Prayer

In his book "One miracle after another" Pavel Goia described a very interesting event that took place when he began his studies. Pavel also talked about this during some of his lectures that can be found on the Internet, so I will just say that it was at a time when Romania was still a communist country, and Saturday was a normal day of work and study, also at universities. 

As an Adventist, Pavel did not take part in Saturday classes, but after some time he had to make an important decision. Either he will start going to Saturday classes or he will be thrown out of college and deprived of the right to resume it. In other words, he had two options to choose from, to remain loyal to God and, as a consequence, lose the chance to get a higher education, or start attending classes on Saturdays, and thus not consciously abide by God's Sabbath. For some time, Pavel tried to find a third option, which would be a compromise between loyalty to God and adapting to the requirements of the university. He wanted to be a good Adventist and a good student at the same time. He did not understand that true faith is readiness and willingness to sacrifice everything to remain faithful to the God you love. He prayed to God for help, but God did not answer him as he expected. At this point, Pavel did not realize that there was a fight going on in his mind because there was a conflict between his two life priorities. 

As an Adventist, he had theoretical knowledge of God's requirements and wanted to fulfil them, but he wanted to graduate even more. He was not ready to give up his education and remain faithful to God. What was he praying to God for then? That God would miraculously make him able to continue his studies. After a while, Pavel realized that he was more concerned about education than about God. Pavel understood that the truth of our faith is revealed during trials, during which we must choose between obedience and disobedience. The theoretical knowledge of the Scriptures or Adventist doctrines in no way shows that we are Adventists. We are Adventists only when we are ready to sacrifice everything in the name of loyalty to God. What's more, readiness for this sacrifice should be our desire, not the result of a rational decision. Obedient to God is the one who wants to be obedient, not the one who thinks it is his duty and, in a way, forces himself to obey. 

When Pavel understood this, when he realized that he was a weak man, too much attached to certain worldly affairs and not enough attached to God, then he realized that in this world love for God always leads to such conflicts, because this world does everything to move us away from God. This world does everything to make us appreciate what satisfies our egoistic ambitions more than what comes from God. Pavel realized that when he tried to save his education, he disregarded what Jesus Christ did, because Jesus remained faithful to God's law even in the face of death. This made Pavel pray differently. He was ready to give up everything to God, including his education, to witness about God's glory in every aspect of his life. He understood Jesus' sacrifice better, and it made him look at life from a different perspective. What previously seemed so important to him turned out to be of little importance, and the most important priority became obedience to God and serving Him with all his heart. Pavel began to pray that God would use him to reveal the Truth to other people, regardless of what happen with him. 

And what do we pray for when we have problems or need to make an important decision? What are we guided by?

Pavel Goia wanted to graduate, he wanted to base his future on education. And when it turned out that his faith could be an obstacle to his education, he began to ask God that he could continue his studies. 

When we find ourselves in a similar situation, when we try to get a better job or our child has an important exam, what are we praying for? Is it not that God would help us get this job and let our child pass this important exam? Does it look like the prayer "my will be done" instead of "Your will be done"? What if God has a different plan for us and wants us to go in a different direction?

One day King David had to make a very important decision. His son Absalom at first planned and then began to implement the plan to gain power in Israel. He tricked the kindness of many Jews, and when he revealed that he wanted to become king of Israel, many supported him. David found himself in a difficult situation. He knew that God had chosen him to be king of Israel, he remembered how often God helped him and how much God's blessing he received. He also knew that Absalom was not chosen by God. As a result, he could decide to fight his own son, because although many Israelites joined Absalom, many still supported David. The nation was divided, and the country was one step away from the civil war. However, David wanted to avoid fighting and preferred to leave Jerusalem and lose the throne, rather than allow bloodshed.

David's decision was also based on the fact that he was aware that it was his sin that led to this crisis. When he decided to have an affair with Bathsheba in the past, he was not aware of its consequences. He remembered that when he saw Bathsheba bathing and wanted her, his conscience told him not to succumb to temptation and not do something that was against God's will, but David did not listen to the voice of his conscience. 

Now he did not want to make the same mistake and above all he wanted to know God's will. He knew that until he began fighting Absalom, various solutions to the crisis were possible, and he preferred to withdraw from Jerusalem. Thanks to this, he had time to pray and learn God's will. David said: "If I find favor in the eyes of the Lord, He will bring me back and show me both it and His dwelling place. But if He says thus: ‘I have no delight in you,’ here I am, let Him do to me as seems good to Him" (2 Samuel 15: 25-26). David did not trust himself and therefore did not want to make decisions alone. He trusted God and knew that the best way was to do what God wanted, even if it would end badly for him. He did not want to take care of himself and his power, but above all he wanted to obey God. For the glory of the Creator, he was ready to give away not only power, but also life. Just like Moses who said to God, "These people have committed a great sin, and have made for themselves a god of gold! Yet now, if You will forgive their sin—but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written" (Exodus 32: 31-32). David, just like Moses, was more concerned about God's glory and was ready to give his life for that purpose.

