Daniel 3:16-18
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter, If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and He will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if He does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego would not bow to the king’s idol, and they were condemned to death in the fiery furnace. In their proclamation to the king, they said that God is able to and will deliver them from the king’s hand. That was a HUGE statement of faith. But it is followed by what, at first glance, may appear to be a statement of doubt. They said, “But if not…” Saying this may appear to be “covering all bases” or “hedging their bets.” In reality though, that is far from the truth.
If you look at their entire statement, what they are saying is that they completely trust God in this situation. No matter what the outcome may be, they trust God. Their statement, as a whole, is one of the strongest statements of faith and trust recorded in the Bible.
Jesus had a similar experience in the Garden. He prayed what could be termed as a "but if not..." type prayer. When He was in agony, He asked the Father if there was any way that this cup could be lifted from Him. He wanted another way out. Was that a sign of weakness? Some might say so. But looking at the rest of His prayer, we see that He asked and God answered...with a "no." Jesus ended His prayer by saying, "Nevertheless, not My will be done, but Your will be done." This was not doubt or weakness. This was a demonstration of complete faith and trust in God's ability to do what is right.
Sometimes when we pray, we have a sub-conscious condition that we trust God to answer the way we want Him to answer. Instead, we should pray and state that, in all things, we trust God to answer the right way. Yes, present your requests to God. But always declare your wholehearted trust in God's ability to do what is right, even if it does not agree with what you want.
Make sure you are not believing God for your answers to prayer, but His!
© 2004 BibleNuggets.net - May be used freely, credits included, for non-profit ministry purposes.