I have no doubt that we all have firsthand knowledge of situations like this. Perhaps we’ve even experienced them ourselves. I have a good friend—a fellow elder in his 60s—who tried for years to remain in fulltime service while his savings dwindled. He prayed unceasingly for some type of part-time work that would allow him to continue pioneering. He made every effort to secure such employment. However, just recently he had to give up and take fulltime work to provide for his wife (who continues to pioneer) and himself. He feels discouraged and bewildered that in the face of so many success stories, his own prayers went unanswered.
Of course, the fault cannot lie with Jehovah God. He always keeps his promises and regarding prayers this is what he had promised us:
(Mark 11:24) This is why I tell YOU, All the things YOU pray and ask for have faith that YOU have practically received, and YOU will have them.
(1 John 3:22) and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we are observing his commandments and are doing the things that are pleasing in his eyes.
(Proverbs 15:29) Jehovah is far away from the wicked ones, but the prayer of the righteous ones he hears.
Of course, when John says, “whatever we ask we receive from him…” he’s not speaking in the absolute sense. A Christian dying of cancer isn’t going to have it miraculously cured because now is not the time for Jehovah to rid the world of disease. Even his most beloved Son prayed for things he did not receive. He recognized that the answer he desired might not be in accord with God’s will. (Mt 26:27)
So what do I say to my friend who is “observing God’s commandments” and “doing the things pleasing to Him”? Sorry, it’s not God’s will that you continue to pioneer? But doesn’t that fly in the face of every assembly and convention program we’ve had since…well, since I started going to them back when the earth was cooling.
Of course, I could always come out with something glib like, “Sometimes the answer to a prayer is ‘No’, old chum.” Yup, that would make it all better.
Let’s take a moment to address this trite little phrase that seems to have entered our Christian vernacular of late. It seems to have originated from fundamentalist Christians. With that kind of pedigree, we had better give it some close scrutiny.
John makes it clear that “whatever” we ask for will be granted as long as we meet the Scriptural conditions. Jesus tells us that God doesn’t give us a scorpion when we ask for an egg. (Lu 11:12) Are we saying that if while obeying God and serving Him faithfully we ask for something clearly in line with his will, he may still might say No? That seems arbitrary and capricious, and clearly not what He has promised us. ‘Let God be found true though every man be a liar.’ (Ro 3:4) Obviously the problem lies with us. There is something wrong with our understanding of this subject.
There are three criteria that must be met if my prayers are to be answered.
1. I must be observing God’s commandments.
2. I must be doing his will.
3. My request must harmonize with his purpose or will.
If the first two are being met, then the reason a prayer goes unanswered or perhaps—stating it more accurately—the reason a prayer isn’t answered the way we want it to be is that our request doesn’t harmonize with God’s will.
Here’s the rub. We are told over and over that pioneering is God’s will. Ideally, we should all be pioneers. With that firmly drummed into us, of course we are going to feel disillusioned if our prayers for Jehovah’s help to enable us to pioneer seem to go unanswered.
Since God cannot lie, there must be something wrong with our message.
Perhaps if we add two little words to point 3 we can resolve this conundrum of failed prayers. How about this:
3. My request must harmonize with his purpose or will for me.
We don’t normally tend to think that way, do we? We think globally, organizationally, the big picture and all that. That God’s will can be reduced down to the individual level might seem, well, a tad presumptuous. Still, Jesus did say that even the hairs of our head are numbered. Still, is there a Scriptural basis for making this assertion?
(1 Corinthians 7:7) But I wish all men were as I myself am. Nevertheless, each one has his own gift from God, one in this way, another in that way.
(1 Corinthians 12:4-12) Now there are varieties of gifts, but there is the same spirit; 5 and there are varieties of ministries, and yet there is the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of operations, and yet it is the same God who performs all the operations in all persons. 7 But the manifestation of the spirit is given to each one for a beneficial purpose. 8 For example, to one there is given through the spirit speech of wisdom, to another speech of knowledge according to the same spirit, 9 to another faith by the same spirit, to another gifts of healings by that one spirit, 10 to yet another operations of powerful works, to another prophesying, to another discernment of inspired utterances, to another different tongues, and to another interpretation of tongues. 11 But all these operations the one and the same spirit performs, making a distribution to each one respectively just as it wills. 12 For just as the body is one but has many members, and all the members of that body, although being many, are one body, so also is the Christ.
