Prayer – With Eyes on the Cross

No Matter What They Face

I was at a conference in Dallas this summer and attended a presentation titled “Spiritually Leading Children at Home – Daily, Weekly, Monthly, and Yearly” led by Dr. Richard Ross. He is an incredible speaker who weaves humor in with the serious while challenging his audience to deepen their spiritual lives. You definitely should look him up!

During this breakout session he challenged us to pray for our children daily. Okay, great! That is easy. Parents are already doing that, in fact, probably even multiple times a day as their children come to mind. I’ll be honest, I thought it was a duh kind of moment. Until he uttered the next words, “Most parents probably already are, so how can we deepen that prayer.” And that’s when his challenge became hard. He said, “I don’t mean that we ask God to protect our children and give them all the blessings. I mean that we ask God that no matter what they face today, that above all, I want my child to bring great glory to God.”

It was the “no matter what they face today” that hit me hard. I don’t want my daughter to face hard things. She has already faced some very hard things and the only thing that is worse than me suffering is watching her suffer. I have never felt so inadequate as I felt when I had to watch her grieve her brother’s death, and there wasn’t a thing that I could do to ease her pain. “Above all, whatever my child faces, I want her to bring great glory to God.” Is that really the prayer that I want to pray for my daughter? I don’t want her to go through hard things.

I have continued to chew on his challenge. It continues to terrify me, and yet I think he is right. There is a dark light in this world, and it is after our children. That evil is slinking its way into our homes. It is going to fight for my child, so I had better be fighting for her too. Our children will face hard things; many of them have already or are currently in the midst of those hard things. Just like we aren’t guaranteed a life of ease, neither are they.

And to make things even harder, I have no control over the hard things that my daughter will have to endure. There are times that she will endure difficulties due to her own choices. There are times that she will have to endure difficulties due to the choices of others. There are even times that she will have to endure difficulties for what appears to be no reason at all.

What better way to equip her for those hard things than to pray that “above all, she brings great glory to God.” Because unlike my inability to protect her from hard things, God has immense power and might to equip her and to carry her through those difficulties so that she can bring Him great glory.

God Answers My Prayers (Part 5)

There are so many scriptures about prayer that I cling to. One of my favorites has always been Psalm 37:4 “Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of your heart.”

I have spent my life delighting myself in the Lord. He didn’t give me the desire of my heart when I asked Him to heal Joshua. How do I reconcile that?

The truth is, I don’t understand why God didn’t heal Joshua. I don’t know why He chose to allow Joshua to leave this earth. I will probably never understand this side of Heaven. I have asked why so many times, God should be tired of me by now. I’m grateful that He isn’t. Even if God chose to tell me why, would the answer really satisfy me. Probably not. I can’t think of one single reason why Joshua should have died at age 16. Knowing the why wouldn’t change anything except make me want to argue with God about how many other ways He could have achieved the same goal without taking Joshua.

If I truly delight myself in the Lord, I will want the same thing that He wants for my life. As a result, I will trust His answer.

Since my son’s death, my prayers have changed. I still lay my heart before God and tell Him exactly what I want and why. I am honest. I hold nothing back. Then, I ask that His will be done. Not because I understand why, but because I trust that God knows more than I do and that His ways are higher than mine. I trust that while my vision is often short-term and earthly based, His is long term and eternity based. And then I trust His answer.

Does this mean that I have quit asking for much? No way. I continue to ask for things with boldness. In fact, for the last three years, I have been asking God to open a door that He has chosen not to open yet. It has been especially difficult the last few days, and I have been on my knees frequently. I don’t understand. The rejection hurts. It’s hard. It’s frustrating.

I trust Him. While I wait, I lean on Him. I draw closer to Him. I remind myself that He is in control.

Will He open that door? I have no idea. It may never happen. And, I may never know why this side of Heaven. Like our daughter needed time to mature to understand why we told her no, I need time to mature in God’s will before I can understand.

What are you asking for today that you haven’t received yet? Talk to God about it. Open your heart. Ask Him for help trusting no matter whatever answer He gives.

God Answers My Prayers (Part 4)

Today, we are going to look at the third and last reason I believe God sometimes says no to a prayer – saying “no” will bring Him more glory. Paul is a prime example of this. In 2 Corinthians 12, we learn that Paul had a thorn in his flesh. There has been a lot of speculation as to what that thorn might have been. We are never told. Because it is irrelevant. What is important is that when Paul asked for it to be removed, God said no, and Paul continued to trust God. He continued to lean on God. He continued to praise God. Many were brought to Christ through Paul. God was even more glorified because Paul praised Him despite the thorn that caused him to suffer.

