Specificity In Prayer
I’ve never thought about asking God for something so specific to the point where it seems absolutely ridiculous and impossible.
I prayed a vague prayer because I was afraid of having it unanswered; I was afraid of praying for something so earnestly only to see it not happen, because to my fallible mind, it would appear as if there were things God couldn’t do for me. I think what we’re most afraid of with unanswered prayers is this confirmation of our fears in thinking God has limitations. Despite our hope in the resurrection of Christ and His conquering of sin and death, we have yet to apply this faith in the physical world. Perhaps we believe that God can do great things in the spiritual realm by helping us overcome sin, fears, and the death; but when it comes to a physical manifestation of His power on earth, we forget that God has just as much authority.
I set my expectations low so that I wouldn’t feel hurt or disappointed. The thing with prayer is that God doesn’t whimsically answer all prayer requests. There are certain things we have to understand about prayer: God answers prayers according to His character and not our preferences, which is why a lot of the time our prayers are answered, but in ways we never could have imagined. We can be sure that God is always ready to respond to prayers that will propel us towards an understanding and acceptance of His love, grace, and salvation.
And what about all those other prayer requests? How do we know if our prayers are aligned with God’s will?
The implication here seems to be that God only answers prayers if they are according to His will. And honestly, I think that’s exactly what it is, but it shouldn’t be a problem for those who are followers of Christ. Prayer is a discourse between God and us, but when we request something of God, we’re asking for advice and guidance before our own wants.
Prayer is allowing God to guide our lives.
There are many prayers that aren’t answered because it isn’t according to God’s will, but that doesn’t impede our freedom of choice; we still have the option of fulfilling our own desires. We can make the decision on our own and make our wishes come true, but then that would defeat the purpose of prayer.
To pray is to make a conscience decision to set aside our personal wants, despite how badly we may prefer one option over the other, because we want God to make that choice for us.
I didn’t ask for anything specific, but God answered me down to the smallest details. It’s so crazy; I don’t know how to articulate it into written or spoken words. And I know it shouldn’t be so confounding that God has the ability to do these things, but I also don’t think it’s wrong to praise God. We can rejoice in what God does for us, although there is a difference between maintaining a mind of faith and that of doubt during the waiting period; it is a test of our relationship with God, showing our faith in its rawest form.
In my mind, I didn’t doubt that God would grant my request. I would’ve been satisfied with what I asked for, but He gave me more than enough. Our God is not merely sufficient or satisfactory: He is overabundant in love and goodness, and that is why it can overflow onto us.
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Christine is a sophomore at Andrews University.