Are you looking for the right answers?

Prayer is powerful. But when you pray, are you looking for the right answers or do you have selfish motives? Are you looking to put a check mark next to that prayer to say that it was answered? Do you get frustrated by the perception that your prayer is unanswered, unheard? What if you pray for success, only to find failure?

These are all questions I have asked myself as I look to continue to strengthen my relationship with God. But we must remember prayer is not just a mechanism to get our way. We must always remember to pray for His will to be done, not ours. For if we pray so that our will be done, we tell God that we know better than He about what is best for us.

We must also look differently at how God answers our prayers. In John 14:13 we hear "And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father". If we are faithful, God hears and answers our prayers. But we must remember that God answers in his time. His answer could be yes, no, not now, or have this instead. If it is his will, then the answer will be yes. If it is not His will, the answer will be no or have this instead. We need to accept these things and pray showing God that we understand that He knows what is best for us.

The last two are the toughest for us to comprehend. It is like a parent and child relationship. Parents have been through the war, have the Bible as the instruction manual for raising their children. They know what is best for their children (as a small political aside, the government does not). That does not stop the children for asking for those things that they believe are good for them. Just as children ask for things that they feel strongly are in their best interests, we ask of God things that we believe are in our best interests. But we must be willing to listen for God's answer. In Luke 11:5-9, right after Jesus teaches the disciples to pray the Lord's Prayer, he clearly provides insight into God's desire for us to be persistent in prayer, to continue to knock, and to knock with His will as our goal. If we do this, He will answer us. It may not be what we are asking for, but it will be what is best for us. It may not come right away, but it will come in the right time. I encourage you to read the passage from Luke with this perspective and contemplate the meaning in your individual prayer relationship with God.

Just as a parent wants a trusting and loving relationship with their children, God wants that same relationship with us. He wants to see that we trust Him and His judgment. He wants to see our love and faith in Him and He wants to constantly hear from us.

I pray that God will bless you on this 2nd Tuesday in June and that you will be inspired to look more deeply at your prayer life.