When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood; wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow. Isaiah 1:15-17 NIV
I often wonder why God seems so distant at times - so far from this city of Toronto. Why does He not pour out His power in conversions, healings and miracles? Why are we surrounded by so many who doubt His existence or want nothing to do with Him? Why are there so many lost and hurting souls wandering this city? Why does He not reveal that He is real? Why does He ignore our prayers for revival?
It seems that the answer to these queries may often lie with us, the Church. We do very well singing songs on Sunday mornings, celebrating Christmas and listening to sermons - but how often do we allow God's love to flow from us to those who cannot help themselves? God has a heart for the broken and He wants His people to love them too. Too often we walk by the homeless without a word; we fail to give enough to the orphans of the world; we don't stand up for those who cannot stand up themselves; we fail to share the Gospel with a dying world. We fail to love because it takes too much time, money or risk. God isn't happy with this.
Bible reading, prayer, corporate worship - all of these are good things. But if we fail to love, if we fail to follow God's will, God will refuse to listen to our cries.
in some ways, i find the question of "why doesn't God answer my prayers?" similar to the question of "if God is good, why is there suffering?" and in both cases, i find the answers difficult and multifaceted. sometimes it's, as you say, reaping what you sow (or perhaps not reaping what you didn't sow). sometimes there's a greater purpose that becomes clear later on. often, however, that purpose remains frustratingly mysterious.
ReplyDeletei like the focus of your blog post though. because before attributing one's unanswered prayers or current state of suffering to outside factors, a self-examination (God-assisted) is a really wise course of action.
Thanks for your thoughts, and I agree. Christ's prayer request in the garden was not granted - but the reason for this was certainly not because He was living in rebellion against God!
ReplyDeleteI guess I wonder though whether we (the North American Church) have become too self-centered and lost the regular, ongoing love for people that we should have.