Coincidence or something bigger?

[Peds nurse]

Hey people!

I stated a while back that I would post something wonderful that I believe God did.

A friend on facebook, with whom I really don't talk to much, sent me a message. She told me that her granddaughter, who was a senior in high school, was pregnant. She also told me that her granddaughter was going to get an abortion. On the day the granddaughter was at a counseling session to get an abortion, the grandmother received a call that her brother and his wife lost their 9th child. It did not phase the teen, for the next day she had her abortion. I however, had the wonderful opportunity to pray for them and as a result, bring this grandmother closer to Christ.

At this very time, my daughter was pregnant. She is a single mom who struggles with the demands of parenting. She wanted to give her baby up for adoption. The family she chose had many failed pregnancies. They were thrilled with the prospect of enlarging their family. When my daughter was 12 weeks pregnant, she lost the baby. The adoptive family was so wonderful and supportive to my daughter, even though they were crushed with the news.

Now, some would give little thought to each incidence happening only days apart, as nothing more than coincidental. I however, believe it was something much bigger. The grandmother whom I prayed for and lifted up, lifted me up as we both lost babies that we could love, grandchildren. My daughter was consoled through her miscarriage by a young woman who has had many.

Some might think that God did not answer prayers in this case. Oh but our precious God does not give us all that we ask, but He does give us what we need.

[benchwarmer]

[Replying to post 1 by Peds nurse]

Hi Peds, I thank you for the story, but I'm honestly a little baffled why you would choose to praise God for anything here.

To me, the big picture was that 3 children were lost to miscarriage or abortion. A true travesty IMHO that God did nothing about.

The only praise I can see handing out here is for the supportive people that helped each other through their trials when a god did no such thing.

If you believe your prayer had some hand in creating this support network, I'll leave that for you to cherish. To me it seems prayer can never be shown to be effective in a repeatable way. In fact, a study showed it had about the same effect as doing nothing - actually the numbers showed slightly worse results for the prayed over, but that's likely just noise in the stats.

I would have been far more impressed if you had heard these 3 women were in distress and about to lose their babies and your prayer kept them all alive and healthy. I still would have been skeptical, but far more impressed and hopeful you sent those kind of prayers my way

Sorry to rain on your parade, but I have to call it like I see it.

[Divine Insight]

Some might think that God did not answer prayers in this case. Oh but our precious God does not give us all that we ask, but He does give us what we need.

Who is your God?

According to the Gospels Jesus promised to give us any thing we ask for.

John 14.14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.

But now you are suggesting that he only gives us what he thinks we need.

That doesn't sound like the same religion to me.

[Overcomer]

I understand what you're saying, Peds Nurse. We live in a fallen world. Bad things happen. But it's just as Joseph said to his brothers, after they had sold him into slavery, after he had spent years in prison because of a shunned woman's lies -- what the devil meant for evil, God meant for good (Gen. 50:20).

That's the problem. God gets blamed for the mistakes of people and for things the devil does. Satan is the instigator of evil, not the Lord.

In fact, one of the unique things about Christianity is this: It has the ONLY answer to evil, that is, Jesus Christ.

But it's just as you say, God can bring something good out of the worst of situations. He doesn't always promise to take away the challenges and troubles in our lives, but he does promise to help us through them.

It all makes me think of this song by Dennis Jernigan:



Thanks for sharing, Peds Nurse.

[benchwarmer]

That's the problem. God gets blamed for the mistakes of people and for things the devil does. Satan is the instigator of evil, not the Lord.

The real problem is that the one in charge, the one that supposedly created the entire reality we live in, the one that promises we will receive things sincerely asked for in their name, is always somehow blameless and washed free of all the bad things.

Christians are quick to ascribe any tiny, insignificant thing that seems good to God, yet all the bad stuff has to be the people, the devil, or anything except God.

