We're Perishing!

[RV]

It must have been a terrible storm. The boat was rocking, the waves were crashing, the wind was blowing and the clouds were dark and foreboding. I'm sure that there were flashes of lightening and claps of thunder. How anyone could sleep with all of this going on is difficult to understand. How could anyone rest given the circumstances unless they were very tired?

I remember flying from Alaska many years ago. My son was a teenager. I had went on the missions trip as an "adult leader" but, I probably learned more than the teens did. Anyway, we had three flights to get there and three flights to get home plus an eight hour lay over each way. I was exhausted after running through the airports, the weeks of VBS, guitar playing, worship leading and doing my best to work and minister to the teens who went on the trip as well as the people we met. I literally slept on every flight home. It may have been the let down, it may have been utter exhaustion or it could have been that we no longer had to work and minister 24/7.  Whatever it was, it had taken every ounce of strength I had and then some. But, I digress...

Turning to the book of Matthew, Chapter 8 and verse 23 we read: "Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him. And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying 'Lord save us! We are perishing!'

But He said to them, 'Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?' Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the sea, and there was a great calm. So the men marveled, saying 'Who can this be that even the wind and the sea obey Him?'"

Now to be clear, I am NOT saying that I am in any way like Jesus! Just that I have been exhausted and able to sleep when others could not. Sleeping in a boat with a violent storm raging seems nearly impossible for a human that is. For the God who created the sea, not so much.

Did you catch the part about that the waves "covered the boat"? That would mean that the waves were so fierce that they were making white caps. The wind was so strong that it was whipping the waves up over the boat. Anyone who has been on any kind of boat knows how fierce the waves can toss a boat around. Watching it from shore is one thing, being in that boat that is being thrown around is entirely different. People who have a good sense of equilibrium are alright being in a boat until the boat starts rocking violently in a storm. Once the boat starts rocking violently, many people will get seasick.

I just imagine that most being Fishermen, the disciples all thought that everything was fine until the boat started rocking violently from the storm. From the account in Matthew we can see that the disciples were no different than anyone else once the boat was in a storm. There is no question in my mind that the disciples all thought that the boat would be overturned and that they would drown in the storm. Obviously they didn't understand who Jesus was, what His mission on Earth was nor that He was the very creator of the sea that they were so afraid of. The disciples woke Jesus up from His sound sleep. They woke Him up to tell Him that they were going to die.

Just like the disciples, many people do not pray nor even think of God, until something "bad" happens. Suddenly when death seems eminent for ourselves or our loved ones, people pray as a last ditch effort. What if people had a relationship with God and prayed BEFORE calamity struck?

[Solars Toy]

You are right - It is in the midst of turmoil that most people pray.  That being said I think a lot of people pray for others, the world, but rarely for themselves unless that turmoil hits them personally.

John 16:24  "Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete".
John 14:14  "You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it." (Jesus name)
1 John 5:14 "If we ask anything according to his will, he hears us."  (His will not ours)

It is easier to pray for others than it is to ask God for anything for yourself.  Not sure why that is - maybe we would feel selfish or maybe even unworthy. 

Toy

[RV]

You are right - It is in the midst of turmoil that most people pray.  That being said I think a lot of people pray for others, the world, but rarely for themselves unless that turmoil hits them personally.

John 16:24  "Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete".
John 14:14  "You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it." (Jesus name)
1 John 5:14 "If we ask anything according to his will, he hears us."  (His will not ours)

It is easier to pray for others than it is to ask God for anything for yourself.  Not sure why that is - maybe we would feel selfish or maybe even unworthy. 

Toy

I agree with you however, unbelievers will claim that they "prayed" for a luxury automobile or a mansion and didn't get it. That is why I put the word "relationship" in there. Just as scripture says, not everyone who says "Lord, Lord" is a child of God. They were created by God but, they aren't a child of God. To those who are not, He will say, "Depart from me, I never knew you..."

[T Hunt]

I agree with you however, unbelievers will claim that they "prayed" for a luxury automobile or a mansion and didn't get it. That is why I put the word "relationship" in there. Just as scripture says, not everyone who says "Lord, Lord" is a child of God. They were created by God but, they aren't a child of God. To those who are not, He will say, "Depart from me, I never knew you..."

Yes, Toy made a good list there, there are requirements for God to answer your prayers.
Atheists like to pretend like prayer is some kind of cause and effect chemical reaction, where if you do A then B will always occur.

And they think that if its not a textbook process then it must be magic. Atheists are a very simplistic people.

[Solar]

I agree with you however, unbelievers will claim that they "prayed" for a luxury automobile or a mansion and didn't get it. That is why I put the word "relationship" in there. Just as scripture says, not everyone who says "Lord, Lord" is a child of God. They were created by God but, they aren't a child of God. To those who are not, He will say, "Depart from me, I never knew you..."

True! People who pray for materialistic shit have no connection to God. But God does hear them, they're just too self-centered to see what he had given them, and it is nowhere near what they asked for, but rather the opportunity to achieve their dreams on your own.

Most of us learned that lesson as children, that being selfish would never allow one to attain peace in life, rather misery and an unfulfilled life.
Sooo sad how so many have lost their spiritual connection to their very existence.