My mother was hospitalized with cancer the summer of my fourteenth year. Day after day that summer, I knelt at a crude altar at a church camp in Missouri, praying for her healing, begging God not to let my mother die.
God answered my prayer. The answer was no. She died September 29th of that year.
All of us can remember similar moments when we prayed, and God answered . . . with a no. And no matter how many testimonies of answers to prayer we may hear, no matter how many books we read or how many preachers we hear extolling the power of prayer, it’s the times when the answer has been “no” that stick in our minds--and in our throats.
But we are not alone. In fact, God’s Word records instances when the prayers of even the greatest saints of God were answered with a “no.”
When the Heart is Not Right
Moses was a man of faith, a man of prayer. It was he who had announced the ten plagues on Egypt. It was he whom God used to part the Red Sea. It was he who received the Ten Commandments from the hand of God. It was he who had led the children of Israel out of bondage in the land of Egypt right to the very threshold of the land of promise, the land of Canaan. Yet this man of God had a prayer that was unanswered.
After the Israelites had defeated the kings of Bashan and Heshbon, Moses told Joshua that God would give their people similar victories over all the kingdoms of the promised land. And then Moses described to the people of Israel the request he had made of God:
Let me go over and see the good land beyond the Jordan--that fine hill country and Lebanon.
But because of you the Lord was angry with me and would not listen to me. “That is enough,” the Lord said. “Do not speak to me anymore about this matter” (Deuteronomy 3:25-26, NIV).
God’s servant, standing at the edge of the promised land, nearly at the banks of the Jordan, prayed, “Let me go over.” And God said no.
Why? Because the children of Israel--and Moses himself, in fact--had disobeyed God, and that disobedience blocked the answer to Moses’ prayer. Many times, when the answer is no, it is because the heart is not right.
As Isaiah explained, “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear” (Isaiah 59:2, NIV). We may be indignant when God seems not to hear our prayers, but often the fault, as Shakespeare wrote in Julius Caesar, is in ourselves. When the answer is no, we might ask ourselves if our prayers are being hindered because our heart is not right.
Bob Hostetler at a recent book signing event.
Former Officer
USA East and NHQ
8 comments:
Bob,
your writing has taken some digesting, it has been hard to swallow and I am not sure I agree.
Your prayer for your Mum's healing was not answered because your heart was not right??? I don't think so!!! I acknowledge that is not literally what you were saying but I do think we have to be careful not to give people bigger unneccessary guilt trips than they already have in this sort of teaching. Some people carry enormous baggage that they shouldn't and I for one don't want to add to it.
However, at the same time I see the need for me to sincerely pray: 'Create a pure heart in me O God and renew a steadfast spirit within me'
Thanks for the challenge and thought provoking writing ... keep them coming!
Former UKT
Sven, thanks for changing the posts a bit more often; nice interchange between the controversial, devotional and reflective, and also 'actives', 'formers', and non-SA. Truly something for every taste and level of understanding and acceptance.
The fact that the number of blog visitors has doubled is also reflective of the wider appeal. I'll bet it's difficult sometimes not to edit either articles or comments ?
I commend you and all your supporters for maintaining this important, needed ministry.
Former
USA South
Often, I think, the answer is 'no' not because the prayer is blocked, but because we are either praying for the wrong thing, or because we fail to realise that we live in a physical world, which was created, with all its' physical limitations, by God.
Sometimes we need to pray not that someone would recover from illness, but that God would help us accept their death. That God would help us understand the reality of a physical world which that same God created.
I have come to the understanding that if God were to answer 'yes' to us all the time, then God would be going against that which He/She created, violating the laws that He/She put in place. Therefore, to me, if God answered 'yes' everytime we prayed, that would prove to me that God was not God at all, and just some minor 'fairy-godmother' or 'demi-god'.
Often answers of 'no' help us to mature as individuals, so that we can better function in the world - as difficult as it is to accept a 'no' response.
Yours in Christ,
Graeme Randall
Former Australia East
Graeme,
Calling God HE/She is like calling you he/she. God is God. He is not male/female. The Holy Spirit is not male/female . The Holy Spirit is often compared to He. Perhaps neuter/male. Jesus-male-Jew is God. God is not a female. Here we go again with another liberal article about the all inclusive he/she god that is not Biblical at all and only mentioned because of an attention to a controversy.
Former USA East
) There is no biblical precedent for referring to God with feminine terms such as “Mother” or “she.”
The Bible uses many masculine appellatives, names, and titles for God (e.g., God, Lord, Father, King, Judge, Savior, Ruler, Shepherd, and Husband) and consistently uses masculine pronouns for God. We also find "ungendered," impersonal titles, appellatives, and predicate metaphors used for God (e.g., Rock, Fortress, and Shield). However, no similar feminine terms or pronouns that predicate God are to be found in Scripture.
(2) Biblical, masculine language for God is not culture-dependent, but rather is God’s chosen self-revelation of his identity.
Some have argued that the patriarchal culture of ancient Israel dictated the biblical use of masculine terminology for God. However, other ancient Near Eastern cultures, though no less patriarchal than ancient Israel, worshipped masculine and feminine deities (See Judges 3:7; Acts 19:34) and even referred to one and the same God as both "Father" and "Mother." Thus, ancient Israel’s culture did not of necessity require masculine language for God.
