I don't understand 00:00:01.83\00:00:04.40 why did this have to happen to me? 00:00:04.43\00:00:08.17 I feel like I just can't make sense of things. 00:00:08.20\00:00:12.51 I need answers. 00:00:12.54\00:00:15.88 Where is God? 00:00:15.91\00:00:17.55 You know, we all have questions, 00:00:21.82\00:00:24.55 we all have difficult things that we go through, 00:00:24.59\00:00:28.09 things that we just don't understand, 00:00:28.12\00:00:30.03 and times when, you know, we need answers, 00:00:30.06\00:00:33.29 and that's the purpose of this show, 00:00:33.33\00:00:34.66 Raw Questions Relevant Answers. 00:00:34.70\00:00:36.67 My name is Mark Paden, I am a freelance filmmaker. 00:00:36.70\00:00:39.30 These are my friends and co-hosts, 00:00:39.33\00:00:40.67 Michelle Doucoumes, a college professor 00:00:40.70\00:00:42.87 and Dee Casper, a brand evangelist for ARtv. 00:00:42.90\00:00:46.57 And, you know, 00:00:46.61\00:00:47.94 what we're here for is just to gain answers from the Bible. 00:00:47.98\00:00:50.75 A lot of different young people have sent us in questions 00:00:50.78\00:00:54.02 and we want to answer these from the Bible 00:00:54.05\00:00:56.25 'cause at the end of the day, it's not us that have answers. 00:00:56.28\00:00:59.72 We're just going to help you, guys. 00:00:59.75\00:01:01.32 This is really us 00:01:01.36\00:01:02.76 as fellow human beings in need of divine grace 00:01:02.79\00:01:06.43 coming to the place where answers can be found. 00:01:06.46\00:01:08.93 So that's where we're going to start off at. 00:01:08.96\00:01:11.20 Our first question 00:01:11.23\00:01:12.57 that we are going to be tackling today 00:01:12.60\00:01:14.97 is coming from a young man, 00:01:15.00\00:01:18.37 age 21, in Tennessee. 00:01:18.41\00:01:20.34 And his question is, "How much do we pray 00:01:20.38\00:01:23.71 before God gives us an obvious answer 00:01:23.75\00:01:26.11 as to what His will for us is?" 00:01:26.15\00:01:29.38 So, I guess, I can jump into this one. 00:01:29.42\00:01:31.39 I think that circumstances change everything, right? 00:01:31.42\00:01:34.89 We don't have like this set template 00:01:34.92\00:01:36.59 that if you don't get an answer in X amount of days 00:01:36.62\00:01:38.89 that you can never know or you will definitely know. 00:01:38.93\00:01:41.83 Here's what we do know, 00:01:41.86\00:01:43.37 God does want you to know what His will is for your life. 00:01:43.40\00:01:46.80 We know that that's the case. 00:01:46.84\00:01:48.77 God does want His will to be carried out in our life. 00:01:48.80\00:01:51.54 And so the safe place to begin is by searching the Word of God 00:01:51.57\00:01:55.14 and in time in prayer just ask Him, 00:01:55.18\00:01:56.61 "God, I want to know what Your will is, 00:01:56.64\00:01:59.08 and I need clarity, I need guidance. 00:01:59.11\00:02:01.08 I have a large decision before me. 00:02:01.12\00:02:02.95 I don't trust myself in this situation, 00:02:02.98\00:02:05.12 and I need to hear from You." 00:02:05.15\00:02:07.16 And the safest place to hear from Him 00:02:07.19\00:02:08.76 are the places where God has spoken in the past, 00:02:08.79\00:02:11.19 through His Word, 00:02:11.23\00:02:12.56 through His providential leadings in our life, 00:02:12.59\00:02:13.93 through prayer, and through godly counselors, 00:02:13.96\00:02:16.87 people through whom God has spoken to you 00:02:16.90\00:02:19.27 in the past is kind of the counsel that I give. 00:02:19.30\00:02:21.74 Not necessarily based upon someone's title 00:02:21.77\00:02:23.64 but people that God has used to speak to you in the past. 00:02:23.67\00:02:27.34 That's the best place to start. 