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Questions Week 11 Day 5

by David Joynt on July 13, 2017


 

JEREMIAH 21:3-7, 13-14

 

Some “unanswered” prayers are blessings. Given our limited capacity to understand what is best for ourselves and others, sometimes it is vital that God does not honor our requests. “No” is a word that children do not like to hear from their parents, but quite often our offspring want things which will not help them to grow in good and holy ways, or they desire freedoms that entail dangers.

 

Now as parents we have the advantage of hindsight over our children. We’ve made mistakes and seen others do so and suffered as a consequence. We are in a better position, sometimes, than our children are, to say no. God is always in a better position! He is omniscient and knows all the consequences of every decision.

 

 

Have you ever prayed for something that wasn’t healthy?

 

 

Have you ever asked for something you did not deserve?

 

 

Zedekiah wants Jeremiah to pray for God’s aid against his enemies but is told this prayer will not be answered.  Why not?

  

FAMILY TIME—

Discuss our reflection today.

 

Tags: unanswered prayers

About the Author
David Joynt

Dave Joynt began his service as a pastor at Valley Presbyterian Church in Paradise Valley, Arizona in September 2014. This meant a move away from the Northeast, where he has a long history, growing up in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and then serving congregations in Delaware and New Jersey for a total of 23 years.

Dave was nurtured in a great church in Bethlehem where his parents, Anne and Carey, served as elders. He graduated in classics from Lehigh University where his Father taught, and then from Oxford, where he met his wife Julia. Ordained in 1988, he completed a Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1993.

He and Julia have a son, Tristan, and a daughter, Madeleine.

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