When God says No!

So what are your thoughts on when God says No. No, I won't dramatically intervene so your life can be easier (ie my situation). No, I won't work a miracle so children are not raped or killed by their parents. No, I won't fix the crisis in Darfur and thousands of people die. No, I won't keep your mother/father/brother/sister from dying. Obviously to even begin to answer the question you must believe there is a God. Which I do and some of you do too.

In the Old Testament God says to the Children of Israel...you follow me and I will bless you, you will lack for nothing, lions will starve but you will eat. If we, as Christians, are modern "descendants" of Abraham does this apply to us?

Have you heard of the prosperity gospel? It is VERY popular right now. "Claim God's promises and they will be yours". I had a boss and co-workers who took this to heart. One who was dying of breast cancer went to a faith healer and believed she would be healed if she had enough faith. I mentioned to her adult daughter that there was some new stuff out that might help her mom. The daughter said to me, "we have faith she will be healed. We can't even think of that stuff."...it says if you have faith size of a mustard seed you can move a mountain. My boss's business was heading down hill because of the recession. He held prayer lunches and prayed around his office to bring in God's Spirit to prosper his business. Did it work?

Here are some Bible texts:
* (Deuteronomy 8:18) "But you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day" (New American Standard Bible)
* (Malachi 3:10) "'Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,' says the LORD of hosts, 'if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.'" (New American Standard Bible)
* (John 10:10) "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." (King James Version)

What about the prayer of Jabez?

The idea of the prosperity gospel was a little extreme for the my SDA palate but deep inside myself I found that I have held the same beliefs just tweaked for my own preference. Why aren't my problems fixed if I pray? This was exposed to me by how I reacted when God did say No to my prayers, desperate prayers that really needed a Yes. It may be something taught to us from childhood...you hear the story of the kid the prays and the car starts when it wouldn't before. You don't hear the story of my close friend who prayed when he was a kid and the car did not start.

This is something I have been thinking through for 2 years. Not because my life is dramatic but because of some honest questions from my honest hurt friends, because I am finding myself closer to Him and that requires some of these questions to be settled and because of the death of a friend.