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CONNIE: Is God something like a cosmic vending machine—you have to know just the right coins—or prayers—to put in to get what you want? Or is God a person who responds directly to our needs?

Giving God’s trumpet a Certain Sound for more than 70 years, this is the Voice of Prophecy.
CONNIE: Hello, I’m Connie Jeffery,

LONNIE: and I’m Lonnie Melashenko.

LONNIE: Connie, that question you posed is a very important one. I think it’s essential for us to understand the nature of prayer, and how God responds to our prayers.

CONNIE: It’s possible, isn’t it, to ruin your faith by having a wrong understanding of prayer.

LONNIE: I have to say that I think there are some pretty dangerous teachings out there in the Christian world today, when it comes to the subject of prayer. Teachings that can lead people away from faith instead of to faith.
CONNIE: How do you mean?

LONNIE: I’ve met people who’ve almost given up on their faith because God didn’t come through with just the answer they wanted just when they wanted it. And there are Christian preachers and teachers out there today who proclaim loudly that if you just have enough faith, God’s going to give you exactly what you ask for.

CONNIE: But that’s not always the case, of course.

LONNIE: No, it’s not. And the real problem is that people who buy into that kind of teaching are in danger of losing their faith all together.

CONNIE: When they don’t get just what they asked for, they start questioning the value of faith—maybe even start to doubt that God even hears their prayers.

LONNIE: Or they may start thinking that the problem is with themselves—that they’ll just never have enough faith to make God answer—and so they give up on faith.

CONNIE: That’s a tragedy when that happens.

LONNIE: It is, and in my message today, “How to Get the Goods,” I want to take a look at a Bible story that helps to put prayer into perspective. Before we get to that though, I want to talk with Kurt Johnson, the director of our Discover Bible School. He’s out there on the front lines, dealing with people and their prayers and their questions on a daily basis. He always has some good stories to share with us of how people’s prayers have been answered. Kurt, welcome to the studio.

KURT: Thank you! It’s good to be with you here today.

LONNIE: Kurt, it’s always nice to see you, because you always come in with a bright smile and all squeaky clean, and we are delighted that you are here to share stories of miracles and stories on how God has changed peoples lives here at the VOP.

KURT: I get excited when I receive stories and sometimes we get phone calls from our listeners and our Bible School students telling us what Jesus has done for them.

LONNIE: Well tell us one.

KURT: Recently, we received this letter from a lady and she told us that last March she lost her 21 one year old son to cancer
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LONNIE: Easy to get discouraged.

KURT: She mentioned that her husband had prayed for their sons healing, and they believed that God did not want their son to die, and so they continued to pray that God would heal him, but the son died. That really impacted their faith and their walk with God.

LONNIE: People can lose their faith over that type of thing.

KURT: She goes on to tell us, that through our ministry; and of course our ministry here is the radio broadcast, and Bible lessons. Through ministry she said that her and her husband found the strength that they needed in their lives to hang on to God, and they reached out and took hold of the hand of God. And the faith, hope and power that they needed in their life, that they found that in Jesus Christ.

LONNIE: Jesus makes a difference. That’s one of the key aspects of the Christian life. Bible study and prayer, and they plugged into that. Now we have had students write in to us and even through the Internet. Tell us a little about that dimension in that regard.

KURT: I’m always excited when we here from young people. A young man wrote to us and told us that he was 17 years of age and that he was in high school. He had accepted Jesus into his life at a younger age, but he had fallen away from his walk with God, and he just seemed to struggle through his teenage years. This young man was struggling, he was dealing with some issues. He didn’t have any friends, and he wasn’t sure that anyone cared about him, but as he was searching, trying to find answers, he went onto the Internet and he began to look up the words hope, faith and strength. He came across our website and he clicked on a button that said Discover Bible guides, and as he began to study he formed a relationship with Christ. Now he says at lunch time, or at school he goes on the internet and studies our Bible guides to learn more about Jesus Christ.

LONNIE: Now this is the man from Nebraska that was even suicidal at only 17. From suicide to Jesus Christ. Discover is making a difference, but Jesus is making all of the difference. One more story.

KURT: We recived another letter from a gentleman who is 44 years old, and he was on disability and he had all kinds of illness that he was suffering from, physical and emotional illness, he had just lost a loved one. As he was going through all of those struggles and issues, he said it was very hard for him to hold on to his faith that he had in God. And you know as well as I Lonnie, that when we go through tough issues in life it’s easy to get discouraged and lose sight, and you’ve got to hang on. He was in fear of losing his faith because he was just torn apart from all of these issues just battering him and his life. And again this gentleman went onto the Internet and began to search for answers to these problems that he was struggling with. As he put in those certain words of faith and hope and depression, he found our website. He clicked on the Discover guides and he began to take those lessons and listen to these words that he writes: “Life is better, now that I am reading and learning from Discover and my life is turning around thanks to you.”

