{"id":92157,"date":"2025-11-16T15:10:56","date_gmt":"2025-11-16T21:10:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=92157"},"modified":"2025-11-16T15:12:04","modified_gmt":"2025-11-16T21:12:04","slug":"if-god-answers-prayers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-god-answers-prayers\/","title":{"rendered":"If God Answers Prayers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<p>by David Gibson<\/p>\n<p>A newspaper years ago published a photo of a man protesting the National Day of Prayer observance at the county courthouse. He is holding a sign that says, &#8220;If God answers prayers, why won&#8217;t He heal amputees?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Here are a few thoughts:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>If God does not heal amputees, is it because He cannot? (Genesis 18:14; Luke 1:37)<\/li>\n<li>If God does not heal amputees, is it because He lacks compassion? (Judges 2:18; Psalms 86:15; Lamentations 3:32-33)<\/li>\n<li>Has God ever promised to grant all our requests? (Deuteronomy 3:23-27; II Samuel 12:13-23)<\/li>\n<li>Is it possible that God uses suffering to produce a greater good than the removal of our pains and losses? (Psalms 119:67, 71; John 9:1-3; Romans 5:3-4; II Corinthians 12:7-10; Hebrews 12:11)<\/li>\n<li>Could it be that the One who made us knows what is ultimately best for each of us? (Romans 11:33-36)<\/li>\n<li>How can one explain why some amputees and other sufferers are neither bitter nor do they blame God, but trust and praise Him, serving Him in joy?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Suppose the man holding the sign was a genuine truth-seeker and willing to conduct a careful, unbiased study of the Bible. Would he then have a clearer understanding of God, prayer, and the problem of human suffering (Psalms 119:130)? I believe he would.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by David Gibson A newspaper years ago published a photo of a man protesting the National Day of Prayer observance at the county courthouse. He is holding a sign that says, &#8220;If God answers prayers, why won&#8217;t He heal amputees?&#8221; Here are a few thoughts: If God does not heal amputees, is it because He&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[1510,182],"class_list":["post-92157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-prayers","tag-suffering"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9398,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-wont-god-heal-amputees\/","url_meta":{"origin":92157,"position":0},"title":"Why won&#8217;t God heal amputees?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 12, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Why won't God heal amputees? After all, Jesus said, \"If you ask anything in my name, I will do it\" (John 14:14). Why doesn't Jesus appear to us? Answer: The questions remind me of an event in the Gospels that we just studied last night. \"Then the Pharisees and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19463,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-god-answer-every-prayer\/","url_meta":{"origin":92157,"position":1},"title":"Does God Answer Every Prayer?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 31, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by Clem Thurman via Gospel Minutes; Vol. 56, No. 3; Jan. 19, 2007. Question: \"I believe that when we pray for something, in faith, God will give it to us. If we are sick, we can pray and God will heal us. He is able to do all things. So,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/prayer-2-1-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":38405,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/will-god-heal-my-brother\/","url_meta":{"origin":92157,"position":2},"title":"Will God heal my brother?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 16, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, My brother is going through cancer right now, and the doctors say he is not getting better. I have accepted Jesus into my heart, and I want to trust Him that He will heal my brother, but my mom, who is also a Christian, wants me to face\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4875,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/hezekiahs-prayer\/","url_meta":{"origin":92157,"position":3},"title":"Hezekiah&#8217;s Prayer","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 2, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Isaiah 38:9-20 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Many people are familiar with Hezekiah\u2019s prayer asking God for help against the Assyrian army, but I would like for us to take a few minutes to examine Hezekiah\u2019s prayer of thanksgiving after he was healed of an illness II.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Bitterness \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Isaiah 38:9-10\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Audio&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19454,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-i-pray-without-doubt-when-i-know-that-sometimes-i-wont-get-what-i-prayed-for\/","url_meta":{"origin":92157,"position":4},"title":"How can I pray without doubt when I know that sometimes I won&#8217;t get what I prayed for?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 14, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a question about prayer.\u00a0 I understand that the Bible states that when we pray, we are to let our requests to God be given in faith,\u00a0 believing that we will receive. So if I pray that God will help me through a difficult time or give me\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25069,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/exceedingly-abundantly\/","url_meta":{"origin":92157,"position":5},"title":"Exceedingly Abundantly","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 22, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by Simon Harris God, please use Kelsey to bring glory to your Name. We know the odds are against us, but we trust in You. Please use our daughter as a living example of Your power to heal, that all may glorify You as the Great God of Heaven. That\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92157"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92157\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}