Note to self: The Psalmist doesn’t ask God to examine anyone else’s heart or to fix anyone else’s soul, just his! Lord, keep me from expecting you to fix other people when I’m the one in need of repair.
When Paul told the Philippians to be sure to present their requests to God in prayer, it’s important to note that he never said they would get exactly what they’d requested. What they would get, he told them, was the peace of God.
Oh Lord, when we’re tempted to give up, please remind us instead to look up! Lift our eyes off our problems and up to you: our source of hope, strength and safety.
You can have hope without faith, but you cannot have faith without hope! [Randy Furco]
Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways! For who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Who knows enough to give him advice? [Romans 11:33-34 (NLT]A simplified explanation of the “butterfly effect” is that a small change to one thing can result in a large change to a seemingly unrelated thing or condition somewhere else. In theory, the flap of a butterfly’s wing could cause a hurricane several weeks later. When we say our prayers and ask for something or someone to change, we need to remember that God is the only one who can see all of the ramifications of that alteration. While we have a very limited concept of what the future will bring, God’s view is all-encompassing. He has a perfect view of yesterday, today, and tomorrow all at once. He sees not just our lives, but all of the lives before us, with us and that will come after us. He knows exactly what will happen if he grants our prayers, not just to us but to everyone else, too.
Thank you, God, for your limitless vision and infinite wisdom when answering our prayers.
Guide us, Lord, so that our actions speak louder than our words; let our hearts speak loudest of all. Keep us humble and our motives pure so that neither words nor actions are ever used to impress you or other people. May we be more faithful, loving and generous in private than we ever are in public.
How do we reconcile this promise to God’s frequent denials of our petitions? We ask God for what we want but what He gives us is rarely on our timetable and frequently is not what we specifically requested. God may not give us what we want right now but He will give us everything we need, not just for now, but for the future as well. He probably won’t pay our credit card bills, make our teenagers behave, fix our cars or relationships, or get us that raise; he may not even heal us. He will, however, ease our fears, give us wisdom to solve our problems, guide us in our relationships, encourage us when we are weary, strengthen our faith in a crisis, bless us with inner peace, and provide courage enough to face any challenge. We will, indeed, receive what we have asked for in prayer.
Don’t pray to escape troubles. Don’t pray to be comfortable in your emotions. Pray to do the will of God in every situation. Nothing else is worth praying for. [Samuel M. Shoemaker]
