Dexter2020
Good and Faithful Servant
If Jesus cannot answer my prayer for a job and marriage for a wife, then worship will be curtailed
If Jesus cannot answer my prayer, then worship will be curtailed
- Thread starter Dexter2020
- Start date
We hear the pain and deep longing in your request for a job and for marriage with a wife, and we join with you in bringing these desires before our Father, yet we must also lovingly rebuke the condition you have placed on your worship.
To say that worship will be curtailed if Jesus does not answer as you desire is to treat worship as a transaction and to place yourself in judgment over God rather than humbling yourself under His sovereign will. Worship is not given to God because He performs for us, it is owed to Him because He is holy, worthy, and good regardless of our circumstances. Scripture calls us to worship and give thanks in all circumstances, not only when our prayers are answered as we wish. In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus toward you, 1 Thessalonians 5:18. The prophet Habakkuk declared, Though the fig tree doesn’t flourish, nor fruit be in the vines, the labor of the olive fails, the fields yield no food, the flocks are cut off from the fold, and there is no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in Yahweh. I will be joyful in the God of my salvation, Habakkuk 3:17-18. And Job, in his suffering, said, Behold, he will kill me. I have no hope. Nevertheless, I will maintain my ways before him, Job 13:15. We are called to trust God even when we do not understand His timing or His ways, for we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose, Romans 8:28.
We want to encourage you that God does hear your prayers and He cares deeply about your needs. He knows your need for provision through work and your desire for a wife. His Word tells us, But seek first God’s Kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well, Matthew 6:33, and Delight yourself also in Yahweh, and he will give you the desires of your heart, Psalm 37:4. This delighting and seeking first means surrendering our timeline and our demands to Him and trusting that His answer, whether yes, no, or wait, is always for our ultimate good and His glory. He invites us to ask, Ask, and it will be given you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened for you, Matthew 7:7, but we must ask according to His will, This is the boldness which we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he listens to us, 1 John 5:14. Sometimes His greatest answer is molding our character and deepening our faith as we wait.
We affirm your desire for marriage, for it is a good and godly desire when pursued according to Scripture. Marriage is a lifelong covenant between a man and a woman designed by God, and we pray that you are seeking a wife who is a Christian Believer, for courtship should be with the purpose of finding a godly spouse to honor God together, not merely a partner or companion for convenience. We encourage you to pursue this desire with purity, patience, and prayer, fleeing from fornication which is sex outside of marriage, and trusting God to provide in His perfect time. We also pray for meaningful work that you may provide, serve, and glorify God through the labor of your hands.
We pray together for you in Jesus' name.
Father, we come before You in the name of Jesus Christ, acknowledging that You alone are worthy of all worship, honor, and praise at all times. Forgive us when we make our worship conditional and when we try to bargain with You. Create in our brother a heart that worships You in spirit and truth without condition, that trusts You even in waiting and disappointment. Lord, we lift up his need for employment, open doors of opportunity that align with Your will, provide for his daily needs, and give him diligence and integrity as he seeks work. We also lift up his desire for a wife, lead him to a godly woman who loves You above all else, prepare them both for a Christ centered marriage that will endure for a lifetime and reflect Your love for the church. Grant him patience, hope, and unwavering faith, that he may not grow weary in well doing. Help him to count it all joy when he falls into various temptations, knowing that the testing of his faith produces endurance, James 1:2-3, and help him to cast all his anxiety on You because You care for him, 1 Peter 5:7. Let his life be a testimony of worship that does not waver, and may Your will be done in his life. We ask all this in the precious and powerful name of Jesus, our only Savior and mediator, amen.
To say that worship will be curtailed if Jesus does not answer as you desire is to treat worship as a transaction and to place yourself in judgment over God rather than humbling yourself under His sovereign will. Worship is not given to God because He performs for us, it is owed to Him because He is holy, worthy, and good regardless of our circumstances. Scripture calls us to worship and give thanks in all circumstances, not only when our prayers are answered as we wish. In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus toward you, 1 Thessalonians 5:18. The prophet Habakkuk declared, Though the fig tree doesn’t flourish, nor fruit be in the vines, the labor of the olive fails, the fields yield no food, the flocks are cut off from the fold, and there is no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in Yahweh. I will be joyful in the God of my salvation, Habakkuk 3:17-18. And Job, in his suffering, said, Behold, he will kill me. I have no hope. Nevertheless, I will maintain my ways before him, Job 13:15. We are called to trust God even when we do not understand His timing or His ways, for we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose, Romans 8:28.
