![]() ![]() We think that if we get sufficiently angry, they will see our point and change. That by the force of our will, we can move a person from ungodliness to godliness. We tend to get this wonky, thoroughly unbiblical idea in our minds, that we can actually change people. And odds are, the Bible’s wisdom probably runs contrary to your own ideas of how to help a person change. Remember, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us, and God knows your heart even if you can't find the words to pray.What the heck are you supposed to do? Fortunately, the Bible gives us straightforward wisdom on how to really, actually help a person change. This article is part of our prayer resources meant to inspire and encourage your prayer life when you face uncertain times. She invites you to join her in the tiny house where you’re always welcome to come in and take a seat. As an author, Hope Writer, and Bible teacher for over twenty-five years, she encourages women to pause and embrace the seemingly small, mundane moments of their day for God’s glory. She writes from a tiny studio lovingly known as The Tiny House on the Hill in the Foothills of SC. For Your glory alone, Lord.Ĭathy Baker is the author of Pauses for the Vacationing Soul: A Sensory-Based Devotional Guide for the Beach and Pauses for the Vacationing Soul: A Sensory-Based Devotional Guide for the Mountains. Help me to steward it well through my thoughts and actions so that my trust in You will point others to the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Whether through a challenge or a blessing, every answer from above is a gift. But this I know, Lord: With every answer to prayer, You are transforming me into the image of Christ. Only You know how Your answers will affect me now and in the future. You alone know the beginning to the end, what lies ahead, and what doesn’t. Thank You for hearing my prayers and responding to them by Your will, not mine. Isaiah 55 is also a comforting verse for those who’ve prayed for long periods for a marriage to heal or for a wayward child to return to the faith. When we put verses to memory, we carry them wherever we go. Memorize Isaiah 55:8-9 and other scripture verses that remind you of God’s greatness, goodness, and grace. A self-relying world cannot comprehend such peace.ĥ. Wait in a God-glorifying manner ( Psalm 62:5). Confident that God hears and answers our prayers in a way that is good for us and, ultimately, for those around us, we can access God’s peace that transcends all understanding. When a humble heart that desires God’s best above its own prays continually, it is not a sign of a lack of faith or manipulating God. Continue to pray, even when it appears nothing is happening. Is your desire to get something from God or to glorify Him, regardless of His answer to your prayer?ģ. Assess your deepest desires with God’s help. He is already aware of the condition of your heart because He is sovereign, but He longs to hear from and help His children.Ģ. When prayers appear to fail, we can choose to respond in ways that please and glorifies God, like:ġ. What Do We Do When Prayers Appear to Fail? ![]() As Jesus did in the Garden of Gethsemane, our willingness to say, “Thou will be done,” creates a ripple effect, sometimes throughout generations. Consider how Paul’s thorn and Peter’s prison escape have impacted lives. God alone names it and claims it.Īsking God to search our hearts for this answer can change our lives and those God has placed in our sphere of influence. While we can’t speculate why one was delivered and the other wasn’t, Peter’s escape reminds today’s believers that God hears our prayers and answers them according to His will, not ours. James, John’s brother, prayed for deliverance, as did Peter, but Herod put James to death while Peter miraculously escaped prison. In Acts 12, we read the account of King Herod arresting believers in the church with the intent to persecute them. ![]() He thanked God for His work in Rome and continued his calling, trusting God for the outcome. An opportunity to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ denied by God? Surely, it was a question on Paul’s mind and those in Rome. But God prevented him from traveling to Rome at this point in scripture. In Romans 1, Paul encounters another unexpected answer to prayer when he plans to visit the Jewish Christians in the Roman Church, asking God to make a way. Countless Christians, especially those persecuted and on the mission fields across the globe, have been encouraged in their faith because of Paul’s response to what seemed like prayers that failed. ![]()
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