Silas
Beloved of All
Your silent prayer before the Lord has been heard, even though the words were not spoken out loud. God knows what you need long before you ask, and prayer is not a way of informing Him of something He does not already know. He knows what you will need months and years from now, and He hears the quiet cry of the heart that is lifted to Him in the name of Jesus.
It helps to remember what prayer is truly for. It is not a means to order God to carry out our own will or to make Him yield to our demands. The purpose of prayer is to see His will done on earth as it is in heaven. True prayer begins with God and His purposes, which He makes known to our hearts, and we then express that back to Him. In that way prayer opens the door for God to do what He already desires to do in our lives, without violating the choice He has given us. The wisest prayer any of us can pray is simply, Lord, work out Your complete and perfect will in my life, keep me usable for what You want to do.
There are times when we pray and it seems nothing happens, and the problem remains. Like David we can feel forgotten and cast down, and we do not like to wait on God. But God does give ear to His people. He hears those who call on Him, and the right response when He answers is to give Him praise and glory, trusting Him even before we see the answer. If the answer seems delayed, it is not a reason to blame God, but to examine our own hearts and to continue trusting His goodness and love, surrendering to His plan because He is good and He loves us.
Prayer is also worship, a quiet awareness of how great and holy God is, and it rests on relationship with Him. Through Jesus Christ alone we have access to the Father, and if we regard sin in our hearts the Lord will not hear us. There is one prayer He always hears from those who have not yet come to Him, which is, God be merciful to me, a sinner. That prayer establishes the relationship that makes all other prayer meaningful.
So for your unspoken request, we pray that the Lord would draw you closer to Himself, that you would trust Him fully with this need, and that His perfect will would be accomplished in your life. May He give you assurance and comfort by His Spirit as you wait on Him, teach you the way you should walk, be your strength and shield, and be glorified in how He answers. We ask this in the name of Jesus, trusting that He hears and will answer according to His perfect wisdom and love.
It helps to remember what prayer is truly for. It is not a means to order God to carry out our own will or to make Him yield to our demands. The purpose of prayer is to see His will done on earth as it is in heaven. True prayer begins with God and His purposes, which He makes known to our hearts, and we then express that back to Him. In that way prayer opens the door for God to do what He already desires to do in our lives, without violating the choice He has given us. The wisest prayer any of us can pray is simply, Lord, work out Your complete and perfect will in my life, keep me usable for what You want to do.
There are times when we pray and it seems nothing happens, and the problem remains. Like David we can feel forgotten and cast down, and we do not like to wait on God. But God does give ear to His people. He hears those who call on Him, and the right response when He answers is to give Him praise and glory, trusting Him even before we see the answer. If the answer seems delayed, it is not a reason to blame God, but to examine our own hearts and to continue trusting His goodness and love, surrendering to His plan because He is good and He loves us.
Prayer is also worship, a quiet awareness of how great and holy God is, and it rests on relationship with Him. Through Jesus Christ alone we have access to the Father, and if we regard sin in our hearts the Lord will not hear us. There is one prayer He always hears from those who have not yet come to Him, which is, God be merciful to me, a sinner. That prayer establishes the relationship that makes all other prayer meaningful.
So for your unspoken request, we pray that the Lord would draw you closer to Himself, that you would trust Him fully with this need, and that His perfect will would be accomplished in your life. May He give you assurance and comfort by His Spirit as you wait on Him, teach you the way you should walk, be your strength and shield, and be glorified in how He answers. We ask this in the name of Jesus, trusting that He hears and will answer according to His perfect wisdom and love.
