is this true?

[rockwell]

Hi all, About 3 weeks ago my pastor said from the pulpit on a sunday morning meeting that be believed there were times when God would get tired (kind of sick) of us when we ask and ask and ask.... for things i suppose. I was raised believing that God is a God of mercy, Love and that He made us the way we are (meaning= inmature, childish etc) so that we may grow and learn to trust Him more.

I also believe that it pleases God when i ask and ask for things because i am putting my trust in Him rather that on my own abilities or strenght. I don't think there anything i can do that will make God get tired of me or my prayers.... Is my pastor right??? Did i misunderstand him???



I love my pastor very much and lately he's been under a lot of pressure...

any thoughts???

 

[scott29]

hi rockwell,

1 Thessalonians 5:17 says "Pray without ceasing.". Notice the period on that verse. It doesn't get any more simple than that. God delights in hearing our prayers, and I don't believe He ever tires of it. If He did, we wouldn't be instructed by His word to "pray without ceasing".

And I think you hit the nail on the head about God being pleased when you ask for things because it shows your reliance on Him. You have the right idea.

God bless!
Scott

 

[Knight]

What is he assuming that you're asking for?

Remember the parable of the Persistent Widow (Luke 18:1-8)

God wants us to pray for our needs. We are however, to pray according to his will (1 John 5:14-15). If we ask something that is not according to the will of God then you can be sure you're answer is going to be no.

I have no idea the context to which your pastor was addressing his comment. Therefore, I am reluctant to judge wether the statement was right or wrong.

 

[Sharky]

I'm not sure what your pastor was referring to but it could be this verse:

MAtt 6:7
"And when you pray, do not heap up phrases (multiply words, repeating the same ones over and over) as the Gentiles do, for they think they will be heard for their much speaking."

Basically if i talked to you like this. Or like that. Or like this. Or like that. Or like this. Or like that. Or like this. Or like that.

God is going to be like "I heard you the first time."

Praying unceasingly is different. When you pray, you talk to God.

You won't normally pray to Him by going over and over and over and over again on the same thing.

Same reason why it's a bad idea for me to talk to you like this you know? Cause if i talk to you like this. It gets boring. So talking like this is silly. Therefore talking to you like this is a bad idea. Then you'll get bored of me talking to you like this. So it's a good idea for me to stop talking to you like this because talking like this is extremely annoying and it leads nowhere.


LOL!

 

[TheThirdLink]

 

[Cubbs]

Can you ask Him to clarify what He meant?

 

[songz777]

Nope, God says ASK ASK ASK He never gets weary of us, He longs for us to ask for things, Jesus taught us to be like the widow in Luke 18:1... persist, pester, keep asking until God helps you. God wants you to both Him like a dripping tap..He wants you tp pray and pray and He wants your fellowship in pray.
The whole bible is saturated with ask ask ask .. so keep on going brov.
Bless u john

 

[Endure2]

well im not going to say "no".
and i certainly will not lead you in anyway, toward being in disagreement with your pastor.

just one question?
do you believe this is the man of God that God has put in your life to raise you up and keep you? do you consider him your divinely appointed pastor?

i know this may sound strange but go with me...
if you said yes, you need to take a lower state, and just sit and listen.
you dont know what this man knows, and even if you occasionally find a flaw in his theology, even if you can prove it, keep yourself humble and respect him, becuase HE HAS STILL BEEN THROUGH THINGS WITH GOD THAT YOU HAVE NOT, HE KNOWS MUCH YOU DO NOT, AND HAS DONE MUCH THAT YOU HAVE NOT. you may have spent 6 hours studying and found a detailed flaw in his theology, BUT THAT DOESNT MEAN ANYTHING.
HES STILL BEEN THROUGH COUNTLESS VALLEYS AND PLAINS THAT YOU HAVENT BEGUN TO EXPERIENCE AND HAS LOADS OF WISDOM THAT YOU DO NOT HAVE. and you need to sit and listen.
dont speak up, just sit and listen... God has appointed him the teacher, and you the student. and even if the man is not perfect, God will still use that man to teach and form you, and you kill what God is trying to do, the moment you allow disrespect or disapproval to come in. love him and accept and support him and all he does.

NEVER, I DONT CARE WHO IT IS OR WHAT REASON THEY HAVE, NEVER JOIN A BUNCH OF FOLKS WHO ARE INTENT ON PROVING YOUR PASTOR WRONG.
and if he is wrong, you can realise it... but move on quickly and stay humble and stay the student. if you could do what he was doing better than him, God would have put you there and not him.

im not saying your wrong or anything, im just staying that you need to know all that, and if you already do, well good and please dont forget it, becuase it is vital to your life and calling.

quick story if you dont mind.
i know 2 people personally...
both of them young men who loved God and were called into the ministry. both of them were asked to come sit on the front row with the pastors.
both of them were priviledged with much fellowship and mentorship from the pastors.
1 of them began having disagreements, and he even had diffrent reasons that he felt strongly about, he wanted to discuss and argue with the men God had put over him.

1 of them stayed humble, didnt speak up much, just sat and listened, when he disagreed he simply assumed he must be wrong somehow or their was something he still didnt understand. he was waiting for the day and time for him to speak, but he knew this wasnt it.

1 of those men is in the ministry today, and he is one the most passionate, power, wise, men of God that i have ever known.
1 of those men is no where to be found, and i have reason to believe hes off addicted to drugs somewhere. fallen away from God and Gods purpose in his life.

the one who stayed quiet and humble, and waited for his day, found his day, it did come. hes still here, the other man who was intent on disagreeing is nowhere to be found...

even if your pastor is techniquly wrong, he is still the man God has put in your life to raise you up, and hes well able, stay quiet and humble and listen.

and people who do not fear speaking evil of dignitaries, elders, and preachers in the church, be wary of those kind of people... they wont be around long and evil follows them becuase of their pride.

