Why Answered Prayer Will (Usually) Be Indistinguishable From Chance
Fulfilled prayer makes a wonderful testimony, but a bad apologetic. Mainly because when you pray "God help me find such a thing" or "God heal this person in Jesus' name" you usually don't get the answer you're hoping for. On the other hand, your prayer might be answered. But, you know, while it will be incredible for you, it won't really be for others. Fulfilled prayer is still a very subjective experience (objective fulfilment notwithstanding).
But don't despair if you've managed to find your long lost wallet after a week of hard prayer and looking, and nobody else thinks its so great.
Of course, that hardly means that finding your wallet isn't all that great. It's wonderful- you prayed to God, and now you've found it.
Cynically speaking, one wonders whether you would've found it with or without recourse to prayer.
We can say the same for healings of sicknesses or other things as well. We really can't know whether it was answered prayer or nature merely taking its course.
But such a distinction, I think, is not supportable by the Bible. As Ephesians 1:11 puts it:
In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will
Also known as Providence, it is God's constant control over every single thing. So we really can't make a dichotomy (of sorts) between divine intervention and natural processes, because both are controlled by God. So miracles of Providence is what fulfilled prayers are.
So that's the reason answered prayers are usually indistinguishable from chance- because God uses "chance" to answer prayer.
Oh yeah...one other thing I learned and always keep in mind: God always answers prayer. It's just that it will be a yes, a no, or a not yet.
But don't despair if you've managed to find your long lost wallet after a week of hard prayer and looking, and nobody else thinks its so great.
Of course, that hardly means that finding your wallet isn't all that great. It's wonderful- you prayed to God, and now you've found it.
Cynically speaking, one wonders whether you would've found it with or without recourse to prayer.
We can say the same for healings of sicknesses or other things as well. We really can't know whether it was answered prayer or nature merely taking its course.
But such a distinction, I think, is not supportable by the Bible. As Ephesians 1:11 puts it:
In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will
Also known as Providence, it is God's constant control over every single thing. So we really can't make a dichotomy (of sorts) between divine intervention and natural processes, because both are controlled by God. So miracles of Providence is what fulfilled prayers are.
So that's the reason answered prayers are usually indistinguishable from chance- because God uses "chance" to answer prayer.
Oh yeah...one other thing I learned and always keep in mind: God always answers prayer. It's just that it will be a yes, a no, or a not yet.
This entry was posted
on Monday, September 25, 2006 at 3:51 PM.
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