Answered Prayer

In my other Blog (www.bwwsot.blogspot.com), which is about the false teachings about the Britt World Wide (BWW) motivational organization attached to the Amway / Quixtar business, I analyzed a tape under the title of “Is Quixtar the Hummer that will lead you to your dreams?” I found the following teaching in that tape: Your prayers will never go unanswered if you pray with a right heart; a right attitude. I wanted to expand on this point from a biblical perspective.

Old Testament

I was in a Bible study last night where we discussed the story of Gideon (found in Judges 6-8). In chapter 6 verse 12 we read “The LORD is with you, O Valiant warrior”. Now, if you read the context, Gideon was your classic wimp. In fact, the Angel of the Lord caught up with him as he was hiding his only food from the enemy so he didn’t have to fight to protect it! This ‘valiant warrior’ stuff got to Gideon, so he asked God for a sign immediately (vs. 19-22). Later, he asked again two nights in a row for a miraculous sign of his victory (vs. 36-40).

To understand the context, Gideon was not TESTING God, he was asking for a sign, which was the Hebrew thing to do. That people always wanted a sign (which humorously was rejected in asking for a sign that Christ was God [Matthew 12:38-42]); this aspect does not apply to us today. What does apply is prayer, which DID apply then as well. It seems that some people confuse those two points. Prayer goes back to the book of Genesis where we read about the first prayer (Genesis 20:7) with the last reference in Revelation (Rev 8:4)

Praying in the New Testament

Prayer is actually misunderstood as it also tangles a twisted web with sovereignty, election, reprobation, and a host of other theological issues. I believe that prayer will change the course of things, but never outside the sovereignty of God. For example, I believe that the doctrine of election is very biblical and very clear. As such, I do not believe I can pray a reprobate into election (though I must pray anyway because I also lack the power to discern an elect from a reprobate), but I can, through prayer, effect the timing of ones salvation (this is just a thought and is open to correction if you have a clear argument to the contrary). There are also a host of other things that occur with prayer that I or anyone else would be foolish to suggest he knows what they all are. We do, however, have some particularly clear things about what prayer can and can not do.

Let us now examine the phrase: Your prayers will never go unanswered if you pray with a right heart; a right attitude.

In Charles Capps (a proponent of Word-Faith) “The Tongue – A Creative Force” page 12 we read:

YOU CAN SPEAK GOD’S WORDS AFTER HIM AND THEY WILL WORK FOR YOU. But, they must be formed in your spirit. They must be a part of you. They must abide in you continually.

Above that, we read that “Faith will make prayer work”

Apparently, all this means that God will give us our desires if we speak them (i.e. prayer) and have faith; i.e. a right heart and a right attitude. The Bible verse often pulled out to accompany such is found in Mark 11:23:

Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea’, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted of him.

This verse relates to a metaphor, as John MacArthur states in the “MacArthur Study Bible” “’rooter up of mountains’, which was used in Jewish literature of great rabbis and spiritual leaders who could solve difficult problems and seemingly do the impossible.”

Examine now James 4:3:

You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.

Notice the negative conditional. The condition of the heart or the attitude is not that which is in question, but your motives. When we are conformed to the image of Christ, we will pray is motives that are pure, and in total alignment with the will of God. If you listen to the tape where I got the initial phrase in question, it was very cult-like and sought to fill your pleasures.

What is conformity to the image of Christ? It is acknowledgement of Christ as fully God and fully man, faith that since He rose from the dead, He can raise you as well, and obedience to the Word of God (The latter of those will be the RESULT of the former two). This should involve a confession of your sins and the need for a savior, being broken over who you are, and repentance, which is literally to change your mind about the sins you commit and lose the desire to do those sins. Contact me should you want more information.

I’m sure volumes more could be written on this topic, but that will have to do for now.

X

Stop your whining, you little Brat!

Sadly, some parents do talk to their kids like that. Even more sad, is the proliferation of books to teach the parents NOT to talk to their kids like that. Very sad, indeed. That language is a good sign that something is not right in your heart. How then, do you handle a child that whines?

Well, let me start by saying I have over 11 years of work with kids. Very few, if any, ever whine to me. Those that do, tend to only do it once. Why is that? I will tell you later, but first, here is what the experts say:

Starting with James Dobson (I must say that as a Christian, I do NOT like or support the majority of his work). On July 20, 2005, his ‘James Dobson Family Minute’ was talking about how to stop your child’s whining. It struck me when I heard it because it was similar to the ‘advice’ given by some other books I was reading at the time. I disagreed with the books and then also with Dobson. His advice for when your child whines:

I can’t hear you; you are talking with a whiny voice. My ears are funny and I can’t hear a whiny voice.

He explains that once you hear the normal voice, you say ‘OK, now I can hear you’.

To examine this, the Bible is very clear about lying. 2 Peter 2:1 states:

Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.

This includes little white lies and those such instances which you are USING THE LIE TO CHANGE THE BEHAVIOR OF YOUR CHILD! This is a form of manipulation.

I thought it funny that Dobson also stated in that same message that any behavior learned by reinforcement will be retained. What happens when your child takes after you and starts to use ‘little white lies’ to change YOUR behavior. I think you see that you may have bitten off more than you can chew.

Other suggestions in the field are such things as leave a note for your child, even if he can’t read. Such will result in him running to you to ask what it says which point you can ‘non- threateningly’ tell him ‘oh, it says mommy and daddy don’t like to hear a whiny voice’. I think there are a few other methods as well, but my books on the topic are still packed away. I’ll post more later as I see it.

What works:

I mentioned earlier that I have never had many kids whine to me. How do I accomplish this? I simply understand a few points:

1. Kids need attention

2. Kids are fallen creatures and prone to the same sins that we are

3. Kids are made in the image of God and need to be treated with total respect

Method:

1. LISTEN TO THEM. They are whining because they feel hurt, alone, or scared.

2. Help with any immediate need. They may just want to be held, they may need to understand a brother or sister just yelled at them (which needs dealt with), they may need to know that you are indeed thinking of them, they may need to be told politely and with love to go and play for a little while.

Considerations:

1. YOU are the parent; the child has one and only one command from God: Obedience! This means that you don’t bow down to his every need, but you are polite and considerate of his feelings, especially because a child’s feelings can be hurt a lot easier than an adults.

2. You must learn the balance between your child’s needs and desires. You need to help to meet the needs, but not necessarily the desires. Use the desires as first point disciplinary devices, NEVER the needs.

3. Don't try to do more for your child then you need to. It can be damaging doing everything for him, particularly if he can do it for himself; however, doing such things occationally is not a bad thing, especailly if he has a lot od stess and might need help with things from time to time.

I have found all these points critical. The child will honestly stop whining if you treat him like a person.