- Why Hasn't God Answered My Prayer?
- by Dan Strader
God has really missed some great opportunities to rescue me from
my present circumstances. Have you ever felt that way? I certainly
have. Many times. Shortly after being sent to prison, I tried
to disentangle my negative circumstances. I was hoping to make
some sense out of the erroneous outcome.
Less than 5% of those incarcerated have actually taken their
cases to trial. I am one of them. However, I learned quickly
that the criminal justice system isn't just about guilt or innocence:
for it rarely sticks with the rule of law or fairness. It seemingly
deteriorates into a contest between officers of the court who
are primarily concerned with winning at any cost. Consequently,
if you happen to be the accused facing an unscrupulous adversary,
your chances of acquittal are minimal.
With so much injustice being done concerning my case, I reasoned,
surely God will rescue me . . . immediately! Nothing happened.
Moreover, my inability to change the continual negative circumstances
has often left me feeling angry and frustrated. Why hasn't God
answered my prayers? Is it a lack of faith?
Fortunately, Jesus addresses this human disposition in two parables:
The Importunate Friend (Luke 11:5-13) and The Unjust Judge (Luke
18:1-8). Both of these stories contain invaluable lessons to
getting our prayers answered. I can particularly identify with
the widow as she pleads her case before the unjust judge: "Avenge
me of mine adversary" she cries. Undoubtedly, circumstances
necessitated her repeated visits to attain relief. Her request,
however, was being denied. The prayers were going unanswered.
The judge's indifference to her case is evident by his thoughts.
"Though I fear not God, nor regard man; yet because this
widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual
coming she weary me." Jesus then says, "Hear what the
unjust judge saith. And shall not God avenge his own elect, which
cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I
tell you that he will avenge them speedily."
Similarly, in The Importunate Friend we see how one friend's
persistence was the key to borrowing three loaves of bread at
the midnight hour. His friends response? "Trouble me not:
the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot
rise and give thee." Like the widow before the unjust judge,
this friend's request was being denied. The prayers were going
unanswered. But listen to the words of Jesus: "Though he
will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because
of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth."
Thoughts on Prayer
* When man says denied.
God says supplied. Man was denying the widow and the friend in
both of these stories. Yet Jesus was using these earthly illustrations
to teach us what we may encounter when we approach our heavenly
Father. God, however, isn't indifferent to our needs as man can
be. To the contrary, Jesus says, "If ye then, being evil,
know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more
shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that
ask him?" (Luke 11:13)
Even the Lord's brother reminds us that "every good gift
and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the
Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow
of turning" (James 1:17). And the apostle Paul encourages
us with these words: "But my God shall supply all your need
according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Philippians
4:19). It is clear God wants to supply our every need!
* God's delays are not His denials.
How often have we heard this but mistakenly conclude that we
should simply stop praying and do nothing? That's not the lesson
of these parables. Jesus said "That men ought always to
pray, and not to faint" (Luke 18:1). And James tells us,
"The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth
much" (James 5:16b). In other words, even when we experience
delays, we are directed to keep praying. We are to be persistent!
* Delays from God redefine our faith.
In concluding the story of The Unjust Judge, it is interesting
that Jesus ended with this plaintive question, "When the
Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" (Luke
18:8b). Could it be that our heavenly Father delays Hi response
to test our faith? That appears to be the case. James 1:3-4 says,
"My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers
temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh
patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may
be perfect and entire, wanting nothing." God wants to redefine
our faith. The delays, if we will let them, will remove present
limitations as we learn to exercise that faith. For it just so
happens that faith is very important to God, and without it we
cannot please him (Hebrews 11:6).
In Conclusion
Our heavenly Father wants to meet our every need, but He also
wants us to have a persistent faith as we come to Him in prayer.
However, it is always important to get the whole counsel of God
on any subject and there are so many more Scriptures on prayer
that we could examine. For instance, the importance of praying
according to God's will (I John 5:14) and asking with the right
motivation (James 4:3). I am convinced, though, that Jesus deliberately
selected these two parables we considered to encourage us to
persevere in our prayer life until we receive the answer.
