WHY PRAY?
Why pray if Jesus said, “Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” [Matthew 6:8b]. Okay, but what about what we want? God knows what we want as well as what we need. The question is—do we know the difference?
NEEDS AND WANTS
On one level the difference between need and want is common sense: I want dessert; I need air. When we dig deeper, the difference blurs. Paul asked to be healed from his burden, not for his own convenience but for the sake of his mission to the Gentiles. This want seemed like a need. But God had a different perspective. God told Paul he needed this burden to keep from becoming too sure of himself. God answered with grace instead of with healing.
GOD’S ANSWERS
I’ve often heard people say God has 3 answers: Yes, No, and Wait. But that reduces prayer to a multiple choice question with one right answer. Prayer is more than that: it’s a conversation. God’s answers help us understand, and they help us grow. God didn’t heal Paul, but God’s answer was much more than a “no.” It was an answer Paul grew into year after year (read his letters to see how he came to understand grace). But how does God answer?
- Direct Answers
In over 60 years of praying, I’ve only received direct answers a couple of times. Once I was alone in the sauna of a fitness center. I had begged forgiveness for the same sin many times, but that time I “heard” (not with my ears, with my heart) God say, “I’ve already forgiven you. Get up and get on with your life.” That was an answer I had to grow into. In fact, over twenty years later I’m still growing into the idea that I can trust God’s forgiveness.
- Reading
A more common experience for me is to receive an answer when I’m reading scripture. Sometimes a particular verse or passage will come to mind with the answer. Sometimes I’ll be doing my daily Bible study and an answer leaps off the page.
- Music
“Bach gave us God’s Word. Mozart gave us God’s laughter. Beethoven gave us God’s fire. God gave us Music that we might pray without words” (quote from an old German opera house). I’ve prayed with music, and I’ve received answers in music of all kinds (hymns, contemporary Christian, meditative instrumental). Often those answers are like music without words: answers of faith, reassurance, hope, strength, and love—always God’s love.
YOUR EXPERIENCES
I’ve received answers in many more ways than the three I’ve commented on. How have you received answers? Remember a specific prayer and a specific answer. Did you have to grow into the answer? Comment. Share your experience.
A passionate reader, I began writing as a young girl. After graduating from college, I became a teacher. Over the course of my career, I taught high schoolers, college undergraduates, and public school teachers how to write personal narratives, expository and persuasive essays, as well as poetry and short fiction. I continued to write: publishing professional articles, two textbooks, short stories, and poetry. In 2013, I won first place in Romantic Suspense in the ACFW Genesis Contest.
Suzanne, I know that God forgives, and that is a blessing beyond measure. But I wish with forgiveness came forgetting. The memory of my mistakes stay with me, and the ache that goes along with it. I have sorrow for the hurt I have caused that seems to linger. Perhaps God intends the memory as a reminder not to make the mistake again. God is right, we are forgiven and need to move on. It helps when the person I wronged forgives me too, but sometimes that is impossible.
Regina, I’ve struggled with this issue for years. I’ve finally come to a place where I believe God wants us to accept the balm of His forgiveness and let God take the sorrow too. It’s not that I forget what I did and think I’ll never sin again, but I’ve learned to let God heal the sin for me, just as God heals it for the person I hurt ifwhen that person asks. Does this make sense?