Certainty is the mark of the commonsense life-gracious uncertainty is the mark of the spiritual life.
Oswald ChambersRead
Our Lord never referred to unanswered prayer. He taught that prayers are always answered: “Everyone who asks receives”. And He implied that prayers are answered rightly because of the heavenly Father's wisdom: “Your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him”.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the belief that every prayer is answered, but the answers come in accordance with divine wisdom rather than human expectation.
Oswald Chambers highlights the significance of faith in prayer, explaining that while it may seem some prayers go unanswered, in truth, every prayer is addressed by God. The essence of this message lies in understanding that God's wisdom governs how and when those prayers are answered, reflecting His knowing nature regarding our true needs even before we voice them.
In practice
During a sermon about the importance of faith, this quote can inspire parishioners.
Certainty is the mark of the commonsense life-gracious uncertainty is the mark of the spiritual life.
Never make the blunder of trying to forecast the way God is going to answer your prayer.
Service is the overflow which pours from a life filled with love and devotion. But strictly speaking, there is no call to that. Service is what I bring to the relationship and is the reflection of my identification with the nature of God.
When we preach the love of God there is a danger of forgetting that the Bible reveals not first the love of God but the intense, blazing holiness of God, with His love at the center of that holiness.
It is much easier to do something than to trust in God; we mistake panic for inspiration.
Service is the overflow which pours from a life filled with love and devotion.
Whenever you face obstacles, crises and dilemmas and your confidence is in your associates more than in God- it is a sign your faith is deteriorating.
We cannot always trace God's hand but we can always trust God's heart.
O, when it comes to faith, what a living, creative, active, powerful thing it is. It cannot do other than good at all times. It never waits to ask whether there is some good work to do.
Sometimes God lets you be in a situation that only He can fix so that you can see that He is the One who fixes it. Rest. He's got it.
Outside of Christ, I am only a sinner, but in Christ, I am saved. Outside of Christ, I am empty; in Christ, I am full. Outside of Christ, I am weak; in Christ, I am strong. Outside of Christ, I cannot; in Christ, I am more than able. Outside of Christ, I have been defeated; in Christ, I am already victorious. How meaningful are the words, "in Christ."
You never hear Jesus say in Pilate's judgement hall one word that would let you imagine that He was sorry that He had undertaken so costly a sacrifice for us. When His hands are pierced, when He is parched with fever, His tongue dried up like a shard of pottery, when His whole body is dissolved into the dust of death, you never hear a groan or a shriek that looks like Jesus is going back on His commitment.
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