When God Says No
Acts 12:2-3. It was around this time that King Herod began arresting and persecuting certain members of the Messianic community; 2 and he had Ya'akov, Yochanan's brother, put to death by the sword. 3 When Herod saw how much this pleased the Judeans, he went on to arrest Kefa as well. It was during the Days of Matzah,
One of the confounding aspects of the Kingdom of God is being able to comprehend God or worse, to receive a “no” answer from Him. If you pray to God, He will always answer you when you pray.
Jeremiah 33:3. 'Call out to me, and I will answer you I will tell you great things, hidden things of which you are unaware.'"
His promise is that He will tell you great things, things of which you are unaware, He will answer you but sometimes that answer is no! King Herod had Kefa arrested and was preparing to execute him. Seeing the pleasing reaction he received from the Judeans when He had Ya’akov, Yochanan's brother in killed Acts 12, King Herod was looking for an even greater response in having Peter executed. This time the Messianic community came together in unity, with a singleness in mind and heart to pray for Kefa whose life was spared when God sent an angel to free him. God miraculously answered their prayers for Kefa, but just a short time before this when Ya’akov was arrested without doubt the body came together in prayer, surely they prayed with the same fervency and unity as they did for Peter yet in Ya’akov’s case the answer was no, Ya’akov was executed.
God didn’t love Kefa more than Ya’akov. Yet God allowed Ya’akov to die while He continued to use Kefa (Peter) and spared Kefa the same fate. The Messianic Community did not get angry at God or become bitter, dejected and stopped praying! They accepted the answer because the trusted God, they relied on His love and wisdom! Every situation in our life, every decision is a crossroads, there are always at least two options or paths. Every sickness is faced with two paths or choices for God, He will hear your prayers and invade the natural with the supernatural and heal you or He will hear your prayers and call you home to be with Him. Either path is an acceptable one even though we often don’t see the situation that way:
II Corinthians 5:5-9. Moreover, it is God who has prepared us for this very thing, and as a pledge he has given us his Spirit. 6 So we are always confident - we know that so long as we are at home in the body, we are away from our home with the Lord; 7 for we live by trust, not by what we see. 8 We are confident, then, and would much prefer to leave our home in the body and come to our home with the Lord. 9 Therefore, whether at home or away from home, we try our utmost to please him;
There are times when God wants us to persist in prayer until His work is completed in us:
Luke 18:1-8. Then Yeshua told his talmidim a parable, in order to impress on them that they must always keep praying and not lose heart. 2 "In a certain town, there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected other people. 3 There was also in that town a widow who kept coming to him and saying, `Give me a judgment against the man who is trying to ruin me.' 4 For a long time he refused; but after awhile, he said to himself, `I don't fear God, and I don't respect other people; 5 but because this widow is such a nudnik, I will see to it that she gets justice -- otherwise, she'll keep coming and pestering me till she wears me out!'" 6 Then the Lord commented, "Notice what this corrupt judge says. 7 Now won't God grant justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Is he delaying long over them? 8 I tell you that he will judge in their favor, and quickly! But when the Son of Man comes, will he find this trust on the earth at all?"
Verse 7, to cry out is boao (bo ah o) in the Greek, to cry out for help, to implore for aid and assistance, its praying!. To keep in persistent prayer as Yeshua states is to press for a judgment in their favor, quickly. We do not always know what is in our favor. When Barb and I were transferred from Washington D.C. to Virginia I positively did not want to come here. In hindsight we now know that it was God’s hand bringing us here, but it didn’t fell like it at that time. Prayer is first mentioned in
Genesis 4:26. To Shet too was born a son, whom he called Enosh. That is when people began to call on the name of ADONAI.
Prior to this time Adam had talked directly, Paniym el paynim, face to face with God. Adam sinned resulting in the fall of humanity which caused called to pull back from His creation so that His creation could still survive because sin cannot exist in the direct presence of God. That is when people “began to call on the name of ADONAI”, “huchal likro beshem Adonay” in the Hebrew means to literally, 'call in the name of God.' to pray in the name of Adonai as we just heard Yeshua tell us in Luke 18:7. Huchal is “to pray”, from the root word “palal” literally means to "fall down to the ground in the presence of one in authority pleading a cause" to intervene, interpose, pray, to mediate, judge, to intercede. Such as Moshe did in
Deuteronomy 9:20. In addition, ADONAI was very angry with Aharon and would have destroyed him; but I prayed for Aharon also at the same time.