(Ephesians 4:11-13) . . .And he gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelizers, some as shepherds and teachers, 12 with a view to the readjustment of the holy ones, for ministerial work, for the building up of the body of the Christ, 13 until we all attain to the oneness in the faith and in the accurate knowledge of the Son of God, to a full-grown man, to the measure of stature that belongs to the fullness of the Christ;
(Matthew 7:9-11) Indeed, who is the man among YOU whom his son asks for bread—he will not hand him a stone, will he? 10 Or, perhaps, he will ask for a fish—he will not hand him a serpent, will he? 11 Therefore, if YOU, although being wicked, know how to give good gifts to YOUR children, how much more so will YOUR Father who is in the heavens give good things to those asking him?
From this we get that we all have gifts from God. However, we do not all have the same gifts. Jehovah uses us all in different ways, but all to the same end: the upbuilding of the congregation. This isn’t a one-size-fits-all organization.
In the verses from Matthew just cited, Jesus is using the relationship between a father and his children to illustrate the way that Jehovah answers our prayers. When I’ve been having trouble understanding something about Jehovah or our relationship with him, I’ve often found the analogy of a human father dealing with a beloved child to be most helpful.
If I, as that child, were to feel inadequate; if I were to feel that God couldn’t love me as he does his other children, I might rightly desire to do something to earn his love. Not realizing how much Jehovah does already love me, I might reason that pioneering is the answer. If I were a pioneer, I could then, in my mind at least, be assured of Jehovah’s approval. Encouraged by the results that others claim to have received through prayer, I too might start praying incessantly for the means to pioneer. There are many reasons to pioneer. Some do it because they love the service or simply because they love Jehovah. Others do it because they are seeking the approval of family and friends. In this scenario, I would be doing it because I believe God would then approve of me, and I would finally feel good about myself. I would be happy.
That’s really all any loving parent wants for their child, for him or her to be happy.
Jehovah, the perfect parent, might look upon my request with his infinite wisdom and discern that in my case, I would end up unhappy were I to pioneer. Due to personal limitations, I might find the hourly requirement to be too difficult. Striving to make it might result in my going out to count time rather than making my time count. Eventually, I would give out and feel even worse about myself, or perhaps even feel let down by God.
Jehovah wants me—he wants all of us—to be happy. He might see in me some gift that could benefit others in the congregation and result in my own happiness. After all Jehovah doesn’t count hours; he reads hearts. The pioneer service is a means to an end, one of many. It is not the end in itself.
So He may answer my prayer in the subtle way of the holy spirit which gently guides. However, I may be so convinced in my heart that pioneering is the answer, that I ignore the doors he opens to me and single-mindedly forge ahead toward my goal. Of course, I get tons of positive reinforcement from everyone around me, because I’m “doing the right thing”. However, in the end, I fail because of my own limitations and shortcomings and end up worse off than before.
Jehovah doesn’t set us up for failure. If we pray for something we want we have to be prepared beforehand for an answer we may not want, just as Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane. People in Christendom serve God the way they want to. We should not be like that. We should serve him as he wants us to serve him.
(1 Peter 4:10) . . .In proportion as each one has received a gift, use it in ministering to one another as fine stewards of God’s undeserved kindness expressed in various ways.
We should use the gift he’s given us and not envy another for the gift he or she has.
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Comment by hezekiah1 on 2012-09-25 16:21:38
Thanks Meleti, oh so much to say on this one.
I am one of those JW who are tired of hearing of these experiences. Not because I don't want these brothers to succeed. It is because I truly feel guilty after hearing each of these experiences. It's as if I am being told: "To have true worth in Jehovah's eyes, you must be in full time service. Otherwise you may not make it into the new system. Now those of us in full time service will pray for you, but we can't be sure if you're going to make it"
Really?
