Eliminating Unrealistic Expectations
Sometimes we all feel as if our prayers lack the power to penetrate our ceilings. It seems as though our petitions fall on deaf ears and God remains unmoved or unconcerned about our passionate pleading. Why do these feelings haunt us?
There are several reasons why we are sometimes frustrated in prayer. One is that our expectations are unrealistic. This, perhaps more than any other factor, leads to a frustration in prayer. We make the common mistake of taking statements of Jesus in isolation from other biblical aspects of teaching in prayer, and we blow these few statements out of proportion.
We hear Jesus say that if two Christians agree on anything and ask, it shall be given to them. Jesus made that statement to men who had been deeply trained in the art of prayer, men who already knew the qualifications of this generalization. Yet in a simplistic way we interpret the statement absolutely. We assume the promise covers every conceivable petition without reservation or qualification. Think of it. Would it be difficult to find two Christians who would agree that to end all wars and human conflict would be a good idea? Obviously not. Yet if two Christians agreed to pray for the cessation of war and conflict, would God grant their petition? Not unless He planned to revise the New Testament and its teaching about the future of human conflict.
Prayer is not magic. God is not a celestial bellhop at our beck and call to satisfy our every whim. In some cases, our prayers must involve the travail of the soul and agony of heart, such as Jesus experienced in the Garden of Gethsemane. Sometimes young Christians have been bitterly disappointed in "unanswered" prayers, not because God failed to keep His promises, but because well-meaning Christians made promises "for" God that God never authorized.
Coram Deo: Living in the Presence of God
Do you have unrealistic expectations that account for seemingly unanswered prayers? Are you treating God like a celestial bellhop?
Psalm 102:17-18: "He shall regard the prayer of the destitute, and shall not despise their prayer. This will be written for the generation to come, that a people yet to be created may praise the Lord."
Psalm 141:2: "Let my prayer be set before You as incense, the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice."
The mission, passion and purpose of Ligonier Ministries and Dr. R.C. Sproul is to help people grow in their knowledge of God and His holiness. For more information, please visit www.ligonier.org or call them at 800-435-4343.
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The June 2013 issue of Tabletalk features articles examining faith and repentance. The words “faith” and “repentance” are misunderstood by many people, including a large number of professing Christians. Skeptics caricature faith as the opposite of reason. Richard Dawkins, for example, has defined faith as “belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence.” Repentance is sometimes seen by Christians as optional. Because faith is central to the message of the Bible, and because faith and repentance are demanded of all who hear the message of Christ, it is necessary that we come to a true understanding of the meaning of these words—not in order to increase our vocabulary, but in order that we might trust and obey the living God.
Contributors include R.C. Sproul along with Guy Richard, Sinclair Ferguson, Joel Beeke, Keith Mathison, R.C.Sproul Jr., Trip Lee, Douglas J. Moo, Cal Thomas and Abdul Saleeb.
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