Ephesians 6:18–20 ‘And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.’ (v18)
Answered, or more importantly unanswered, prayer is important to us all. We often glibly quote God’s promise to hear and answer prayer, yet we’ve little encouragement to offer those whose faithful petitions appear to pass God by.
It’s too easy to assume there’s a simple formula; we pray, God grants our request. My work in mediation revealed conflicted people can only view life through one lens. Carefully polished daily, this lens focuses on a sense of unresolved injustice.
Pain’s all consuming, preventing them from stepping into another’s shoes and perceiving a different perspective. It requires courage and faith to dare to visit the source of any wound, one reason Christ carries His wounds with Him into eternity. It’s logical to carry our problem to God’s throne of grace (Heb. 4:16).
We often bring an expectation that we have the best solution, inviting God to grant it, assuming God is the ‘fixer of our problems’. Gazing through our self-limiting lens, God looks from a different vantage point and observes levels of connectedness way beyond our understanding.
Self-interest collides with God’s interest. Which will we choose to surrender in presenting our lives to God? We’re constrained by our sense of urgency and tempestuous emotions demanding release from this internal pain which prevents us from functioning effectively.
We are invited to persevere in prayer, yet find rest in God’s presence and place our confidence in His promise, for it’s by grace we’re saved through faith and not by our own effort (Eph. 2:8).
SCRIPTURE TO CONSIDER:
1 Chron. 16:7–24; Ps. 88:1–18; Luke 18:1–14; Rom. 12:9–21
AN ACTION TO TAKE:
This is a challenge we all face – trusting when everything around us appears to be collapsing.
Have we the faith to place our confidence in God alone in such circumstances?
Discipleship is demanding!
A PRAYER TO MAKE:
‘Lord, may I find the courage to trust You when everything around me
appears to be in a state of confusion and collapse. Amen.’
Photo by Jess Zoerb on Unsplash
