"WHY HAS GOD NOT SOLVED MY PROBLEMS, IF INDEED HE IS ABLE?"
I am sure you must have asked yourself or your Pastor this simple but very vital question time and again with probably, no meaningful answers gotten.
WHY ME?
There are even more burning questions you have asked:
'Why does God feel so unconcerned about my troubles?'
'Why do I pray and I don't get answers?'
'Why does God 'fail' me when I need Him the most?'
'Why is there so much wickedness in the world, is there really God?'
'Why do I as a Believer fail in life while the ungodly and wicked people prosper and achieve so much, am I missing something?'
'Why... why... why............???'
If only you could give ten (10) minutes of your time reading this special message, we would both quickly 'see' and understand why God seems 'incapable' of helping us, as we so often erroneously believe.
Before now, you may have been taught, heard or read about God from various articles, impressions that have created a not-too-correct mental perspective of whom God is perceived to be.
So we will start by asking ourselves, 'Who is GOD?"
WHO IS GOD?
Firstly, I would want you to understand that the definition of who God is, is simply an individualistic issue.
Who you know God to be is likely to be different from who/what I know Him to be.
To one person, He is a God with gentle whispering (1 Kings 19:11-13) and to another a God who roars with a thunderous voice (Exodus 19:16-20). To one, He is a righteous Protector (Psalm 7:10-11), to another a partial Judge (Job 21:4-22).
Secondly, it is common knowledge that there are many attributes and names of God Almighty, who is known to be the creator of the Universe and the only True GOD whom we must all worship, obey and acknowledge in everything we do.
One of the most vital attributes of God is that once He promises a thing, His word never goes unfulfilled.
Once He promises to do a thing, he will SURELY bring His word to pass.
Surprisingly however, we find that sometimes, His promises in our lives don't come to fulfillment because somehow, we have failed to keep our part of the bi-lateral bargain by being disobedient to His command.
As an example, God told the LEVITES in Biblical times that they will constitute His specially chosen Priesthood forever but He later told Eli the High Priest, a Levite, that that promise no longer holds because they (the Levites, through the family of Eli the High Priest) broke their part of the covenant by dishonoring God. ( Please read 1 Samuel 2:27-36).
When God promises you a thing, you always automatically have your own part to play, namely: honor and obey Him!
Thirdly, every man or woman that the Lord God has created, was created with pleasant goodness, blessings and good fortune all built-in into that person's life trip.
God destined everyone for a purpose and your happiness in life is built into your divine purpose and your willingness to obey God at fulfilling that purpose.
"For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope."(Jeremiah 29:11).
Anyone who fails to fulfill his/her divine purpose (which also known as, 'doing God's will') can expect to have varying degrees of failure in life because such a person is out of God's plan and provisions.
THE GREAT QUESTION
So now, I am sure you are already asking, "...if God truly has pleasant and lofty plans for me, then why has these array of disasters, failures and disappointments befallen me?"
THE ANSWERS
There are actually more than a million answers to the great question asked above but we shall look at the three (3) most important answers given below:
Answer 1.s
God does not honor us if we fail to Honor Him.
Honoring God means several things. We must acknowledge God as the 'OWNER' of our lives and worship Him with our very essence (everything that we are or hope to be, everything that we have or hope to have).
We are like clay-works in the hands of God the Master Potter, we have no right to criticize Him or question His authority. He can bend us in any direction He so wishes (Romans 9: 20-24).
If we truly obey Him and glorify Him in our current situation, then He is sure to uplift and glorify us too. Failure to honor Him automatically brings shame, disasters and turbulence our way in life.
Answer 2.
We must accept that God is aware of our current situation and that it is only a trial phase that shall soon be over.
The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 10:11,
"But remember that the temptations that come into your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will keep the temptation from becoming so strong that you can't stand up against it. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you will not give in to it."
