When I make bold statements like “God has obligated Himself to answer your prayers QUICKLY, and DRAMATICALLY”, or “A righteous man will ALWAYS receive an answer to his prayer”, and things like that (which I say often) , people often object and say “But what about Paul?? HE prayed 3 times before getting an answer!” or again, “What about Job??”. There are usually only 5 things that people come up with as an objection to my statements.
The reason most people object to them is because they realize that I am making them RESPONSIBLE before God to have their prayers answered, and because I say that if their prayers are NOT answered, it is because God is NOT happy with them.
I say that their OBEDIENCE is directly tied to their faith, and that THEY are in control of their own faith. That they are both able and RESPONSIBLE to build and nurture their own faith, AND THAT THEY MUST!
To a world which has been taught that you should just “believe” and God will love you just as you are, this comes as quite a shock. BUT IT IS THE TRUTH! And until you KNOW what you CAN do, what goal it is POSSIBLE to achieve, as long as you are in the dark and believe that you CAN’T nurture your faith, and believe that it’s all God’s job, you WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO PLEASE GOD!! Read the rest of this entry »