00:02:27.38\00:02:29.58 The timeline is something that isn't up to us, 00:02:29.61\00:02:31.48 but if we're going to where God has spoken in the past, 00:02:31.51\00:02:33.65 I fully trust and believe that God will make 00:02:33.68\00:02:35.58 His will clear in the time that we need it. 00:02:35.62\00:02:38.72 Yeah. 00:02:38.75\00:02:40.09 You know, I think of a story in the Bible 00:02:40.12\00:02:42.59 in the Book of Daniel. 00:02:42.62\00:02:44.39 Daniel is shown some things in prophecy 00:02:44.43\00:02:46.80 that he doesn't understand and he has questions about. 00:02:46.83\00:02:49.66 And we find in the end of Daniel 8:27, it says, 00:02:49.70\00:02:53.57 "Daniel fainted and was sick for days afterwards 00:02:53.60\00:02:57.27 and then he rose and went about his business, 00:02:57.31\00:02:59.01 no one understood the vision." 00:02:59.04\00:03:01.34 And it comes down, years later, we find chapter 9, 00:03:01.38\00:03:05.15 the first year of King Darius that he's praying again, 00:03:05.18\00:03:09.75 he's praying for his people, 00:03:09.78\00:03:11.55 he's praying with his whole heart. 00:03:11.59\00:03:14.19 And God actually sends him another vision 00:03:14.22\00:03:16.79 that helps him understand what he didn't before. 00:03:16.83\00:03:19.96 And it teaches me an important lesson, 00:03:20.00\00:03:22.63 Daniel never quit praying. 00:03:22.66\00:03:25.33 I don't know, you know, why all of this happened. 00:03:25.37\00:03:29.10 We see some insights in this passage 00:03:29.14\00:03:31.64 into some of the battle between good and evil 00:03:31.67\00:03:34.18 that's happening around this. 00:03:34.21\00:03:36.44 But there are times where I believe that 00:03:36.48\00:03:40.12 we just continue to pray, to leave it to God, 00:03:40.15\00:03:42.92 but yet he got up, he went about his business. 00:03:42.95\00:03:46.62 And that was a big thing. 00:03:46.65\00:03:47.99 He didn't let those unanswered questions 00:03:48.02\00:03:50.79 stop him from doing what God had called him to do. 00:03:50.83\00:03:54.63 He just kept doing what he was called to 00:03:54.66\00:03:57.10 and then in the right way in the right time, 00:03:57.13\00:03:59.30 God did come through and revealed that. 00:03:59.33\00:04:01.57 You know, there's a situation briefly in Daniel 10. 00:04:01.60\00:04:04.47 After this where God kind of reveals 00:04:04.51\00:04:06.27 why there was a tarrying, 00:04:06.31\00:04:07.64 there were other variables involved. 00:04:07.68\00:04:09.41 He said that He was warring... 00:04:09.44\00:04:10.78 The angel was sent to speak to Daniel 00:04:10.81\00:04:12.41 says that he was warring with the king of Persia 00:04:12.45\00:04:14.32 and that's why there was a delay. 00:04:14.35\00:04:16.52 And that's one of the things I believe that God 00:04:16.55\00:04:18.49 will do for us is help us to better understand the why. 00:04:18.52\00:04:22.36 We may not understand 00:04:22.39\00:04:23.73 while we're waiting in the moment, 00:04:23.76\00:04:25.09 but God does eventually help us 00:04:25.13\00:04:26.46 to at least contextualize the wait. 00:04:26.49\00:04:28.06 We may not have all the details this side of heaven, 00:04:28.10\00:04:30.57 but He will give us some form of context 00:04:30.60\00:04:32.23 to help us with that, and I'm grateful for that. 00:04:32.27\00:04:34.84 You know, I think the other thing too 00:04:34.87\00:04:36.20 that is in this question 00:04:36.24\00:04:37.57 is looking for an obvious answer 00:04:37.61\00:04:40.51 as to what His will is. 00:04:40.54\00:04:42.08 You know, I think, sometimes, 00:04:42.11\00:04:43.48 we want a lightning bolt from heaven, 00:04:43.51\00:04:45.51 we want God in a cloud speaking to us 00:04:45.55\00:04:47.82 like He did with the Israelites but the reality is that 00:04:47.85\00:04:50.09 sometimes that just may not happen. 