The Bible gives a vivid account of WHY WE ARE TEMPTED in the book of Job (Read Job chapters 1-3). Sometimes, God Himself purposely sets a trial of faith for us to see how much trust we have in Him. At such trying times, we MUST still acknowledge His faithfulness and continue to trust, worship, praise and obey Him, else, we fail the test.
In Job's trial (Job 1:1-22), God permitted Satan to test him severally, but in all the tests, Job stood his ground of faithfulness and God blessed him more in the end than he was blessed before the series of tests.
Testing from God is akin to taking a class examination. When we pass, we are automatically promoted to a higher level and we become better than we were initially.
Answer 3.
We need to trust in God's love and plan for our lives by having faith in both Him and in His beloved Son Jesus Christ.
When we exercise our trust in Him through our faith (simply put, trust=faith), we are simply assuring inner self that we are already connected to the divine source of all good things that we desire and hence, the download of endless benefits is just about to begin. To exercise true faith is to exercise true love for God Himself is Love.
When we love our neighbors sincerely, then we are already strongly connected to the download link and nothing can stop us at getting whatsoever we want from our loving Father in Heaven while we also get favors from men!
Mark 11:22-25 says...
22 Then Jesus said to the disciples, “Have faith in God. 23 I assure you that you can say to this mountain, 'May God lift you up and throw you into the sea,’ and your command will be obeyed. All that's required is that you really believe and do not doubt in your heart. 24 Listen to me! You can pray for anything, and if you believe, you will have it. 25 But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in Heaven will forgive your sins, too.”
Even if your faith is little, God is willing to help you build it up, but you need to first allow Him into your life and ways.
He is interested in your finance, business, health, family and relationships but you must note that He will not intrude unless you specifically invite Him in by praying to Him and committing your day-to-day affairs into His care.
YOUR MASTER KEY
God has a deep and loving interest in you, beyond your wildest imaginations!
Put your focus on Him concerning all your life's troubles and you shall be happy indeed.
Your help will not come from a Prophet, Pastor, or any Spiritualist but your true and lasting help comes only from the Lord Almighty.
Matthew 16:19 has a special assurance for you:
"And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you lock on earth will be locked in heaven, and whatever you open on earth will be opened in heaven.”
Indeed, whatever you ask of you father in Heaven, such shall you receive.....if only you will turn your FAITH to Him NOW.
And now,
HE IS HERE TO HELP YOU
Say this short prayer:
'God Almighty, the creator of Heaven and Earth
Creator of all entities, living and non-living, seen and unseen
The owner of the breath of life in me
My Protector and Provider
You sent your son Jesus Christ into the world as an holy sacrifice
For the remission of my sins
So that I might be drawn closer to you without a blemish
I believe in You my Father
That You are more than sufficient for my needs
I put my trust and faith in you
And in your everlasting Love
That You alone can save, protect and provide for me
I therefore look upon You this day
Yes
I put my entire trust in You through my faith in the name of your beloved son Jesus Christ
You are greater than all the worries of my life
Today I stand on your promise to help me
I believe in You to deliver me from all my troubles and anxieties
And on my part, I shall follow no other God but You and You alone
I shall neither consider their names in my heart nor upon my lips
Please strengthen me to fulfill this promise before You this day and evermore
I believe my prayers are answered already
For You are here with me right now
No longer shall I doubt your faithfulness in my heart
Thank You Lord for I know
My prayers are answered
In Jesus' Mighty name I have prayed
Amen.'
If you have said this prayer with faith and sincerity in your heart, I congratulate you!
You have just committed all your worries to your true Father and Creator, the endless source of all good things.
In a few days from now, you will begin to witness some positive manifestations of the power and awesomeness of God Almighty concerning a miraculous turn-around of your situation.
However, be warned that God is not a Magician. He is a God of 'due process' because He is a just God. What that means is that don't expect your miracle(s) overnight.
For certain, be assured it will come and at God's appointed time for it. Know that God's time is always the best.
Therefore, rejoice always and praise God at every slight opportunity you have for that is the ONLY way to move the hand of the Lord Almighty to work faster in your favor.
