Struggling With Prayer
- Nov 15, 2024
- 6 min read
Philip Yancey said: “If prayer stands as the place where God and human beings meet, then I must learn about prayer. Most of my struggles in the Christian life circle around the same two themes: why God doesn't act the way we want God to, and why I don't act the way God wants me to. Prayer is the precise point where those themes converge.”
But, like me, you have probably struggled with trying to understand why God does not answer some of our prayers the way we want.
Yet I was always told God hears all our prayers. In fact, the Bible backs this up. Check out these texts: Psalm 139:4, 1 John 5:14–15, 1 Peter 3:12.
But we do not always receive what we ask for. When we ask God for something, the response can be ‘Yes’ or ‘Wait’. Yet sometimes God answers “no” for His own reasons. This is where we have to trust Him.
Romans 8:26-27: "For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God."
Paul himself didn’t know how to pray as he should. He gives us a glimpse of this in our text today. He talks about a most amazing experience of being caught up into Paradise, where he heard inexpressible words which he was not permitted to speak. So, to keep Paul from exalting himself, God gave him what he calls “a thorn in the flesh.” We can speculate on what this was, but no one knows for sure, because the Bible doesn’t tell us.
Paul goes on to say that three times he appealed to God for Him to take it away. But the Lord replied, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor 12:9). Paul concluded, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me" (2 Cor 12:9b-10).
I’m so taken by the way Eugene Peterson expresses Paul’s words in The Message Bible, “Satan’s angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees.”
When we experience a thorn in our side, whatever that may be, does it cause us to go on our knees? Do we pray about it or protest about it? Does it define us or defeat us? Does it cause us to discover more of God through it?
I’m reminded of this glorious hymn;
What a friend we have in Jesus
All our sins and griefs to bear
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer
O what peace we often forfeit
O what needless pain we bear
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer
Paul didn’t know what to do or how he should pray.
From the heights of a mountain-top experience, he plunges into the depths of seemingly unanswered prayer about ‘his thorn in the flesh.’
Now this is something Paul has seriously brought to God in prayer three times. Actually, God did answer the prayer, but not in the way Paul wanted. God simply but wonderfully said, ‘my grace is sufficient for you.’
Tom Steller said, “God never does nothing in answer to prayer.”
So, why are prayers offered in faith not always answered the way we want? God is our loving Heavenly Father and wants the very best for us His children. Yet like I said a few moments ago, His answers to our prayers can be, “Yes,” “No,” or “Wait.” God sees and knows things that we don’t, He knows the end from the beginning, so knows what is best for us.
God’s wisdom and His eternal view gives Him the full perspective in working out and fulfilling His plan and purposes for us and through us.
When we face times when our prayers seem unanswered, or when God’s answer doesn’t make sense, perhaps we must be honest and ask, is our faith in God no matter what, or is our faith in God only when He answers prayers the way we want?
You may be struggling or even stuck right now because you are still recoiling after God didn’t answer your prayer precisely the way you wanted Him too! You can’t let go of the question WHY?
P Forsythe stated: "The honest answer is that most of the time we really don’t know why. We shall come one day to a heaven where we shall gratefully know that God’s great refusals were sometimes the true answers to our truest prayers."
How many of us have travelled down the ‘if only’ road. If only God would have done this or stopped that.
God not only gave Paul a reason for not removing the thorn in his flesh, He encouraged Paul to change his perspective, and as a consequence, his response to God.
Notice - 'But he (God) said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”'
God actually answered Pauls’ prayer, not by removing the ‘thorn in the flesh’ but enabling Paul to stand in accord with His will and purpose.
Paul’s stance changed immediately once He knew God was in the situation and His grace was sufficient. He said, ‘I will boast all the more,’ because then the Lord will strengthen me and His power (rather than my weakness) will be on full display.
What will this mean for you?
R. Foster says, “To pray is to change. This is a great grace. How good of God to provide a path whereby our lives can be taken over by love and joy and peace…and patience and kindness and goodness and self control.”
Paul recognised his own resources were inadequate, in comparison to the grace and power he received from God. So, Paul was forced, through his prayers to see God differently.
Job 11:7-8: "Can you fathom the mysteries of God?... They are higher than the heavens above – what can you do?"
Louie Giglio says that, "How we see God may shape our lives more than anything else. Do you believe God is good, all the time? Do you believe God has your best interest at heart, no matter how your prayer is answered? With that kind of faith, it’s easier to trust Him when He says ‘no’!"
In all that you are going through, and in the midst of unanswered prayer or receiving what appears to be the wrong answer (the one you didn’t ask for), keep reminding yourself that God’s love, grace and power are not a mystery. They are all abundantly available no matter where we are.
Romans 8:28 wonderfully states,“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
You may have stopped praying for something or someone, because heaven has remained silent for too long! The seeming silence of God is too much to take. It’s tough, it's painful, it's hard and it doesn’t feel right especially when you are desperately in need of God to answer?
So many are mentioned in the Bible that struggled with prayer, or God's seeming silence, delay, and postponement. Here are a few to consider: Job; David; Elijah; Jonah; and Jeremiah.
I want to encourage you to keep wrestling with God in prayer, but, like Paul, be prepared to yield to Him no matter what His response is.
Are you facing a crisis? The most we can do is pray, and God is not helpless among the ruins.
Please don’t forget He’s a God who "brings beauty from ashes, exchanges joy for mourning, and brings praise from discouragement" (Is 63:3).
Anne Graham Lotz states: “If God can bring blessing from the broken body of Jesus and glory from something that’s as obscene as the cross, He can bring blessing from my problems and my pain and my unanswered prayer. I just have to trust Him.”
My grace is enough; it’s all you need.
My strength comes into its own in your weakness.
Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen.
1 Cor 12: 9 Msg Bible
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