At our circuit and district assemblies, in the YPA videos, in experiences at various congregation meetings etc etc we hear of these experiences of those who chose to pioneer and how happy they are to do so. I do not begrudge them, and I am genuinely happy for them. However in the same breath, I hear that I should be doing the same thing. On more than one occasion I have tried, yet failed to pioneer. There were various reasons. Health and finances are the two big ones. Am I somehow subpar now because I wasn't able to do so? I don't think so, but I surely get that impression from those around me.
I truly feel sorry for that elder who wanted to pioneer but couldn't find suitable work. I well know those feelings of bewilderment. 'What did I do wrong? Why won't you bless me?'
I look at it this way. The congregation is like a body. We cannot all be hands, or eyes or feet can we? Each of us has a gift, or a role which we have to fill in order to benefit the congregation. We are asked by Jehovah to give our best. For some, that will include pioneering. If so, we are doing the "right thing", but for the right reason. Could it be possible that our best may not include pioneering? Could it be that our best would be as a publisher who supports kingdom interests in other ways? Perhaps financially or volunteering a specific gift we have to further Kingdom interests? I think the answer is obvious.
I love this line "We are told over and over that pioneering is God’s will." because it is so true. We hear this over and over again. However I would invite any who read this blog to show me from the scriptures that this is the case.
Your point about about thinking in our own mind that pioneering is the key way to be assured of Jehovah's approval is well taken. Often we think this way. Yet the Bible has many examples of those who were not in full time service yet still enjoyed God's approval. I really do not understand why we don't emphasize more that we do things out of our love for Jehovah, instead of the hours we spend pioneering. One thing flows from the other. Not the other way round.
Jehovah does indeed read hearts, we have seen it many times in the scriptures. While counting hours is great, if done with the right motivation, it is not our ultimate goal. At least not my ultimate goal. When I pray, I try to focus on what Jehovah wants me to do next. Whether it may be to raise children who love him, to upbuild a fellow believer, to give financially, or to handle a part in the meeting. One thing I always say in my prayers is that I want any good results that come to bring glory to Him alone.
Surely, this must meet all of the three conditions the scriptures spoke of.Reply by Dorcas on 2012-09-25 16:47:42
Hezekiah, I am another who is tired of hearing these experiences. Speaking as one who has tried and failed to make a success of pioneering, these do nothing but bring up feelings of guilt and failure. I'm quite sure Jehovah does not want his servants to feel that way.
Also, I have a problem with the "infirm" pioneer list. When a person gets too old, feeble or infirm to put in the regular pioneer requirement why are there special accommodations made? Is it because they have been made to feel that the title "pioneer" makes them special and going "down" to being a regular publisher makes them feel less important, at least in the eyes of the congregation?
I am not saying this to demean the work they've done. I am only trying to understand our thinking towards pioneering. Do we become closer to Jehovah and his son or does it in some way make us feel special?
Many years ago, a circuit overseer's wife made a fine point during our discussion in the field. She had mentioned that a sister who was pioneering with young children often missed the weekly meetings. She told the sister that pioneering was NOT a scriptural command but not forsaking the meetings was a command. If her pioneering was interfering with making the meetings she would have to make a choice. Wise words, I thought, and not ones we hear often enough.
For some of us, it is very, very difficult to find that delicate balance and find happiness in our service to our God when we are being constantly compared and somehow made to feel we just don't quite measure up.
At this last Sunday's meeting during the closing prayer, the brother included the elders, ministerial servants, pioneers and elderly and infirm in his request for God's spirit to be upon them. I do not fit in any of those categories. Am I less deserving of Jehovah's spirit? Somehow, I am always made to feel that way even in subtle ways.Reply by hezekiah1 on 2012-09-25 20:03:46
Thanks Dorcas for your reply.
Some years ago we had a dear sister who became too old to put in the hour requirement for being a full time pioneer. She was placed on the infirm list. She received a very nice letter from the branch and I know she was very encouraged by it. She had felt that after being a pioneer for so long, it would be difficult "not to be a pioneer".
