Part 3 of this conversation may be the most challenging, and honestly this aspect of our topic was what really spurred me to share this thought in the first place. To recap where we've been to this point, we started out discussing how critically important it is to understand that God hears our prayers when we pray to Him. Not questioning how that could be possible, moves us from placing God in our human nature to a relationship built on trust. Trust that God's Word is true, God's promises are to you, me, and anyone that chooses to believe, and that God has a plan that goes beyond our human understanding. In Part 2 we explored what it means to trust God in our prayers. It would be easy if all we had to do was rub our little genie lamps and then receive our "three wishes", but that isn't how prayer works. For someone that prays and does not receive the answer they prayed for, this may appear that God isn't listening to your prayer. That could not be further from the truth, the reality is that God hears our prayers and if we are praying in the way that we are instructed to pray throughout the Bible, then any prayer we pray will provide the disclaimer that at the end of the day, " ... not my will, but Thy will be done" Luke 22:42. Not only is this a challenge to say, but it is even more of a challenge to truly believe and completely lay down our own dispositions and replace them with a "God knows better than me" approach. For the third part of our conversation, we are going to connect how believing that God hears our prayers, and trusting that God's plan is bigger than anything we can conceive, to an understanding that God's plan may or may not line up with a prayer we may be praying. When there is a relationship with God that misalignment is not what matters, what matters is trusting that God is in control and His will can be our will if that relationship is firm and the foundation is based on trust. In Romans 8:28 Paul tells us "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." Framing statement, "To love God means we trust God, and if we trust God then we have a relationship with God".
We place our money in a bank because of the bank's reputation and history of being a reliable and trustworthy institution. We trust that our money will earn interest and when we need our funds they will be readily available. We trust a surgeon to complete a surgery on our body while we are under anesthesia. That trust is given mainly because of their education and experience in their area of expertise. If trust is earned through knowledge and experience interacting as noted above, then how can we develop our trust in praying to a God that we have not seen and we do not know? We develop that trust by nurturing our relationship with the God who was, the God who is, and the God who will be forever! As we build our relationship through time spent in His Word, hearing the Word taught and preached, and most importantly spending individual purposeful time with God in prayer and meditation. As your relationship with God deepens, you will begin to understand that God's ways are so much bigger than our own. Trust allows us to accept that there are times when our prayers will be answered and then there are times when God's plans do not align with our own well intentioned plans and prayers.
If you have ever read the story of Job you would have an idea of what a true, trusting relationship with God looks like. In a brief nutshell, God allowed satan to test Job when the devil proposed that the only reason Job loved God so much was because Job had such a good life. But would Job trust as much in God if things in his life were not going so well? The evil one proposed that Job would not be so trusting of God if Job's life had not lined up so well with His life of service and giving thanks to God. What happened next would have equated to the worst "gut punch" possible. Job lost has livestock, his servants, and all of his sons and daughters. When none of those losses diminished Job's faith in God, the devil then attacked Job's health and well being. At this point the majority of folks would be tapping out, but not Job. Job's "friends" were convinced Job had committed some unthinkable sin for Job's life to be flipped completely upside down, and Job's wife suggested that Job should just give up on God and curse God for all the ill happenings in Job's life. Being transparent, it would have been hard to stay the course and continue trusting God when his life had been flipped upside down, yet Job held firm to his trusting relationship with God, "He replied, You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble? In all this, Job did not sin in what he said." Job 2:10. Job provides us with the model of trusting God even when our prayers are not met with the outcome we anticipated. After the devil realized that Job was faithful to God and that it was not only because of Job's status in life, the devil left Job alone. God restored and increased Job's wealth, his livestock, and God gave Job seven sons and three daughters. None of these restorations replaced what Job had lost, but through God's mercy and grace Job accepted God's provisions in much the same manner he accepted the losses he endured. Trusting that God was in control and even if Job's plans and God's plans did not align, Job would still trust God for his life.
I started this three part series not knowing exactly where it was going to go. My prayer life is such an important part of my daily life and my personal relationship with God. I want that for those I live with, work with, and those that I have an opportunity to connect with throughout each day. Without a relationship with God, my prayers would be surface level at best and anytime I prayed and did not get the outcome I prayed for, my trust would be dampened. Thank God that is not where I am today. Not that I have totally arrived to the extent that Job displayed in His own life, but more in the same mindset of Paul as he taught in Philippians 3:12 "Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own." Just as we can see through Job's experience, life can seem unbearable and it may appear that God doesn't hear our prayers, but when our relationship with God is firm and founded on trust and obedience, the unbearable becomes a course in trusting that God is in control and His will and His ways are not of human origin. In the words of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done." Luke 22:42. That is the prayer I want to pray each day.
"The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." James 5:16
Coach Carter
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