There are some prayers I pray without difficulty or discouragement while others are filled with difficulty and discouragement. I received an email recently from someone telling me they were going on a mission trip. I had prayed for this person every day for the past two years or so and it was an easy prayer. I had faith that God would send them where He wanted them to go when it was time. Now God is doing just that. I didn’t doubt that God would send them and knew He would get all the glory. Now I cannot wait to hear about their trip and see how God uses this in their life. It is simple faith.
How can I achieve this in all my prayers? Lord, just take care of this just doesn’t always work in my mind. I do try but many times I want to see very specific things happen in someone’s life. I imagine if I had that simple faith with all my prayers that God would show me more. He would show me how He is getting the glory in situations where I cannot see His glory. This is a very interesting thought pattern I must pursue.
As I contemplated this, I asked the kids separately why we don’t have simple faith in all our prayers. Blaine said “because we are in a time of need” and Kristen said “because some prayers are deeper in context.” There are probably many answers to this but the answer I came up with in my life boiled down to a more basic form of what Kristen said. I think God is weak and doubt He has the power to answer the prayer. I doubt His sovereignty. That’s right, the God who made heaven and earth just can’t answer this prayer.
Now as I pray, I have to think differently upon the prayers where I lack simple faith. I need to remember that God is sovereign and in control. I need to remember that His glory will be made known in the lives of the people I am praying for in whatever way He desires. We shall see how this transpires in my life soon enough.