Furthermore, despite the cultural influences around Israel, she believed and Christians today believe that what we learn of God in the Old Testament (and the whole Bible) is owing to God's self-chosen revelation of himself to us. Therefore, the masculine language for God in the Bible is not due to what Israel or the early church thought about God, primarily, but ultimately this way of speaking of God comes from God himself. Because the Bible is God's own chosen self-revelation, we must take seriously the language God chose to use to communicate to us what he is like. This revelation, by God's choice, includes all the masculine God-language of the Bible, and therefore it cannot be dismissed as merely the by-product of a patriarchal cultural. To dismiss the masculine language for God in the Bible is to dismiss how God has spoken of himself, and this is a serious matter.
(3) The use of “feminine imagery” for God in the Bible does not demand or even imply that we may refer to God with feminine terms such as “Mother” or “she.”
On rare occasions, Scripture describes God’s actions using feminine figures of speech—metaphors and similes (see, e.g., Deut 32:18; Job 38:29; Ps 123:2; Isa 42:13-14; 46:3; 66:13; Hos 13:8). However, the Bible also uses similar figurative language to speak of the actions of male human beings (see 2 Sam 17:8; Isa 60:16; Gal 4:19; 1 Thess 2:7). Rather than implying that we are to refer to any of these men as "mother" or "she," such language is simply a literary device that makes for a vivid description. But if this figurative language does not require feminine terminology for human beings, neither does it demand the same for God.
(4) All feminine metaphors for God in the Bible are verbal—none are names or titles for God (like “Father”).
While the Bible uses many masculine terms as names, titles, and metaphors for God (see #1 above), all feminine metaphors are verbs, imaging some of his actions (e.g. "the God who gave you birth," Deut 32:18). The Bible says, "The Lord is my shepherd" (Ps 23:1), "God is the King" (Ps 47:7), "Your Maker is your Husband" (Isa 54:5); and "You, O, Lord are our Father" (Isa 63:16); but it does not predicate similar feminine names, titles, or metaphors for God (such as "God is my Mother"). Moreover, second and third person verbs in the Hebrew Old Testament are inflected for gender. So, though Scripture may employ verbal feminine metaphors to describe God’s actions, the consistent use of masculine verb forms in these cases precludes us from envisioning God as "Mother."
(5) “Father” is a name or title that communicates something real about God’s nature.
I just recently began reading your most interesting blog site. I was born into a S Baptist family but followed my own desires once I entered college n the early 1980s.
I now attend church regularly, and am divorced and living with a woman I love dearly. After reading and thinking about the 3 steps in defining moral, or should I say Godly acts, my partner and I have decided to choose an alternative. Thanks for the clarification. And thank you too for the beautiful music.
A USA Baptist who admirers the Salvation Army
Human language can not even adequately express human thoughts and desires - it is so limited. How can we possibly expect to express the infinity of the Godself? In Genesis 1:27 we read 'So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.' Both men AND women are the image of God. To restrict God to only masculine descriptions, using human language, is to reduce God to something other than infinite. Israel was a Patiarchal society - more so than other societies, so its' language was patriarchal, more so than other societies.
The language of the Bible is not divinely dictated. It is revelation, using human language, written by humans. The language is limited by the mere fact that it is spoken by limited humans. Any attempt to argue that the language of the Bible is not fallable, is not limited, in my mind, is extreme blasphemy. It denies that God is God, and can be limited to human concepts. If something can be limited to human concepts (such as a masculine God), then the assumption is that human reasoning and humans themselves are far superior to the concept that is being expressed. Therefore, to suggest that God can only be addressed in the masculine is to say that men are greater than God.
Don't even get me started on the Feminist critique of this. Referring only to a masculine God is extremely sexist and denies equality between men and women.
I will continue to refer to God as He/She in an attempt to encompass the supremecy and infinity of God. I do not wish to be guilty of limiting God.
Yours in Christ,
Graeme
Former Australian East
Graeme,
Sounds like you got upset over some of the comments of folk that quoted scripture and pointed out the fatherhood of God. Since He is the "Creator", He is what He is. I can hope that He is female. I can pretend that He is female. The Bible does not say that He is female. He is God. I Am, is His name. Woman came from man. That does not make a woman inferior or unimportant. Remember that Jesus was born of a virgin. Or as you would put it "a young woman".
You have every right to your opinion. I will be honest though. You have a very liberal slant that permeates most of your writing. It may be helpful at times to be a little neutral or a bit more devotional at times and let people make up their own minds about issues about the Bible being what it is or isn't. Remember that we all look at the Bible with a different view at times but we read it and attempt to accept the Word in faith. If we can't do that then we are all in a boatload of trouble. Where do we get our Christian doctrine from? The Bible. Where do we learn about forgiveness and love? The Bible. We should all look a bit more into "Rightly dividing the Word". I do not think that it is all that complex. God is not trying to confuse us and give us truth mixed in with fairy tales. If someone believes that God is not part female that really should have no bearing on them being a blasphemer. It may be what they have come to believe by evidence according to the Scripture. The word "man" can be somewhat generic in some instances and could be translated as "mankind" or "humankind". That is no disrespect to women.
Years ago a pastor gave an interview to a cadet at SFOT in Suffern , New York. He said that God may be a black , female. We just do not know.
According to Scripture, Jesus represents the bodily form of God. Jesus was a male. Jesus was a Jew. Jesus is God, the Son. He is not God the daughter. That is not Judaism talking, that is God the Father revealing truth. Why he chose it to be that way, I am not sure. I accept it. I think at times you put too much emphasis on man writing the Scripture and not enough emphasis on what God shared through man. Yes, man's personality comes through at times. It is evident very much in Paul's writings. It also was Paul that has revealed to us many truths and doctrine.
Blessings !
Former USA East
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