What is the Story?
Poor Dan he just cannot accept the fact of his guilt in real
crimes of praying with and praying on the members of his father's
church with the help of his father. Roy Aldrich, a retired school
teacher, died prematurely at the age 65, as a direct result of
the stress and betrayal by his friend and pastor, Karl Strader,
and the deeds and actions of his son, Daniel Strader. Roy wrote
the following:
Dan Strader was convicted of stealing our life savings of $ 100,000.00
by using lies and deceit and since your question about the effect
on our lives is probably the must important factor to you and
the Parole Commission, let me simply repeat the words of Jerry
Hill, state attorney of Polk County: “The crimes of Dan
Strader have done more damage to more elderly people than any
homicide that I have prosecuted “
Dan’s thefts have forced us to sell our house and most of
our personal possessions and move into a trailer. He has shown
absolutely no remorse and Judge Robert Doyel who presided over
this case stated: “The first step toward rehabilitation
is admission of wrong doing, and therefore I feel that Dan Strader
will never be rehabilitated.”
What Mr. Strader did was calculated and carefully planned with
a willful disregard for the lives of others to such an unbelievable
degree of extremity that my wife and I still cannot understand
why anyone would try to destroy us in this fashion, especially
since we had given faithful service to the Carpenter’s Church
in Lakeland pastored by Karl Strader, Dan’s Father.
The leadership of the Assembly of God denomination both in Lakeland
and Missouri would not accept the testimony of Roy Aldrich that
he was robbed and raped by money changers and wolves in sheep’s
clothing in the house of God. But the State of Florida who cared
about justice, righteousness and truth accepted the words and
testimony of Roy Aldrich about the Strader’s.
The State prosecutors proved their case and convinced the jurors
that Dan Strader devised an elaborate scheme to attract cash
in the real-estate and mortgage investments. He was selling the
securities without a license and that the securities were unregistered.
This was done in an organized method amounting to Racketeer-Influence
and Corrupt Organizations, or RICO Act.
As a result Daniel Strader, 37, was sentenced to 45 years in
prison in August 1995. He was convicted of 238 felony counts
for bilking 57 mostly elderly investors, some members of the
church, out of $2.3 million by selling investments in properties
that didn’t exist or already had liens against them.
Roy and Patricia Aldrich of Lakeland, a wonderful couple, were
among the elderly who were members of the Assembly of God and
Carpenter’s Home Church who were deeply hurt. Roy had written
to important and influential people at AG, including District
Superintendent Don Lunsford and General Superintendent Thomas
Trask, requesting their help concerning Pastor Karl Strader.
But they didn’t get true justice!
But the evil and wicked deeds of Dan Strader and his 238 counts
of theft, fraud and racketeering will continue to haunt Carpenter's
Home Church in Lakeland. Although Dan appealed his conviction
the 2nd District Court of Appeal upheld the conviction and sentence
in 1996. In 1999, Strader began a new appeal, contending he didn't
get adequate representation from his lawyer, Jack Edmund of Bartow,
during the 1995 trial. Strader alleged that his accomplice Pernice
lied in his testimony during the trial at the prompting of prosecutors.
On April 1, 2002 Attorneys for Dan Strader have taken their case
to federal court. They filed a motion in the Middle District
of Florida in Tampa to have the court review the process of the
state proceedings in the trial against Strader. Attorneys had
appealed the case to the 2nd District Court of Appeal in Lakeland
after Circuit Judge Donald Jacobsen turned down their post-conviction
relief petition. Jacobsen was not the judge at Strader's trial,
but in 2001 he ruled against Strader's request for a new trial.
A three-judge panel from the appeal court upheld Jacobsen's ruling
without comment in a decision released March 11, 2002.
