What do you think are the most common questions people ask God?
I bet one comes to mind immediately—why? Right? We get bad news or hit a rocky spot and turn to God, asking, Why? But “why” is seldom—if ever—a useful question. I don’t think God has ever answered that question for me, probably because I wouldn’t understand if He did. But there are many questions that God has answered, at least for people in the Bible. Here are five of them:
1. Who am I?
When God assigned to Moses the task of going back to Egypt and telling Pharaoh to set the Hebrew slaves free, Moses asked, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” (Exodus 3:11, NIV). It was, of course, a protest, a statement more than a question. But it is still a good question, one of the best we can ask God in prayer. Who am I? What is my
identity. What does God say about me in His word, the Bible? The person who sincerely asks God, “Who am I?” is often abundantly blessed by the answer.
2. What if?
When God revealed to Abraham His plans to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, the patriarch posed a series of questions. “What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the
place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it?” (Genesis 38:24, NIV). He kept asking “what if?” until God answered, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it” (Genesis 38:32, NIV). Abraham’s questions didn’t save those cities but they do seem to reveal that God enjoys the “what if” questions. “What if we got together with other churches in our town for this purpose?” “What if I took a different course in my career?” “What if...read more
