Jesus was a Lovely Man, but he Lied?

Question

Jesus is quoted many times in the Bible saying that a believer can ask for anything through prayer and receive it. He even goes so far as to say that mountains and trees can be thrown into the sea simply by praying for it.

"Amen, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it shall be done for him. Therefore I tell you, all that you ask for in prayer, believe that you will receive it and it shall be yours. (Mark 11:24-25 NAB)"

A lot of Christians ignore what Jesus actually says in the Bible. They also tend to add things to the actual words to make them say something else. If you honestly and truthfully read these quotes, without adding to them, it's very easy to see that Jesus is not saying that God will think about your prayers. He says God will grant all your prayers. Clearly, God doesn’t grant all prayers, not even to Christians.

Well, even the most devout Christians don't get their wishes....why is this?

Answer 1

FAITH MY FRIEND MOVE THE MOUNTAINS, IF YOU DON'T BELIEVE IT WON'T HAPPEN....................

Answer 2

Look at the Epistle of James Ch. 4 vs. 3|

"You ask and you do not receive because you ask wrongly, with a view to squandering what you receive on your pleasures."


Now, God always answers prayer, as long as we ask with the right intention and in accordance with the will of God|

If we were to ask for something frivolous, such as winning a million dollars, we will probably be refused|

God will not give us anything we want, but what we truly need and what will make us happy in the long run|

Being short-sighted, and limited in understanding, we often desire what will bring us trouble and grief| Many people finally get what they have always wanted, and when they get it, they wish they had not|


But God knows best, so if we are in communion with Him, and are refused something, it is only perhaps to avert a disaster down the road or to give us something even better instead.

When a Christian prays to God, there is one of three possible answers, *yes,* *no,* and *not now but later,* for God knows what is best for us as we do not know, because He can see far more vastly being omniscient, whereas our vision of things is very limited.




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Answer 3

You come to these conclusions when you take Scripture out of context! In order to understand the Bible you cannot take one or two isolated Bible verses to prove a point. That is very bad exegesis (explanation or interpretation of a portion of Biblical text). You need to look at the verse(s) in its/their context. Then you look at all the verses on prayer in order to find out what the Bible has to say about prayer. Biblical texts cannot be read in isolation that is why we have Biblical and Systematic Theology.

You also need to look at language (is this hyperbole? a factual statement?...) and the literary genre among other things

The Bible says many things about prayer for example: we have not because we do not ask; we ask but we do not ask in faith; we don't get answers to prayer because we are disobedient in following God's way; we will have our requests if we ask according to God's will; if we keep the commandments of Jesus (obedience) God will answer our prayers...

God is not Santa Claus in the sky. God has always reserved the right to answer according to His will. I know that is a little hard for independent minded Americans to accept but it is there in Scripture that God is sovereign. Yet God is merciful and does hear and answer prayer.

Answer 4

it's a very dangerous thing to take a piece of Scripture out of context and try to make it say something it doesn't say. What you are accusing Christians of is exactly what you are doing.
You are ignoring the entire chapter, and taking a piece of it out of the context of the Triumphal Entry. Jesus always talked in parables so it is difficult to say...THIS is what He SAID so THIS is what He means. There are often nuances in Greek that do not show up in the English Translation. Read the Greek and Read the whole chapter.
Additionally, the synoptic gospels tell similar stories from a different perspective. Mark, the one you quoted, is the book of the servant. Jesus portrays the servant nature of both Himself and the Christian life. It would be presumptuous to say that He said any prayer can be answered because He also said in John 15 that without HIM we can do nothing. What Jesus was trying to show here is BELIEF in Him, and that His ministry was to show that God is with His people. In fact, Jesus formal name Emmanuel means God with us...remember the Christmas Carols?
So if you want to say He lied, but its more like you took something out of context, you better be familiar with ALL the gospels in their original languages and also familiar with the various themes of Scripture when put together tell quite a different tale than the one you are trying to spin here.

Answer 5

No he did not lie. I am an evangelist and I have many great Christian people and I have yet to see a human that actually had enough real faith to have all of their prayers granted; also, no one will be given an outlandish prayer because GOD is not a genie.

Answer 6

God answers every single prayer with a yes, no, or wait. Just because you do not get everything you pray for is not Gods fault, HE will never grant a yes to a prayer that is not the best answer in that situation.

Answer 7

God is a God of timing He answers your prayers at times you dont even recognize but in looking back you will be able to see where He answered you it would be foolish to pray for a million dollars that in and of itself would be trying to tempt and test Him wonder what your biological father would say we are Gods children who He loves we might possibly pray for something not knowing it that could hurt us a Father that loves their children would not grant such a wish His ways are higher than our ways

Answer 8

He told me he'd call after work and we'd hang out together at the Icee Freeze. I was looking forward to that and didn't eat dinner because I wanted to get the mint chocolate chip with waffle cone. You know what? Jesus never showed up. Later he was all like, "I fell asleep watching Star Trek VOyager. Sorry, man." But I knew the truth wqas just like you said. He's a great guy, but he lied.

Answer 9

LMAO, they are claiming you need to have enough faith.

MY LITTLE SISTER WALKED STRAIGHT INTO THE POOL, because she believed wholeheartedly that God was going to let her walk on water, because she had prayed for it.

No hesitation, she walked straight in.
You know, she was actually surprised she fell though the water.
You should have seen the expression on her face, when she popped to the surface !!!
Funniest thing I've ever seen.

So, it's not lack of faith !

Answer 10

Sincerity is involved in speaking with the God if you expect him to give attention to your requests. In all seriousness and in full possession of our senses, we must be honest in the appraisal of ourselves. To be loyal to God’s righteous ways, we will not gloss over our wrong habits or questionable attitudes. It is not possible to deceive the One with whom we have an accounting. (Heb. 4:12) It would be folly for us to pray one way and to act out of harmony with the request.

Those who loyally observe his commandments have the assurance: “The eyes of Jehovah are upon the righteous ones, and his ears are toward their supplication; but the face of Jehovah is against those doing bad things.” (1 Pet. 3:12) If we ask for forgiveness, then we must practice forgiving, from the heart. (Matt. 18:35) If we pray for God’s kingdom, we ought to seek it first in our lives. (Matt. 6:10, 33) If we are seeking more Scriptural knowledge from God, then besides praying for it we should set aside regular times to study his Word, the Bible. Being filled with accurate knowledge, we will be helped to focus attention on the more important things, and we will have these in mind when we pray.—Phil. 1:9, 10.

Answer 11

You cannot isolate Scripture and base a conclusion from it. Jesus also told us to pray that the Father's will be done -- NOT our will (Matthew 6:10).

Therefore, if we pray for ANYTHING that is in God's will, it will be done for us. If we pray for something that's NOT in His will, we cannot expect to receive it.