I’ve been reminded lately how sweet it is to just sit and talk with my Heavenly Father. I have felt His comforting presence through my struggles. I’ve felt Him gently nudge me in certain ways. I’ve felt Him tug at my heart. Those times are so precious!
It hasn’t always been that way. In fact, quite recently, I’ve had times where I had decided I wasn’t talking to God (I know…you’re impressed by my superhuman level of maturity). The truth is I was angry at God for not coming through on a specific prayer request. And it was a BIG deal.
I’ve had a couple moments like that in my life. And those moments are there to remind me that God doesn’t work in ways that are congruent with some of the teachings I’ve been handed throughout my life.
So, I wrestled with God. I pointed my arrogant finger at the heavens. I cried tears of regret and depression. It was an ugly cry. I’m glad you weren’t there to see it.
Through the struggle, God showed Himself to be faithful. He came through on all of His promises. It just didn’t look like I would have preferred.
The scariest thing is that my preference became an idol.
I wanted my answer to my prayer more than I wanted the fellowship of my Savior. Lord, forgive me.
In all of this, we’ve learned that God knows best because He knows all. We’ve also learned that we grow closer to Him through prayer. Our hearts are knit together with His. We grow in alignment with Him.
But let’s get to the nitty gritty for a second. We are still supposed to ask God to provide our needs. So when He doesn’t answer immediately, we needn’t give up on our prayers. We need to be persistent in our prayer!
Consider the persistent widow:
And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
Luke 18:1-8
God is honored when we are dependent on Him! When we recognize that we don’t possess the power to move mountains, we find that our weakness is really His strength!
May we persistently pursue God, because He is worthy of our praise and honor, and because He is able to move mountains by His strength and for His glory!