As Christians, our purpose in life is to glorify God so that others will be brought to Him. When God doesn’t answer my prayer the way I hoped, I have an opportunity in front of me to glorify Him to those around me. If I only glorify God when He says yes, what does that say to a non-believer?

I love to scroll social media and read statements like, “Praise God, my husband was healed from cancer. Praise God, my child got the scholarship and can go to college. Praise God, our house sold quickly, and we won’t be burdened with the mortgage payment when we move. Praise God, I got a raise at work. Praise God, I got the job I wanted.” I do believe those are times to praise God, and I am excited to do so.

I would also love to read statements like, “We didn’t get the news we hoped for at the doctor today. We will continue to praise God.” “The job that I desperately needed didn’t pan out. I will continue to praise God.” “My child is struggling at school. We can’t figure out why. I will continue to praise God.”

Those statements are so much harder to share publicly. We often feel as though it is our fault. We didn’t do something right. We weren’t faithful enough, we didn’t study scripture enough or pray enough and God is punishing us by not giving us what we wanted. Did I wonder what I had done wrong when my son died? Of course I did. I thought God was punishing me because I wasn’t a good enough Christian. Scripture does not support this idea at all. The truth is sometimes a “no” from God means more glory for Him than a “yes.” We don’t always know how or why. We can trust that He is in control and His will is far greater than mine.

Regardless of whether or not we get what we want, we should praise God. Psalm 34:1-3 “I will extol the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips. I will glory in the Lord; let the afflicted hear and rejoice. Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt his name together.”

If not getting something I wanted on earth, means one more person will join me in eternity, is it worth it? Absolutely. Will I always know the reason? Nope. I have to decide if I will trust God and praise Him in all circumstances. Won’t it be so exciting to get to Heaven and hear stories of how our trust in God brought others to Him.

Being a Christian doesn’t mean I get everything I want. It means that I have chosen to give my life to serve the One who created me, to the One who saved me. More often than not, it means that satan is going to come after me harder. When I don’t get the answer I want, my praise is even more powerful to those around me. I am a greater witness for God.

God Answers My Prayers (Part 3)

If you haven’t had a chance to read parts 1 and 2, we are talking about prayer. God always answers our prayers. He doesn’t always give us what we ask for, but He always answers. Yesterday, we talked about how sometimes, we don’t get what we want because God has a better plan – a plan focused on our eternity not on a comfortable earthly life.

Today we are going to look at a second reason why God may not give us what we desire – He is protecting us from something. I can’t help but think about Garth Brooks’ song “Unanswered Prayers.” Again, I don’t believe that God doesn’t answer our prayers but I understand the premise behind the song is that he didn’t get something he asked for and is grateful for God’s protection.

I know that I have felt that same hand of protection from God before. I have asked for something, didn’t get it, and shortly afterwards realized what a blessing the answer “no” can be. I continue to praise God for that protection even today.

Don’t we ask God to protect us. And then we ask for something that He knows would not be good for us. It only makes sense that He would protect us from some of the things we ask for in prayer. He might be protecting us from our own selfish motives, from others or from satan.

As a parent, haven’t you ever said “no” to your child because you wanted to protect him or her? Did your child become angry? Maybe because he or she wasn’t old enough to understand the dangers. Maybe as a parent you felt it wasn’t best to share everything you knew about the situation or the people involved in it.

I can remember our daughter becoming angry with us because we wouldn’t allow her to do something that she really wanted to do. We knew things that she didn’t know. Things that we weren’t going to tell her because of her age. Years later, she mentioned the situation and how angry she was with us at the time for not letting her have her way. She then went on to say that as she grew older, she realized why we wouldn’t allow her to do what she asked and how grateful she was for our protection.

It is not our place to understand God. We are called to trust. God sees more than we see. He knows more than we know. Sometimes we just have to trust that His hand of protection is over us.

I love the words of the psalmist in Psalm 121. If you haven’t already, commit them to memory. “I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip—he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord watches over you—the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all harm—he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.”

Maybe God has given you an answer to a prayer lately that you didn’t like. Is it possible that He wants to protect you from something that you don’t know about? I hope that you will spend some time in prayer today talking to Him about your disappointment. It’s okay. He already knows how you feel. I also hope that you will choose to trust Him even when His “no” is hard to understand.

