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wayne

I need help with a woman who didn't get a prayer answered

Acts Enthusiast Posts: 1274 **3/24/16 7:19 am**

We have a lady in our church who lost her mother almost 10 years ago. She prayed a prayer asking God to heal her...well, her mother died and since then she has held this grudge against God and often challenges me or others when we preach/teach/talk about faith.

Here are the scripture verses from her latest email. She said, I take God at His Word but these are not true:
"Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.
And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven."
--James5:14,15

"Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
--Acts 4:30

“Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them.
Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."
--Mark 11:23,24

"If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”
--Matt. 21:22

“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened."
--Luke 11:9,10

"If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you."
--John 15:7

"And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it."
--John 14:13,14

"You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you."
--John 15:16

"In that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete."
--John 16:23,24

"and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him."
--1 John 3:22

"This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him."
--1 John 5:14,15

Any help would be appreciated.

Aaron Scott

Closure will come when she chooses to put her faith in God again.

Hon. Dr. in Acts-celeratology Posts: 6042 **3/24/16 7:30 am**

Had a similar story. God loved mr, but He let me stew until I got my attitude right with Him again. When I finally did, the joy came back, the trust in God came back. There are things you just can't hear otherwise.

wayne

aaron

Acts Enthusiast Posts: 1274 **3/24/16 7:33 am**

Hey Aaron,
Do you mind giving more info on your story? it might help in talking with her. I really don't know what else to say and in 10 years we have had many discussions.

Quiet Wyatt

[Insert Acts Pun Here] Posts: 12817 **3/24/16 8:57 am**

Romans 8:18-39, 1 Corinthians 15:19-58. Essentially, we have not yet put on immortality, and in this life we will suffer pain, loss and yes, even death. It is appointed unto man once to die, and after this, the judgement. Until Jesus comes back, no one gets out of this world alive.

c6thplayer1

Hon. Dr. in Acts-celeratology Posts: 6385 **3/24/16 10:18 am**

I always wonder where our love for God would be if every prayer was answered when we wanted it. Would we truly seek God in prayer or would we end up asking for something the same way we would ask for more corn bread at the supper table? There is a purpose in Gods methods.

Nature Boy Florida

Acts-pert Poster Posts: 16646 **3/24/16 10:24 am**

Wayne,
There are some folks on Acts that believe you need to tell her she didn't have enough faith.

And I am sure you can find those past discussions on here with little effort.

I, personally, feel that she believed she had enough faith - and her hopes were shattered when it didn't happen like the hyper faith guys say it will.

It is pretty common for them to fall away for years.

10 years might be enough time.

I hope you can help her.
_________________
Whether you like it or not, learn to love it, because its the best thing going today!

diakoneo

Golf Cart Mafia Consigliere Posts: 3382 **3/24/16 10:56 am**

When we turn faith into only perception of what we deem as an appropriate answer from God, we turn Him into some kind of Genie in a bottle. Job was a faithful servant of God whom God would eventually heal of a terrible illness, but he had it right when he said, "though He slay me yet will i trust Him"

wayne

Nature Boy

Acts Enthusiast Posts: 1274 **3/24/16 11:04 am**

Old Time Country Preacher

Acts-pert Poster Posts: 15570 **3/24/16 11:05 am**

She thinks those passages aren't true because she is interpreting them incorrectly. This is why correct teaching/preaching from the pulpit is so critically important, then no one is set up for a fall. The James 5 passage DOES NOT guarantee physical healing in every single (100% a the time) case.

wayne

open for correction

Acts Enthusiast Posts: 1274 **3/24/16 11:47 am**

Cojak

Re: I need help with a woman who didn't get a prayer answered

01000001 01100011 01110100 01110011 Posts: 24285 **3/24/16 11:48 am**

Old Time Country Preacher

Re: open for correction

Acts-pert Poster Posts: 15570 **3/24/16 3:43 pm**

wayne

OTCP

Acts Enthusiast Posts: 1274 **3/25/16 8:48 am**

I preach and teach this all the time.

I think in this situation, she didn't want God's will - she wanted her will to be done and as a result she points to these verses as a way to say God should have done it her way.

This is the frustrating part for me. I do my best to explain God's will when it comes to healing but still this happens from time to time.

Old Time Country Preacher

Re: OTCP

Acts-pert Poster Posts: 15570 **3/25/16 9:16 am**

Quiet Wyatt

[Insert Acts Pun Here] Posts: 12817 **3/25/16 9:26 am**

Her prayer WAS answered, just not in the way she would have preferred. Looking at ALL of Scripture, it becomes clear that no one always gets everything exactly as they would prefer, not even God.

Link

Acts-perienced Poster Posts: 11849 **3/25/16 12:21 pm**

A short easy, answer, consistent with WOF theology would be, "Those verses are true. You just didn't have enough faith."

A mean variant of that would be, "Your attitude now shows that you didn't have enough faith."

I'm not recommending that as an answer. You could ask her if reading the Bible as a whole, does she think everyone is going to stay alive until Jesus comes back. Why did the apostles die? Did they have faith?

Jesus predicted Peter's death. Did that contradict anything He said about healing?
_________________
Link

Old Time Country Preacher

Acts-pert Poster Posts: 15570 **3/25/16 2:45 pm**

brotherjames

Maybe Some of you non WOF preachers could explain these verses for me

Acts-celerater Posts: 935 **3/25/16 6:27 pm**

[1Jn 5:14-15/KJV] v 14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: v 15 And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.
*[[Mat 18:19]] KJV* Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.

Quiet Wyatt

Re: Maybe Some of you non WOF preachers could explain these verses for me

[Insert Acts Pun Here] Posts: 12817 **3/25/16 9:20 pm**

Old Time Country Preacher

Re: Maybe Some of you non WOF preachers could explain these verses for me

Acts-pert Poster Posts: 15570 **3/25/16 9:21 pm**