LONNIE: As we’re getting ready for the VOP’s very first nation wide Bible seminar, Voice of Prophecy speaks coming up at the end of April and on into the month of May. People can tap in today if they are looking and they feel that they haven’t found the kind of answers that they yearn for.

KURT: That’s right Lonnie! Not only can they go on and take the lessons on the internet, but also through correspondence and even some people have people come out and study with them in the privacy of their own home.

LONNIE: Jesus makes the difference thank you Kurt for sharing with us here on the VOP

CONNIE: It’s always good to hear from Kurt—to get that frontline perspective on how God is working through the Discover Bible school. We’ll have more to say about that in a moment, but right now let’s listen to the Loma Linda Men’s Chorus as they sing “Great Is Thy Faithfulness.”

CONNIE: That’s a powerful testimony in song.

LONNIE: It certainly is. And it’s through years of experience—years of knocking on heaven’s door, I guess you could say—that you learn that lesson. That God is faithful, even when it doesn’t seem that you’re getting just exactly the answers you might want to your prayers.

CONNIE: The Bible is the key to understanding how God works. In this book we have a millenniums-long record of how He has worked in the past, and it can give us courage, and good guidance, as we face the future.

LONNIE: You know, Connie, that’s why we like to emphasize our Discover Bible guides. Voice of Prophecy has had a correspondence Bible school for more than sixty years now. With branches all over the world. Literally hundreds of thousands of people have taken the lessons and found new strength for their faith through the things that they learned.

CONNIE: If you haven’t yet taken the 26-lesson course called Discover, why not enroll today? It’s simple. Just call our toll-free number, 1-800-872-0055, and ask to be enrolled. The lessons will come to you in the mail. You’ll be assigned your own personal correspondence instructor, who will go over the lessons after you finish them, and guide you through the course.

LONNIE: I have to say, Connie, that the instructors in our Bible school are some of the nicest, gentlest, kindest Christians you’ll ever meet anywhere.

CONNIE: That’s really true. So, you don’t have to worry about getting bad grades!

LONNIE: Of course not. They’re here to help, not to criticize.

CONNIE: And people can enroll in the course and take it right on the Internet, too, can’t they?

LONNIE: They sure can, at our web site, VOP.COM.

CONNIE: We really do hope you’ll take advantage of this great resource, so why not call 1-800-872-0055, today, or enroll online at VOP.COM. The Discover Bible School is there for you.

LONNIE: That’s right. We know you’ll enjoy these colorful lessons, and especially you’ll enjoy getting to know God better through the study of His Word.

CONNIE: Speaking of the study of God’s word, it’s time now for Lonnie’s message for today, “How to Get the Goods.”

How to Get the Goods

Could anything be easier than these simple instructions from Jesus:
“ ‘Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you’ ”? (Matthew 7:7, NKJV)

It almost seems that Jesus is encouraging us to treat our heavenly Father as a sort of vending machine—or maybe a butler—someone to open doors for us and fetch whatever our heart desires.

I suppose everyone who has ever prayed has struggled at some point with the question of just how to pray in order to get answers. And also with the bigger question: What does it mean when our prayers seem to go unanswered? Jesus makes it seem so simple—all you have to do is ask, and you’re guaranteed to receive! Why doesn’t it always work out that way? I mean, why can’t I ask God for a new BMW to drive home tonight and expect to have it delivered directly to my parking spot before I leave the building?

Well, of course we answer that question by saying that God knows better than I do what I really need, and He’s not going to give me everything I ask for any more than a good mother gives her children everything they ever think they want.

And it’s true, of course. God cares too much about us to yield to our every wish, Fed-Exing our every passing whim special overnight delivery.

But what about things we really do need? How many people have you known—for example—who prayed for healing from cancer, only to pass to an early death despite their prayers and the prayers of hundreds of their friends?

How would God have us understand times like that—when asking, seeking, and knocking apparently yield no results? Are we just to sit back and say “Oh, well, I guess it wasn’t the Lord’s will.”? Or is that the time to knock even harder on heaven’s door?

It’s a struggle to understand those times—especially when you’re the one going through the illness or need, and there doesn’t seem to be any solution; doesn’t seem to be any answer from heaven. And I’m not sure God wants us to just be complacent in those times. I know of at least one story in the Old Testament that points the other way—that teaches me that God wants us to keep on knocking—and trusting—even when there doesn’t seem to be an answer.

