You don’t always know the will of God when you pray. That is true no matter how long you have been a Christian. Perhaps that’s an unsettling statement to some of you. But I’ll say it again. You don’t always know the will of God.
According to the Bible, “The Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should” (Romans 8:26, NASB). God’s ways are so much higher than ours. Only He knows His perfect plan for our life. And when we pray, that’s often what we are trying to find out.
When we pray, we must avoid treating God as if He were our “yes-man.” A yes-man is a person who is on board with everything we propose no matter how crazy the proposal.
In effect, that’s what we are doing—treating God as our yes-man– when we pray to Him about our intentions, and we assume that merely doing so constitutes our green light to proceed. Or when we assume that no matter what we ask God for, His answer is always yes.
Both of those presumptions are wrong. Prayer is much more than a one-way conversation with God. A vital objective of prayer is to acknowledge God in all our ways so He can direct our paths (Proverbs 3:6). He alone knows the way we should take.
We can and should pray to God about all of our plans and all the challenges in our life. He cares about everything that concerns us. But if we regard prayer as no more than a religious exercise, then we have missed the point.
We should pray to God because we want our actions to be consistent with His will. For that to happen, we must receive input from Him and act accordingly.
Three Points from Paul’s Experience
In Paul’s second letter to the church at Corinth, he shares an experience of his regarding prayer. He was the greatest of the Lord’s apostles. He wrote most of the New Testament. We may be led to think that whenever he prayed, he always received what he requested. But that was not the case. Let me briefly share three important takeaways from his testimony.
1. It’s OK to Pray More Than Once about the Same Thing.
Paul talks about a “messenger of Satan to torment me” (2 Corinthians 12:7, NASB). He said he prayed three times for God to deliver him.
We can assume that if Paul prayed three times, it was because he did not receive an answer from God the first two times he prayed about the problem. Perhaps you have prayed about something and have not heard from God yet. Don’t simply fill in the blank. Don’t assume what God’s answer is. Keep praying and listening for His response, however He chooses to give it.
Some Christians argue that if you pray more than once about the same thing, it is a lack of faith. If you believe God heard you the first time and you claim you have faith, why pray again about it, they ask. But Paul said he prayed three times about the same thing. Jesus did the same thing in the garden before He was apprehended to be crucified.
2. God’s Answer Is Not Always Yes.
In this case, the Lord chose not to grant Paul’s request. “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness,” the Lord said (verse 9a). We know He heard Paul’s prayer(s) because He responded. But instead of granting Paul’s request, He gave him the sufficiency of His grace.
As Christians, God always hears us when we pray. But sometimes His answer is something other than yes. That’s why we need to seek to hear His answers to our prayers.
3. Effective Prayer Requires a Heart Submissive to the Will of God
What’s the use of praying if we don’t want an answer from God? And what’s the use of receiving a response from God if we don’t plan to heed it?
So, how did Paul the apostle respond to God’s answer to his prayer? Paul did not complain because God did not respond the way he had requested. But he gladly received what the Lord said to him. Instead of removing Paul’s “messenger of Satan,” as he requested, God gave him sufficient grace. Paul responded, “Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me” (verse 9b).
Paul’s experience underscores what prayer to God is all about. In a nutshell, God hears you when you pray; His answer is not always yes; and only He knows the perfect plan for your life.
Copyright © 2024 by Frank King. All rights reserved.