Question: Hello, First, thank you for the informative website, it has been a blessing and a great source. This question pertains to one of the articles on the site entitled: “What should we learn from the virtuous woman in Proverbs 31?” Question: Could Proverbs 31, in reference to the “Virtuous” woman, be referring to the “Church” as a bride preparing for Christ rather than a human female? Thank you for your time God Bless, Lisa?

Answered by: Norman Fistler, who has been a volunteer with us since April, 2016.

Answer: Thank you for the question and the encouragement. It is great to hear that the website is a blessing to you. It is amazing to be a part of touching people`s lives through this ministry.

In Revelation 21, the church is described as the bride of Christ. In Matthew 25, Jesus describes Himself as a groom. When we think of metaphors or parables, it is important that we note the similarities, but do not go too far. When the church is described as a bride, there are parallels between the church and a bride. In Matthew 25 we see that there are people prepared in expectation for the arrival of the groom, and there are other people who are not prepared for the arrival of the groom.

Concerning your question, we need to look at the book of Proverbs and its purpose. Proverbs is a part of the wisdom writings of Solomon, which include Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs. The books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes are primarily written as instructional words to help people to live righteous lives. Proverbs 31:1, 4 show that this chapter was written as the instruction of a mother to her son to help him to live righteously and to select a righteous woman. Proverbs 1:8 is another indication of this, as Solomon is speaking to his son to educate him on the proper way to live.

When teaching or preaching from Proverbs 31, there are many principles that could be applied and learned by both women and men. The qualities of the virtuous woman are certainly also the qualities of the true church and of believers. If I were to preach on this passage, I would not say that Proverbs 31 is a metaphor for the church, but I would use this chapter to instruct the church on how they should conduct themselves in life.

If you would like to discuss parables and how to apply them in more detail, please feel free to ask more questions.

In Christ,
Norman
(Romans 3:23; 5:8; 6:23; 10:9-10)

Question: I have been trusting God for success in an exam i wrote last year. i prayed included it in my prayers during vigils, when fasting, special prayer points, and even sowed seeds and then a word came to me saying God will answer all my prayer request (both written and non written) but i checked my result today and failed two courses. why? He said he honors the word of his servant and his word does not return to him void. I dont get?

Answered by: Shane Hawkins, who has been a volunteer with us since January, 2016.

Answer: I’m very sorry to hear that you failed two of your courses. I’m sure that’s very frustrating especially after you put so much confidence in God to help you pass them. It probably seems like God let you down. However, I don’t think that is the case. I think God is still incredibly faithful and will continue to always be faithful (Ps. 89:1).

You are correct in saying that God confirms the words of his servants (Isa. 44:26) and that God’s word will never return void, but it will always accomplish what he desires (Isa. 55:11). Be careful though in jumping to hasty conclusions about what this means. It doesn’t mean that you can ask God for whatever you want and that in every circumstance he will give that to you. James gives us an example of people who were asking God for things but didn’t receive them. In their case, he says that they didn’t receive what they asked for because they were asking “wrongly, to spend it on [their] passions” (Jas. 4:3). In short, they were being greedy and asking for things that would please their flesh and not for things that would serve God.

God’s great goal in all that he does is to give himself glory (Isa. 48:11). Because of this, he tells his children that if we ask anything according to his will (for his glory) he will give us what we ask (1 Jn. 5:14-15). The problem is that we don’t always know what specific things will give God the most glory. For instance, does God get more glory when you pass your exams and thank him for it or does he get more glory when you fail but continue to trust him and rely on him even through difficult circumstances? Even the apostle Paul was denied his prayer request from being answered by God at one time (2 Cor. 12:7-10) because God had different, better plans. One time, Jesus’ friends asked him for a request to heal their sick brother (Jn. 11:1-4). But Jesus denies their request specifically because he loved them (Jn. 11:5-6). He waited until their brother died then came and raised him from the dead because this was the way he would get the most glory (Jn. 11:40-44).

This doesn’t mean that prayer is just a roll of the dice and you never know if God will say yes or no because you don’t know what he’s thinking. There are certain things in the Bible that God declares are specifically part of his will for his own glory. Praying for these things will always result in a answer of “yes!” Examples are praying for wisdom (Jas. 1:5-6), praying for forgiveness (1 Jn. 1:9), praying for deliverance from temptation (1 Cor. 10:13), and others. I encourage you to spend time searching God’s Word for more ways in which he promises to answer specific prayers.

Lastly, I’m sure you’re also confused because a specific word came to you from God that said he would answer your request and yet it seems like he didn’t. First, I would say that God did indeed answer all of your prayers, but sometimes his answer is just “no”. Second, I would say if that word that came to you was not fulfilled then that word was not from God. The Bible specifically says that God never lies (Titus 1:2). Not every single spirit that comes bearing a word for us is a true word from God. Because of this God tells us to test the spirits to see if they are truly from Him (1 Jn. 4:1). To test a spirit, you simply check to see if the word you are hearing can be confirmed by God’s words, namely Scripture. If so, it is from God. If it denies the scriptures, it is from the devil. If it says something that neither confirms nor denies scripture, then you simply might not know whether it is from God or not until a later time.

Here are a bunch of other resources on prayer that I hope are helpful for you as you navigate this difficult time:
https://www.gotquestions.org/prayer-conditions.html
https://www.gotquestions.org/unanswered-prayer.html
https://www.gotquestions.org/does-God-answer-prayers.html