The Lord and Free Will

Prayer is a funny thing when you think about it closely enough. Prayer is a righteous but dangerous thing. It is righteous to those of us who know that the Lord holds the power. His word tells us that we will be given what we ask for… or… are we taking that out of context too? Mat 7:7: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” But prayer is a dangerous thing because of the deception surrounding it. Sometimes even well meaning Christians get it wrong. Inevitably, those who don’t read, study or follow scripture are the ones who suffer most. They become disenchanted with their faith because their prayers seemed to fall on deaf ears. Some will walk away from the Lord because of unanswered prayers. When, in my mind, we as Christians failed to teach people about prayer, free will and the Lord’s will. I was a teenager when I prayed for a stereo and promised ridiculous promises to get one. By the way, I didn’t get one. I also prayed for escape from my incestuous father but did not wait for the Lord to save me from it. I ended up almost falling prey to an incestuous uncle, as well. The proverbial ‘frying pan into the fire’ scenario to be sure. You see, as a young adult, I was impetuous and impatient, much like the woman I became. I didn’t know how to pray. Sadly, as a Christian, I have prayed for things just as self serving or hazardous for myself and for others. I never considered the damage that I could be doing when those prayers that I so adamantly believed in, for others, failed to come true. To this end, I write this because I am no more clear on this subject than I feel I should be. Before I go farther down this rabbit hole, please understand that I KNOW that the Lord is capable of changing the trajectory of someone’s life. I simply believe that there are several other factors that interfere. Only the good Lord can clear it all up when I pass on to be with Him. First, I believe that we ask for the wrong things and/or the wrong way sometimes. WE don’t know what the Lord has in store for us or anyone else. IF we trust that the Lord has a plan for our lives AND that He knows all things past, present and future, THEN our first words should be “Your will be done” above all else, yes? For example, we pray for the Lord not to take people who are ill and suffering. When they pass on to be with Him, we are angry and blame Him. Really? Perhaps we truly do not have enough faith if we cannot trust the Lord’s timing. Perhaps they would have suffered more. Perhaps they would be praying for death but unable to voice it. We are not all knowing. The Lord is. Secondly, and I am not going to number each point, the Lord gave us free will. The Lord, in His ultimate wisdom, wanted us to CHOOSE faith in Him. He did not want a world of glorified God-fearing zombies that simply do as we are told. He wanted us to worship Him from our hearts and have faith even when we cannot see. John 20:29: “Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen me and yet have believed.” Because of free will, I think that the Lord would not interfere DIRECTLY with someone’s life choices. I believe that He can, will and does intercede INDIRECTLY by prompting others to ‘attempt’ to heavily influence someone’s choices or direction. Rom 8:34: 34: “Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.” If you all read my blogs then you know my feeling on free will. Free will kills. You also know about my beautiful granddaughter lost in addiction. I pray endlessly for the Lord to save her fom addiction and a horrible life in the streets. He hasn’t hit her with a bolt of lightening to turn her to Him or save her life. To this day, I wait on the Lord. What I do believe is that the Lord has put many people and things in her life so that she continues to seek help even when she doesn’t have the strength to go through with it. She talks about God and still holds onto her faith even in her darkest hour. She has reached out many many times to her mother for help and each time she runs from it when her mother goes to take her to rehab. I KNOW that it isn’t a lack in the Lord’s ability. It is her brokenness. She has put her faith in idols (drugs) and satan has been successful in deceiving her into thinking that she cannot ever be free or ‘worthy’. Don’t get me started on the ‘Worthy lie.” (Not this time anyway.) Needless to say, the Lord is very much active in her life and has left the 99 to save her and many like her. She just isn’t willing (free will) yet. Her faith is buried beneath the fear and darkness so that she cannot recognize the Light and Truth that is chasing her. Free will causes us to darken our doorways with sin, illness and regret. There is a natural consequence to our choices of free will. We smoke; we get cancer. We party; we become addicts. We lust; we become lustful, lost souls seeking idols that cannot fulfill us. But there is the other side too. Because everyone has free will, we become victims of someone else’s sin and free will. The pedophile, incestuous parents, rapist, sex traffickers, drug dealers, abusers…. Their free will kills innocent people. What doesn’t kill them, can cause them to become sinful, broken beings literally lost in darkness. Sin, all sin, leads to darkness and death. But the Lord is not the cause of it. He is the answer. I have a dear dear friend who is dying of cancer. She has suffered so very much physically, prior to this revelation and continues to suffer as the world attempts to heal her. She has been and is suffering with pain and illness in a very real way. This is not the Lord’s doing. We live in a fallen world of sin and illness since the fall of Adam and Eve. Sickness is a part of it. The world creates even more sickness and health issues by meddling where it shouldn’t and innocent people suffer. But that is in the world and of the world. The Lord has conquered the world and death. Our salvation is in Him. John 14:6: “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” So, we make choices that cause us to suffer natural consequences. Others make choices that cause us to suffer unnatural consequences. The world being full of sickness and death has caused us to suffer. Our one and only salvation is in Christ. We pray that His will be done BUT to give protection where He will. To give comfort where He will. To use all His influence to bring others to salvation where He will. And to help those of us left behind understand and draw closer to Him in our darkest moments. THAT is what I pray for. Am I wrong in this vein of thinking? I don’t know. Maybe I should pray that He change my words to reflect His message so I don’t get it wrong? Again, I trust Him. If YOU trust Him, watch how you pray. Be careful what you pray for and teach others to pray responsibly. I love you all and wish you the best of health and happiness.