00:04:50.12\00:04:52.35 You know, God leads us through His providence, 00:04:52.39\00:04:54.72 through His Spirit, through the Word of God, 00:04:54.76\00:04:57.69 but we have to remember that 00:04:57.73\00:04:59.06 sometimes through the Word of God, 00:04:59.09\00:05:00.43 it's sometimes through reading the Bible 00:05:00.46\00:05:01.86 and understanding the principle behind it. 00:05:01.90\00:05:03.47 You know, if you're comparing two things 00:05:03.50\00:05:04.83 and you want to do one and there's two options 00:05:04.87\00:05:08.07 or do they both coincide with the will of God? 00:05:08.10\00:05:10.31 Sometimes, they don't. 00:05:10.34\00:05:11.67 Is it consistent not only with the Word of God 00:05:11.71\00:05:14.41 but also our place in history? 00:05:14.44\00:05:16.11 Is this something that God would have us be doing 00:05:16.14\00:05:18.95 at this time, you know? 00:05:18.98\00:05:21.32 Yeah, you know, similar to that, 00:05:21.35\00:05:23.85 it just reminds me of something that... 00:05:23.89\00:05:28.82 Scripture talks about basically 00:05:28.86\00:05:30.66 the idea that if we're willing to do God's will 00:05:30.69\00:05:35.00 that we're going to know, 00:05:35.03\00:05:37.07 and I think that's a huge principle. 00:05:37.10\00:05:39.17 Do I pray until my heart is surrendered 00:05:39.20\00:05:43.30 to what God's will is? 00:05:43.34\00:05:44.67 And then that gives Him room to work. 00:05:44.71\00:05:46.94 And so, maybe it's not always just do I pray 00:05:46.98\00:05:50.05 until I exactly know or God speaks with? 00:05:50.08\00:05:52.35 Do I pray till I'm surrendered? 00:05:52.38\00:05:53.82 And sometimes people feel like, 00:05:53.85\00:05:55.48 "Well, if God didn't speak to me as clearly, 00:05:55.52\00:05:57.45 does that mean I'm not close to God?" 00:05:57.49\00:05:59.82 But there's not necessarily that correlation, for instance, 00:05:59.85\00:06:03.66 God spoke through a donkey to the Prophet Balaam 00:06:03.69\00:06:07.30 but Balaam was not close to God. 00:06:07.33\00:06:09.70 That was just the way God had to reach him 00:06:09.73\00:06:11.87 but that wasn't God's ideal. 00:06:11.90\00:06:13.37 God's ideal is building that relationship 00:06:13.40\00:06:16.14 where with a surrendered heart were speaking to Him 00:06:16.17\00:06:20.44 and then the path is open, the communication is open 00:06:20.48\00:06:24.61 to be able to hear God at the right way in time. 00:06:24.65\00:06:26.55 One more example by contrast is at Mount Sinai, 00:06:26.58\00:06:28.95 two different instances of Mount Sinai, 00:06:28.98\00:06:31.52 the Israelites hear from God with like fire 00:06:31.55\00:06:33.72 and smoke in a pyrotechnic display in a loud voice, 00:06:33.76\00:06:36.83 but Elijah, many years later, at the very same location 00:06:36.86\00:06:39.66 hears from God with a still small voice. 00:06:39.69\00:06:42.76 Yes. 00:06:42.80\00:06:44.13 And the context varies, that religious maturity 00:06:44.17\00:06:48.00 of the two parties present is different even. 00:06:48.04\00:06:50.71 But obvious answers are when God speaks 00:06:50.74\00:06:53.17 and He's clear, not necessarily how loud 00:06:53.21\00:06:55.61 or what pyrotechnics are involved 00:06:55.64\00:06:57.91 or what miracles happen, 00:06:57.95\00:06:59.55 it's that conviction that God has spoken 00:06:59.58\00:07:01.92 and that's why I should respond to, 00:07:01.95\00:07:03.45 not necessarily the means of how it's distributed. 00:07:03.49\00:07:06.35 Very good. 00:07:06.39\00:07:07.72 So let's go on and let's hit the next question. 00:07:07.76\00:07:11.56 Similar topic, and this is from a female in Texas, 00:07:11.59\00:07:15.00 my home state, greatest state in the world, and she's 21. 00:07:15.03\00:07:19.50 "When you hear something you think is from God, 00:07:19.53\00:07:22.10 but it seems like the farthest thing from happening, 00:07:22.14\00:07:24.64 do you go on expecting it to happen? 