Learning to Trust God in Prayer

During my ministry as a missionary, schoolteacher, and pastor, I have learned that children respond differently when told what they must or must not do. Some are naturally obedient and eager to please. Others react with defiance. There are also those who require an explanation, something simple or a more elaborate justification. Often, adults have no choice but to play the trump card—“Because I said so.” This useful phrase appeals to the bottom line: authority. The conversation is over; there will be no further argument or explanation. The child must comply simply because the adult has authority over the child.

Children of Our Heavenly Father

This reality is understandably challenging for the child. Adult Christians have a similar relationship with their Father in heaven. It would be nice to think that grown-ups handle submission to the Lord’s authority with a grace that reflects their age, but reality dispels this hope. One of the most daunting aspects of our relationship with God is submission. As it relates to prayer, we submit to our heavenly Father’s answers. A biblically submissive attitude to the Lord in prayer includes these elements:

1. God’s reason and knowledge are infinite. Mine are limited and sin-broken.
2. God promises to attend to the prayers of all Christians, not only mine.
3. God works for the good of all His children. My prayers are inclined to be primarily self-serving.
4. We come to God expecting Him to bring our plans to fruition instead of ending our petitions with “Thy will be done.”

Developing a biblically submissive attitude to the Lord in prayer requires frequent and consistent exposure to God’s Word, Holy Baptism, regular reception of the Lord’s Supper, and prayer that the Holy Spirit would foster such an attitude in me.

Not What I Wanted

And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith. (Matthew 21:22)

And this is the confidence that we have toward Him, that if we ask anything according to His will He hears us. (1 John 5:14) 

When a Christian prays in faith and according to God’s will, there are still times when He does not answer in compliance with our prayer. Isn’t God giving us His promise that He will do so in the verse from Matthew above? Yes. At the same time, we must key into two operant phrases in the verses above. First, Matthew qualifies “you will receive” with “if you have faith.” The issue here is not the amount or strength of faith. Recall that Jesus speaks of faith as small as a mustard seed moving mountains. We are mindful of the fact that faith in Jesus includes trust that His answer, even if different from our wish, is always at least as good as what we asked. It also includes trust in God’s timing. Like a child who clamors to spend the night at a friend’s house only to be told he must wait until he is older, God often answers, “Yes, but not yet.” Faith trusts in God’s timing. We must guard against resentment toward God for not following our timetable.

John’s “according to His will” is more challenging. Even when our prayer includes nothing sinful and doesn’t contradict the Bible in any way, there are times when God simply has other plans. Recall Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. He prayed, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will” (Matthew 26:39). Jesus has perfect faith in His Father and authored the Bible. Nevertheless, His prayer was not His Father’s will.

Navigating All Prayers

Once, right before service, a Christian asked me to pray that his football team would win the Sunday game. I told him I would pray that there would be no injuries and that Jesus would be glorified during the game. Praise the Lord for quick thinking. He left moderately satisfied. I was thinking two things: that God isn’t concerned with who wins the game and that someone else in the pews that day might be praying for the other team to win.

What this illustrates is the reality that our Heavenly Father attends to and answers the prayers of all His children. Unavoidably, the prayers of Christians are not always in agreement, even when they are prayed in faith and according to God’s will. For example, consider an elderly man who has been hospitalized for some time and has not improved despite the doctor’s best efforts. His son prays while sitting next to the bed for a miracle that would heal his father. At the same time, in the waiting room, his daughter prays that God take her father home to heaven. Both son and daughter are Christians. You see the point.

We must also remember that God allows human beings a degree of free will, again, according to His will and plan. A senior in high school applies to the state university. Despite putting his best foot forward, the university does not accept him. Like the high school student, we must accept that we have only so much control. Others, like those in charge of admissions at the university, have control over their actions. God intervenes to whatever degree accords with His will and plans.

The Big Picture

My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. (John 10:29)

Regarding God’s will and plan, we can know only what He has revealed in the Bible. Yet we can be sure of what He reveals. In the above verse, Jesus is speaking to His disciples regarding salvation. By the work of the Holy Spirit, we are God’s children. We belong to God, and He will allow no one to take us away. From this, we can derive something of God’s priorities—God is more concerned with my spiritual welfare than my comfort in this world. Accordingly, He won’t answer my prayer with something that would put my salvation in danger. Again, trust and submission concede that God knows what I know and everything else too.

In the final analysis, we are mindful that God is good. We see this most clearly at the cross. There is no darkness in Him, and as Paul explains, He is always working for the good of His children.

Learn to pray the Lord’s Prayer with trust and confidence in Our Way Home: A Journey Through the Lord's Prayer.