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Persevering In Prayer
Niki Behrikis Shanahan
If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask
whatever you wish, and it will be given you.
John 15:7
Recently, someone requested prayer for a friend’s dog and said that the person was not a believer, and maybe the dog’s sickness would be for God’s glory. While troubles sometimes cause people to draw closer to God, it is never God’s will for us or our pets to be sick. And, what about the people that turn further away from God when they have troubles? It could have the opposite affect. Jesus came that we would have life and more abundantly. But Satan has come to steal, kill, and destroy. There may be times when good things come out of a bad situation, but God does not want any of us sick or in trouble. The Scripture says, beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers (3 John 1:2).
One man emailed and said that his dog had been lost for a couple of months and since the dog hadn’t come home yet, maybe God was answering his prayer by saying “no.” Now why would God want to have your little dog lost, alone, and without you. Why would He want you to be in misery. I can think of someone who would like you to think this way, and his name is Satan. He would like us to think the worst of God. He would like us to think that God does not care. But He does care! God is love.
Another lady emailed and said, is it OK to pray for my pet? I said, yes, it is VERY OK to pray for your pet. You may even know some “Christians” who do not think you should pray for your pet. These same Christians will likely pray for their car if it needs repair, for a job, and any number of other things. It is correct to pray for these things, but it is also correct to pray for your pet. The point is that they presume that we should not pray for a loving, living, beautiful creature that God created. The Bible said if you delight yourself in the Lord, He will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 34:19 says a righteous person may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers them out of them all. Psalm 91:15 says he will call upon Me and I will answer him, I will be with him in trouble, and deliver and honor him.
I could go on and on and on with Bible Scriptures that say that the Lord will help us, and that He wants to help us. Let me put it this way to you, if you really thought that it was God’s will for your pet or you to be sick, then you wouldn’t go to the doctors to try to get help. Why would we go to the doctors and try to stop what God was doing? You wouldn’t want to go against God, right? You’d want to keep your sickness, and get the biggest blessing possible, and glorify God – of course this is NOT true. You see how easy it is to see that God wants us well, and He works along with our doctors and vets to achieve this. Jesus always went about doing good, and healing the sick, and He never said it was God’s will for anyone to keep their sickness.
When bad things happen, it doesn’t mean it was God’s will. It means that the forces of evil have been at work. Even in bad weather conditions, it is not from God. Remember when Jesus was in the boat with the disciples? Remember the storm and how the disciples were afraid that they were going to die? Well, Jesus commanded the storm to stop. Now if His Heavenly Father caused that storm, that would mean that Jesus would be going against the Heavenly Father by commanding it to stop. Can you see what I mean?
The devil is a liar and a murderer as stated in John 8:44. He is also a deceiver who blinds the minds of people. 2 Corinthians 4:4 says “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” So you see that there is the world of good and evil going on. This is why the Bible says be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8).
I want to encourage each and every one of you not to get discouraged, and to keep praying for God to meet your needs. The Lord loves you, your family, including your beloved animal companions, and He cares about every single thing in your life.
He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?
Romans 8:32
Copyright Niki Behrikis Shanahan 2010