Another great question from our global online tribe dropped into my email last night. A young woman asked me this: Mark, how can I PRAY IN FAITH when I am unsure if God is listening or ignoring my request?
The first part of my response to her was that “faith in prayer” has nothing to do with OUR feelings over whether the request is or is not in God’s will or whether he is listening or not. Our “faith in prayer” is having FAITH in God and knowing that he will never ignore us.
If we assume God cannot answer our prayers because he is not listening, we are questioning his omnipotence. If we assume God will not answer because he is ignoring us, we are questioning his mercy and grace.
In both cases, we have put faith in our own judgement, not in God. And all of it is based on a LIE that God ignores our prayers.
Our faith zooms up if we THINK God can answer the prayer. But our faith plunges if we DECIDE God could never answer because he is not listening.
Here are two ways for us to respond like Christ when we don’t “see” or “hear” God’s answer to our prayers: 1) CERTAINTY that he is listening even though the outcome is unknown; and 2) SUBMISSION when God has not disclosed the outcome because we KNOW he is not ignoring our request.
When God has spoken a clear promise for all believers, we do not need to wonder “IF he hears our plea and petition.” We can pray with CERTAINTY (1 Peter 3:12 see below).
Prayer is like a metal detector on the Bible’s vast beach of CERTAIN TREASURES that are just waiting to be discovered by us.
Faith in prayer is not a tool to obtain what we want. That means many situations call for our SUBMISSION to God’s uncertainty. It is a state of mind that aligns our petitions with God’s character.
God hears every single prayer we pray. There is never an exception to that glorious truth. That is why we are called to pray unceasingly and with CERTAINTY that he will NEVER ignore us (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).
I ask God to forgive me for forgetting that he is walking with me every step of the way in my life. To forgive me for not seeking him earlier each time the world crashes in on me. To forgive me for not depending on him completely…always…and forever.
WHAT ABOUT YOU
Are you reminding yourself every day that God will give you a peace that passes all understanding…if you ask? That he is not surprised by anything that happens? That he will NEVER ignore you?
“For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” 1 Peter 3:12