God Answers My Prayers (Part 2)

God answers all of our prayers, every single one of them. We do not utter one prayer that He does not hear or does not answer. He doesn’t always give me the outcome that I request. Yesterday, I proposed three possible reasons that God’s answer is not my desire. Today, we are going to look at the first one: God has a better plan.

Let’s take a passage that has become quite popular in the last few years and dissect it. Please stick with me. I don’t view this passage in the same light that it has been presented by many popular evangelists and authors in recent years.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

First, we need to look at the context of this passage. This scripture comes from a letter written by Jeremiah to the Israelites in exile. The Israelites had not been listening to God; He allowed them to be taken captive. In this letter, God tells them to settle in, to build houses and have children, they are going to live their lives there for a while. He goes on to say that in seventy years, He will fulfill His promise to return them to Babylon. Does that mean those seventy years were a breeze and nothing bad happened? I don’t think so. Just like our lives, I would imagine some people struggled with work, spouses and disrespectful children. I imagine there were some deaths during that time. That doesn’t negate the promise of God. His promise still stood.

So, is it possible to apply this scripture to our lives today? Of course it is. However, I don’t think it is responsible to use this scripture to say that God wants to give us all of the material things we ask for – that’s a prosperity gospel that the Bible doesn’t support. God does bless us richly, but material blessings are not His main concern.

I also don’t believe that we can use this passage to say that God won’t allow bad things to happen to us. Again, God is not a genie in a bottle. To say that God wouldn’t allow bad things to happen would be to say that God does not allow free will. Scripture does not support that.

Let’s bring this back to prayer and what it means for us. One of the reasons that God’s answer may differ from my request is because He has a better plan. If I pray for a job, and I don’t get it, that doesn’t necessarily mean that God has a better paying job lined up for me just around the bend. His better plan may mean that I stay where I am because that is where I can serve Him best. His better plan may be a job with a pay cut but an environment full of Christians who support and encourage one another. God’s plan for eternity is of greater importance than my comfort on this earth. His better plan may be something I never see and will not understand this side of Heaven, but I can trust that His plan is better.

I hear what you are saying, that passage clearly says, “I have plans to prosper you.” Yes it does. Let me share a story that might help you understand. I’m a high school Spanish teacher. When I was a beginning teacher, I made a huge mistake. My class walked in one day, and I said to them, “We are going to do something fun today.” You know where this is going. I had a fun activity planned that I couldn’t wait to start. They were going to be engaged and so much learning was going to take place. Guess what they heard! “Free day.” When they realized that I intended for us to do some learning, they didn’t think that was fun at all.

When God says, “prosper,” we often wait in anticipation for the material blessings to begin to pour down on us. As our Creator, He loves us very much. In that same way that we love to bless our children with things, I believe that God also loves to bless us in our earthly lives. Those blessings come in a variety of forms and aren’t always material things. Just know that God’s view of prosperity is eternal, not earthly.

We have to be just as careful with the second part of this scripture – “not to cause you harm.” I know that I repeated this passage several times to God after Joshua died. In fact, it might be fair to say that I spewed these words at God in my grief. I would cry out to Him, “You wrote the Bible. You are the One who said, ‘I have plans to prosper you and not to cause you harm.’ This hurts. This hurts worse than anything I have ever felt in my entire life. This feels like harm.”

As I wrestled with God over this passage, I know He heard every single utterance. He felt my pain. He longed to comfort me. And, then He lovingly brought me to the last part of this passage – “plans to give you hope and a future.” When God created Adam and Eve, He placed them in a beautiful garden. He gave them everything they needed. They ruined it pretty quickly. We live in a fallen world. God wants to give us hope, and He has because He sent His Son to die on the cross so that we would have a future with Him in Heaven. That’s the most important takeaway from this passage.

Our hope doesn’t lie in the things of this world or in our future here on earth. We aren’t staying here. We are all getting off this planet one way or another. Our ultimate destination will be standing in front of our Creator to be judged for how we lived while we were here. We will either hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” or “Depart from Me, I never knew you.” Just typing that last phrase is chilling. I do not want to hear God speak those words to anyone.

I don’t know what you are praying for today. I hope that you can trust God’s answer and continue to serve Him with every breath you have. His plan is far better than mine because it is grounded in my eternity, not in my earthly life.

God Answers My Prayers (Part 1)

I’m going to be honest and let you know before you read all of this that you might not like some of what I say. I know without a doubt that God has answered every single prayer that I have ever spoken to Him. He has not always said yes, but He has answered every prayer.

For three straight days, I begged God to heal my child. For almost exactly 72 hours, I watched as he laid in a hospital bed in a coma. I went to the throne and fought for him. I cried out begging God to heal his body and wake him up. Others joined me from all over the world. We flooded God’s ears with our pleas.

