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NASB | Ecclesiastes 7:17 Do not be excessively wicked and do not be a fool. Why should you die before your time? |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Ecclesiastes 7:17 Do not be excessively or willfully wicked and do not be a fool. Why should you die before your time? |
Bible Question: If God already has your life planned, why bother to pray? For example; if a loved one is sick and you pray for their recovery but God's will is for this loved one to die, aren't you praying against God's will, so why bother? |
Bible Answer: Joy - Whence comes the notion that God has our life planned so rigidly that everything is cut and dried, no matter what? That's fatalism, isn't it? Are we mere puppets on a string, and is the holy God the puppeteer? And does Scripture support that? .... Now let's examine prayer very briefly. There is no more perfect prayer or one more worthy of careful study than the prayer Jesus taught His disciples. This prayer is recorded in Matthew 6:9-13. When one reads it, studies it, meditates on it, ponders it and drives it deeply into his heart and soul, there is absolutely nothing about this perfect prayer coming from the mind and the lips of the Lord Himself that would ever lead us to ask, Why bother? Now there is a clause that appears early in the prayer that says this: "Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." God is sovereign. His will prevails. That is why our prayers must always be in accord with God's will. Even Jesus prayed in the will of the Father. "Not my will, but yours be done," He prayed in Luke 22:42. If "why bother" is the message of the Bible in regard to prayer, then why is prayer taught in Scripture so frequently and practiced so fervently? Why did Jesus pray so much? And why did He teach His disciples to pray? .... The word "pray" (or "prayer") is mentioned nearly 150 times in the New Testament alone. Does this suggest that we should assume a "why bother" attitude about prayer? Think about it. And to guide your thinking about prayer, go to the "Get Bible Text" search engine located on the right side of this home page. Type in the word "pray" and read and study the more than 300 Bible verses that your search will yield. Perhaps you will emerge from your studies with a new and clear understanding of prayer. And perhaps you will never again, in speaking of prayer, ask the question, Why bother? May God guide you to a fuller and deeper knowledge and understanding of His precious word! --Hank |