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“If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” Matthew 21:22
There are certain things in the Christian’s life that I have to admit I struggle with. Perhaps the biggest one is prayer. Don’t get me wrong. I believe in the power of prayer. I’ve seen miracles that can only be explained by the working of God’s hand. I’ve seen lives changed. I’ve seen demons flee. I’ve seen people get up and walk when medical science told us they’d never walk again. Prayer works. Jesus’ words are not void.
On the other hand, I’ve seen parents weep over the casket of a child because their prayers ‘weren’t answered’. I’ve seen the innocent accused wrongly because a judge decided to use his own ‘wisdom’ rather than look at the evidence ‘objectively’. I’ve watched spouses walk away from families while the church prayed things would be different. Prayers offered up to heaven seem to fall harmlessly to the ground leaving lives and bodies strewn in their path. Does that mean I don’t believe in prayer? NO. As I stated earlier, prayer works. I’ve seen far too many personal examples of God’s working to believe otherwise. I believe the Bible to be God’s Holy Word, without error unashamedly. I believe in and take advantage of the promise we have in Hebrews and elsewhere that we can come with confidence before the throne of God to receive mercy and grace in our time of need. I believe our God is sovereign, all-powerful, loving and merciful. I believe my faith is a package deal. You can’t pick and choose which parts of ‘God’ you will believe and which you will not. It’s all or nothing. He believes in you when you fail, all he asks is that you believe in him when he disappoints.
So here are my thoughts on the hard aspects of prayer thus far in the journey. It’s not an inclusive list, I didn’t find them on some tablets buried in the ground. They came from my heart.
When you struggle to believe in prayer, remember that prayer you can believe in means:
- Your Heavenly Father won’t give you something that’s harmful to you. All of us are like 2 year-old children. We want the things we see in life with little regard for the consequences they bring to us. We see for today, not tomorrow. Why else does lust, addiction and spending beyond our means hold such an allure. Jesus promises us that if we pray for bread, God won’t give us a rock. The opposite is also true. If we pray for a rock to eat, God won’t give it to us. He loves us too much to give us something that will hurt us. Having said that, remember he also will never force you to take the best choice. He loves you too much for that too.
- Your Heavenly Father wont keep you from going through something that you need to go through in order grow stronger. None of us like pain. Sometimes we’ll choose painful things because we think that pain will be less than the pain before us, but we never choose pain as the best route. However, strength never comes without adversity. Walking never comes without falling; good health never comes from willing it to as we over-eat and under-exercise; learning faith never comes without an element of doubt leading to trust. A loving Father knows what it’s going to take to make you strong and he won’t give up on you until he has you strong enough to face what lay ahead.
- Your Heavenly Father won’t thwart his eternal purpose by keeping you from going through something you need to go through in order to help others on their journey. Your Father’s ultimate desire is to bring all of his children into relationship with him. The only way that will happen is through Jesus Christ. When Jesus left planet earth he left behind a charge to each of us, a challenge to go, to disciple, to reach out to those caught in the web of sin and despair. The most effective ambassadors are those who’ve struggled themselves. Because of his great love for you and others; because of his eternal goal of passionately desiring to spend eternity with your neighbors, he may allow you to go through things so you can more show more passion and more understanding to those who need Jesus.
- Your Heavenly Father won’t answer a prayer that is contrary to his holiness. This may be the hardest of all for us to endure and understand. He is a holy God. He is a perfect God. Sin can not stand in his presence. Because of this, when sin in in our lives he needs to cleanse us. Not for his sake but for ours. Unconfessed sin keeps us from the passionate relationship he so earnestly desires. We may endure the consequences of our actions, not because he hates us, but because he wants to cleanse us.
That’s the short list. There are no easy answers. There are times we’ll never understand his actions. There are times we won’t even know how to pray. Circumstances may change our view of God, but they will never change God’s love for us.
PRAYER: Father I confess to you that I don’t understand your actions in my life. I thank you and praise you that in spite of my limited view and my weakness you still love me. I worship you for the fact that I can approach your throne even when I question your actions. Thank you for the grace to go on. Amen.
He makes known secrets that are deep and hidden; he knows what is hidden in darkness, and light is all around him. Daniel 2:22 (NCV)
I love to camp. There is just something about the great outdoors and falling asleep to the soft noises of the night…most of the time. Several years ago I was camping alone in a favorite, nearby state park. At that time I had a small two man tent, just big enough to be cozy and warm in. The site next to me was occupied by a couple of young men. I watched them occasionally from my campfire as I read. In a word, they were strange.
They arrived shortly after I did on Friday night and set up camp. From the start it was obvious they didn’t camp much as they didn’t look prepared to camp at all. Shortly after their arrival they put up pieces of paper on the trees in their sight and then walked away. My curiosity overwhelmed me so I went to check on the paper. They were just a bunch of weird designs. Nothing made sense about these two the rest of the evening.
