The right environment for answered prayers is one that is free from anger and disputing. God blesses where there is unity. That is why evil works so hard to keep people apart and in disagreement with one another. If you do not treat people as you should, your prayers will not get ready answers. I am not suggesting that they won’t ever be answered; however, I am saying that disputing and fighting over trivial stuff and praying is like adding oil to water. They do not mix.
Children argue and have their little spats and then moments later you find them playing together as if nothing ever happened. Adults too often dispute about things and have disagreements that they never get over. Praying with an unforgiving heart is a recipe for not getting your prayers answered.
There is a biblical message that warns people about senseless fighting and disputing. James writes “what is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? You want what you do not have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you do not have what you want because you do not ask God for it. And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong.”
There are things in life that are worth fighting for. For example, Pope Francis said “each of us has a vision of good and of evil. We have to encourage people to move towards what they think is good. Everyone has his own idea of good and evil and must choose to follow the good and fight evil as he conceives them. That would be enough to make the world a better place.”
The late Congressman John Lewis spoke about “getting into good trouble.” He equated fighting for social justice as “good trouble.” I suppose that there are other social issues worthy of a getting into good trouble; however, at the end of the day, praying for peace and healing is when God views prayers to be ready answered. You cannot fight and pray at the same time – so decide which it is going to be. And Never Give Up! Never Give Up! Never Give UP!
By Chaplain Ghosten
chaplain@lhp.net