Why do we Pray? Prayer gives us power over evil, Prayer builds your relationship with God through Yeshua, Prayer helps us overcome temptation, Prayer is crucial in determining God’s will for us as individuals and as nations. Prayer accomplishes God’s work, Prayer is a weapon of spiritual warfare, Prayer succeeds where other means have failed. For what do we pray? Either for daily living in communion and fellowship with God, during situations or crisis, and as God directs as God commanded Jeremiah to do for the cities in which we live in the Diaspora. Our own welfare is wrapped up in it even though we don’t belong here:
Jeremiah 29:7. Seek the welfare of the city to which I have caused you to go in exile, and pray to ADONAI on its behalf; for your welfare is bound up in its welfare.'
Or as when God told Jeremiah to stop interceding for Israel in
Jeremiah 7:16. "So you, [Yirmeyahu,] don't pray for this people! Don't cry, pray or intercede on their behalf with me; because I won't listen to you.
We are told to pray to commune with God:
Philippians 4:6-7 Don't worry about anything; on the contrary, make your requests known to God by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving. 7 Then God's shalom, passing all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds safe in union with the Messiah Yeshua
Prayers give us shalom, a peace that goes beyond all understanding that KEEPS US SAFE! We are told to continue in prayer at all times!
Romans 12:12. Rejoice in your hope, be patient in your troubles, and continue steadfastly in prayer.
We are given guidance in how to physically pray (not hands clasped and heads bowed as tradition teaches):
I Timothy 2:8. Therefore, it is my wish that when the men pray, no matter where, they should lift up hands that are holy - they should not become angry or get into arguments..
And we are told to pray for one another.
James 5:16. Therefore, openly acknowledge your sins to one another, and pray for each other, so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
Prayer strengthens the bonds of unity between believers. As we pray for and confess our sins one to one another we learn empathy and understand the needs of others who are in need. When you pray with strangers and unbelievers, they experience the power of God in their lives and as a result will come to Yeshua. We are told to press into prayer with clarity and self control because Yeshua’s return is close at hand:
I Peter 4:7 The accomplishing of the goal of all things is close at hand. Therefore, keep alert and self-controlled, so that you can pray.
Prayer must be coupled with and through the Ruach HaKodesh.
Ephesians 6:18. as you pray at all times, with all kinds of prayers and requests, in the Spirit, vigilantly and persistently, for all God's people
The Ruach HaKodesh gives understanding and discernment when we don’t know and fall short in the flesh. God knows immediately what the Spirit is thinking. Praying in the Spirit goes beyond human understanding!
Romans 8:26. Similarly, the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we don't know how to pray the way we should. But the Spirit himself pleads on our behalf with groanings too deep for words; 27 and the one who searches hearts knows exactly what the Spirit is thinking, because his pleadings for God's people accord with God's will.
This is what is referred to as “praying or speaking in tongues” which comes from
Acts 2:4. They were all filled with the Ruach HaKodesh and began to talk in different languages, as the Spirit enabled them to speak.
Tongues in the Greek is glossa (gloce-sah') which means of an unknown affinity.
I Corinthians 14:4. A person speaking in a tongue does edify himself, but a person prophesying edifies the congregation.
Prayer in this format is powerful as it’s a direct connection to God’s will and heart, the spirit knows when you don’t. Yeshua also expounded upon prayer:
Matthew 6:5 "When you pray, don't be like the hypocrites, who love to pray standing in the synagogues and on street corners, so that people can see them. Yes! I tell you, they have their reward already!
Note that Yeshua said “When you pray” not “If you pray”. Prayer is expected with sincerity... not for show like the Pharisee. In the day and age in which we live prayer is one of the most important, daily tasks that we are commanded to do. To pray without ceasing, with fervency and diligence. King David, a man after God’s own heart wrote a psalm about prayer:
Psalms 32:2-6. How blessed those to whom ADONAI imputes no guilt, in whose spirit is no deceit! 3 When I kept silent, my bones wasted away because of my groaning all day long; 4 day and night your hand was heavy on me; the sap in me dried up as in a summer drought. (Selah) 5 When I acknowledged my sin to you, when I stopped concealing my guilt, and said, "I will confess my offenses to ADONAI"; then you, you forgave the guilt of my sin. (Selah) 6 This is what everyone faithful should pray at a time when you can be found. Then, when the floodwaters are raging, they will not reach to him
This is where it all comes together…… In Verse 5 David says when he acknowledged his sins to God, when he confessed, both acknowledged and confessed is the Hebrew word Yadah which means to throw or cast off something, to confess. One of the root words of Yadah is “palal” literally means to "fall down to the ground in the presence of one in authority pleading a cause" to intervene, interpose, pray, to mediate, judge, to intercede. David tells us in verse 6 that this is what everyone would be praying while God can still be found. Then when the floods come, sheteph {sheh'-tef} in the Hebrew means deluge, engulfed, swept away, raging flood, and onslaught, it will not reach you. If you stay in a posture of prayer, keeping right with God when the tsuris, the trouble, the onslaught comes you won’t be swept away! It is a continual open line of communication between God and you, moment by moment, minute by minute, so that you can hear God, receive an answer, and know his thoughts and desires. It’s words of knowledge for healing, wisdom for international affairs, knowledge of loved ones, your home, that hedge of protection. Knowing who you serve because you are intimate with Him. Prayer expands and deepens our relationship with God, we were created with a desire and need for a divine connection with Him and prayer is that connection. When we pray, we share our innermost being with Him and connect with Him so that He can do the same with us. Through prayer, we are transformed and renewed. Prayer reminds us that we are dependent on God and not on ourselves and that the prayers of someone intimate with God are effective!