That night I was awakened by a strange noise. It sounded like someone fighting. No yelling, but the sound of punch after punch finding its mark. Then…silence. A few moments later I heard something that sounded like a body being drug through the woods. Had there been a murder? Was I fully awake or partially dreaming? I didn’t know. I knew one thing though. I was scared!
The sound came closer to my little tent and I froze. I didn’t dare look outside, and didn’t know if I was in danger or not! Then a new sound. The sound of a nearby tree cracking and slowly falling to the ground. I braced for impact. Then, nothing. Complete silence. As you can probably imagine, I didn’t sleep much the rest of the night.
The next morning my friends next door left. I noticed a small tree had fallen on the other side of my campsite, several yards from my tent. To this day I have no idea what I heard or what went on that night. As I thought through things the next morning I ascertained that most likely the thumping sounds were made by a passing bear and the tree could have fallen victim to that bear or just fallen from natural causes.
Physical darkness can be fearful for us, but physical darkness is nothing like the fear we in broad daylight. Those times when we wonder what is going on in secret before our eyes. Evil surrounds us. We question the motives of friends and foe, family members or co-workers.
Making it through the times of emotional or spiritual darkness involves trust and trust, on the human plane is risky at best. We trust our lover and then find we’ve been cheated on. We trust our employers until we hear our jobs are on the line. We trust our children until the police car pulls into the driveway.
Daniel was faced with a challenge. His life depended on the answer he would give. I don’t think Daniel was worried. He didn’t trust the King. He didn’t trust the men surrounding him. But he did trust his God.
You may be going through a period of time in your life when you are confused or scared by what you see around you. You may be nursing the wounds of being cheated on, lied about or deceived. You may have lost faith in all mankind and even started questioning God. During times of fear and confusion trust is the hardest thing to grasp ahold of and the most important thing to cling to.
We may not always know what is going on in the ‘darkness’ of our lives. We can know beyond a shadow of a doubt that our loving, gracious and merciful Father knows. We may have to endure a few times when we don’t understand what is going on around us. But he is a God of light. He doesn’t give light. He IS light. In his perfect time all things will be exposed. You can trust him to see you through the darkness.
PRAYER: Father God, I know these words are true, but it doesn’t make it much easier right now to be honest. I’m scared. I’m worried. I’m hurt. Everyone I’ve trusted has failed me, but I ask that you would empower me to trust you in the darkness. Amen.
But to all who did accept him and believe in him he gave the right to become children of God. John 1:12 (NCV)
Several years ago some friends of mine adopted a child from a foreign country. As they neared the top of the waiting list they were told by the host country that they’d have 48 hours to arrive at the orphanage once their names ‘were up’. In a sense everything was on hold in their lives knowing that at any moment they would be hopping on a jet plane and flying around the world to meet their new infant.
In talking with the prospective father he told me how excited, nervous and scared he was…all at the same time. Even though they had three children of their own, the excitement of being able to share their love and family stability with this new little life was ‘a chance of a life time.’
I’d forgotten that conversation until recently, when I ran across John 1:12. ‘We’ve been given the right to become children of God.’ Take time to think about what being adopted means in the life of an orphan. They have, for whatever reason has lost parents and family and everything that was stability to them.
- There’s the waiting game. Every day seeing other children meeting ‘new people’ who take them away to a new life;
- Depending on how long they’ve been an orphan, they may have no concept of parents or family;
- Many are victims of some sort of tragedy or trauma;
- Most are lonely. Even though the orphanage or foster parents may do their best to offer comfort, there is no comfort like the comfort of the loving arms of mom and dad.
- They lack positive role models. People who are in their lives consistently, offering love, stability and direction;
- They have no real understanding of a relationship built on love for the reason of love alone;
- They don’t have any cheerleaders in their lives. No one to give them a ‘high-five’ and encourage them when the going gets tough. No one to celebrate their victories or stand by them in defeat.
- Even after adoption some struggle with the fear that these ‘new parents’ will abandon them.
You may be able to think of other struggles of someone who’s lived the life of an orphan. Now imagine that day when someone walks through that door, looks you straight in the eyes and says, “I choose you. For better or worse, with all your faults, for all time.” Imagine the joy and relief to think you’ve been chosen.
Each and everyone one of us has, to some degree, felt the pain of an orphan. The loneliness, the failure, the desire for someone to come alongside us when we are afraid, we’ve failed, we are sick or lonely. Our Heavenly Father came into our lives, scooped us up in his mighty, powerful and gentle arms, looked us straight in the eyes and said, “I choose you. Period.” It was nothing you did. There was nothing you that made you deserve this love. There is nothing that can take this love from you.
Your heavenly Father is someone you can count on to be there when you are lonely, be your cheerleader in victory or defeat, and to guide you through the rough and tumble journey of life.
