Do you believe in the power of prayer? If you are a Christian, then you probably reflexively said “yes” but do you really? When you pray, what kind of expectations do you have concerning God’s answer and what does that say about how you really feel about the power of prayer? I think this sometimes fluctuates, depending on where we are in our walk with Christ at any given time. I think this is something we all should examine in our hearts, now and then, and so I would like to take a little time to think about and talk about this issue.
James 1
6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.
7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;
When we pray, do we pray believing that God is able and willing to do what we ask for? Do we sometimes let past prayers that, from our prospective went unanswered, stand in the way of our faith in the power of prayer? Do we sometimes pray because, as Christians, that is what we are supposed to do? Do we sometimes just sort of hurriedly throw the prayers out there with no real thought as to whether they are answered or not? The answers to these questions do matter.
I think that, for all of us, at least occasionally, it’s easy to let doubt creep in about the power of prayer, when we pray prayers that, from our prospective, go unanswered. We tend to think of prayers as being unanswered when the answers don’t meet our expectations, when the answers are not exactly what we want or when we want it. The problem with that is that our expectations are often based on our selfish human desires and our very limited human understanding. But God knows much better than we know what we need.
Isaiah 55
8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.
Proverbs 16
25 There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.
Ten years ago, when I was in the middle of writing my first book, I applied for a job as the chief financial officer (CFO) of a local large company. Had I gotten it, this job would have paid very well. At that time, I had been unemployed for almost a year and a half and was struggling financially. I really prayed that I would get the job. After all, it seemed to me that this job would solve a lot of problems for me. I did not get the job and I began to wonder where God was during my employment struggles. It began to look to me as though my prayers were going unanswered.
What God knew but what I did not know was that, six months later, I was to begin a journey, that I would never have expected, which included me surrendering to Christian ministry. Once I surrendered to His purpose for my life, He began to open doors where I didn’t even know there were doors, in order to empower me to accomplish that purpose. Don’t get me wrong, it sometimes still isn’t easy, pursuing this ministry that God has called me to, but it is, by far, the most rewarding thing that I have ever done. I will almost certainly never make the kind of money in this ministry that I would have made in that CFO position. However, as well as that CFO job would have paid, it would have just been a job. This ministry isn’t a job. It is who I am. It is what God created me for and called me to and I now can’t imagine doing anything else.
I would most likely not be in this ministry now if I had gotten that job or other jobs like it that I prayed for back then. At the time, it seemed to me like God wasn’t listening or didn’t care. However, God was listening and He did answer me. His answer was “no, I’m not going to give you what you think you need, I have much better things in store for you”.
God has great things in store for all of His children, though they may not be what we expect or what we think we want.
Proverbs 3
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.
Isaiah 40:31
But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.
This world is not our home but we do currently reside in this world, and so, as we live our day to day lives, we tend to decide what we want our life in this world to look like, what we want to accomplish in this world. Having done that, we often set worldly goals for ourselves. We often have noble intentions behind these goals and so we assume that what we want for ourselves must be what God wants for us. Based on that assumption, we chase those goals. We get so tired, chasing after our goals and not being able to obtain them or, having obtained them, finding that they do not bring us the peace that we had thought they would.
We must remember that God does not think the same way that we think and we must seek and trust in His ways (proverbs 3:5-6). We must trust God to accomplish what He wants to accomplish, not what we want to accomplish. Often, He accomplishes things in ways and at times other than what we would like. However, He always has our best interest at heart and He knows better than we do what we need. As we chase His goals, He will give us the strength and endurance we need to keep going (Isaiah 40:31). We must remember that, ultimately, it is not about us, it’s about Him and what He wants to accomplish for His Kingdom. Have faith that He is listening and that He does care and that His purpose will be accomplished. We must wait on Him while we draw strength from Him, to accomplish his purpose in His time. That purpose may be even greater than we think but, if He is to accomplish it through us, we must be patient and we must pray believing.