He heard every single prayer our mouths and hearts uttered. Not a syllable was ignored. He felt our pain and sorrow.

And then on a Friday afternoon God answered our prayer through a doctor who said, “Your child has zero brain activity. He will never wake up.” It wasn’t the answer we begged to hear. It wasn’t what we longed for God to do. It was still an answer.

We have this idea that when we get what we want, God is answering our prayer. I hear it often. My husband got the job. God answered our prayer. My child’s fever broke. God answered my prayer. The cancer is gone. God answered my prayer.

My sweet boy left this earth. God answered my prayer.

God always answers our prayers. Sometimes with what we ask for and sometimes not. But God always answers.

So, why is it that sometimes the request and the answer are the same and other times they are not? I have no idea. I am not God. I would dare say that no one has ever had all of their prayers answered the way they hoped. Unless of course they aren’t praying for much.

What does the Bible say about God’s answers to our prayers?

“And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” James 5:15-16

My son was sick. I had faith that God would heal him. Does this mean my faith was not strong enough or that I am not righteous enough? Absolutely not. It is dangerous to take a single passage like this and apply it without taking all of God’s word into account.

I am not the only one that God has said no to. When Jesus was in the garden asking for the cup to pass over Him, God said no. Our Savior was so burdened by the task in front of Him that He was sweating drops of blood. He was going to be physically tortured and humiliated while He died proclaiming to be the Son of God. God allowed this to happen for a greater purpose. Why should I expect God to grant me every wish I desire. He is not a genie in a bottle. He is God.

I want to propose three possible reasons God doesn’t answer our prayers the way we ask.

God has a better plan.
God is protecting me from something.
God will be even more glorified.

I am not saying that I understand the nature of God. When God doesn’t answer a prayer with my desires, I may not know why this side of Heaven. However, it is definitely an opportunity for me to draw closer to Him to find the comfort and strength I need.

Right now, the most important step that we can take is to decide if we will trust God in whatever answer He gives to our requests.

Over the next week, we are going to take each one of the proposed reasons why God may not answer our prayers the way we hoped for and dig deeper into scripture. I pray that we can open our hearts to God’s word and listen to what He truly wants to teach us.

He Hears My Prayer

Have you found yourself calling out to God during this pandemic? Are you wondering if He is listening? He is.

If God says He will do something, He will. He only has to say it one time, and He doesn’t have to guarantee it with a pinky promise. If He says it, it is true. God says that He hears our prayers and there is plenty of evidence in scripture to back it up.

First and foremost, God wants us to call out to Him. He says so. Look at 2 Chronicles 7:14 “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

Did you catch what it said? If we pray to Him, He will hear us from Heaven. No matter where He is, God will hear us.

Many are using this scripture right now to try and get people to turn to God so that He will heal our land. I think we have to be careful about doing something just for the reward that we think we might get. Did God send this virus? I don’t know. Could He? Of course, He is God. Would He? He might if He thought it would turn people to Him. Can He use it for His glory? Absolutely.

In case you need further proof, David also acknowledges that God hears us. Psalm 40:1 “I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry.”

There are two key points in this passage. First, David says he waited patiently. That is crucial and so very difficult for me. God doesn’t view time the way that we do. 2 Peter 3:8 tells us, “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.” He isn’t confined to timelines the way we are with our watches and daily schedules. Things do not always happen in the timeframe that we hope for, but they always happen in God’s timing.

The second key point is David’s acknowledgment of God hearing him. God always hears us. Always. Every single time we cry out to Him, He hears us. He can distinguish your voice from every other voice on the planet. You are that special to Him. He longs to hear us call out to Him.

This global crisis has not left any untouched. We have all been affected emotionally, physically and mentally. There have been some devastating financial effects. There have been many affected by death. You might be thinking, “I have been calling out to God. Nothing has changed. He hasn’t answered my prayer.” We are going to talk about answered prayers on a different day. Today, I want you to know without a doubt, God hears you. He hears every syllable you cry out to Him. He knows every heartache you are struggling to overcome. He wants you to continue to come to Him with all of it.

If it has been awhile since you have prayed, don’t worry! God isn’t looking for formalities or a special formula. Just open your heart to Him. Tell Him what you are struggling with and tell Him what you are grateful for today. Sure He already knows. You also know that your children or your parents love you, yet it makes you feel pretty great when they say it!

After you pour out your heart, follow David’s example – wait patiently. He will turn to you.