Doesn’t God know what I need? Then, why pray?
God is sovereign and omniscient. Scripture reminds me that He has known every detail of my life since before creation. He has known my failures, my victories, my sorrows, and my joys. Isn’t that what David wrote so eloquently in Psalm 139? That being true, why prayer? Does prayer change the course of my life in any way? Yet we are commanded “Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God” (Philippians 4:6)
During this Christian journey, there have been moments when[bctt tweet=”my prayer has been a cry of sheer desperation from a broken heart & shattered life.”]I have known years of great sorrow, when the pleas seemed to go unanswered. This was particularly true during the long years in which I could not understand how the wonder of loving someone could be the source of my greatest suffering as well. How God’s plan for the salvation of my beloved husband would lead me through the darkest valleys of desperation was beyond my comprehension. Those years of agonizing prayer drew me in ever closer to God’s arms of love. Then God did what my finite brain thought unimaginable. Once my husband found Christ as His Savior, all would be well. Then God took him home and I was left a widow. My grief was almost more than I could bear; yet, I knew I must for my children’s sake. I prayed then for strength.
Agonizing prayers
Were that not enough agony; then, came the years of illness. Breast Cancer, Ulcerative Colitis, multiple surgeries, and a mass on the pancreas were among the illnesses that I walked with their own financial disasters attached. Again, driven to prayer; I now with great heaviness asked, “God are you taking me home? I am tired, it has been a long journey.” His response each time, “I am taking you home; but not today. Keep your eyes on me.”
FINDING JOY
I tell you all this to help you realize that God is always listening. God is not tied into time like we are. He hears my prayers today; even though, He had already heard them before He created the world. The beauty of it all; even when it seemed He was not answering my prayers: HE WAS. Every step of this journey has lead me to who I am today. He has guided each step to reveal to me His magnificent Glory. He is my treasure. He is my joy. He is my hope.
KNOWING PEACE
Beyond that God was preparing me to be able to sit quietly beside you during your darkest hour as a reminder that He is faithful. I thank God for translating my prayers into that which was best for me. Note Philippians 4: 7—The promise that follows the command to let our requests be known is this: “ And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
WHY PRAYER IS SO IMPORTANT
Yet, a little while I will understand it all when I do stand before God. Then I will rejoice at every answer He has given to every prayer I have uttered; because, then I will know why. Until then, perhaps let me give you a line from C.S. Lewis poem Footnote to all prayers,
“Take not, Oh Lord, our literal sense. Lord, in Thy great unbroken speech our limping metaphor translate”.
Oh, that God would always translate my stuttering into His Glorious Will.
Prayer is our great privilege and we should run to him with open arms desiring to be in His presence. [bctt tweet=”Through all the years of agonizing prayers, I learned of God’s Love, God’s Glory, and ultimately “] I found His Joy.
“What I mean is this. An ordinary simple Christian kneels down to say his prayers. He is trying to get into touch with God. But if he is a Christian he knows that what is prompting him to pray is also God: God, so to speak, inside him. But he also knows that all his real knowledge of God comes through Christ, the Man who was God—that Christ is standing beside him, helping him to pray, praying for him. You see what is happening. God is the thing to which he is praying—the goal he is trying to reach. God is also the thing inside him which is pushing him on—the motive power. God is also the road or bridge along which he is being pushed to that goal. So that the whole threefold life of the three-personal Being is actually going on in that ordinary little bedroom where an ordinary man is saying his prayers. The man is being caught up into the higher kinds of life” C.S. Lewis Mere Christianity
Do you have a Story about prayer answered or even a blessing when God said no? I would love to hear them. Click here to share your story.
A song I chose for you today is “In His Time”
The artist that drew the picture “A Broken and Contrite Heart” featured on my header Please go to his website ( http://www.barba-art.com) for information regarding obtaining copies or to commission him to create a masterpiece for you. In fact, if you email him today with the words GIVE, he will give you a 50% discount. Our secret, shhh. Feel free to email him at Ron@Barba-Art.com to discuss any art projects.
©2015 Effie Darlene Barba
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