I know she had spent many years in full time service, so I didn't feel bad that she went on the infirm list. However you raise a very good point as to how we view full time service.
Maybe you noticed at the district convention (at least in ours), that when brothers were introduced, they mentioned how many years in full time service or special privileges each speaker had. Very peculiar I thought. Does the number of years in full time service mean that I should pay more, or perhaps less attention to the speaker? Perhaps the speaker should be held in higher regard because of his years of faithful service? I don't really know. One thing should be clear though: No matter who presented the information, pioneer, Bethelite or elder, in the end it should be from the Scriptures and should bring Jehovah glory, not men. So my question is: Why even mention how many years a brother has been in full time service? Does it really impact the Scriptures being presented? Or does it bring recognition to the speaker?
Which brings me back to your point about how we view pioneering or full time service, do we view the faithful acts of such ones of greater worth than what you or I do? Should we do so?
To answer that question, I am reminded of how Jesus viewed the widow who dropped in coins of small value. What was most important to him? The amount of money or the spirit it was given in? in the same way, what matters to Jehovah? The amount of hours or the spirit it was given in? I think the answers to these questions are self evident. However, if I were to ask any young person in the truth today (especially these last two weeks), what were they expected to do with their lives, what would they say? Herein lies the point, if we promote to young people, they should be pioneers, if we tell district convention crowds how long the speakers have been pioneers, if we keep elderly and infirm as pioneers, then I guess we show that we view pioneering as the ultimate goal. I am not saying that is right or wrong. I am saying that those who fall short of that ideal can be left feeling discouraged.
Regarding the brother and his closing prayer, I can only hope that he made a mistake in not mentioning the many who are doing their best without having a special title. You are equally deserving of Jehovah's spirit. However you are quite right that in subtle ways we are made to feel less deserving, I have personally seen this many times.
Thanks again for your comments.Reply by Meleti Vivlon on 2012-09-25 20:31:47
I noticed the same thing. A very odd and mildly disturbing development. Is it a worldwide policy, or just something which the local branch has come up with? In any case, it seems to fly in the face of what the scriptures say about giving glory to men.
Not long ago, we stopped putting the speaker names on the assembly and convention programs. Ostensibly, this was done so that we wouldn't give honor to men, though the cynical side of me suspects that the cost savings of not having to print multiple small runs with names on them was a contributing factor.Reply by Shahida on 2012-11-15 04:11:46
Meleti.
It's a world wide thing. ..I live in Africa, the comments the brothers and sisters have made are all true even in my country.
I know of elderly sisters in poor health who feel they have to struggle to remain on the pioneer list. .I remember one CO who reminded us that it shouldnt be a matter of 'pioneering at all costs'..good advice but the reality is different.
Comment by jenni on 2012-09-26 08:32:15
As I am only just dipping my toes in with my bible study. I have not attended any meetings/conventions yet.
The way I think about the post subject is the same as I would answer my daughters. If I am asked a request to do something and I think they are not ready for the consequences. My answer is alway, "the answer is a no, but also a not right now". For example, if I think that my youngest is not ready to do something that her older sister by 2 and half years does. Either she shes not emotionally able, won't know how to deal with a situation if something goes wrong, then I reply as above. Its my way of saying that they might be able to in the future, just not at this moment in time
I hope that makes some sort of sense. Have sever fibro fog
go in peace
Comment by Shahida on 2012-11-15 03:31:13
My husband and I spent many years in bethel, we decided to leave and start a family, which is a God given privilege.
The sad thing is that if one leaves bethel or full time service, they are viewed negatively...most brothers do not see that the years or sacrifice the ex full time servant made..fellow bethelites view the one leaving as a sort of traitor...some actually seem to take delight if the former full time servant looks like he's struggling.
We decided to concentrate on raising our family ,and not giving in to the pressure to 'do more'..and the incitement to guilt.
I've come to a realisation that the high expectations are manmade...It is not Jehovah's way...I often wonder how many would pioneer if there was no written report and a glorious title going with it.