Don't Pray?

Is there a time God tells us not to pray?

There are at least a couple times in the Bible where people's prayers actually displeased God because they were supposed to command a situation instead of ask for help.

When God gives a command, we need to go forward in faith. Jesus told the disciples to go to the other side of the lake. They received almost as stiff a rebuke from the Lord as did the wind and waves when they told Jesus the storm was going to kill them. After stilling the wind and the sea with His words, He said to them, "Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?" (Mark 4:40). He was incredulous.

A similar story in the Old Testament is in Exodus 14 when Moses had received the charge to deliver God's people out of Egypt. With Pharoah and the mighty Egyptian army in hot pursuit, and the mountains on either side of them, Moses and the Israelites faced the seemingly impassable Red Sea before them. Who wouldn't have cried out to God in desperation in a time like that?

But God said to Moses, "Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward." Then He added, "You lift up your rod and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it." The implication is that Moses would divide the sea as God's representative.

God wanted decisive action in both cases, based on His prior instructions. When God tells us to do something, we then have delegated authority to speak to whatever is our obstacle and command it to change or get out of the way.

We are emissaries of the Most High God. If a king issues a decree and his emissaries are sent to carry it out, they don't come back with their tail between their legs at the first sign of resistance. They have the power of the king backing them to enforce the edict.

So, too, we have the backing of all of heaven to enforce our Father's commands.

Entering the No-Time Zone

What difference does it make if I see the answer to my prayer the second I pray or sometime in the future? 

What I mean is, sometimes we are tempted to doubt and give up when we don't see the answer to our prayers immediately. We think the passage of time somehow means our prayers went unheard or our requests were rejected. That's a big problem, because if we give up, we won't see the answer to our prayers come about, even though God wants us to have those answers.

When I pray, it helps me to understand that God is eternal. He is not bound by time like we are on earth. When I pray, I am entering the realm of eternity, where God is. You could call it, entering the no-time zone.

When I pray according to His will (His word), I can know He has answered yes to my prayers. 

And this is the boldness we have in God’s presence: that if we ask God for anything that agrees with what he wants, he hears us. If we know he hears us every time we ask him, we know we have what we ask from him. (1 John 5:14-15, New Century Version)

So I tell you to believe that you have received the things you ask for in prayer, and God will give them to you. (Mark 11:24, New Century Version)

As soon as I pray, then, I can know it's a done deal. God has said yes. I can agree that it's done, even though I don't see it yet in my natural realm of existence. That's where my consistent belief that God has heard me and answered me keeps me steady so I don't give up or waver in my mind. It helps me to remember that prayer has been answered in the no-time zone, but there may be some delays in it getting to earth, where time is a fact of life.

Sooner or later, though, it must show up in my natural circumstances, if I don't give up. It can't NOT be realized, because God Almighty has said yes. He is never early and never late.. ...and you shall have them -- the answer! (Mark 11:25)