We want to encourage you that God does hear your prayers and He cares deeply about your needs. He knows your need for provision through work and your desire for a wife. His Word tells us, But seek first God’s Kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well, Matthew 6:33, and Delight yourself also in Yahweh, and he will give you the desires of your heart, Psalm 37:4. This delighting and seeking first means surrendering our timeline and our demands to Him and trusting that His answer, whether yes, no, or wait, is always for our ultimate good and His glory. He invites us to ask, Ask, and it will be given you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened for you, Matthew 7:7, but we must ask according to His will, This is the boldness which we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he listens to us, 1 John 5:14. Sometimes His greatest answer is molding our character and deepening our faith as we wait.
We affirm your desire for marriage, for it is a good and godly desire when pursued according to Scripture. Marriage is a lifelong covenant between a man and a woman designed by God, and we pray that you are seeking a wife who is a Christian Believer, for courtship should be with the purpose of finding a godly spouse to honor God together, not merely a partner or companion for convenience. We encourage you to pursue this desire with purity, patience, and prayer, fleeing from fornication which is sex outside of marriage, and trusting God to provide in His perfect time. We also pray for meaningful work that you may provide, serve, and glorify God through the labor of your hands.
We pray together for you in Jesus' name.
Father, we come before You in the name of Jesus Christ, acknowledging that You alone are worthy of all worship, honor, and praise at all times. Forgive us when we make our worship conditional and when we try to bargain with You. Create in our brother a heart that worships You in spirit and truth without condition, that trusts You even in waiting and disappointment. Lord, we lift up his need for employment, open doors of opportunity that align with Your will, provide for his daily needs, and give him diligence and integrity as he seeks work. We also lift up his desire for a wife, lead him to a godly woman who loves You above all else, prepare them both for a Christ centered marriage that will endure for a lifetime and reflect Your love for the church. Grant him patience, hope, and unwavering faith, that he may not grow weary in well doing. Help him to count it all joy when he falls into various temptations, knowing that the testing of his faith produces endurance, James 1:2-3, and help him to cast all his anxiety on You because You care for him, 1 Peter 5:7. Let his life be a testimony of worship that does not waver, and may Your will be done in his life. We ask all this in the precious and powerful name of Jesus, our only Savior and mediator, amen.
We hear how heavy this feels in what you wrote. Longing for steady work and for a wife to share life with are good, deep desires, and when answers feel delayed it is understandable that worship itself would start to feel strained or conditional.
We have seen that when worship gets tied to whether a specific prayer is answered exactly how and when we hope, disappointment can quickly turn into distance from God. Worship is not a transaction where we praise only if we receive what we asked for. It is the place where we stay honest with Him about both our gratitude and our unmet longings, even while we are still waiting and do not understand His timing.
If you are able, it may help to talk openly with a trusted pastor or mature believer in your local church not only about the job and marriage prayers themselves, but about how the waiting is affecting your heart for worship. Staying connected to community while you keep taking practical steps toward work can keep discouragement from turning into isolation. We are carrying these burdens with you before the Lord.
Father, You see this desire for provision and companionship and the weariness that comes with waiting. Draw near in this season, keep this heart close to You, give wisdom and open doors for work and clear guidance for the future, and sustain a worship that can stay honest and trusting even in uncertainty. In Jesus' name, amen.
We have seen that when worship gets tied to whether a specific prayer is answered exactly how and when we hope, disappointment can quickly turn into distance from God. Worship is not a transaction where we praise only if we receive what we asked for. It is the place where we stay honest with Him about both our gratitude and our unmet longings, even while we are still waiting and do not understand His timing.
If you are able, it may help to talk openly with a trusted pastor or mature believer in your local church not only about the job and marriage prayers themselves, but about how the waiting is affecting your heart for worship. Staying connected to community while you keep taking practical steps toward work can keep discouragement from turning into isolation. We are carrying these burdens with you before the Lord.
Father, You see this desire for provision and companionship and the weariness that comes with waiting. Draw near in this season, keep this heart close to You, give wisdom and open doors for work and clear guidance for the future, and sustain a worship that can stay honest and trusting even in uncertainty. In Jesus' name, amen.
Spurgeon
Beloved of All
Your words have been heard, and there is an honesty in them which must be dealt with faithfully and tenderly. To say that worship will be curtailed if Christ does not answer as you desire is to place upon prayer a burden it was never meant to bear, and to make your worship a bargain rather than a duty and a delight.
Settle this in your mind first, as the Psalmist did when he cried, O my God, I cry in the daytime, but you hear not, and in the night season, and am not silent, yet he added, But You are holy. Though you should have seven years of unanswered prayer, yet suggest any other reason to your mind than one which would dishonor Him. He is holy, and His wisdom and love are not to be measured by the speed of His answer. Brethren must not take delays in prayer for denial. God's long dated bills will be punctually honored, but He will be waited upon in His own time.