PRAYER: Father God. Daddy. Thank you for loving me when I’m unlovely, for supporting me when I fail, encouraging me when I struggle to go on. Thank you for choosing me to be your child. Amen.
Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. James 5:16
A young mom sits alone in the waiting room, waiting for the doctor’s report. Her husband is 1,000’s of miles away. She’s alone. She’s scared. She’s worried for her baby. She earnestly pleads to her Lord Jesus for healing. Moments later the doctor enters. The look on his face tells her the answer. She breaks down in tears as he gently explains the baby’s last moments of life on earth.
A dad tucks in his young children. He looks at the clock. “Where is she tonight? Why hasn’t she called? She promised this wouldn’t happen again. How can she do this to her kids, to me?” He goes to the living room and kneels by the couch and prays, once again, for her. Her unfaithfulness to him hurts, but her unfaithfulness to the kids and to Jesus hurts even more. Earnestly he prays for her safety and for her deliverance. Hours later she comes home drunk, and it’s obvious she’s been in another man’s arms, again.
Pastor Smith listens for the clock to chime. Late again. He wonders where she is. Doubt and worry lead to anger. “Why God? Why can I see you work so strongly in the lives of those in the church and not her? Why do the prayers of her mother and me for our own daughter go unanswered? What has caused her to make these choices that are so radically different from her brother and sisters?” His prayer is interrupted by a door bell. A squad car sits in the driveway. Not again.
It’s been a brutal fight. She’s come to realize why some parents steal their kids to protect them from an angry abusive spouse. All the signs have pointed to her request for her kids to spend less time with their dad have been positive. She has her church praying, her family praying. She’s prayed for his change of heart as well. Then the judge reads the verdict. Her heart melts as the tells the kids the verdict and holds them through terror filled sobs.
Although these stories are fictitious they happen every day. Good people praying earnestly for loved ones. Righteous, faith-filled, Jesus loving moms and dads, pastors, teachers and auto mechanics. Every walk of life. Every denomination. Every country in the world. Praying to a God they trust and believe in for answers that never happen. Where are the wonderful results? Where is their loving Father when they need him most?
Some, to be sure, look at these things as being the final straw. Some turn from him, or blame themselves, or act out in anger. But the person of faith accepts God at his word. Were their words prayers of faith? Yes. Were they asking selfishly? Not from a human perspective anyway. Faith isn’t about believing God answers prayer. Faith is about trusting and accepting God’s answer when it goes against every thing we’d hoped for.
PRAYER: Father God, my prayer today is for my brothers and sisters. For those of us who struggle with our faith from time to time because our prayers aren’t answered as we’d hoped. Help us to trust your answers as best when they seem to be the worst. We know you are a God of hope. We love you. We trust you. Help us grow in that trust. Amen.
The ways of God are without fault. The Lord’s words are pure. He is a shield to those who trust him. Psalm 18:30 (NCV)
We all want to believe in a God of love. Even the atheist wishes there was a God. To them the God they wish they saw simply doesn’t exist based on the perception of how they want the world to operate. In order to ‘not believe in God’ they have a picture in their minds of the God they don’t believe in, a God they wish they had.
The agnostic doubts the existence of the God in their mind. They, like the atheist, evaluate the ‘evidence’ they have gathered in their minds. Their ‘God-picture’ is too fuzzy to know for sure if it exists. They may hope there is a God, but the God of their own definition.
When God doesn’t do what we want him to do it’s never easy to handle. It never has been. When that happens we can react by getting angry with God and give up on this thing we call faith. We can question his actions, his existence, his love for us, or the truth of his word. That doesn’t change who God is, it changes who we are.
We can get angry with ourselves or give up on us. We can tell ourselves God’s demands are too great. We convince ourselves that his ways are irrelevant, or rationalize our way through life by saying things like: “I’m better than they are; I can worship him on my own (which usually means not at all); If he really did love me he would….” But getting angry with ourselves only robs us of the joy we can have through Jesus.
We can blame others. Take God out of the picture completely. If they hadn’t done this, I’d be okay. I get no respect here, I can’t [do my job; get good grades; be the parent I should be; succeed] in this environment because of they way ‘they’ treat me.
But when God doesn’t act the way we want there is one more thing we can do. It’s the hardest of all to do because it can go against everything our finite, human minds tell us to do. When God doesn’t do things the way we want him to we may have to admit the maybe, just maybe, he knows more about this journey called life than we do.
He’s walked the road you’ve walked. He’s prepared the way for you. He never promised a care-free life here on earth, but he promised to walk with you through illness, divorce, financial collapse, natural disasters, and even your own failures and mistakes.
His ways are without fault, but sometimes they are also without understanding. That doesn’t change who he is, it only offers you an opportunity to grow in faith that he will do what he says he’ll do.
PRAYER: Father God, help me to grow in faith during those times I don’t understand your ways. Keep me from anger towards you, myself or others when things don’t go as I wish. Help me to lean on your words and trust you for my protection. In your name, Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 