If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do. - James 1:5-7
Growing up I used to pray a lot, I would pray for everything small or big, but I realize now that most of the time, the prayers I used to repeat day after day were empty. Empty in the sense that I don’t know if I ever believed God would really answer them. You can imagine that after years of seemingly unanswered prayers, you start to think prayer is dead. It wasn’t until some time ago that I realized the power of prayer. I realized that when Jesus tells us that if we ask anything in his name it will be given to us, He doesn’t mean simply mean saying a prayer followed by “In Jesus name.” He means that if we ask of God something that is in alignment with His will, he will surely give it to us. Suddenly prayer made sense. I was at a point in my life where I wanted truly to walk with Jesus, to the point where I asked him repeatedly to strip the things I was holding onto as idols in my life. He answered this by making me leave things I held dear and getting rid of things that were ultimately bad for me. I asked him to open a ministry door and he showed me the youth, which ironically was the last thing I wanted to do at the time. I asked him to change my laziness to diligence and he gave me hard work to do. I asked him for wisdom and he gave me painful lessons. I asked for patience and he gave me the hardest people. I asked for humility and he brought me to my knees. As I quickly learned how God works, my former doubt in prayer became fear of half-hearted requests. Just two days ago I was asking God to provide me with a job at college so that I could start earning money for a future endeavor, and within two days I had been shown two job opportunities. I learned that prayerful requests aren’t just a practice or discipline we as Christians can engage with to get stuff. Rather, it is a way of helping us discerning God’s will. I also learned that one should not assume that as long as something sounds godly and you believe it will be done, it is in God’s eyes good. I’ve prayed many a time that God would take away my lifelong struggles, that He would heal me, and that He would give me certain things, yet those things still are and are not there. It is important to recognize that sometimes God says no because he has better plans, and sometimes it may just not be the right time. Don’t give up on prayer and don’t give up on God’s ability to listen, and ultimately do.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge him and He will make straight your path. - Proverbs 3:5-6
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