{"id":377,"date":"2011-03-06T09:00:22","date_gmt":"2011-03-06T15:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.barbdahlgren.com\/?p=377"},"modified":"2011-05-09T14:56:24","modified_gmt":"2011-05-09T19:56:24","slug":"prayer-and-faith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/?p=377","title":{"rendered":"Prayer and Faith"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>I keep forgetting that prayer and faith go hand in hand.\u00a0 Therefore, I\u2019m disappointed when God doesn\u2019t give me the answer to a prayer I want, and shocked when he does.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It reminds me of the old story about a country preacher.\u00a0 He was a fine man and loved by all.\u00a0 However, the only advice he ever would give people was, \u201cPray about it!\u201d\u00a0 One day the preacher\u2019s car wouldn\u2019t start.\u00a0 A passerby saw his predicament and said, \u201cWell, preacher, why don\u2019t you pray about it?\u201d\u00a0 The preacher thought a second and decided to give it a try.\u00a0 He closed the hood of his car, got into the driver\u2019s seat, bowed his head and prayed.\u00a0 Then he pushed the key into the ignition and gave it a tentative turn.\u00a0 Lo and behold, the car started right up.\u00a0 The shocked preacher said, \u201cWell, I\u2019ll be darned!\u201d<\/p>\n

Sounds like the preacher had the prayer part down, but lacked some faith.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I guess I\u2019m a little like that preacher.\u00a0 I don\u2019t doubt that God can do whatever he desires, but his desires are not always mine.\u00a0 I waste far too much prayer time trying to persuade God to give me what I want instead of asking God to help me want what he gives.\u00a0 True faith is trusting God to do what he knows is best for me instead of what I want.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Bible is full of such examples.\u00a0 Christ said, \u201cIf it be your will, please remove this cup from me, nevertheless, your will be done.\u201d\u00a0 (Matthew 26:39)\u00a0 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abendego said, \u201cWe know that the God we serve is able to deliver us, but if he chooses not to, O King, we will not serve your gods!\u201d\u00a0 (Daniel 3:16-18)<\/p>\n

These great men had confidence that God would do what was best for them, according to God\u2019s plan.\u00a0 They wanted God to be glorified and not man.\u00a0 How I long for that kind of faith \u2013 faith full of trust, belief, and blessed assurance no matter how bleak the outlook.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t mind admitting I\u2019m a whimp when it comes to trials.\u00a0 I\u2019d far rather learn through the mistakes of others, take the easy route, or just be pleasantly surprised when God gives me what I want.\u00a0 However, there is a part of me that yearns to be content whether or not God starts my car.\u00a0 A part of me wants to believe with my whole heart that whatever God does, will be for my best and for his glory.\u00a0 So I\u2019m trying to pray more \u201cNevertheless your will be done\u201d prayers.\u00a0 I\u2019m trying not to talk God into giving me what I want, but\u00a0wanting whatever God chooses\u00a0to give.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I keep forgetting that prayer and faith go hand in hand.\u00a0 Therefore, I\u2019m disappointed when God doesn\u2019t give me the answer to a prayer I want, and shocked when he does.\u00a0 It reminds me of the old story about a … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=377"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}