Take Peds story. A heart wrenching description of 3 innocent lives lost. No one dares mention God is responsible. Yet when a small coincidence happens where the people dealing with these tragedies find each other to talk to - well glory hallelujah! Praise God! Isn't God so great!!!!

Those of use not wearing the rose colored glasses shake our heads and wonder how some miss the big picture here.

[Peds nurse]

Some might think that God did not answer prayers in this case. Oh but our precious God does not give us all that we ask, but He does give us what we need.

Who is your God?

According to the Gospels Jesus promised to give us any thing we ask for.

John 14.14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.

But now you are suggesting that he only gives us what he thinks we need.

That doesn't sound like the same religion to me.

If I ask things in His name, then I am asking for His will. It doesn't mean we get everything we want. Somethings I may want. may not actually be beneficial for me. Notice, it doesn't say, you will get everything you ask for.

[Tcg]

Some might think that God did not answer prayers in this case. Oh but our precious God does not give us all that we ask, but He does give us what we need.

Who is your God?

According to the Gospels Jesus promised to give us any thing we ask for.

John 14.14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.

But now you are suggesting that he only gives us what he thinks we need.

That doesn't sound like the same religion to me.

Notice, it doesn't say, you will get everything you ask for.

It says exactly that. "Ask any thing" includes no limitations.

[Overcomer]

benchwarmer wrote:

Christians are quick to ascribe any tiny, insignificant thing that seems good to God, yet all the bad stuff has to be the people, the devil, or anything except God.

The devil is indeed at the root of evil, not God. God is at the root of anything and everything that is good.

James 1:17 reads: "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows."

Think about the very first lie that Satan, the father of lies (John 8:44), told to Eve. He told her that God was withholding something good from her when God ordered Adam and Eve not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

It was a lie. God didn't want them to know evil. That's why he told them not to eat of the tree that would give them the knowledge of it. In other words, he told them that out of love for them, to protect them.

God created humanity to be in a loving relationship with him, but true love has to be given out of choice. That means he didn't make us automatons, programmed to love him. And if you give someone the choice to love you, that means you give them the choice NOT to love you.

Trust is part of love. Adam and Eve didn't trust God's love for them and so they did what he told them not to do. And so sin entered the world.

Sadly, people STILL believe that lie of Satan -- that God doesn't really love them because he didn't answer a certain prayer the way they wanted him to or something tragic happened in their lives and they blame him for it or he has ordered them NOT to engage in some sin that they really don't want to give up and they'd rather give up him instead because, really, God should love them enough to let them keep that nasty habit or they don't like wearing the label "sinner" because they're better than the rapist in prison and that makes them a "nice" person or they can save themselves, thank you very much, or he won't paint their name in big, bold red letters across the sky in Times Roman type when they ask him to -- add your own excuse to the list if you wish. But the lie that God doesn't love them still persists. People are still buying it. And the excuses are still inexcusable.

Well, if he didn't love them, why did Christ go to the cross for them to take the punishment for their sins?

Oh, right! They don't have any! They've never told a lie, never spoken an unkind word to anyone, never acted selfishly, never been greedy about anything, never indulged in pornography or fornication or adultery, etc., etc., etc.

And, of course, they're too smart to believe in God, but not too smart to believe any lie that comes against God if it's what they want to believe, even when it's revealed as a lie. As G. K. Chesterton put it, “When men choose not to believe in God, they do not thereafter believe in nothing, they then become capable of believing in anything.�

And even now, in this fallen world where, yes, bad things happen, even non-believers are being blessed without even giving thanks to the one who blesses them (Matt. 5:45).

What I find really sad is this: Peds Nurse shared a deeply personal story in which God spoke to her. And all you atheists could do is belittle her and what she shared. Has your anger toward and hatred for God eradicated your compassion for another human being completely? Was expressing that anger and hatred more important than supporting Peds Nurse at a difficult time? Obviously so . . . .

[Overcomer]

tcg wrote:

It says exactly that. "Ask any thing" includes no limitations

Verses have to be read in context -- in the context of a chapter, of the book that chapter is found in, and in the context of the entire Bible.

