Cherlyn
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Posts posted by Cherlyn
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Q3. Do you think Abraham's boldness pleased God? Why or why not? What might cause God to take delight in your prayers to him?
Yes, Abraham showed respect for Him and love for others. It showed he felt comfortable with God and knew he could approach Him. He kew he could share his concern. God delights in relationship with His people. For us to go to Him shows our love, our need and our desire for fellowship.
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Q2. How did Abraham demonstrate his humility before God? Why must boldness be tempered with humility?
Abraham was direct and respectful. He was pleading for God's people. He had a heart for the righteous to be spared and a love and respect for His Master. Boldness with respect is honorable.
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Q1. What is the basis of Abraham's argument that God should spare Sodom? How does it relate to God's character?
As long as there were righteous in Sodom there was hope. He wanted the righteous to be spared.
Mercy. God is mercy and grace.
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Q4. How can prayer change God's mind without conflicting with the doctrine of the Immutability of God? Can God answer a prayer for something outside of the scope of his will?
We cannot change His mind from anything that is contrary to God's character. God is God, He will not be changed. When we pray asking for a different outcome it must be within the paramiters of God's character.
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Q3. How can a wrong understanding of determinism and predestination keep us from the kind of gutsy prayer that Moses prayed? What do you call a belief that our prayers make no difference to God's response?
If we do not pray the kind of gutsy prayer as Moses we are not acting in a faithful trusting manner. Clearly Moses prayed in a way that God heard his heart and relented. If we have the attitude that our prayers make no difference and that everything is going to happen the way it will, we are not living, we are but puppets-existing.
If I thought my prayers made no difference, I would be hopeless.
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Q2. What aspects of Moses' prayer of intercession should we emulate in our own prayers? Upon what logical grounds does Moses offer this bold appeal to God? What do you think it means to "pray the promises of God"? How does knowing the Bible help you get your prayers answered? How does this help our prayers be within God's will?
We can plead with the Lord just as Moses did for those we love. We should use his pray as a template for our own.
Moses uses the grounds of God's promises, character and love for His own people.
God made a covenant with Hi people. We are to pray into the promises of God reminding Him of that covenant.
When we know God's word we can use His own words to pray back to Him for our deepest concerns.
When we pray His own words to Him we are in His will. We are given discernment in our prayer through His word.
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Q1. Read Exodus 32:1-14. What had the people done that was so bad? How can a loving God be angry? Is God's sentence to destroy Israel and raise up a new nation through Moses justified?
They had made graven idols out of their jewelry because of their impatience. They had worshipped and placed their trust in those idols.
God was angry because of their impatience. He saw them stubborn and hard-headed. He was ready to destroy them.
Justified? Yes. He was still going to fulfill His promise of the descendants, however thanks be that Moses had the compassion and love for the people which God had placed in him to plead their case. God relented.
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Q4. Why should we continually ask forgiveness? How can unforgiveness on our part block God's blessing? How can unforgiveness block God's forgiveness?
We are not perfect. We mess things up and sin all the time. We have to ask God to examine us and show us our sin. Sometimes we have sins that have become part of our personality and therefore we nurse them or are not even aware of them. God in His grace will point sin out to us and then we must confess and turn. Sometimes it is painful mostly it is humbling. Unforgiveness blocks our relationship with God because is breaks fellowship with Him through disobedience. I well remember once thinking and saying to God "but God it was my child" only to quickly hear "He is My Son, I forgave and forgive." There is no choice in the matter, we must forgive.
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Q3. Why do we seek to be independent of asking anyone for help? Why do we seek to be independent of God? Why should we ask God to "give" us daily bread so long as we can earn a living for ourselves?
Our sin nature is seen as little children in the statement "I do it myself." We do not want to be dependant. We want to be in control. Truly our only way to be in control is to totally surrender to His control. He is our one true provider. He wants us to ask Him to give us what we need. He is our Father.
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Surrender. We ask for His kingdom to come and surrender our lives to His plan. We ask submitting our lives to Him. We should be affected by this by living a life laid down to His will. We should be expectant of His power and guidance in our lives. Sadly we mostly do not live this way, we tend to go off in our own direction busy and preoccupied.
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Q2. In what sense are we asking that the Father's kingdom should come? Why are we asking for the Father's will to be done here on earth? How should this prayer affect our living?
Q4. Persistence
in 3. Abraham's Prayer for Sodom (Genesis 18:16-33)
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Abraham showed persistence by continuing to plead for fewer and fewer righteous ones. He showed he honored God but cared deeply about God's people. He did not stop with the first request. Persistent prayer shows our heart and the depth of our concern. It shows our faith and our trust in Him. I am "praying through" now. It is like waiting. You just hold on and trust and wait, with thanks and expectancy.