00:07:24.67\00:07:26.51 Or move on and potentially miss out?" 00:07:26.54\00:07:28.78 So that statement about Texas, 00:07:28.81\00:07:30.58 was that from the Lord, Mark? 00:07:30.61\00:07:32.45 Yes. 00:07:32.48\00:07:34.32 No. 00:07:34.35\00:07:35.68 No, that wasn't Jesus, this is a really good question 00:07:35.72\00:07:38.19 as far as, yeah, when do I know that this really was God 00:07:38.22\00:07:43.93 when it doesn't seem like it. 00:07:43.96\00:07:46.66 And, I mean, there are some principles 00:07:46.70\00:07:48.86 that we are given in Scripture 00:07:48.90\00:07:50.93 that do help us to say some of this. 00:07:50.97\00:07:53.17 You know, we're told that if it does not line up 00:07:53.20\00:07:55.24 with the Word of God, 00:07:55.27\00:07:56.60 then we need to be careful of that, 00:07:56.64\00:07:58.14 to the law, and to the prophets. 00:07:58.17\00:07:59.87 And I'm not going to conjecture over 00:07:59.91\00:08:01.28 whether Texas being the best state is in Scripture, 00:08:01.31\00:08:04.18 but that's one thing that I think of to start with this, 00:08:04.21\00:08:07.68 first of all measuring it by that. 00:08:07.72\00:08:09.08 Yeah. 00:08:09.12\00:08:10.45 There are times where God has 00:08:10.49\00:08:13.15 amazing phenomenal calls that He gives to people, 00:08:13.19\00:08:15.46 for instance, speaking of Elijah again. 00:08:15.49\00:08:17.33 Elijah is given a call from God 00:08:17.36\00:08:18.89 to say that it's not going to rain until he prays again. 00:08:18.93\00:08:22.16 But everything that Elijah sees says the opposite, 00:08:22.20\00:08:25.67 the hills are green, the streams are lively, 00:08:25.70\00:08:28.27 and he had to choose to believe what God said 00:08:28.30\00:08:30.54 in spite of what he saw, 00:08:30.57\00:08:32.81 and god eventually vindicated what He had said. 00:08:32.84\00:08:35.64 There were times when God calls us 00:08:35.68\00:08:37.01 into difficult situations like that to test our faith 00:08:37.05\00:08:39.41 that draws closer to Him. 00:08:39.45\00:08:41.05 And it teaches that when it all looks dark, 00:08:41.08\00:08:42.98 God is faithful. 00:08:43.02\00:08:44.52 There are moments where that does happen, 00:08:44.55\00:08:45.89 so there are case studies throughout Scripture 00:08:45.92\00:08:47.42 where this takes place. 00:08:47.46\00:08:49.06 Is that the norm? 00:08:49.09\00:08:50.43 Not necessarily, but if that's the call 00:08:50.46\00:08:51.96 that God has and He's spoken clearly 00:08:51.99\00:08:54.16 through a multitude of vehicles, right? 00:08:54.20\00:08:55.83 Through prayer, providence, Christian council in the Word, 00:08:55.86\00:08:58.23 everything's pointing at one direction. 00:08:58.27\00:09:01.07 Waiting on the Lord during that season would probably 00:09:01.10\00:09:03.24 be in your best interest at that stage. 00:09:03.27\00:09:05.27 And sometimes, the waiting teaches us something 00:09:05.31\00:09:08.04 that we're going to learn at the end 00:09:08.08\00:09:09.41 that maybe what we thought was the end objective isn't. 00:09:09.44\00:09:12.51 The waiting process made us. 00:09:12.55\00:09:14.18 It wasn't that God was looking for us 00:09:14.22\00:09:15.88 to end up in a certain place, 00:09:15.92\00:09:17.55 He was looking for us to end up as a certain person. 