Name it, claim it? Really!

Electrically-charged, controversial to some . . . the issue of answered prayer. What is our role? What is God’s role? Where does our faith come into play? Oh, and how much faith is required to experience positive answers to our prayers?

Aggravated, frustrated, and desperate for relief, Paul asked God to remove his ‘thorn in the flesh’. But God said ‘no’. Instead, he told Paul that ‘his grace was sufficient’ for him and that ‘his power is made perfect in our weakness’.

God always answers the prayers of his children.

>He sometimes says ‘no’

>He sometimes says ‘wait’

>He sometimes says ‘yes’ and ‘watch what else I am going to do for you!’

>He sometimes says ‘yes’ through answering it in a way we never even considered

In whatever way he chooses to answer, God is omniscient--he is all-knowing; and he is omnipotent—all powerful. He is not a forgetful, doddering old man—he sees all and answers according to his knowledge, not ours. He answers for ‘the greater good’ not according to how we see it.

Many have written in the last couple days to express their comments on this subject, from as far away as Togo. I wanted to share one note with you from a woman in Michigan. Her pain is palpable, her loss immense, because her sister followed errant teaching on prayer.

“Hi Christine,

Thank you for addressing this very important issue of prayer for the saints…all I can say is Amen, sister! There are still people out there
who believe in the "blab it-grab it" teaching. What a set-up for
disappointment! I believe this is a reason so many fall away from the
faith--because they were taught that you just have to have the right
amount of faith; name it-claim it and it's yours. Then when it doesn't
happen, they believe that they are not worthy or may never be worthy
anyway, so what's the use? This happened with my sister, Christine, who
lost her 14 year old son to cancer after much prayer and being told
that God would heal him-he didn't need that bone marrow transplant. He
eventually did have it, but lost the battle due to complications. As a
result, my sister has walked away from her family and faith and is now
living a totally immoral lifestyle. I believe the seed of rebellion was
planted when she lost her son...

This person who wrote you must not have had to endure a loss yet…and I pray that when they do, this won't happen to them. Thank you again,
Christine for standing up for the truth and proclaiming it from the
rooftops…”

The reader seems to be alluding to false teaching that is prevalent today—that healing is ours if we but claim it. One of the leading ministers in this “Word of Faith” movement has been Kenneth Hagin. Regarding his beliefs on sickness, Hagin writes:

"I am fully convinced - I would die saying it is so - that it is the plan of Our Father God, in His great love and in His great mercy, that no
believer should ever be sick; that every believer should live his full
life span down here on this earth; and that every believer should
finally just fall asleep in Jesus" (Kenneth E. Hagin, Seven Things You Should Know about Divine Healing, p. 21).

It's a matter of your faith. You got one-dollar faith, and you ask for a ten thousand-dollar item, it ain't gonna work. It won't work. Jesus said,
"According to your faith", not "according to His will, if He can work
it into His busy schedule." He said, "according to your faith be it unto
you." Now I may want a Rolls Royce and don't have but bicycle faith.
Guess what I'm gonna get? A bicycle" (Frederick K.C. Price, "Praise the
Lord" broadcast on TBN, 21 September 1990)

So then, Mr. Hagin and Mr. Price, if a believer IS sick, and if a believer DIES from sickness, you are saying that their faith was insufficient. What about the apostle Paul, gentlemen? ‘Not enough faith? What about Reverend Billy Graham, whose body is decaying with Parkinson’s Disease? ‘Not enough faith? Oh, please! The
above quote by Price captures the movement’s belief that all Christians
should not just be healthy but also wealthy! This false teaching is
being exported from America into Africa and Asia, and it is wrong.

This teaching, built on “according to your faith,” sets up thinking answered prayer happens because of OUR doing—the measure of OUR faith and the
power in OUR words. Wrong! Our hope is in God, not in our own words or even our own faith. This poor woman who lost her son no doubt questioned the substance of her faith—had her faith been insufficient to save her boy? In the end, she deduced that neither her faith NOR her God were sufficient, and she walked away from both. Tragic.

God is the only sufficient one. He answers the prayers of his children according to his will, not ours.

Christine