James 5:16. Therefore, openly acknowledge your sins to one another, and pray for each other, so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
The purpose of prayer is not to conform God to your will. The purpose of prayer is to adjust your will to God’s. When God’s answer is no, it’s futile to continue pleading for a yes. Some people refuse to take no for an answer and will attempt to do everything in their power to circumvent God’s answer and will for their lives. Some believe that if you pray long enough and hard enough God will grant your request. Yeshua spoke about this in:
Matthew 6:7. And when you pray, don't babble on and on like the pagans, who think God will hear them better if they talk a lot.
If you pray and receive an immediate answer you’re done! Don’t drag on for hours if He responds immediately. We must learn to trust God in prayer and accept the no’s when they come. Yeshua gave a powerful revelation concerning His friend Lazarus in
John 11:3-4. So the sisters sent a message to Yeshua, "Lord, the man you love is sick." 4 On hearing it, he said, "This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory, so that the Son of God may receive glory through it."
This sickness will not lead to death, not all, just this one so that God’s glory will be revealed! But there are sicknesses whose result is death.
Matthew 19:26. Yeshua looked at them and said, "Humanly, this is impossible; but with God everything is possible."
All things are possible but not guaranteed. When you pray you must be ready to receive and obey both the yes’s and the no’s!
Blessings and Shalom,
Rabbi Eric S Carlson
One of the confounding aspects of the Kingdom of God is being able to comprehend God or worse, to receive a “no” answer from Him. If you pray to God, He will always answer you when you pray.
Jeremiah 33:3. 'Call out to me, and I will answer you I will tell you great things, hidden things of which you are unaware.'"
His promise is that He will tell you great things, things of which you are unaware, He will answer you but sometimes that answer is no! King Herod had Kefa arrested and was preparing to execute him. Seeing the pleasing reaction he received from the Judeans when He had Ya’akov, Yochanan's brother in killed Acts 12, King Herod was looking for an even greater response in having Peter executed. This time the Messianic community came together in unity, with a singleness in mind and heart to pray for Kefa whose life was spared when God sent an angel to free him. God miraculously answered their prayers for Kefa, but just a short time before this when Ya’akov was arrested without doubt the body came together in prayer, surely they prayed with the same fervency and unity as they did for Peter yet in Ya’akov’s case the answer was no, Ya’akov was executed.
God didn’t love Kefa more than Ya’akov. Yet God allowed Ya’akov to die while He continued to use Kefa (Peter) and spared Kefa the same fate. The Messianic Community did not get angry at God or become bitter, dejected and stopped praying! They accepted the answer because the trusted God, they relied on His love and wisdom! Every situation in our life, every decision is a crossroads, there are always at least two options or paths. Every sickness is faced with two paths or choices for God, He will hear your prayers and invade the natural with the supernatural and heal you or He will hear your prayers and call you home to be with Him. Either path is an acceptable one even though we often don’t see the situation that way:
II Corinthians 5:5-9. Moreover, it is God who has prepared us for this very thing, and as a pledge he has given us his Spirit. 6 So we are always confident - we know that so long as we are at home in the body, we are away from our home with the Lord; 7 for we live by trust, not by what we see. 8 We are confident, then, and would much prefer to leave our home in the body and come to our home with the Lord. 9 Therefore, whether at home or away from home, we try our utmost to please him;
There are times when God wants us to persist in prayer until His work is completed in us:
Luke 18:1-8. Then Yeshua told his talmidim a parable, in order to impress on them that they must always keep praying and not lose heart. 2 "In a certain town, there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected other people. 3 There was also in that town a widow who kept coming to him and saying, `Give me a judgment against the man who is trying to ruin me.' 4 For a long time he refused; but after awhile, he said to himself, `I don't fear God, and I don't respect other people; 5 but because this widow is such a nudnik, I will see to it that she gets justice -- otherwise, she'll keep coming and pestering me till she wears me out!'" 6 Then the Lord commented, "Notice what this corrupt judge says. 7 Now won't God grant justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Is he delaying long over them? 8 I tell you that he will judge in their favor, and quickly! But when the Son of Man comes, will he find this trust on the earth at all?"