David did not leave Jerusalem as a great commander, who gives way to a too strong enemy, but as a penitent. He did not make strategic decisions, but above all he humbled himself before God. „David went up by the Ascent of the Mount of Olives, and wept as he went up; and he had his head covered and went barefoot. And all the people who were with him covered their heads and went up, weeping as they went up” (2 Samuel 15:30). 

There was another important reason for David's decision. Although Absalom wanted to kill him, David still loved his son and wanted to do everything what was possible to save him. Therefore, when there was a direct fight with Absalom's troops, David commanded Joab, Abishai and Ittai: "Deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom" (2 Samuel 18:5). And when Joab killed Absalom against this order, David's despair was tremendous. "O my son Absalom—my son, my son Absalom—if only I had died in your place! O Absalom my son, my son" (2 Samuel 18:33).

Studying the history of the conflict between Absalom and David is another opportunity to get to know God better and to understand the teachings of the Bible. This conflict is a symbol of the conflict between God and Satan. God allowed Lucifer to operate in heaven for some time, but when Lucifer's rebellion became more and more visible, God removed Lucifer and his followers from heaven, separating himself from his enemies. God did not allow war in heaven, just as David did not allow war in Jerusalem. God gave time to those who were deceived by Satan and, revealing the truth to them, wanted to draw their hearts to Him. David did the same, and thanks to this many of those who previously supported Absalom again joined David. However, not everyone did it guided by the heart, many joined David for selfish reasons. However, for God this form of obedience is an abomination, and therefore many of these people will one day hear: "I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!" (Mt 7.23). The same happened with Joab, the son of Zeruiah, who had been with David for many years, but before his death David instructed Solomon to kill him. Joab suffered the consequences of his attachment to evil and it did not help him that he was close to David for many years. Does this not show us, people living in the times of the end, that our fate is not determined by our actions, but what we have in our hearts? We may consider ourselves believers, we may belong to the right church and know God's law and doctrines of faith, we can also do many good things, but it is the content of our heart and our priorities that determine our future. "Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven" (Mt 7,21).

In turn, David's despair after Absalom's death is a symbol of the despair which God will feel when Satan will die. Lucifer was God's most perfect creature, and despite falling and becoming Satan, God never stopped loving him. God's love did not end when Lucifer sealed his fate with his decisions. God loves all his creatures, even those who fell very low. God's hatred is not about his creatures but about sin. David revealed this truth by doing everything to save Absalom, and then despairing after his death. Absalom's death is the proof that God's love cannot save a sinner unless he turns away from all his sins. And God does everything to make it happen, He does everything so that every sinner can convert and reject the evil with all his heart. God wants every sinner to love Him, because only love for God cleanses our hearts and removing egoism from them makes our characters like God's. Only by loving God we can ask Him only for what is good and right, because we want the same thing that our God wants.

Each of us prays to God and asks Him for different things. And I am convinced that many of us have good intentions and think of their requests as something good. However, do we have the right evaluation criteria? When we ask God to help our child pass an important exam, how can we be sure that this is what God wants? Every parent wants their child to have the best life, not to suffer from scarcity, to get the best education and then to do the best job. Any failure of a child is a source of parental suffering. However, such an assessment of what is good for a child is based on human criteria and does not consider that sometimes suffering, which is always the result of Satan's actions, is used by God to reveal the truth. When many Christians were killed because of their faith, their death and their shed blood were what attracted many people to God. It was the readiness of Christians to sacrifice their lives that amazed many unbelievers, who were later converted and increased the number of people faithful to God. 

Of course, this doesn't mean that God wants us to suffer, He doesn't want it, that's what Satan wants. However, God's protection and blessings do not mean that God provides us, here and now, with a trouble-free life, but that God does everything to change us and adapt us to the conditions of life in His Kingdom. And because of our sinful nature, this change is often possible only through suffering, ours or other people's. That is why Jesus suffered and died on the cross. Therefore God has allowed the death of many who will take part in the resurrection of the righteous. 

As parents, we should think more about our children's future lives and do everything to save them. As sinners, and yet we are all sinners, we should think about salvation rather than worldly matters, and we should think about contributing to the salvation of others rather than thinking about our own salvation. When we live like that, all our prayers will be answered because their main purpose will be "Thy will be done".