Their is a way that your pastor is correct, when we ask and ask and ask...
but we dont worship and praise and love on him and spend with him simply for the sake of being with him regardless of him giving us things.
we treat God like hes our prostitute... we just come and get off, and get our stuff, but we dont really care about how he really feels.
hes just ours to use.
and i assume thats your pastor meant something like that, becuase i assume he was telling the truth, becuase hes your pastor.

you should always assume your pastor is right, never get in the habit of not taking his word for it, their is a reason God made him the pastor in your life. and if he is wrong, hes human, but hes still your pastor, and hes still the man of God in your life.

their are a number of TRUTHS your pastor could have been refering to actually.

im not saying you are wrong in anyway, i assume you know all this already, im just saying.
and remember, the bible says to speak evil of no man. certainly not your pastor.

 

[Endure2]

sorry, just had another great thought that my pastor says alot.
ya know, we are called to submit to our pastors and leaders.

but submission is not true submission untill its something we do not agree with.

if we already agree, thats not submission, thats just following something we would want to anyway, that doesnt take any kind of submission or servanthood out of us.

SUBMISSION IS NOT SUBMISSION, UNTILL YOU DONT AGREE!

if you can agree to do something you dont agree with for whatever reason, THEN, AND ONLY THEN, have you submitted to do something. if DID agree, thats simply not submission, that just isnt what submission means.
though we are called to submit...

i was once told by a fellow believer, that if your pastor says something, doit, even if hes a little off, and God will deal with him, thats not your place.

my God...
"if all we do is what we know is right... we really arent submitting to God or anyone else. "

youve only submitted, when youve done something you did not agree with. and God has called us to submit.

though i trust my pastor to know better than me, and you should to.

 

[Mr.Cheese]

Well, jesus often taught the value of persistence in prayer.

The parable of the unrighteous judge is one example.
Or the friend at night.

I didn't hear the sermon so I can't comment on it. But persistence in prayer is a virtue.
What we're praying for may be another matter.

 

[tammyhw67]

pray without ceasing, maybe you should privately talk to your pastor and ask him what he meant. Even a pastor can make a mistake, yes we are to respect those in authority but , if what is being preached is not lining up with the word of God then we need to do what is in line with the bible, pray about it and ask God to show you what to do about it, I will pray also. GOD BLESS

 

[Beauty4Ashes]

pray without ceasing but within God's will

SO first to save yourself a lot of time and energy, pray for God to give you discernment to know His will. Because any prayers you pray that are not inside his will are not going to be answered anyways. So if you don't have the discernment to start with, it's pretty much just a shot in the dark, and you may as well be praying for something you actually are meant to receive.

 

[rockwell]

I think I now kind of understand what he meant when he said that but if I do have the chance I will definitely have a chat with him privately and ask him.

God is good and I will never stop praying, no matter what. Also, I will never stop asking for good things because my conviction tells me to acknowledge God is everything that I do, want, wish for or even dream about…

So thank you guys/gals for all your good advice!!!

 

[honeybee2]

my God...
"if all we do is what we know is right... we really arent submitting to God or anyone else. "

youve only submitted, when youve done something you did not agree with. and God has called us to submit.

though i trust my pastor to know better than me, and you should to.

"If a man knows to do good, and does it not, to him it is sin."
And as for trusting your pastor, we are to have no man between us and God, except the man Christ Jesus. Always question and check out in the word what is told you from the pulpit, because many are led astray in this way. The word warns us about those 'teachers' who will lead us astray. We alone are responsible for what we know. Do not trust anyone with the salvation of your soul, or the walk in your life. You alone are responsible before God. You have every right to question your pastor and to clear up what he really meant by what he said. It may be that he is mistaken, and God will use you to bring him around to the truth.
But this must be done in a spirit of love, not pride.

 

[Endure2]

the only thing is,

there is a diffrence between

1. not being sure about something becuase you realise and admit your young and naive in ways of spiritual principles, and trusting your pastor in those times, and realising you could be wrong, and probly are if someone you know who has walked the walk thinks diffrent than you.

and
2. doing something you dont know for a fact is right or wrong, becuase you could careless either way. because that goes to show you dont fear God, and that is sin.

from my own experience,
people who tend to quickly quote scriptures that pertain to their freedom from bondagde of people and their sole reliance on God, arent actuallly expressing their deep inward relationship with God himself, or a commitedness to him against all odds.
but rather expressing their inward desire to be acountable to no-one.

God gave us teachers and preachers and prophets for the edification of the church, and im sure you agree.
and im also sure you agree that we mere men are often very naive, ignorant and foolish, and cannot even begin to grasp many of the things of God.
so i believe he gave us walking talking examples of himself, that can be trusted and should be.
paul the apostle did not say "NOW DONT TAKE MY WORD FOR IT, YOU CANT TRUST ME, SEEK GOD FOR YOURSELF" he said follow me as i follow Christ.

there are such a thing as living epistles.

our lives ought never be considered proofs of truth, but they should be a great amount of evidence toward the truth. my pastors is.

 

[Daughter of His]

I'll tell you one of my experiences with repeated prayers. My Dad was not saved and we prayed earnestly almost nightly for him for at least 2 1/2 years. It's amazing how many different ways you can ask for the same thing. Finally one day my Dad said yes, he believed. Dad accepted Jesus as his saviour and was baptized. My Dad is with the Lord now and I am thankful that God heard my cries. My advice, keep on asking and knocking. I'm still praising Him for saving my Dad. Thank you Lord !

 

[Lilly of the Valley]

Persistance itself is good, but if it's for something you know that isn't in the Lord's will for you or you have selfish motives then that can be a problem.