This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 1 John 5:14 (NIV)

Prayed and Prayed – Prayer Series Part 5

Go to  PART 1  |  PART 2  |  PART 3  |  PART 4

Our lives are a prayer like we’ve been talking about the last few days. But I can’t tell you how many times I have literally put this verse to the test. I’ve approached God confidently with certain requests and questions, presented incredibly tight cases of how my requests fit within his ‘will’ for my life, and then I've waited for his verdict – granted or denied.

When I was 13, it was for the school bully, who relentlessly harassed me, to find himself mute or underneath a fallen piano (I gave God options!). But the bully continued.

When I was 18, it was for the dark cloud of depression that had slowly settled in over heart to be cleared. I promised him everything, EVERYTHING, if he would just take it away. But the depression stayed. And I battled it long and hard and still do from time to time.

When I was 26 it was for the child I couldn’t conceive. It seemed that this prayer took one miscarriage and two years to reach the ears of God. (I know for some of you, the heartache has been longer and harder… xo)

When I was 28, it was for my Dad not to leave. But he did.

While living out my faith, all these scenarios spoke to my beliefs. And I ended up having more questions than answers, not about our end of prayer, but the other end of prayer – God's.

We focus too much on the geographical and material elements of the will of God and his answers to our prayers. Our prayers are full of “give me this, take away that, lead me here, where to now, what do you want me to DO?”

These prayers are real and heartfelt – I get it – I’ve prayed them a thousand times over, and a thousand times over it seems they go unanswered.

In Hebrews 5:8 Jesus prayed that God would save him from death. He prayed it again in the Garden of Gethsamene the night he was captured. We have no idea how many times he prayed and prayed about what was going to happen to him. If you can forget the end of the story for a minute and imagine it from the disciples point of view, before the resurrection, before anyone knew he would come back, you can see that it seems his prayer went unanswered with his death on the cross.

But Hebrews tells us that God did answer his prayer.

We put so much weight on the answers being yes or no, do this or do that. Go here or go there. When most of the time, God answers our prayers with presence. And we can't hear him for the shouting.

When we limit our prayers and desires to the material, we are limiting our perception of what God can and wants to do in our lives. We limit his will. Imagine if we lived and prayed like God’s will for us has more to do with WHO we become, not WHAT we become? How we move through the ups and downs of life, not the removal of the downs?

God hears us all – our every word and prayer. And he longs for us to see him more and more as he is. The divine who is peace in storms, strength in weakness, wisdom in foolishness, hope in hopelessness, purpose in rejection, forgiveness in repentance, restoration in brokenness, life in death…

Present in prayer.

Seek God to fashion you in the midst of your season, not to remove the season of fashioning. Open your eyes to see that beauty can come from the most unexpected places.

Jesus prayed, “not my will but yours be done…”

Maybe we should too.

Go to Part 6 – Fountains of Grace »