries. It will appear random, but I promise, there will be purpose...I realized I have just rambled a lot in this intro. Enough said.

The following are excerpts from multiple journal entries of mine as they appear straight off the pages, the reason for this is to connect a central though and theme around suffering, loss, grief and joy as I reflected on the loss my best friend recently suffered, and my own life relating to that of the life of Christ Jesus...

Suffering Loss: Grief and Joy...

January 7, 2012 - 12:31pm (Ashland, WI)

Grief and Joy...

The life of a Christ follower is one of constant, or rather continual grief and joy. Grief is the proper response when we mourn the loss of something/one close to us. The closer, more attached and deeply invested in that, the greater our loss and therefore the greater our grief. Joy is the only proper response internally; one of maturity and growth. Joy is that we value the fruit of righteousness and faith that is to come more than the present agony and pain of our loss. We have hope and put our trust in the things to come, it goes beyond our present circumstances. Jesus said, "whoever would lose himself for my sake will find life." This life is not only eternal, but a life that is eternally satisfied in Christ; our loss is for His sake.

Satisfied in Christ...

We must be most satisfied in Christ so that we lay down our lives. We lose them, we crucify them daily - we bear our cross! Sanctification simply means that we're being made into His likeness. and so we lose ourselves. As Paul said, "I count it all as loss compared to the joy of knowing Christ." What is my life?...My rights, my desires, my goals, my dreams, reputation, relationships, status, possessions, my health...What is my life? It is all but a loss! A loss, I say, compared to knowing Christ! And so we find ourselves with only two remedies that allows is to endure the crucifixion of ourselves daily; embrace and joy. We must joyfully embrace our sanctification and our losses. Secondly, we must embrace the joy of knowing Christ, for all else is loss.

Personal Losses...

The "wisdom" or teaching in this world is often times contrary to biblical truth, for in the wisdom and design of the Most High God we find that our lives are but a walk where grief and joy go hand-in-hand. Hopefully this pen works better, it seems so...I have been experiencing a great deal of traumatic losses since April 14, 2010. That was the day Erin ended our relationship. It was in need of great repair, but I had been sure we were headed for marriage as we had already planned on. I had made her my life since January 2008. That's a lot of investment into someone, and of yourself, some of which I don't think I will get back. Thankfully much of that is my old self being replaced by a welcomed Christ-likeness. That was the beginning of a series of tough losses, most of which are my old self and now I am slowly learning to put on the new. For much of my life it was all about me, my plans, my dreams, goals, schemes, desires, mine, all mine - rank with pride as the stench of vanity poisoned my lungs, my heart, mind and soul. Though painful, the loss of these things has been endurable. I now know, at least in part, what it means to value the things the Father does.

Christ's Example of Perfect Joy in Suffering...

In Hebrews 12:2 it says that Jesus endured His present suffering and anguish of the cross because of the joy set before Him. Surely this joy was placed in many things; perfect obedience and humility, the redemption of humanity, the justification of many sons and daughters, but most of all the glory of the Father. Christian Hedonism says "God is most glorified when we are most satisfied in Him." I believe that. It was satisfaction in bringing glory to the Father that led Christ to the crux of history, the apex in all the world's existence. God was never more glorified by an act of obedience when Jesus showed us that it was worth it to endure the most horrific brutality of physical pain, as well as the crushing weight of God's wrath and justice against all sin (this is something that cannot be fathomed; it is all together lovely, awesome, and infinite). Why was it worth it? The humility, grace, love and glory of God was on perfect display and furthermore the glory, love, grace and humility of God was made available through such a worthy sacrifice. Not only was it the main point, but God demonstrated that it was the only possible way to accept us and show us the main thing! It was both the end and the means to the end. My head is about to explode. The past 7 months I have been dealing with some of my toughest losses yet; college-aged adultness, a life of lesser responsibility, college lifestyle, my singleness, and many flawed traits in my character that I once saw value in holding to so dearly. I think family connection would fit well here too.

Our Test of Faith...

The enduring test and joy will be if I value a loving committed relationship, the body of Christ, the new self, benefit and fruit of a life filled with greater responsibility. I recall the words of James, "consider it joy," "blessed is the man who perseveres." This can only be done by faith in God out of love for Him (Hebrews 11:6, Romans 14:23, Galatians 5:6) trusting that He has begun a good work and He will complete this good work. The amazing thing about my will compared to God's will is that my will is always going to play according to God's will! I am free to choose and have a real responsibility but can do nothing apart from what God has already decreed - This wisdom is too great and vast for my comprehension! I don't know that I will ever understand these things.

Search my heart, O God, Examine my ways and reveal to me the truth. Grant me grace to do Thy will.

The example that Jesus set was allowing His body to go through graphic pain for the sake of the Father's glory, I believe I should make an effort to do the very same. I must learn to lose myself, surrender my rights and life to the way of righteousness and of the Holy Spirit leading me in grace to glory. My second book idea, "From grace to glory: The Death of Self in the Death of Christ"

January 8, 2012 - 12:46pm ( Ashland, WI)

Research and Reflection...

Last night I began reading a book by C.J. Mahaney called "Humility: True Greatness" I have it on my heart to do a thorough search and journey in pursuit of humility and grace. I lack a great deal in these two areas. It was 4am by the time I got to bed after reading last night. I need to pray for insight into my own brokenness and need, we call this spiritual poverty. It will be painful and scary but shall be done by God's grace in the hope and joy that is set before me. This journaling helps clear my mind so that I can pray and read (1 Peter 4:7). Woe I am such a sinner in need of grace. It is so disgusting and perverse to think we can do things in life and still think ourselves righteous and worthy. God we praise you for our justification, your amazing grace, and the hope we have in your glory. I am still learning and growing so much. It is painful, and I hope fruitful.

Connecting the Dots...

From yesterday I reflected on how we defend against sin by embracing our suffering as Christ did. It's true that Jesus lived a sinless life. It's also true that suffering occurs when/because we grieve and go through a loss. It occurred to me during church that I had not fully connected these dots and internalized their profound implications. Here's where this goes...The deep and heavy things most closely attached to ourselves that we must surrender and suffer as losses for the sake of humility, true growth into Christ-likeness, and for God's glory are these - our rights, our desires, position, reputation, goals, and agendas (there are indeed other things, many a painful, that we suffer as loss) - anything that would seek to be about us, including our comfort, and satisfying the cravings of our flesh, the lust of the eyes, and boastfulness of life. All things in surrender and therefore lost.

The Big Punch...

Well, the big punch...Jesus' very state of being, the incarnate God, and yet fully man, thus suffered the loss of Himself as King of kings, LORD of Lords, and perfect deity every moment and breath He took while walking in bodily flesh on this wretched earth. He was constantly experiencing total suffering and totally unable to escape His suffering and the reality of His personal losses. This is no doubt climaxed at the cross when the Father turned His face away - "My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?" - So how did He, the God-man, never sin? He embraced the nature of a servant. He humbled Himself. He counted Himself as nothing. Behold the glory, the majesty, the grace and wonder of our Lord Jesus Christ!!! To gaze upon this, to pursue this and strive for such character is to know the mind and heart of God, from whom all blessings flow. Let His Holy Spirit make us perfect in weakness and lead us in ways everlasting. To Him belongs eternal praise!
"My attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus." ~ Philippians 2:5