The Lakeland Ledger reported that April was a bittersweet month
for Strader. On Easter Sunday, he marked his 35th anniversary
as pastor of Carpenter's Home Church. A week earlier, the latest
appeal by his convicted son, Daniel, was denied. In the twilight
of his career, Karl David Strader is a living alloy of tradition
and progress, success and loss.
In one generation, he has seen his Pentecostal tradition grow
in numbers and in acceptance. And by most accounts, he has been
an innovator, freely associating with faith groups outside Pentecostalism
and borrowing ideas from them. He built an empire at Carpenter's
Home in North Lakeland that has at times included a 10,000-seat
sanctuary, a national TV audience, a private school and a retirement
home. But his innovations were not appreciated by everyone, and
11 years ago, strife decimated Carpenter's Home. Today, the cavernous
sanctuary is perhaps a quarter full on Sundays, and the TV broadcasts
have been cut way back.
Strader bears an even deeper wound. Those who know him say the
scandal surrounding his son's arrest and 1995 conviction on fraud
charges have affected him more deeply than any other setback.
Yet at 72, Strader soldiers on, preaching and laying hands on
people who come forward in hopes of a healing touch. He says
he will remain as pastor of Carpenter's Home as long as his health
is good. He tells his congregation, "I'm past the age scripture
tells me is given to us of three score and 10. But God has given
me a wonderful life of health and strength. I'm shooting for
100."
But the Ledger also reported recently that the Carpenter's Home
Church, under the leadership of Karl Strader, will be sold. It
doesn't profit to be a thief and to raise up a thief! Yes, crime
doesn't pay.
Dan was not an entrepreneur, he was a first class con artist
who used religious words, quoted the Bible, prayed with and preyed
on his victims. He modeled himself after his protégé
and hero-his Dad, and did the things that the Senior Pastor and
the Strader family did in Carpenter's Home Church continually.
Unfortunately, there are others in the Assembly of God who do
the same things, even pastors and superintendents.
The facts would later show the Straders for what they are and
how they:
· Ignored the plight of the elderly victims and raise
tens of thousands of dollars for Dan.
· Ignored moral discrepancies in Dan's multiple admission
of lying and guilt, and declare victory over their enemies, which
never came.
· Identified the forces of darkness as anyone who would
question their views and positions on matters, especially in
regards to Dan's crimes.
· Ridiculed and lampooned Dan's victims, by deriding them
for testifying against Dan.
· Arrogantly refused to admit doing any significant wrong
and say it was the fault of others a conspiracy out to get them,
because of who they are, high profile Christians.
· Repeatedly used the pulpit of Carpenter's Home church
to issue misleading statements about Dan and others such as "we
are being crucified by the press" and using lies and deceptions.
· Issued unbelievable hate and slander from a public pulpit,
on three investors or victims, who were embezzled by a con artist.
· Used people and things in Carpenter's Home Church for
their own hidden agendas. Jim, who was used by the Straders for
his considerable talent, and to do the punishing work of building
Carpenter's Home Church, then threw him out like a gum wrapper.
Jim believed in checks and balances, and this was something that
Karl and Dan Strader didn't do or practice. Therefore, they hated
Jim for loving the truth, and sought a means, at all costs, even
at the price of splitting the church, to see him removed from
his position.
· Denied members and staff members access to elected deacons,
and used others on staff as Roy Aldrich had written to work them
over with "a rubber hose" for not submitting to their
demands and wishes.
· Ensured that their salaries were confidential and their
positions were maintained at all costs, while others less fortunate
and more talented had to leave, even though they had given their
best and expected a degree of respect for their loyalty and hard
work. It wasn't what you did but who you know, and the same is
true in churches today. Wally Duncaster
References
http://www.wcie.net/danielstrader/
http://www.davidicke.net/religiousfrauds/pentecostal/godfraud.html
http://cnt10.tripod.com/strader.htm
http://www.strang.com/ubb/Forum2/HTML/002728.html
http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/lewd.html
http://www.wcie.net/chc/mark2.htm |