Verse 7, to cry out is boao (bo ah o) in the Greek, to cry out for help, to implore for aid and assistance, its praying!. To keep in persistent prayer as Yeshua states is to press for a judgment in their favor, quickly. We do not always know what is in our favor. When Barb and I were transferred from Washington D.C. to Virginia I positively did not want to come here. In hindsight we now know that it was God’s hand bringing us here, but it didn’t fell like it at that time. Prayer is first mentioned in
Genesis 4:26. To Shet too was born a son, whom he called Enosh. That is when people began to call on the name of ADONAI.
Prior to this time Adam had talked directly, Paniym el paynim, face to face with God. Adam sinned resulting in the fall of humanity which caused called to pull back from His creation so that His creation could still survive because sin cannot exist in the direct presence of God. That is when people “began to call on the name of ADONAI”, “huchal likro beshem Adonay” in the Hebrew means to literally, 'call in the name of God.' to pray in the name of Adonai as we just heard Yeshua tell us in Luke 18:7. Huchal is “to pray”, from the root word “palal” literally means to "fall down to the ground in the presence of one in authority pleading a cause" to intervene, interpose, pray, to mediate, judge, to intercede. Such as Moshe did in
Deuteronomy 9:20. In addition, ADONAI was very angry with Aharon and would have destroyed him; but I prayed for Aharon also at the same time.
Why do we Pray? Prayer gives us power over evil, Prayer builds your relationship with God through Yeshua, Prayer helps us overcome temptation, Prayer is crucial in determining God’s will for us as individuals and as nations. Prayer accomplishes God’s work, Prayer is a weapon of spiritual warfare, Prayer succeeds where other means have failed. For what do we pray? Either for daily living in communion and fellowship with God, during situations or crisis, and as God directs as God commanded Jeremiah to do for the cities in which we live in the Diaspora. Our own welfare is wrapped up in it even though we don’t belong here:
Jeremiah 29:7. Seek the welfare of the city to which I have caused you to go in exile, and pray to ADONAI on its behalf; for your welfare is bound up in its welfare.'
Or as when God told Jeremiah to stop interceding for Israel in
Jeremiah 7:16. "So you, [Yirmeyahu,] don't pray for this people! Don't cry, pray or intercede on their behalf with me; because I won't listen to you.
We are told to pray to commune with God:
Philippians 4:6-7 Don't worry about anything; on the contrary, make your requests known to God by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving. 7 Then God's shalom, passing all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds safe in union with the Messiah Yeshua
Prayers give us shalom, a peace that goes beyond all understanding that KEEPS US SAFE! We are told to continue in prayer at all times!
Romans 12:12. Rejoice in your hope, be patient in your troubles, and continue steadfastly in prayer.
We are given guidance in how to physically pray (not hands clasped and heads bowed as tradition teaches):
I Timothy 2:8. Therefore, it is my wish that when the men pray, no matter where, they should lift up hands that are holy - they should not become angry or get into arguments..
And we are told to pray for one another.
James 5:16. Therefore, openly acknowledge your sins to one another, and pray for each other, so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
Prayer strengthens the bonds of unity between believers. As we pray for and confess our sins one to one another we learn empathy and understand the needs of others who are in need. When you pray with strangers and unbelievers, they experience the power of God in their lives and as a result will come to Yeshua. We are told to press into prayer with clarity and self control because Yeshua’s return is close at hand:
I Peter 4:7 The accomplishing of the goal of all things is close at hand. Therefore, keep alert and self-controlled, so that you can pray.
Prayer must be coupled with and through the Ruach HaKodesh.
Ephesians 6:18. as you pray at all times, with all kinds of prayers and requests, in the Spirit, vigilantly and persistently, for all God's people
The Ruach HaKodesh gives understanding and discernment when we don’t know and fall short in the flesh. God knows immediately what the Spirit is thinking. Praying in the Spirit goes beyond human understanding!
