Quote:
Originally Posted by Timmy
I attended a child's funeral, once. Good Christian family. Pentecostals. Believers in miracles. I think the boy was about 10 years old. Lukemia.
I didn't pry into the affairs of this family and have no desire to. They've been through hell. But I can't help wondering what they might think is the reason their son is now "in heaven" (as they would say). Well, the Bible offers some "help" in understanding it.
"You have not because you ask not."
Well, I can't believe that was it. I had already stopped attending that church when the child was diagnosed, so I can't say for sure, but I don't imagine that nobody asked God to heal him. So let's try again.
"Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts."
Uh. Hmm. Nah. Don't think so.
"The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."
Ah. Now there's a possibility. The prayer needs to be fervent. Maybe they didn't wail loudly enough, or pull enough all-nighters, or something. And then there's that "righteous man" thing. And after all, "There is none righteous, no, not one." (Goes without saying that their prayers were not "effectual".)
"And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us."
Aha! God will do whatever you ask that is according to his will! Bingo! They asked for something that God didn't want to do!
I can only hope they have done this same study and found the answer. If they have, I'm sure it is a great comfort.
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Reasons for someone not being healed include
Lack of faith, not necessarily on the part of the person needing healing either
It wasn't God's will
The Church isn't ready
The bible makes it clear Timmy that miracles don't always happen upon one simple prayer
Jesus spent 40 days praying and fasting before beginning His ministry and then afterwards continued to regularly pray probably three times a day
HOUR(S) OF PRAYER[Gk hṓra tḗs proseuchḗs]. The phrase “hour of prayer” occurs only in
Acts 3:1: Peter and John went up to the temple “at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour” (but see also
Lk. 1:10;
Acts 10:3, 9[?], 30). This narrative reflects the Jewish custom in NT times of regular hours of prayer three times a day.
The Jewish tradition of thrice-daily hours of prayer is already expressed in the OT (cf.
Ps. 55:17 [MT 18]; Dnl. 6:10 [MT 11]; though 1 Ch. 23:30 reflects a twice-daily pattern). The exact times of the three hours, however, and the religious or cultic reasons for them are not easy to determine. The reference to morning, noon, and evening in
Ps. 55:17 led some to regard the 3rd, 6th, and 9th hours of the day as the hours of prayer. But the more common and perhaps more important Jewish tradition was to regard the three hours of prayer as morning (3rd hour), afternoon (9th hour), and evening (12th hour). The morning and afternoon (sometimes translated “evening”) sacrifices (
Ex. 29:38–42; 2 K. 16:15) became the occasions for the morning (
Ps. 5:3 [MT 4]) and afternoon (
Ps. 141:2;
Ezr. 9:5) hours of prayer. Another hour of prayer at sunset was then added.
Although the NT does not directly advocate regular hours of prayer (whether twice or thrice daily), the post-apostolic Church soon came to call the 3rd, 6th, and 9th hours of the day the “apostolic hours” of prayer (based on the apostolic precedents in
Acts 3:1; 10:3, 9, 30)
Bandstra, A. J. (1979–1988). Hour(s) of Prayer. In G. W. Bromiley (Ed.), . Vol. 2: The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Revised (G. W. Bromiley, Ed.) (769). Wm. B. Eerdmans.
Most of the church does not follow His example. We are far too distracted