tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4027870719667125440.post4515176798985394659..comments2024-03-23T13:56:46.539-04:00Comments on Hungry for God: 6 Reasons Why God Doesn't Answer Our PrayersLori Hatcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11675180460653949981noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4027870719667125440.post-2470645573433499532019-08-02T14:55:44.493-04:002019-08-02T14:55:44.493-04:00Dear friend,
Thank you for reading my post and for...Dear friend,<br />Thank you for reading my post and for sharing your thoughts. <br /><br />I am so grateful that we DON'T have to be perfect for God to answer our prayers. It's for this very reason -- that we can't ever BE perfect, that God sent his Son, Jesus, to live a perfect life, die on a cross for our sins (because he had no sin of his own to be punished for), and rise again to prove that God accepted what he did on our behalf.<br /><br />And as God displayed his mercy by sending Jesus, so he also responds to us in mercy when we pray to him. Daniel 9:18 says, "It's not because of righteousness that we have done, but because of your great mercy" that God hears and answers our prayers. We can't earn God's favor. He gives it as a free gift to those who turn to him in faith.<br /><br />That same faith, however, trusts him when he answers in ways different than we ask. It desires to live clean lives to honor him. It seeks him through Bible reading and prayer to discern what his will might be in a situation and asks according to his will, not necessarily ours. He doesn't expect us to be perfect, which, as you pointed out, is impossible, but he does expect us to honor him, obey him, and humbly confess and repent when we sin against him. In other words, treat him like anyone else we love and care about. Like someone we have a relationship with, not like the Santa in the mall that we only come to occasionally when we need or want something.<br /><br />More than anything else, God desires us to come to him in humility and faith, trusting him to do what is best in every situation. Lori Hatcherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11675180460653949981noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4027870719667125440.post-44779000543357921072019-07-22T09:48:54.517-04:002019-07-22T09:48:54.517-04:00Sooo... according to you, we must be absolutely pe...Sooo... according to you, we must be absolutely perfect, and we have to ask perfectly, and in the exact perfect way, and jump through all the hoops before we get a prayer that we desperately need an to.. what's the point of praying and asking.. nobody can do that. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4027870719667125440.post-65942455003503920352016-05-19T06:50:41.738-04:002016-05-19T06:50:41.738-04:00Thank you for sharing your thoughts and disagreein...Thank you for sharing your thoughts and disagreeing respectfully. It's very refreshing!<br /><br />You are absolutely right in saying that there is no way we can fully understand God and his ways. His ways are so different from ours, and his thoughts and wisdom is so much greater than we can ever understand. So my 6 reasons aren't meant to be all-inclusive. They are, however, based on Scripture, which is one of the ways God reveals himself to us. <br /><br />As for never having our prayers answered because we sometimes sin, Scripture tells us is Psalm 66:18, that if we cherish sin in our hearts, God will not hear our prayers. This doesn't mean we must be perfect, because, as you say, we can never be perfect until we are with Jesus. The word "cherish" means to hold closely, to love, to treasure. Treasuring sin and holding it close isn't the same as trying to please God with our lives and sometimes sinning. It means deliberately holding on to sin even though we know it goes against God's will for us. When we are living in direct disobedience to God, Scripture says he will not hear our prayers.<br /><br />Thanks for stopping by my blog and for leaving a comment. I hope you'll come again. Blessings to you! Lori Hatcherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11675180460653949981noreply@blogger.com