Silas
Beloved of All
Thank you for sharing this burden so honestly and for wanting to bring it to Jesus alone. He hears the urgency in your cry for mercy, and He knows the unspoken request you are carrying even when you do not put it into words.
The foundation for any prayer is relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Scripture teaches that we become right with God not by our own goodness but by trusting what Jesus finished on the cross, and God counts that faith as righteousness. If that relationship is settled, you can come to Him as Father and pray with confidence. If it is not yet settled, the first and most important prayer He delights to hear is, God be merciful to me, a sinner. That prayer opens the door to every other prayer.
Prayer is meant to honor His name and to see His will done on earth as it is in heaven. It is not a way to inform God of something He does not know, and it is not a tool to make Him change His plans to fit ours. True prayer often moves in a circle that starts with God. He stirs His purposes in our hearts, we speak them back to Him, and He then works to accomplish them. That is why listening is as important as speaking, and why the wisest prayer any of us can pray is, Lord, work out Your perfect will in my life. Your prayer opens the door for Him to do freely what He already desires to do, without forcing your will.
You mentioned being mocked and feeling that others were belittling your prayer to make themselves look good. Ridicule is a common tool the enemy uses to discourage God's work in a person's life. When you give your life to Jesus you can expect some of that. The example of Nehemiah is helpful here. When he was mocked while trying to do God's work, his first response was to pray, Hear, O our God, for we are despised. He brought the hurt directly to the Lord instead of being cowed by it, and then he took practical steps. He prayed and he set a watch day and night. Prayer never replaces responsible action, and action never replaces prayer. God gave us minds to use, so we pray and then we act wisely and faithfully in the situation.
You also wrote that you must believe your prayer has already been answered. Faith does bring us to praise before we see the result. Abraham praised God on the basis of God's promise before there was any evidence, and that is what it means that faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. A prayer offered in real trust can end in thanksgiving because we know God hears. At the same time, faith is not demanding that God do exactly what we have pictured, like opening the Red Sea in a specific way. We can limit God when we tell Him how He must answer. Jesus taught us to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and to trust Him to add what we need. Sometimes He answers quickly and powerfully, sometimes He delays so He can shape our hearts or give something greater, and sometimes His answer is not the removal of the trial but the grace and strength to endure it with His hand upon us. That is not a failure of prayer, it is God working for our good.
You are right that God knows your unspoken request completely. You do not need to explain every detail for Him to understand. He knows what you need before you ask, and He hears the cry of the heart.
I will pray with you that God will have mercy, that He will draw you closer to Jesus, that He will guard you from discouragement when others mock, and that His will will be done in this situation. If any part of your request involves a relationship or the way you are living, I pray that He will lead you into what honors Him, since Scripture teaches that salvation is through Jesus alone and that marriage is a lifelong covenant between one man and one woman with intimacy belonging within that covenant. Whatever the need is, may He give you a listening heart to know His purpose, faith to trust Him and to praise Him while you wait, and wisdom to take the practical steps He shows you. He hears the fervent prayer that comes from a sincere and righteous heart, and there is great joy in walking with Him in prayer and seeing Him work in His perfect way and timing.
The foundation for any prayer is relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Scripture teaches that we become right with God not by our own goodness but by trusting what Jesus finished on the cross, and God counts that faith as righteousness. If that relationship is settled, you can come to Him as Father and pray with confidence. If it is not yet settled, the first and most important prayer He delights to hear is, God be merciful to me, a sinner. That prayer opens the door to every other prayer.
Prayer is meant to honor His name and to see His will done on earth as it is in heaven. It is not a way to inform God of something He does not know, and it is not a tool to make Him change His plans to fit ours. True prayer often moves in a circle that starts with God. He stirs His purposes in our hearts, we speak them back to Him, and He then works to accomplish them. That is why listening is as important as speaking, and why the wisest prayer any of us can pray is, Lord, work out Your perfect will in my life. Your prayer opens the door for Him to do freely what He already desires to do, without forcing your will.
You mentioned being mocked and feeling that others were belittling your prayer to make themselves look good. Ridicule is a common tool the enemy uses to discourage God's work in a person's life. When you give your life to Jesus you can expect some of that. The example of Nehemiah is helpful here. When he was mocked while trying to do God's work, his first response was to pray, Hear, O our God, for we are despised. He brought the hurt directly to the Lord instead of being cowed by it, and then he took practical steps. He prayed and he set a watch day and night. Prayer never replaces responsible action, and action never replaces prayer. God gave us minds to use, so we pray and then we act wisely and faithfully in the situation.
You also wrote that you must believe your prayer has already been answered. Faith does bring us to praise before we see the result. Abraham praised God on the basis of God's promise before there was any evidence, and that is what it means that faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. A prayer offered in real trust can end in thanksgiving because we know God hears. At the same time, faith is not demanding that God do exactly what we have pictured, like opening the Red Sea in a specific way. We can limit God when we tell Him how He must answer. Jesus taught us to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and to trust Him to add what we need. Sometimes He answers quickly and powerfully, sometimes He delays so He can shape our hearts or give something greater, and sometimes His answer is not the removal of the trial but the grace and strength to endure it with His hand upon us. That is not a failure of prayer, it is God working for our good.
You are right that God knows your unspoken request completely. You do not need to explain every detail for Him to understand. He knows what you need before you ask, and He hears the cry of the heart.
I will pray with you that God will have mercy, that He will draw you closer to Jesus, that He will guard you from discouragement when others mock, and that His will will be done in this situation. If any part of your request involves a relationship or the way you are living, I pray that He will lead you into what honors Him, since Scripture teaches that salvation is through Jesus alone and that marriage is a lifelong covenant between one man and one woman with intimacy belonging within that covenant. Whatever the need is, may He give you a listening heart to know His purpose, faith to trust Him and to praise Him while you wait, and wisdom to take the practical steps He shows you. He hears the fervent prayer that comes from a sincere and righteous heart, and there is great joy in walking with Him in prayer and seeing Him work in His perfect way and timing.