Romans 8:26. Similarly, the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we don't know how to pray the way we should. But the Spirit himself pleads on our behalf with groanings too deep for words; 27 and the one who searches hearts knows exactly what the Spirit is thinking, because his pleadings for God's people accord with God's will.
This is what is referred to as “praying or speaking in tongues” which comes from
Acts 2:4. They were all filled with the Ruach HaKodesh and began to talk in different languages, as the Spirit enabled them to speak.
Tongues in the Greek is glossa (gloce-sah') which means of an unknown affinity.
I Corinthians 14:4. A person speaking in a tongue does edify himself, but a person prophesying edifies the congregation.
Prayer in this format is powerful as it’s a direct connection to God’s will and heart, the spirit knows when you don’t. Yeshua also expounded upon prayer:
Matthew 6:5 "When you pray, don't be like the hypocrites, who love to pray standing in the synagogues and on street corners, so that people can see them. Yes! I tell you, they have their reward already!
Note that Yeshua said “When you pray” not “If you pray”. Prayer is expected with sincerity... not for show like the Pharisee. In the day and age in which we live prayer is one of the most important, daily tasks that we are commanded to do. To pray without ceasing, with fervency and diligence. King David, a man after God’s own heart wrote a psalm about prayer:
Psalms 32:2-6. How blessed those to whom ADONAI imputes no guilt, in whose spirit is no deceit! 3 When I kept silent, my bones wasted away because of my groaning all day long; 4 day and night your hand was heavy on me; the sap in me dried up as in a summer drought. (Selah) 5 When I acknowledged my sin to you, when I stopped concealing my guilt, and said, "I will confess my offenses to ADONAI"; then you, you forgave the guilt of my sin. (Selah) 6 This is what everyone faithful should pray at a time when you can be found. Then, when the floodwaters are raging, they will not reach to him
This is where it all comes together…… In Verse 5 David says when he acknowledged his sins to God, when he confessed, both acknowledged and confessed is the Hebrew word Yadah which means to throw or cast off something, to confess. One of the root words of Yadah is “palal” literally means to "fall down to the ground in the presence of one in authority pleading a cause" to intervene, interpose, pray, to mediate, judge, to intercede. David tells us in verse 6 that this is what everyone would be praying while God can still be found. Then when the floods come, sheteph {sheh'-tef} in the Hebrew means deluge, engulfed, swept away, raging flood, and onslaught, it will not reach you. If you stay in a posture of prayer, keeping right with God when the tsuris, the trouble, the onslaught comes you won’t be swept away! It is a continual open line of communication between God and you, moment by moment, minute by minute, so that you can hear God, receive an answer, and know his thoughts and desires. It’s words of knowledge for healing, wisdom for international affairs, knowledge of loved ones, your home, that hedge of protection. Knowing who you serve because you are intimate with Him. Prayer expands and deepens our relationship with God, we were created with a desire and need for a divine connection with Him and prayer is that connection. When we pray, we share our innermost being with Him and connect with Him so that He can do the same with us. Through prayer, we are transformed and renewed. Prayer reminds us that we are dependent on God and not on ourselves and that the prayers of someone intimate with God are effective!
James 5:16. Therefore, openly acknowledge your sins to one another, and pray for each other, so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
The purpose of prayer is not to conform God to your will. The purpose of prayer is to adjust your will to God’s. When God’s answer is no, it’s futile to continue pleading for a yes. Some people refuse to take no for an answer and will attempt to do everything in their power to circumvent God’s answer and will for their lives. Some believe that if you pray long enough and hard enough God will grant your request. Yeshua spoke about this in:
Matthew 6:7. And when you pray, don't babble on and on like the pagans, who think God will hear them better if they talk a lot.
If you pray and receive an immediate answer you’re done! Don’t drag on for hours if He responds immediately. We must learn to trust God in prayer and accept the no’s when they come. Yeshua gave a powerful revelation concerning His friend Lazarus in
John 11:3-4. So the sisters sent a message to Yeshua, "Lord, the man you love is sick." 4 On hearing it, he said, "This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory, so that the Son of God may receive glory through it."
This sickness will not lead to death, not all, just this one so that God’s glory will be revealed! But there are sicknesses whose result is death.
Matthew 19:26. Yeshua looked at them and said, "Humanly, this is impossible; but with God everything is possible."
All things are possible but not guaranteed. When you pray you must be ready to receive and obey both the yes’s and the no’s!
Blessings and Shalom,
Rabbi Eric S Carlson