pray on request

Around Christmas last year, I received a phone call from the daughter of a lady I met while volunteering at a local nursing home. She had a multitude of health problems and when she told them, my heart went out to her. She was particularly upset that her medical problems and her upcoming treatments would inhibit her ability to travel to Florida to see her mom for the holidays. As she spoke, God whispered in my ear “Can you pray when you ask?” I thought to myself, what is pray-on-demand? How do I process this? This woman felt that her prayers to God were not heard and that she was alone in this process that she was living. After reflecting on this thought for a bit, I realized the seriousness of the question. We have all had that moment in our walk with the Lord where we felt like a specific prayer was not being heard. As God is suddenly profoundly deaf to our perceived urgency. Then we begin to question ourselves, examine whether we have an unrepentant sin or decide that we are not in the right spiritual place to listen to God regarding our request.

We never consider the fact that there is a reason why God is not responding immediately. We never think there is safety in waiting or trusting in God’s timing beyond the circumstances we see. Beloved, God does not punish us with waiting. He does not punish us with anything because his desire is to see us prosper and grow until we become the divine being that he has created us to be. It is in waiting that our faith is truly sharpened. I read once that faith is a verb. It is a continuous action of belief. If our faith is always being refined and there is a blessing in waiting, why do we look to others to pray for us when the answer doesn’t manifest quickly enough? Why do we look for others who, for some reason, we consider more spiritual to say a prayer? Why do we think others are capable of praying when asked to get the results we want?

We are carnal beings harboring spiritual perfection. God is fully aware that as humans, our flesh will fail us, resulting in times in our lives when we hesitate to trust Him. He knows that we need constant reminders of His love and grace every day. He knows that in this life we ​​will have tribulations that will sometimes cause us to cry out for a quick solution to some of our problems. He knows. He is aware and has given us a dildo that he understands.

When times of doubt arise, looking to Jesus is our comfort. While he was in the flesh, he was fully God and fully man. Only by knowing this can we be at peace within. Jesus knows and has experienced every human emotion. There is no need for us to feel restless waiting or impatient with God’s timing. When the fullness of time came, Jesus was born. His life was all about time. Every miracle, every healing, every ounce of his suffering and his death on the cross was about the time of the Father. We are not in the station that we occupy in this life accidentally. God has a purpose and a plan. We have to remember to look for him and trust that no matter how dire we imagine our circumstance, it is in his time that all things will eventually work together for good. We do not have to force others to pray on demand. God loves us and listens to every request we present to him. He loves us more than we could ever imagine. In times of danger, we can be sure that God loves us MORE than the calamity that has befallen us and his grace is enough to help us even in the worst of times.

Are we qualified to “pray on demand”? Of course we are! We are children of the Most High God. We can invoke our divine authority to speak of life, healing, health, or prosperity in any situation that otherwise seems bleak. He will NEVER leave us or forsake us. Let us rest in the comfort that comes from a love that endures beyond the grave with roots so deep that time itself cannot count.

Courage and blessed son of the Most High God!