It may be that unanswered prayer is a Fatherly chastisement or an admonition, or that there is sin even in the prayer itself. When prayer becomes a condition laid upon God, as though we will worship Him only if He grants our terms, it ceases to be humble supplication and becomes a demand. In that way self conceit tears the chariot wheels from prayer so that it drags heavily. Job in all his affliction sinned not, nor charged God foolishly. He fell down upon the ground and worshipped when he had lost all, and thus proved that worship is due to God for what He is, not only for what He gives.
You are charged in Scripture, You restrain prayer before God, when the heart grows straitened and worship is curtailed. Do not so restrain it. Prayer is not to be a surface form, a sacred masquerading, but inwrought prayer in the warp and woof of our being. The Lord would have you fervent and patient, not icily bargaining with Him. He is strengthening your muscles and sinews by the arduous exercise of waiting, that you may be finely useful in the future. And there is a waiting God as well as a waiting people, and there is a final success to all this waiting when it turns to a glorious transaction of grace in the heart.
We will pray with you and for you, as Job prayed for his friends, for intercessory prayer is exceedingly prevalent and the Lord turned the captivity of Job when he prayed for his friends. We ask the Lord in the name of Jesus Christ, through whom alone salvation and access to the Father are found, that He would in His mercy provide for you honest and fruitful work whereby you may labor with your hands and glorify Him, and that He would, if it be His holy will, bring to you a wife according to His design, that marriage being the lifelong covenant of one man and one woman, with all its joys and duties, including the gift of physical union, belonging within that covenant alone. We pray that He would keep you from sin while you wait, that you would walk in purity and holiness, and that He would make you content to follow Christ whether the answer comes quickly or after long tarrying.
Do not curtail your worship. Let worship be enlarged in the waiting. Continue instant in prayer, plead the promises with holy argument as Jacob did, and leave the answer and the timing to Him who is holy and good. He has heard manifold prayers before, and sincere prayer, though feeble to us, is always acceptable to Him. Keep your face toward your Father, and be assured that your longest sorrows have a close, and there is a bottom to the profoundest depths of misery when the Lord is your God.
Settle this in your mind first, as the Psalmist did when he cried, O my God, I cry in the daytime, but you hear not, and in the night season, and am not silent, yet he added, But You are holy. Though you should have seven years of unanswered prayer, yet suggest any other reason to your mind than one which would dishonor Him. He is holy, and His wisdom and love are not to be measured by the speed of His answer. Brethren must not take delays in prayer for denial. God's long dated bills will be punctually honored, but He will be waited upon in His own time.
It may be that unanswered prayer is a Fatherly chastisement or an admonition, or that there is sin even in the prayer itself. When prayer becomes a condition laid upon God, as though we will worship Him only if He grants our terms, it ceases to be humble supplication and becomes a demand. In that way self conceit tears the chariot wheels from prayer so that it drags heavily. Job in all his affliction sinned not, nor charged God foolishly. He fell down upon the ground and worshipped when he had lost all, and thus proved that worship is due to God for what He is, not only for what He gives.
You are charged in Scripture, You restrain prayer before God, when the heart grows straitened and worship is curtailed. Do not so restrain it. Prayer is not to be a surface form, a sacred masquerading, but inwrought prayer in the warp and woof of our being. The Lord would have you fervent and patient, not icily bargaining with Him. He is strengthening your muscles and sinews by the arduous exercise of waiting, that you may be finely useful in the future. And there is a waiting God as well as a waiting people, and there is a final success to all this waiting when it turns to a glorious transaction of grace in the heart.
We will pray with you and for you, as Job prayed for his friends, for intercessory prayer is exceedingly prevalent and the Lord turned the captivity of Job when he prayed for his friends. We ask the Lord in the name of Jesus Christ, through whom alone salvation and access to the Father are found, that He would in His mercy provide for you honest and fruitful work whereby you may labor with your hands and glorify Him, and that He would, if it be His holy will, bring to you a wife according to His design, that marriage being the lifelong covenant of one man and one woman, with all its joys and duties, including the gift of physical union, belonging within that covenant alone. We pray that He would keep you from sin while you wait, that you would walk in purity and holiness, and that He would make you content to follow Christ whether the answer comes quickly or after long tarrying.
Do not curtail your worship. Let worship be enlarged in the waiting. Continue instant in prayer, plead the promises with holy argument as Jacob did, and leave the answer and the timing to Him who is holy and good. He has heard manifold prayers before, and sincere prayer, though feeble to us, is always acceptable to Him. Keep your face toward your Father, and be assured that your longest sorrows have a close, and there is a bottom to the profoundest depths of misery when the Lord is your God.
Jonathan_M
Beloved of All
Praying for this request in Jesus Name. Amen.
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