{
 "id": "basics-u4-l4-5-q02",
 "question": "Why did God say no to Paul’s prayer that He take away the thorn in Paul’s flesh?",
 "answer": "God said no because His grace is sufficient, for power is perfected in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). Just as God gives grace only to the undeserving, He gives strength only to the weak, and His grace plus our weakness equals power in ministry. The thorn kept Paul weak, and that very weakness made him a fit carrier for God's power, so that the power of Christ might dwell in him. God would not remove it because removing it would have removed the weakness through which His power was displayed.",
 "url": "/faq/why-did-god-say-no-to-pauls-prayer/",
 "unit": 4,
 "lesson": "4-5",
 "lesson_title": "Empowering—The Spirit",
 "question_type": "comprehension",
 "tier": 1,
 "faq_class": "review",
 "aeo_questions": [
  "What is the reason God refused Paul's request to remove the thorn in his flesh according to 2 Corinthians 12:9?",
  "What did God's response to Paul's prayer about the thorn in his flesh teach about receiving power to serve Him?",
  "Why does God sometimes allow us to experience difficulty or weakness so that we might demonstrate His power working in us?"
 ],
 "topic_anchor": null,
 "derivation": "voice-rewritten",
 "source_authority": "authoritative",
 "author": "Gene Cunningham",
 "book": "The Basics",
 "source": {
  "doc_id": "btbm-01-TheBasics-8-10-24",
  "ref": "The Basics, Unit 4, Lesson 4-5 - Empowering—The Spirit (Review q2)",
  "book_page": [
   213,
   220
  ],
  "flipbook_page": 225,
  "view_url": "/library/the-basics/unit-4/lesson-4-5"
 },
 "scripture": [
  {
   "display": "1 Corinthians 11:28-31",
   "osis": null,
   "book_pages": [
    227
   ]
  },
  {
   "display": "Ephesians 1:23",
   "osis": null,
   "book_pages": [
    227
   ]
  },
  {
   "display": "Philippians 4",
   "osis": null,
   "book_pages": [
    227
   ]
  },
  {
   "display": "1 Thessalonians 5:19",
   "osis": null,
   "book_pages": [
    227
   ]
  },
  {
   "display": "1 John 1:7-10",
   "osis": null,
   "book_pages": [
    227
   ]
  },
  {
   "display": "Psalms 32",
   "osis": null,
   "book_pages": [
    227
   ]
  },
  {
   "display": "Galatians 5:16",
   "osis": null,
   "book_pages": [
    227
   ]
  },
  {
   "display": "Ephesians 4:30",
   "osis": null,
   "book_pages": [
    227
   ]
  },
  {
   "display": "Ephesians 5:18",
   "osis": null,
   "book_pages": [
    227
   ]
  }
 ],
 "topics": [
  "Ministry",
  "Paul",
  "Prayer"
 ],
 "topics_context": [
  "Grace and weakness",
  "Power",
  "Holy Spirit",
  "Christian, way of life",
  "Paul, the apostle",
  "Power, appropriating",
  "Faith-Rest, technique",
  "Filling of the Spirit and power",
  "Power and Holy Spirit",
  "Power, human",
  "importance of Bible"
 ],
 "printed_pages": [
  213,
  214,
  215,
  216,
  217,
  218,
  219,
  220
 ],
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