Answers to Prayer - What to Expect
October 24, 2021Today's message was the 7th in a series about the Lord's Prayer. Today's message, delivered by Pastor Josh Yancey, was a follow-up to a Lord's Prayer series (by Pastor Patrick). Pastor Josh talked today about what one can expect regarding answers to prayers. The message is here.
Sometimes what we pray for amounts to requesting a miracle. Miracles are often described as God suspending the Laws of Nature, Laws that He made and set in motion at Creation. Asking God to save someone who is going to die because of incurable disease or unfixable injury is asking God to suspend the Laws of Nature. God doesn't do that very often any more. He did in the early Biblical days (from floods to burning bushes to plagues and parting seas), but not so much any more. When it comes to the natural course of things, we are on our own.
Well, we are on our own when it comes to manipulating natural law, which we can't and God won't (overwhelmingly). But, we are not on our own in terms of how we react to all the things that occur in the natural course of our lives. This is where prayer properly applied comes in. Remember, we pray to affect ourselves. We pray to seek answers to how we should act or react given circumstances, how best to help others in our family and community, and how best to help the macro issues of society.
But what about the miracle of a child's birth, or an inspiringly gorgeous sunset, or a grand canyon, or a million other things? Those are extraodinarily impressive, and they are brought about by those Laws of Nature that God defined back at Creation. Creation was a miracle of its own and from it have come miraculous things. But the miracle itself happened long ago. Doctors today can save lives because Creation put us on a course to have that happen naturally.
And if it's justice you are worried about... Trust in God to ultimately dish out justice in the afterlife (that notion hinted at in the Torah). Also, unification with our loved ones in an afterlife is included in those Torah hints.