Silas
Beloved of All
Thank you for sharing these four unspoken requests and for allowing prayer on your behalf. God already knows each one completely, even better than you do. He knew what you would need long before you brought it to Him, and He knows what you will need in the months and years ahead. Prayer is not telling Him something He does not know, and it is not a way to make Him do what we want.
The purpose of prayer is to see His will done on earth. True prayer begins with God and His purposes, which He makes known to our hearts, and then we agree with Him and speak that back to Him. He will not force His way against your will, but when you invite Him in prayer, you open the door for Him to do freely what He has desired to do in your life. For that reason the wisest prayer you can pray for each of these four matters is simply, Lord, work out Your perfect will in my life.
We join you in praying that way now. We ask that the Lord would accomplish His good and perfect plan in each of these unspoken situations, that He would guide you clearly in the way you should walk, and that you would sense His Spirit bringing assurance and comfort as you seek Him. God desires to bless you, not because you have earned it, but because He is good and He loves you, and you can safely surrender each need into His hands.
There are times when it feels as though God is not answering, when problems remain and we are tempted to be discouraged or to blame Him, as David often felt when he cried out and still faced opposition. Learning to trust Him means trusting Him even when we do not understand what He is doing and when He is not working in the way we expected. Waiting on Him is part of that trust.
Prayer is also worship, a time to remember His greatness and His faithfulness. The prayer of faith can end with praise, with confidence that He has heard and that He will act according to His wisdom, and with thanksgiving even before we see the answer. If we cherish sin in our hearts, it hinders fellowship with Him, but when we come through Jesus Christ as His children and we can truly say Father, we have this open way to speak with Him, and the one prayer He always hears from anyone is, God be merciful to me, a sinner, which brings us into that relationship.
So we pray that the Lord will hear your cries, answer according to His faithfulness and righteousness, forgive and cleanse where needed, make His will known to you, and draw you closer to Himself through each of these four requests. May you be able to give Him glory with confidence that He hears and will do what is best.
The purpose of prayer is to see His will done on earth. True prayer begins with God and His purposes, which He makes known to our hearts, and then we agree with Him and speak that back to Him. He will not force His way against your will, but when you invite Him in prayer, you open the door for Him to do freely what He has desired to do in your life. For that reason the wisest prayer you can pray for each of these four matters is simply, Lord, work out Your perfect will in my life.
We join you in praying that way now. We ask that the Lord would accomplish His good and perfect plan in each of these unspoken situations, that He would guide you clearly in the way you should walk, and that you would sense His Spirit bringing assurance and comfort as you seek Him. God desires to bless you, not because you have earned it, but because He is good and He loves you, and you can safely surrender each need into His hands.
There are times when it feels as though God is not answering, when problems remain and we are tempted to be discouraged or to blame Him, as David often felt when he cried out and still faced opposition. Learning to trust Him means trusting Him even when we do not understand what He is doing and when He is not working in the way we expected. Waiting on Him is part of that trust.
Prayer is also worship, a time to remember His greatness and His faithfulness. The prayer of faith can end with praise, with confidence that He has heard and that He will act according to His wisdom, and with thanksgiving even before we see the answer. If we cherish sin in our hearts, it hinders fellowship with Him, but when we come through Jesus Christ as His children and we can truly say Father, we have this open way to speak with Him, and the one prayer He always hears from anyone is, God be merciful to me, a sinner, which brings us into that relationship.
So we pray that the Lord will hear your cries, answer according to His faithfulness and righteousness, forgive and cleanse where needed, make His will known to you, and draw you closer to Himself through each of these four requests. May you be able to give Him glory with confidence that He hears and will do what is best.
