Can we "demand" something from God?

[MrsMopar]

First, hello all! I am new to this forum. I am very blessed to have found this place; one where I can feel I can talk, share and pray with others!

Just a bit of background on me...
I consider myself a toddler in my walk with Christ. I have been a Sunday churchgoer for about 10 years now and for the last 2 years I have been involved in our Church, working on our media team and participating in weekly cell groups. I have been so fortunate to have met many friends along the way and several of them I consider true blessings from God that they are in my life.

Recently however, I ran into one of my new friends in the lobby prior to service. My husband and I were telling her how we were having difficulty in buying a house. We are waiting, once again, for an appraisal to come back on a house we want to buy. All of our close friends at the church know our story. It's not that we cannot afford a home rather it's the appraisals. Long story short, we are on our 5th attempt to buy a home. Yes that is a 5.
In the past three years we have been through the ringer. The market is NOT a buyers market at all, unless you have cash AND you do not get an appraisal.
That said, she told me that she would continue to pray for us, which is much appreciated...but then she said "you need to pray and demand God hear you and help you through this, and get this house or a home"...and then walked away. I just stood there for a second and then looked at my husband. "Demand?" I said to him. "Did she just say we needed to demand this of God?". He shrugged his shoulders and kind of let it go. But it's bothered me. I am perplexed by her comment...did I hear it wrong??

I will be the first to admit, this process has been most difficult. We have lost out on the financial end of things, and I have really tried to be positive through this whole thing. Really I have. There is so much more to this story than I have shared, including that the house we live in now we are renting and the owners filed bankruptcy and the house is in foreclosure. We won't be buying it due to it being a double wide and it has issues. We are waiting for the bank that possesses it to show up any day now and put a note on the door for us to get out...

So, my question, after this lenghty explaination (sorry) is am I missing something here...we can pray and demand something from God? I sure didn't think so. But as I said, I'm still new on my path...

And if anyone has ANY suggestions on prayers that can help us through this I would sure appreciate them.

I just keep saying Philippians 4:6-7 every single day...and I am so thankful for what I do have!

Blessings to you all!
Mrs. Mopar

 

[rockytopva]

First, hello all! I am new to this forum. I am very blessed to have found this place; one where I can feel I can talk, share and pray with others!

Just a bit of background on me...
I consider myself a toddler in my walk with Christ. I have been a Sunday churchgoer for about 10 years now and for the last 2 years I have been involved in our Church, working on our media team and participating in weekly cell groups. I have been so fortunate to have met many friends along the way and several of them I consider true blessings from God that they are in my life.

Recently however, I ran into one of my new friends in the lobby prior to service. My husband and I were telling her how we were having difficulty in buying a house. We are waiting, once again, for an appraisal to come back on a house we want to buy. All of our close friends at the church know our story. It's not that we cannot afford a home rather it's the appraisals. Long story short, we are on our 5th attempt to buy a home. Yes that is a 5.
In the past three years we have been through the ringer. The market is NOT a buyers market at all, unless you have cash AND you do not get an appraisal.
That said, she told me that she would continue to pray for us, which is much appreciated...but then she said "you need to pray and demand God hear you and help you through this, and get this house or a home"...and then walked away. I just stood there for a second and then looked at my husband. "Demand?" I said to him. "Did she just say we needed to demand this of God?". He shrugged his shoulders and kind of let it go. But it's bothered me. I am perplexed by her comment...did I hear it wrong??

I will be the first to admit, this process has been most difficult. We have lost out on the financial end of things, and I have really tried to be positive through this whole thing. Really I have. There is so much more to this story than I have shared, including that the house we live in now we are renting and the owners filed bankruptcy and the house is in foreclosure. We won't be buying it due to it being a double wide and it has issues. We are waiting for the bank that possesses it to show up any day now and put a note on the door for us to get out...

So, my question, after this lenghty explaination (sorry) is am I missing something here...we can pray and demand something from God? I sure didn't think so. But as I said, I'm still new on my path...

And if anyone has ANY suggestions on prayers that can help us through this I would sure appreciate them.

I just keep saying Philippians 4:6-7 every single day...and I am so thankful for what I do have!

Blessings to you all!
Mrs. Mopar

Mrs Mopar.... Welcome! Jesus Loves You!

We most certainly can demand things from God as the scripture says...

And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. - Matthew 11:12

The whole Gospel of Jesus Christ is discipleship on how to acquire things from God! In which we ask and wait patiently in faith and expectancy. Here is a wonderful video on the subject.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ss1hUq1ts70

 

[THE Gypsy]

Your friend sounds like she's caught up in the "name it and claim it" philosophy.

God is not a magic genie that grants our wishes or bows to our demands. Only he knows what is best for the calling he has placed on our lives. Who knows why he decides to allow, or not allow, certain things to take place.

One thing is for certain, though...Regardless of how we feel at the time...IF we are truly Believers, God will work in our lives to bring him the glory.

BTW...Welcome to our little dysfunctional family.