It’s a favorite story of mine, in fact—about one of my favorite Bible characters: Abraham—or Abram as his name was at the beginning of his life.
There are many stories about Abram in the book of Genesis. We know him as the man who answered God’s call to leave most of his extended family behind and trust God to lead him to a new place. “ ‘Go from your country,’ ” the Lord said to Abram, “ ‘and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing’ ” (Genesis 12:1, 2, NRSV).

That was a tremendous promise—go where I tell you and you and your descendants will be a blessing to all around you.

And I think the part of the promise that really caught Abram’s attention must have been the part about having descendants who would become a great nation. Because, you see, at that time Abram was already an old man. But he had no son to carry on the family line.

If God was going to make a great nation of him—well, that was the same thing as promising that he would have a son—or maybe several sons.

And so, in response to God’s promise, Abram set out to follow the Lord’s guidance to the promised land.

He followed the Lord faithfully—(with a few slight detours!)—for several years. No doubt praying all the time for the birth of the son who would carry on the family line.

But there was no apparent answer to his prayers. Year after year went by and Abram’s wife Sarai produced neither sons or daughters.

Year after year, Abram continued to trust in the Lord—to believe God’s promise to turn his descendants into a great nation. But finally there came a time when Abram must have begun to wonder whether he had just followed a pipe dream—whether God ever really intended to deliver on His promise.

And it’s at that point in the story that we find one of the most interesting conversations recorded in the whole Bible. Because at that point, the Lord spoke to Abram again.

And Abram listened.

But this time he didn’t just take the Lord’s promise at face value. He spoke up and let God know that there were some unresolved questions that he needed answered. Here’s the conversation as recorded in Genesis 15:

“After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.’

“But Abram said, ‘Lord GOD, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?’
“Then Abram said, ‘Look, You have given me no offspring!’ ” (Genesis 15:1-3, NKJV).

Do you see what’s happening here?

If you’ve ever felt like your prayers were bouncing off the ceiling and God wasn’t answering, take heart. Abram, the great father of the faithful, the beloved friend of God, found himself in the same position, asking the same sort of questions it’s natural for us to ask.

Fortunately he had the opportunity to present the questions to God in what seems like almost a face-to-face conversation.

Abram boldly takes the promise of God and slaps it back in His face!

Now, is that a godly thing to do?

Well, let’s look at how God responded to this challenge:

“And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, ‘This one [Eliezer, that is] shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.’ Then He brought him outside and said, ‘Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.’ And He said to him, ‘So shall your descendants be’ ” (Gen 15:4-5, NKJV).

Notice this: God did not get angry with Abram for having questions.

Abram was just being a little bit too impatient, of course. God planned to fulfill his dreams of raising a family. But on His own schedule, not Abram’s.

But the greatest thing in this story—to me—is the realization that God wants us to keep knocking. Wants us to keep asking. He doesn’t get angry if we have doubts. He doesn’t expect us to have blind faith that never asks questions. In fact, He actually appreciates our questions. He’s no mindless vending machine. He’s a living, thinking God who cherishes His relationship with us so much that He’s willing to answer our questions and doubts.

And there’s something more we can learn from this story about Abram’s asking, knocking, and seeking for answers. God answered with another promise. And when Abram took God at His word, notice what happened next:

“Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15:6, NIV).

God didn’t condemn Abram for questioning. God had answers, and He actually credited Abram with righteousness when Abram accepted His answer.

What about you, friend? Have you been praying and waiting on the Lord for a long time? Does it seem like all the answers you get from start with the letter N and end up in a great big zero?

Don’t despair. Hang on. Keep on seeking God. Cling to God’s promises. Continue to go to Him in prayer. Keep on knocking. He has a plan to open His door to you, and just by staying there asking, seeking, and knocking, you are building your relationship—your friendship with Him.

I titled my message today “How to Get the Goods.” And when you think about it, really the best thing—the best “goods” you can get—is that personal one-on-one friendship with God that comes through times of prayer, fellowship, seeking His face.

You know, if God provided instant answers to all our prayers, we might just begin to treat Him like a vending machine—plug in a prayer, and wait for the product to drop.

We’d never have the chance to develop that kind of persevering, praying, walking relationship with Him that Abram found through his years of seeking answers.

And that’s the real “goods”—the gift of God that will last for eternity—our relationship with Him that grants us eternal life in the home He’s preparing for us.

How do you get the goods? Well, first of all, consider the source. Remember you’re coming to a personal God, who wants to give you just what you most need. Then—ask, seek, knock. And keep on knocking!

But don’t forget: Let Him be God. Let Him answer when and how He knows is best.