I’m trying to learn to communicate with God.  I know we speak to Him through prayer... so does He speak back to us through the Bible?  When I ask for God’s perfect will on a subject, and I ask Him for confirmation in the Bible, and I open it and read on what He says, is the word that I read a promise?  Thank you for explaining, and God bless!

Sincerely,
Looking For Direction

Dear Looking For Direction,

God speaks to us through His Word.  If we want to know God’s desire for our life, we must use the Bible to get our instructions.  Faith comes from the Word (Rom 10:17), and the Bible contains all the information we need for life and godliness (2 Pet 1:3).  If we want to understand what God wants for us, we can find the truth in the sum of His Word (Ps 119:160).  It isn’t as simple as just opening the Bible and putting your finger on a page and looking for a sign; the Bible takes study and effort.

God doesn’t answer our prayers by directly speaking to us, but His Word says that we should pray without doubting (1 Tim 2:8) and that we should ask in faith (Jas 1:6). God says there are very few things that will cause Him to ignore our prayers.  Read “Whose Prayers Count?” for the list of things that will make God turn His back on your prayers.  God never gets tired of hearing from His children.  Christians are to constantly seek Him in prayer.  The most direct example of this is Christ’s parable of the unjust judge in Lk 18:1-5.  Christ taught that parable, so “men ought always to pray and not to grow weary”.  God wants to hear from His people.  So don’t stop asking for help; He is listening.

     I hear people say Jesus is God; I also hear He is God’s Son; then I hear He is both... so who is Jesus besides just our Savior?

Sincerely,
Begin At The Beginning

Dear Begin At The Beginning.,

There are three parts to the Godhead: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  This is most easily seen in Matt 3:16-17.  When Jesus was baptized, the Father spoke from heaven, and the Holy Spirit descended as a dove.  Each of them is eternal (they were all at the creation – Gen. 1:1, Gen. 1:2, Col 1:15-17).  John 1:1 specifically says that Jesus is Deity.  Jesus is different than the Father, but He is part of the Godhead.  Jesus even said that He had always existed (Jhn 8:58).  The apostles worshipped Jesus as God (Jhn 20:28).

Jesus was also God’s son because He was given a physical body by God (Heb 10:5, Matt 1:18).  Jesus also obeyed the Father as a son would obey (Jhn 5:19).  Jesus was also the firstborn Son because He is the firstborn of the church – God’s children (Rom 8:29).  Jesus is completely deity, but He also has a unique role as the only member of the Godhead to have also lived in the flesh (1 Tim 3:16).

     I am going through a mental breakdown: I am talking to myself, I am hearing voices, and now I am seeing things in the sky (like little orbs floating telling me to do stuff)!  What should I do?

Sincerely,
Scared

Dear Scared,

Take a deep breath and seek help - a faithful church and a good physician are a good place to start.  God tells us that two are better than one (Eccl 4:9) and that we need to seek help when things get difficult (Pr 15:22).  When burdens and trials increase in our lives, we need to turn to God and His people.  We are so sorry for the immense turmoil you are going through.  Others have faced this same level of strain that begins to play tricks on your mind.  The key is to lean upon a faithful church that can help you through this.  Please e-mail us at askyourpreacher@mvchurchofchrist.org, so we can help you find a faithful congregation to provide you with relief and the hope in God that will anchor you through the trials of life (Heb 6:19).

     How long does God expect for you to help someone who is doing very little to help himself?  This person also puts a huge guilt trip on me… saying that he will commit suicide, be homeless, and get on drugs if I make him take care of himself.  What does God expect of me?  I want to do right by my Savior.

Sincerely,
Feeling Conned

Dear Feeling Conned,

The Bible says that there is a balance between helping people and enabling laziness and other sinful behavior.  For example, God says that if someone won’t work, the cure is that they shouldn’t eat either (2 Thess 3:10).  God commands us to not let people “mooch” off of us because that is just helping them to continue to sin.
Don’t get us wrong; God also says that it is very important that we help carry one another’s burdens in Gal 6:2.  However, just three verses down in Gal 6:5, it says that everyone must also be ready to carry their own burdens.  The point is this – we should ALWAYS help those who want to succeed, but when someone is unwilling to even try and carry their own weight… you can’t drag them to success.

Can I pray for the devil’s death?

Sincerely,
Grim

Dear Grim,

We should pray for things until God gives us a clear and definitive answer.  Before we stop to pray for something, we must always stop to read what God has to say first (Eccl 5:1).  After all, no matter what we want, God’s will should come first (Matt 6:10).

In the case of the devil, God says that He has already reserved a place for him and his angels (2 Pet 2:4).  God has already decided that the devil will be cast forever into the lake of fire (Rev 20:10).  However, God has also decided that He will be patient and wait for just the right time to judge the devil, his angels, and all mankind (2 Pet 3:9-10).