 

[rockytopva]

In my signature I claim to be... Fundamental, Pre-Millennial, Dispensationalist, Charismatic, Pentecostal...

So the Fundamental in me says there are times of patience and long-suffering... You may have to wait!
The Charismatic in me says... Name it claim it! Its yours for the taking!
And the Pentecostal in me says... Seek first the Kingdom of God!

 

[THE Gypsy]

In my signature I claim to be... Fundamental, Pre-Millennial, Dispensationalist, Charismatic, Pentecostal...

So the Fundamental in me says there are times of patience and long-suffering... You may have to wait!
The Charismatic in me says... Name it claim it! Its yours for the taking!
And the Pentecostal in me says... Seek first the Kingdom of God!

If a person doesn't exercise "patience and long suffering", and "Seek first the Kingdom of God", they are running on their own strength and desires with no clue as to God's will for their life or His desires for it...Which is not a good place to be. Even Jesus, after asking more than once for his Father to let the cup pass, said ..."Thy will be done".

 

[Nomad]

We most certainly can demand things from God as the scripture says...

And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. - Matthew 11:12

No, we cannot demand anything of God. We may ask for things in faith, but God has the final say.

1Jn 5:14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.

Also, Matthew 11:12 has absolutely nothing to do with whether we can make demands of God. A parallel verse in Luke sheds light on Christ's meaning.

Luk 16:16 The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it.

There's nothing here or in Matthew that even comes close to saying we are sanctioned to make demands of God. Jesus is talking about the great influx of people pressing into the kingdom since the preaching of John began. For example:

Mat 3:4 Now John wore a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.
Mat 3:5 Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him,
Mat 3:6 and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

Mar 1:45 But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places, and people were coming to him from every quarter.

Joh 11:47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the Council and said, "What are we to do? For this man performs many signs.
Joh 11:48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation."

 

[FHII]

Romans 8:28 says, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."

Matthew 6:10 is part of that famous prayer most people know, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven."

I can't think of a verse that says we can demand anything of God, especially material things. However, we certainly can ask and I wonder (in light of the Romans verse) why anyone would want to or need to demand something. If we hold this verse to be true (that all things work together for good...) then it is more beneficial to let that play out.

My reasoning is that even though something looks bad for us in our eyes, it may be for the long term good in the Lord's eyes. Think about Joseph back in Egypt... Lot of seemingly bad things happened to him, but overall he later proclaimed [paraphrasing], "you meant it for harm, but God meant it for good." In other words, if you actually got a house now, it may not end well. But if you wait (even if forced to) it may work out for your favor.

So if God really knows best for us, and will work all things for our good, why would we demand something other than the Matthew verse I mentioned, being "Thy will be done"?

So by all means, I hope you succeed in getting a house, you should keep praying and asking, and working in the natural to get in better position. But all the time, add "Nonetheless, not my will, but thy will be done."

I welcome you to the board, and hope my insight has helped!

 

[JohnDB]

Ummmm

God has a perfect will.

Not something that we are going to improve upon with our less than perfect ideas.

Why not instead lean on the fact that God has your best interests at his heart and have faith in that fact instead of what you want and think you need.

Just a thought.

 

[biggandyy]

Prayer wasn't given to us as an avenue to change God's mind, He gave us the opportunity of prayer with Him to change OUR minds.

 

[rockytopva]

Remember to read the gospels... Jesus encourages us to ask...

[sup]19[/sup]Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?
[sup]20[/sup]And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
[sup]21[/sup]Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.- Matthew 17: 19-21

But there are things that require patience, long suffering, prayer, and fasting.

Remember to read the gospels... Jesus encourages us to ask...

[sup]19[/sup]Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?
[sup]20[/sup]And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
[sup]21[/sup]Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.- Matthew 17: 19-21

But there are things that require patience, long suffering, prayer, and fasting.

Tried to edit the above post and got a TypeError: ipb.textEditor.getEditor("edit-" + postid) is undefined error message.

Got a TypeError_ipb.textEditor.getEditor("edit-" + postid)_is undefined error!

 

[jiggyfly]

Prayer wasn't given to us as an avenue to change God's mind, He gave us the opportunity of prayer with Him to change OUR minds.

Yes indeed, if only more could grasp the simplicity of your statement and then stay in prayer long enough to be adjusted to Father's will.

 

[Comm.Arnold]

Oh my you sound like you expect Jesus to be a payout officer. He is the farthest thing from it.

 

[Duckybill]

God honors His promises to those who are humble, obedient and pleasing to Him. But to DEMAND that God do anything is FOOLISH.

 

[THE Gypsy]

Remember to read the gospels... Jesus encourages us to ask...

[sup]19[/sup]Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?
[sup]20[/sup]And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
[sup]21[/sup]Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.- Matthew 17: 19-21

But there are things that require patience, long suffering, prayer, and fasting.

Remember to read the gospels... Jesus encourages us to ask...

