It was posed as a true/false statement during a talk, and we were invited to discuss it in our small groups for a couple of minutes before continuing.
My answer was "No", and the reason I gave that answer was because sometimes I pray and get absolutely no response, no feedback whatsoever. And I believe the answer to the question is "No".
But... a lot of other people said the answer is, essentially, "Yes, of course he does!". Which I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised at.
However, to say that "lack of response" is "response" (or "lack of answer" is "answer") is stretching the meaning of the word "answer" w-a-a-y-y too thin, and it's another example of the kind of non-thinking I feel sometimes happens among people calling themselves Christians.
Ok, now, don't get me wrong. These folks I was with last night are all good people, every one of them. I got genuine solace from them last night, when I needed it, and I do feel that God was working for me through them.
But, I just wish I could find a bunch who would be willing to consider the non-platitude, non-pat answer, because I think such a greater appreciation of God and his workings could be gained from that consideration.
God doesn't respond to every prayer. He hears every prayer, and he considers every prayer, but sometimes he makes the situation neither better nor worse. Sometimes, God's response (I should put that in quotes: "response") to a prayer is a deafening silence.
Maybe the thing that frustrated me the most, and maybe it shouldn't frustrate me so, was the sense that I'd been ambushed after I gave my answer. "Gotcha!" No, you didn't get me.
* * * * *
Ok, that's enough whining for tonight.
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