Prayer is Talking to God AND Listening to God
We often treat prayer as a one-sided conversation. We may begin by thanking Him for a blessing or two. Then we roll into our list of things that don’t seem right. A person is sick. Another is having financial difficulties. We need a better job. We need a new place to live.
And this is all good. We should come to God with our problems and requests. We should thank Him for blessings we’ve received.
But all of this is resting in our own understanding. We should feel compassionate when someone we know is having a hard time and we should pray for them. But we also need to ask questions and see if we’re praying for the right things. We need to ask God for His wisdom on the specific problem.
And then we need to sit still for a while. He may give us a sensing as to what we could do. He may show a different side to the story that we haven’t seen. He may show us good things that are happening because of this difficulty. He also might bring to mind a specific bible verse that can bring you or the other person a lot of solace.
Yes, pray and call out to Him. But then sit still and listen to anything He may want to bring to your mind. Read your bible and see if He highlights anything in your mind that will help your situation.
Let God know that you are here to trust in Him with all your heart, as well as all your life.
Ask Him to help you to not lean on your own understanding. His understanding is a much better foundation.
Submit to Him no matter what His answer is—
Yes, No, Maybe, Wait, Something else instead—
God has all kinds of answers.
Then you will see a little better as to how He wants you to live in this difficult situation and in the present moment of your life.
Listen, Trust, and Obey.