Will God answer your prayer for your friend’s salvation? Will He honor your witness to them about Christ? God’s answer is forged in the fiery furnace of Daniel 3. The book of Daniel presents us with faithful witness in a foreign land. That witness takes the form of kingdom alignment and allegiance through Daniel’s fellow servants of the Most High God, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. When pressed to worship a god that was no god at the jeopardy of their own lives, they affirmed, “Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us from your hand, O king.” Then in allegiance to the ultimate Sovereign whose kingdom is an enduring kingdom and who gives earthly reign to whom He wills, they take their stand: “But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”
How does this help us to know if God will answer our prayer or honor our witness? This account displays not only a determination of faith, but also lays out a division of responsibility. God is able to answer and will do as He pleases. That’s the impetus for praying in faith. Praying in faith is praying with the conviction of God’s hearing, the expectation of God’s answering and the confidence that no matter how great is the thing we ask for, God is able to do immeasurably more than we ask or could even think. Such prayer knows, trusts, relies on, serves and submits to the will of God.
Alongside of God’s responsibility lies ours, showcased with tenacity in the stand taken by Daniel’s trio of friends. In essence we say, “God is able to save the one to whom we witness and for whom we are praying and His saving purposes will be accomplished. But if He does not, I will not shrink from my convictions or shirk my responsibility to bear witness to my Lord Jesus whose kingdom I serve.”
4 comments:
This "prayer of faith" blog post reminded me of the passage...
If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. (Joh 15:7-8 ESV)
Many quote this passage and end at verse 7, but verse 8 opens us up to much more of God's teaching on the matter of prayer.
The end game in prayer is not our creature comforts, but rather the glory and honor of God. And the wonderful thing is that God is glorified by our fruitfulness.
When we don't go so far in our walk that we must rely on Christ...when we only go as far as our own strength will take us...when we have no need to fall to our knees in prayer - then we will not bear fruit to God's glory.
If we seek God's glory, and have an understanding that we can't bring Him glory in and of ourselves, then we are drawn to a truly dependent prayer life.
And when asked, "How can you spend so much time in prayer?" we will answer - "How can I not?"
I know beyong a shadow of a doubt that God can answer any and every request that we make.
That said, God provided us with a free will, which can oppose God's will and plan for our lives, and the lives of those who are our family and friends. God chooses not to cross that line - He will not force His greatest creation.
So, I can pray for the salvation of my family an friends, confident that God will do His part to draw them to Him, but realizing that ultimately it is their choice.
Judith Church
Judith,
Nice to see you over hear on CHOP Talk!
As you probably know i don't ascribe to the same ideas that you're posting about...regarding the ultimate decision being ours and not God's.
But i would love to interact with you on it if you wanted to post some Scriptures that lead you to your belief.
It is remarkable how God uses our prayers as His means to His ends.
Post a Comment