00:09:17.59\00:09:20.29 That the waiting itself makes us into a person 00:09:20.32\00:09:23.32 who could appreciate the next step. 00:09:23.36\00:09:25.69 So along the same lines, 00:09:25.73\00:09:27.33 I want to jump actually into the next question 00:09:27.36\00:09:29.86 because it kind of ties in. 00:09:29.90\00:09:31.57 And the reason is, before I read this, 00:09:31.60\00:09:34.40 a lot of times this question comes up 00:09:34.44\00:09:36.44 because, you know, we will feel like 00:09:36.47\00:09:40.08 God is telling us something, 00:09:40.11\00:09:41.44 we'll feel a mental prompting as it were an impression 00:09:41.48\00:09:45.68 and we think that God is asking us to do something with this. 00:09:45.71\00:09:48.92 And sometimes that may or may not line up 00:09:48.95\00:09:52.32 with what seems like reality. 00:09:52.35\00:09:57.13 So this person's question, a female, 28, from Washington. 00:09:57.16\00:10:00.53 "How can I tell of the mental promptings 00:10:00.56\00:10:02.63 I experience when I am thinking/praying 00:10:02.66\00:10:05.40 through issues and decisions, are God's voice or my own?" 00:10:05.43\00:10:09.00 And I just want to add a little bit to this. 00:10:09.04\00:10:10.94 I think this is something that 00:10:10.97\00:10:13.64 I've found a lot of people wrestle with. 00:10:13.68\00:10:16.44 Is this voice speaking to me? 00:10:16.48\00:10:18.58 Just me imagining something or is this God? 00:10:18.61\00:10:20.68 Yeah. 00:10:20.72\00:10:22.05 I would say the first thing is it's super important 00:10:22.08\00:10:25.25 that we find ourselves rooted in Scripture 00:10:25.29\00:10:27.79 daily and regularly because whenever 00:10:27.82\00:10:31.53 we have an understanding of the principles of Scripture 00:10:31.56\00:10:34.16 and that setting our compass to north, 00:10:34.20\00:10:36.50 we can tell because the voice we hear in our mind 00:10:36.53\00:10:38.30 when the Spirit leads us whenever we have 00:10:38.33\00:10:39.67 our own thoughts, sounds the same, right? 00:10:39.70\00:10:41.47 It's generally a similar sounding voice. 00:10:41.50\00:10:43.64 How can I distinguish between the two? 00:10:43.67\00:10:45.47 Is it in the harmony with the principles of the Word of God 00:10:45.51\00:10:48.24 because God would never lead you 00:10:48.28\00:10:49.74 outside of those principles? 00:10:49.78\00:10:52.08 There were times when there may be kind of grey areas, 00:10:52.11\00:10:55.02 it's hard to know what to do, but in a general sense, 00:10:55.05\00:10:57.72 God leads us in harmony with the way 00:10:57.75\00:10:59.72 in which He's worked in the past 00:10:59.75\00:11:01.66 through His teachings and through the prophets. 00:11:01.69\00:11:03.02 And I think that's a very good place 00:11:03.06\00:11:04.86 to start that discourse on which voice is which. 00:11:04.89\00:11:08.06 And I'm going to say something that may not be a great 00:11:08.10\00:11:10.83 sounding answer but there may be times 00:11:10.87\00:11:12.73 that we don't know. 00:11:12.77\00:11:14.10 Yeah. Yeah. 00:11:14.14\00:11:15.47 That maybe those voices are not necessarily 00:11:15.50\00:11:16.84 something right or wrong but, for instance, 00:11:16.87\00:11:19.17 there was a day that I felt a strong impression 00:11:19.21\00:11:21.41 to go to a certain Wal-Mart. 00:11:21.44\00:11:24.38 I don't know, it so happened that I went there 00:11:24.41\00:11:26.98 and I met someone that I was studying the Bible with 00:11:27.02\00:11:29.22 and it was an interesting appointment 00:11:29.25\00:11:30.62 where I was like, "Wow, I think that was of the Lord." 00:11:30.65\00:11:34.26 There have been other times 00:11:34.29\00:11:35.62 where I've had some instinct to do something 00:11:35.66\00:11:38.06 and it meant nothing. 00:11:38.09\00:11:39.69 And so I wouldn't run around 00:11:39.73\00:11:41.90 just so worried about every small thing. 00:11:41.93\00:11:46.03 Sometimes, we overcomplicate that. 00:11:46.07\00:11:48.27 There are things that are maybe not necessarily right or wrong. 