Heartbreak. Prison. Job interview. Travel. Safety. Future. Homework. Stress. Health. Forgiveness. Salvation. Healing. Comfort. Peace.
All of these things have been in my prayers lately. I feel like my prayer list has been full to the brim recently. Do you ever feel like that? I’ve been praying for friends, family, acquaintances, and even strangers.
I keep a prayer request list in my head. Sometimes, when it gets extra full I journal my prayers. Sometimes I pray with my husband. Sometimes I pray alone. I pray in the shower, in the car, while I work out, before bed, or in the morning.
That’s the great thing about prayer — you can do it anywhere, anytime, for anyone.
What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to Him? -Deuteronomy 4:7
Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. -James 5:13
One of the best things about prayer is that it is a way to connect with God. It’s communication with our Creator. It’s a way we can grow in our walk with Christ — as long as we understand we don’t always get the answer we want after we’ve prayed or sometimes it doesn’t happen in our timing.
I used to write my prayers down on a small piece of paper and put them in a prayer box. I haven’t done that in awhile, but I still have the box. The great thing about my prayer box is that I can open it up and pull out previous prayers. I can look at the things I prayed about in the past and see how God answered those prayers. Sometimes, He answers just the way I wanted at just the right time. But other times, that isn’t the case.
Sometimes, I read one of those papers and realize it’s something I’m still praying for — years later even. Sometimes, I think I will never understand God’s plan. Never understand some of the tragedies that happen here on this earth. Never understand God’s timing.
The One Thing I Know About God
God is good. God is love. He has a master plan for each of us. He has a way of producing miracles at just the right time — sometimes not at all close to when we wanted it. He brings redemption and rebirth. He restores. And all of this is true whether we believe it or not. It’s true whether He gives us the miracle or answers our prayers the way we want.
Whether we get what we’ve prayed for or not, we have communicated with God. And in that way, we can grow closer to Him.
We learn more about God’s will, His plan, and His love for us based on a lifetime of answered and unanswered prayers.
A lot of times we may think God is good, so He’ll answer our prayers. But His goodness isn’t based on whether we get our miracle or things work out when we want them to. What we must learn through our prayers is that God is good no matter what.
God is good. He’ll answer our prayers. And if not, He is still good.
Here are some great scriptures on prayer:
Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Jesus Christ. -1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. -James 5:16
God heard them, for their prayer reached heaven, his holy dwelling place. -2 Chronicles 30:27
So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and He answered our prayer. -Ezra 8:23
The Lord has heard my cry for mercy; the Lord accepts my prayer. -Psalm 6:9
If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. – 2 Chronicles 7:14
Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. -Matthew 5:44
The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. -Romans 8:26
Have you struggled with believing God is good even in the midst of unanswered prayer?
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