REMEMBER:
Acknowledge, honor, praise and pray to Him everyday. Make it a HABIT to do all these things as part of your daily routine and you shall always be blessed in all your endeavors.
Shalom!
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'YOUR LIFE WILL NOT REMAIN THE SAME'
- THE DANGERS, THE MEANINGS
Anyone who has ever attended a church in Nigeria would be familiar with the phrase; 'Your life will never remain the same'.
This popular phrase is a member of several other concocted phrases which are members of the 'Dangerous prayers' family.
For the simple minded christian, it is always easier to quickly say 'Amen' to it than to try and understand its meanings both implied and direct.
Any student of the English language would agree that it is a phrase that is both vague (empty) and ambiguous (could have other meanings).
There are three reasons any discerning christian should check well before answering an 'Amen' to any prayers said with such a phrase.
REASON 1
It carries other meanings.
Given the scenario that a young man whom God has done so well for being wealthy and happily married with children has come to the church to offer praises and thanksgiving to God as a show of appreciation; then the Pastor comes forward to bless such a man with additional prayers and he says to the rich man 'your life will never remain the same!'
Well, that would mean the Pastor is asking that the man's present situation should change, but to what?
Since the young man is already rich, healthy and happily married with children; therefore, the Pastor is simply requesting the opposite (which is adversity) for the rich young man!
REASON 2
It is an incomplete prayer key.
Two things I have discovered about prayers, answers to prayers and miracles are that:
(1.) You must ask for help
(2.) You must indicate the type of help you need.
In all the places and situations in which Jesus and his disciples performed miracles as narrated in the bible, each of the beneficiaries (the people who were healed) asked for help either verbally or by indicating and exercising their faith through action. The story of the woman with the issue of blood who touched Jesus's cloak is an example.
Also, merely asking Jesus to help was not enough as in most cases, when He was asked for help, He would ask, 'What may I do for you?'.
HE already knew what sort of help these people needed but He only wanted them to fulfill the biblical injunction that: 'Salvation is by confession and confession by mouth'.
It is expected that a christian should speak-up through prayer (asking for help) and be concise ( indicating type of help needed)
Hence when a Pastor prays for change and does not indicate the type of change, the equation is unbalanced and there could be more problems as the agents of darkness could hijack the situation to their evil advantage.
This is the reason asking too many things in a single prayer is not always good because in the end, the focus of the prayer is lost and it becomes more of mere babbling and a merry-go-round prayer.
Some one who continually asks, 'Lord, I need a wife' will get a faster answer than someone who is asking for 30 things in a single prayer session. Reason? The first man has a focus, he is concise but the other man does not really know what he wants.
REASON 3
Ever wondered why ministers from more than 70% of various christian denominations in Nigeria are shouting this common phrase ('Your life will not remain the same')?
First, asides the two reasons given above, it will appear that they have generally adopted it as some form of faith slogan in the Christendom just as 'Eko o ni baje' has become a song in Lagos.
A lot of Pastors just join the chorus and sing along with the rest without questioning the rationale and implications of some of these traditions they have either imported or downloaded from other religious systems.
Secondly, it has become more of a fashion to speak or minister 'in the fashion of XYZ'.
Young Pastors who have just joined the ministry simply buy tapes and videos of other ministers who have been in the field longer and simply mimic their moves and styles. Why?
If God has called someone truly, he wouldn't need to follow the patterns of Pastor ZOOM before he will become a successful or celebrated minister.
This sort of 'follow follow' syndrome could easily give away fake Ministers who are out to deceive the people.
Take the case of Moses in the bible, he wasn't a good orator and Aaron usually fronted for him, speaking and ministering to the people on Moses's behalf yet Moses was the one celebrated.
It is the same thing even now. It is not until a minister follows the crowd before he can be celebrated. In fact, the more unique a Minister in his methods, the higher the celebration he is likely to get.
IN CONCLUSION
Make sure you truly understand what your Pastor is requesting on your behalf next time you are before him for prayers before you say your 'AMEN.'
Shalom!
