Week 12: The Adequacy of God and Eternal Life — Chapters 20–21

1.Packer draws on Paul's "thorn in the flesh" (2 Corinthians 12) to address the experience of prayers that are not answered in the way we hope. How does Paul's story model the right response to unanswered prayer — and how does Packer use it to reframe what "God answering prayer" actually means?

2.Packer argues that God often withholds the relief we ask for in order to give us something greater — a deeper experience of His sufficient grace. The promise "My grace is sufficient for you" (2 Corinthians 12:9) is given *instead of* healing, not *alongside* it. How does that reframe the way you pray about a persistent problem in your own life?

3.In Chapter 21, Packer addresses "inward trials" — the dark nights of the soul, seasons of spiritual dryness, feelings of God's absence, and the sense that one's faith is crumbling. He argues that these experiences are not signs of God's abandonment but can be instruments of His deepening work. Do you find that argument convincing, and have you experienced it to be true?