On Not Confusing God with the Church
Delay or Denial?
Photo by Jack Sharp on Unsplash
Are you disappointed that God has not yet answered some of your prayers? You’re in good company. It’s been 2000 years, and the Father has STILL not answered the prayer of the Savior. His prayer in John 17 is worth reading in context with chapters 14-17, but here are the salient texts in chapter 17:
“I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are. . . . .20 “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; 21 that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.” (vv. 11, 20-21)
Did you catch that? “That they may be one” – meaning, “ALL who call on Jesus as Savior.” Catholic and Protestant. Baptist, Pentecostal, Methodist, Presbyterian, and so forth. That we all be one – so that the world will know that Jesus is Lord.
Two thousand years later, and we have yet to see unity in His Body.
This is not to suggest the Father has ignored His Son, nor is it to suggest the Father will not ultimately answer in the affirmative His prayer. It simply means the Lord Jesus’ request has its fulfillment yet in the future. And this is an important point: Delay does not necessarily mean denial.
In similar fashion, that some of our prayers have not yet seen fulfillment does not necessarily mean denial. St. John tells us: “This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.” (1 John 5:14-15)
As we pray in accordance with His will, we can be confident that such prayers WILL BE fulfilled sometime in the future and according to the Father’s timetable.
So, are you disappointed, still waiting for the fulfillment of your prayers? You’re in good company. Jesus is still waiting for the fulfillment of His prayer for our unity.
Christian, be encouraged. Delay does not necessarily mean denial.
About the Author
Richard Maffeo was born into a Jewish home in the early 1950s. In 1972 he discovered Jesus is the Jewish Messiah, and he dove into his awakened faith with a passion that continues to this present day. Richard spent 33 years in evangelical Protestant churches until he realized God was calling him to the Catholic Church. He was received into the Church in 2005. He has written three books, writes a blog, and teaches several bible studies each week at 55+ communities. You can find his blog at www.inhimonly.blogspot.com. You can find him on Facebook by searching for his name.
Richard and his wife Nancy are married 47 years. They have three grown children.