Unfortunately, I don't have time to write my own response with regard to this issue as I spent a long time on the previous post. So I am cutting and pasting information from gotquestions.org which addresses the matter capably.

Question: "What did Jesus mean when He said, 'Ask and you shall receive'?"

Answer: Jesus said, “Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete� in John 16:24. Similar statements are found in Matthew 7:7; 21:22; Mark 11:24; Luke 11:9; and John 15:7. Is this a blanket promise with no conditions? If we ask for three hundred pounds of chocolate delivered to our door, is God obligated to give it to us? Or are Jesus’ words to be understood in light of other revelation?

If we assume that “ask and you will receive� means “ask for anything you want and I’ll give it to you,� then we have turned the Lord into a cosmic genie who serves our every whim.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says that whoever asks receives, whoever seeks finds, and whoever knocks will find an open door (Matthew 7:7–8). But with this and all other verses we must examine the context. Jesus goes on to say that God will not fail to give His children good things (verse 11). So, this is one condition to the promise of “ask and receive�: what we ask for must be good in God’s estimation. God will give advantageous gifts to His children; He will not give us bad or injurious things, no matter how much we clamor for them. The best example of a good gift is the Holy Spirit, according to Luke 11:13. We begin to see a two-fold purpose of prayer—to increase our understanding of what God calls “good� and to cultivate a desire in us for what is good.

Our prayers to God are not unlike our requests of men. Our prayers are based in a relationship, as Jesus points out in Matthew 7:8. If a child asks his father for something the father knows to be hurtful, the request is denied. The child may be frustrated and unhappy when he doesn’t get what he asked for, but he should trust his father. Conversely, when the child asks for something that the father knows is beneficial, the father will provide it eagerly because he loves his child.

We have another condition to the promise of “ask and receive� in John 14:14, “You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.� Here, Jesus does not promise His disciples anything and everything they want; rather, He instructs them to ask “in my name.� To pray in Jesus’ name is to pray on the basis of Jesus’ authority, but it also involves praying according to the will of God, for the will of God is what Jesus always did (John 6:38). This truth is stated explicitly in 1 John 5:14, “If we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.� Our requests must be congruent with the will of God.

The promise of “ask and receive,� even with its conditions, can never disappoint. There is no chance of things we need not being in God’s will. He promises to supply what we need when we “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness� (Matthew 6:33). Of course, what we want is not always what we need. If what we want is not in God’s will, then we really don’t want to receive it. God knows what is good for us and is faithful and loving to say “no� to selfish and foolish prayers, no matter how much we want what we’re asking for.

God will always give us good things. Our job is to understand what is good, so that we know what to ask for. The natural mind cannot understand this. But, when we offer ourselves as “a living sacrifice� and are transformed by the renewing of our minds, then we “will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will� (Romans 12:1–2). Then, asking for what we need in faith, we will have all we need for life and godliness and fullness of joy (John 16:24).

The biblical instruction concerning prayer is that we pray for the good things that we truly need, according to the will of God, in the authority of Jesus Christ, persistently (see Luke 18:1), unselfishly (see James 4:3), and in faith (see James 1:6). In Matthew 21:22 Jesus again emphasizes faith: “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.� Those who truly believe God will witness the amazing, infinite power of God. However, comparing Scripture with Scripture, we know that the asking must be done within the will of God. Part of having faith is acceding to God’s plan as best.

Consider Psalm 37:4: “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.� This verse does not give us a way to manipulate God; nor does it mean that, if we obey, He will reward us with whatever treat we crave. Rather, it means that, when we delight ourselves in God, then we will find everything we want and need in Him. The key here is that the heart of the seeker is changed—when we delight in the Lord, God’s desires begin to become our own. When our desires match God’s, then our prayers are automatically aligned with His will.

https://www.gotquestions.org/ask-and-yo ... ceive.html