[sup]19[/sup]Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?
[sup]20[/sup]And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
[sup]21[/sup]Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.- Matthew 17: 19-21

But there are things that require patience, long suffering, prayer, and fasting.

Tried to edit the above post and got a TypeError: ipb.textEditor.getEditor("edit-" + postid) is undefined error message.

Got a TypeError_ipb.textEditor.getEditor("edit-" + postid)_is undefined error!

Those scriptures are instruction for spiritual warfare not material gain.

 

[Duckybill]

I certainly didn't mean to say that God won't bless those who please Him. The Bible has many promises of material blessings.

 

[biggandyy]

But that opens the door for the criticism leveled at Job, "Does Job fear God for nothing?" That is, Satan is accusing God of buying Job's fidelity with material wealth.

Do we put our trust in Christ because we fear Hell or do we put our trust in Christ because He is faithful and true.

 

[Duckybill]

But that opens the door for the criticism leveled at Job, "Does Job fear God for nothing?" That is, Satan is accusing God of buying Job's fidelity with material wealth.

Not sure I understand. But God certainly blessed Job materially. Job was materially wealthy. He was also righteous.

Do we put our trust in Christ because we fear Hell or do we put our trust in Christ because He is faithful and true.

Both.

 

[rockytopva]

But... Its all according to your faith...

If you do not believe you will make more money... Be content with what you have.
If you do not believe you will get healed... Stay sick
If you do not believe in the Baptism of the Holy Spirit... Stay in your carnal state.


Jesus nowhere puts restrictions on any of his promises... But elsewhere in scripture it says...

Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.- James 4:3

So... One can get carry away serving ones own 'lusts' so it is wrong to ask with the wrong ends in mind,

There was a man in Texas who one day upped his tithes to 20%. Well, the Lord blessed that! So he upped what he gave to God to 30%. Before he passed away he way giving 90% to God.

As I heard that back when I barely had $500 to my name I didn't believe it. But the Lord has increased and blessed my life. I grew up in a very dysfunctional household and was told all the time by my arrogant dad how stupid I was. Well I believed all of that and graduated in my class something like 285 out of 287... Very poor grades! They graduated me so they wouldn't have to deal with me ! As I worked in my factory I would break things in which... Maintenance would not yell at me like dad... They would just fix it and go on. So the foundation to my faith was... Wow! Things can be fixed! I had to take remedial math when I got the faith to go to school and have went as high as Pre-Calculus. I have got two AAS degrees with a 3.8 GPA. I have also worked my way into the Lab where I have been the last ten years making over $50,000 a year. I try to give $10,000 a year to ministry, am totally out of debt, own a Ranger, a Mustang, a Buell, two homes, and a Harley. Not bad considering where I started. I share one of my houses with my sister and nephew who do not do well. Let them live there rent free!

So if you guys want to go around in your unbelief... Suits me! I never have plans on adopting that defeatist mentality in my own life!

 

[MrsMopar]

Thank you all so much for the insight, suggestions, verses! Awesome!

I didn't think "demanding" anything from God was the answer...but then again, being that I am learning and growing in my faith, I wondered if maybe I misunderstood something.

I know God has put us through things that we are to learn from. For example, the first house we were interested in purchasing was a week from closing and then everything changed...the owner was in foreclosure and not even her agent was aware of it. Long story short, the next day we received a call from a structural engineer we had hired to look things over. Apparently the house was not structurally sound! We thanked the Lord that things did not go through and I believe in my heart that divine intervention saved us from owning the money pit!

I truly am thankful for all I have. And we have found that now that we give back what the Lord has blessed us with, we are rewarded. My life was a miserable mess before I found Christ and it is amazing how much my life improved more and more as I became closer to Him.

I know we have more than others. While things may look bleak for us now in our current situation, we have clothes on our backs, food on our table, a roof over our head, cars to drive and jobs to go to. I wake up every morning and thank Him for affording me the opportunity to face another day; whether good or bad. Life is what you make of it.
But on the other side of the coin, the frustration of a situation can wear on you and your relationship with your significant other. Once again, I am so fortunate to have a wonderful husband who is strong in his faith right along with me, one who is not only my spouse but my best friend and my teacher in my lessons of the Bible. However, even he said he wasn't aware that we could "demand" anything from God...and I think he kind of let it go simply because he realized what she said wasn't the case. Me, on the other hand, couldn't seem to shake the comment. This woman who said this seemed to me to be a knowledgable individual on the Bible. I apparently was mistaken.

Just a side note to the person who says I look toward Jesus to be a payout officer....I don't know how you could accuse me of such a thing. I'm curious to know why you would incinuate that...or were you talking to someone else?

Thank you all again. Blessings!!!!

 

[rockytopva]

Just a side note to the person who says I look toward Jesus to be a payout officer....I don't know how you could accuse me of such a thing. I'm curious to know why you would incinuate that...or were you talking to someone else?

Thank you all again. Blessings!!!!

There are regrettably some spiritually cold individuals on this board... Even more unfortunate is that they are not aware of their spiritual coldness.