Unanswered prayer

Tarry in the city of Jerusalem, until you are endued with power from on high. Luke 24:49

He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father. Acts 1:4

These waiting days were necessary to enable the disciples to realize their need, their nothingness, their failure and their dependence upon the Master. They had to get emptied first, before they could get filled.

There is one class of mercies and blessings, of which we are not sufficiently ready to take note. These are the things that God keeps from us. We recount, with more or less gratitude, the good gifts that we receive from him; but there are many blessings that consist in our not receiving.

In one of Miss Havergal's bright flashes of spiritual truth, she quotes these words of Moses to the Israelites: "As for you, the Lord your God has not allowed you so to do." Then she adds, "What a stepping-stone! We give thanks, often with a tearful, doubtful voice, for our positive spiritual mercies; but what an almost infinite field there is for negative mercies! We cannot even imagine all that God has allowed us not to do, not to be."

Genesis 37:5, 45:4-5 NKJV
Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; and they hated him even more.... And Joseph said to his brothers, "Please come near to me." So they came near. Then he said: "I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life."

God isn’t in the business of fulfilling our dreams; rather, we should be in the business of fulfilling His will.

I recently read an article in a Christian magazine about a woman whose dream in life was finally fulfilled. She wrote:

When Jesus returned to Capernaum several days later, the news spread quickly that he was back home. Soon the house where he was staying was so packed with visitors that there was no more room, even outside the door. While he was preaching God’s word to them, four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a mat. They couldn’t bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, so they dug a hole through the roof above his head. Then they lowered the man on his mat, right down in front of Jesus. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “My child, your sins are forgiven.” [Mark 2:1-5]

Do you believe God heals?

Acronyms can help when we feel we do not know how to pray. Write your favorites inside the cover of your Bible so they are handy. Here are some suggestions:

What is prayer?
PRAYER - Positive Reassuring Action Yielding Eternal Results


How to remember types of prayer:
ACTS - Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and Supplication

PRAY - Praise, Repentance, Asking for others and asking for Yourself

PRAY - Praise Repent Ask and Yield

Do you know of any others? If so, submit them! We would love to hear from you.