“We have to pray with our eyes on God, not on the difficulties.”
~ Oswald Chambers
There have always been so many times in my life when I have asked God "why me, Lord?". It seemed that every time something did not go well I would ask that question of God. I've had plenty of moments in my life thus far that have made me fall to my knees in despair and seek an answer on why bad things always seemed happen to me.
The changing moment for me on how I look at those things in life that 'always happen to me' was probably just last year when my little earth angel Gracie left her journey on earth to continue it in heaven with God and all those he allowed to come home to him at some point in their journey. Perhaps it was because I had the honor of walking the final months of her journey on earth with her. Gracie was so full of God's Grace and so unafraid to go to him that I am sure it was through her that God filled me with His will. God's will comes first, and if it happened, it happened because that is the path He set in front of me.
Through all the other deaths I have lived through (a baby sister, two older brothers, my mother, my good friend Connor, and many many others), I always took the deaths so personal. When Gracie died, as painful as it was to lose that little life, I knew she was at peace, free from pain, and the cancer that took her would no longer invade her space. I miss Gracie just as much this moment as I did the day she died, and as much as I will in the years until I join her in the skies above. However, through her death I have come to know God's will.
In the last few years I have taken the time to study prayers and how to say them and what to pray for and what not to pray for. I have had friends ask me how to pray, and how they know their prayers have been answered. Recently my friend Steve made the statement that he prays but it seems that God always tells him no. I have very few friends who focus on the religious part of their being, and Steve is one of them. I find inspirations in the links he shares and often visit those sites, spending hours reading the testimonies of those providing that inspiration.
My standard answer to those seeking the protocol of prayer is that it doesn't really matter how you pray, God knows what you are asking for. God knows why you are asking, and God knows what your spiritual needs are. There are times in my day where I simply stop what I am doing, close my eyes, and say the Our Father or the Hail Mary, for no particular reason at all. Then there are those times in my day that I find myself at the church, on my knees, venting to God in prayer for something that is heavy in my heart. In the warmer weather I will lay back in the lounge chair on the deck at my house and look up in the sky and just quietly whisper the names of those that left earth, but remain in my heart.
It does not matter where you are when you feel the need to pray, or what you are dressed like, or who you are with. A quick look up towards the sky in a moment of frustration or a quick sign of the cross when you hear a siren is as powerful of a prayer you can give as kneeling down in church and chanting a prayer in front of the alter. In the left pocket of my pants I carry a pocket cross that I can reach in and touch to calm me when life gets to be overwhelming. Prayers can take place anytime, anywhere and in many forms.
Yes, it is that simple! But what is not so simple is the answer we anticipate when we pray. Probably the easiest why to explain how God must answer our prayers is this: If God answered everything we prayed for, we would all be rich, successful, and good looking. Right? Right. Praying is not for material requests. Praying is not for perfection. Praying is not for wealth, fame, or fortune. Praying is not asking for all to be OK in life. Praying is not for asking God to change the path He has us on.
My personal take on prayer is that we should pray for the strength to accept God's will. To be strong in heart and mind to know that this too shall pass. To be confident in our faith that He knows what He is doing. That He would not put us through anything in our lives on earth that we cannot survive. God's will.
PROVERBS 3:5
Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.
JEREMIAH 29:11
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD,
thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
Earlier tonight I chatted with one of my Iowa friends regarding God's will. She was telling me that she is struggling with the sickness of her mother and it is hard to see her in so much pain and so down on life due to that pain. She didn't know what else she could pray for because she feels like God is not hearing her call for help in this road block in her and her mothers life. I know that struggle, and I know that feeling that God is not hearing what you are asking for. I assured her that God knows what the needs of her family are at this time and that fear of asking for the wrong things in prayer should not hinder her from praying for what she feels are her spiritual needs. I reminded her that God answers as he sees fit, not what we are asking for.
I hope I helped her when I told her that if she is prayin gfor peace and comfort in her mothers life, she should not fear that God will take her in an effort to give her that peace and comfort. If that is God's will, so be it, if it is not God's will, he will not grant that prayer request. God's will is powerful and the more we fight that the less comfort we will find in our hearts.
There is no right and wrong in what we pray for. There are no walking on egg shell words that can be said in prayer to try to avoid God misunderstanding what we are praying for. God's will. If you fear praying for the wrong thing in a time of despair simply repeat the words" God's will, God's will" over and over again. God will hear you, and God will answer you. All you have to do is keep an open mind, and open heart, and a strong faith and trust in what He delivers.
No prayer goes unanswered, we just think it has because we have not gotten what we thought we wanted at the time we prayed. Do not try to change the course of the path God has laid in front of you. Do not feel he is not hearing your requests, but be opened minded to the fact that he knows what is best, and He only delivers the best. Believe in Him Trust in Him. Faith, Hope, and Love begins and ends with God.
Timothy
2:1-4