00:11:48.30\00:11:51.41 We do our best with the relationship 00:11:51.44\00:11:53.27 and the connection that we have. 00:11:53.31\00:11:55.04 I think the other thing too with all that is 00:11:55.08\00:11:57.68 I know, I've experienced this 00:11:57.71\00:11:59.15 and I know a lot of other people 00:11:59.18\00:12:00.58 who have experienced this is you get in 00:12:00.62\00:12:02.28 a kind of this mindset of, you hear all these impressions 00:12:02.32\00:12:05.45 and you want to do God's will, you want to do what's right, 00:12:05.49\00:12:07.82 and so this conscientiousness leads to some pretty 00:12:07.86\00:12:14.00 outlandish things, you know, 00:12:14.03\00:12:16.26 like I've had friends who feel deeply impressed 00:12:16.30\00:12:19.13 to share something at the end of a message. 00:12:19.17\00:12:21.07 And it's not the right time, right? 00:12:21.10\00:12:23.84 So one of the things that we have to be careful 00:12:23.87\00:12:25.71 of is that not all impressions are from God. 00:12:25.74\00:12:30.58 In fact, Satan actually really capitalizes 00:12:30.61\00:12:35.45 on getting us to follow our own impressions 00:12:35.48\00:12:38.35 contrary to the wisdom of God's Word. 00:12:38.39\00:12:40.56 And so what we really need to do is, 00:12:40.59\00:12:42.29 like you were saying earlier, 00:12:42.32\00:12:43.66 ground ourselves in the Word of God 00:12:43.69\00:12:45.09 and be cognizant of Him and be mainly led by that Word. 00:12:45.13\00:12:48.83 God isn't always speaking to us through impressions 00:12:48.86\00:12:51.40 every moment of the day. Indeed. 00:12:51.43\00:12:53.17 God many times will speak 00:12:53.20\00:12:54.84 through multiple venues not only impressions. 00:12:54.87\00:12:57.71 We cannot live our lives based upon that alone. 00:12:57.74\00:13:00.54 And if we're wrestling, we need to be seeking answers 00:13:00.58\00:13:02.54 from God in those other vehicles, 00:13:02.58\00:13:03.95 in those other venues for confirmation 00:13:03.98\00:13:06.58 so that we can know where to go forward. 00:13:06.61\00:13:08.18 And, I think, it's another safeguard in that sense 00:13:08.22\00:13:09.88 because though He does use this, 00:13:09.92\00:13:12.09 we also could be led astray, what's a safeguard, 00:13:12.12\00:13:13.92 what's a form of accountability? 00:13:13.96\00:13:15.92 Diversifying, I think in that sense would be wise. 00:13:15.96\00:13:18.39 And one thing that I would add is 00:13:18.43\00:13:19.76 why are we even asking these questions? 00:13:19.79\00:13:21.80 Am I asking just because, 00:13:21.83\00:13:23.16 "Oh, do I do this or that, this or that?" 00:13:23.20\00:13:25.17 Or am I asking in the context, 00:13:25.20\00:13:26.67 "I really want to know God and His heart." 00:13:26.70\00:13:28.80 Is that more than just about the answer 00:13:28.84\00:13:31.34 but about the relationship that I have with God, 00:13:31.37\00:13:34.24 and how to pursue that and be in union with Him. 00:13:34.28\00:13:37.78 So I would say to you, you know, 00:13:37.81\00:13:40.48 if these are questions that you've wrestled with, 00:13:40.52\00:13:42.82 if you're wanting to know 00:13:42.85\00:13:44.72 more about understanding the will of God 00:13:44.75\00:13:46.45 and how to arrive at answers 00:13:46.49\00:13:49.09 for your life, get in the Word. 00:13:49.12\00:13:51.13 Nothing can do you more good 00:13:51.16\00:13:52.99 than to get into the Word of God. 00:13:53.03\00:13:54.80 You know, if you come home from a long day 00:13:54.83\00:13:56.87 instead of flipping on the TV, get in the Word, 00:13:56.90\00:13:59.00 learn the stories of prophets 00:13:59.03\00:14:01.00 and apostles, and just stature yourself 00:14:01.04\00:14:03.81 in how God has led other people in the past. 00:14:03.84\00:14:06.81 I just want to invite you to ask your questions 00:14:06.84\00:14:09.44 online on our Facebook at Facebook at RQRA3ABN. 00:14:09.48\00:14:14.18 God bless. 00:14:14.22\00:14:16.18