Keep Pressing Through

Keep Pressing Through

I don’t concern myself with matters too great or too awesome for me to grasp. Psalm 131:1

MOST PEOPLE OF FAITH have gotten mired in the deep questions and mysteries of prayer somewhere along the way. We’ve read the promises of Scripture and found them not to “work” quite as they seem. We’ve cried out to God and been left waiting, longing, begging for an answer. And when it’s delayed, we’ve turned to our analytical brains to sort things out and to our gut emotions to complain about how unfair things seem to be. We sink deeper into the mysteries and rail against their heartlessness. Like infants who have suddenly decided we need to know how the universe works, we concern ourselves with matters too great and awesome for us to grasp.

Resist the temptation to “figure out” prayer—to know why, when, and how prayers will or will not be answered; to find the formula; to learn how to work the system. Such efforts will lead only to confusion, stress, and frustration. Do be diligent about discovering what God says about prayer—how you can align yourself with his purposes in it and receive what he wants to give—but don’t get caught up in fruitless questions whenever something doesn’t seem to make sense. Whenever you find yourself thinking, It’s not working, pull back and remember that this is a relationship. It isn’t meant to be “worked.” It’s meant to be enjoyed, explored, appreciated, and developed. Prayer and faith are products of that relationship, not tools to exploit.

David said he did not concern himself with things too weighty to understand. He had learned the futility of being burdened with God-sized mysteries. Far from advocating ignorance, he had made a conscious decision to choose trust. His choice, inspired by the Holy Spirit and incorporated into our Scripture, is an invitation for us to do the same.

In your life of prayer, you will find evidence against it at times, that it doesn’t seem to make sense. Let your faith press through the contradictions. You are under no obligation to explain them. Simply believe. In time, your trust will be answered far more clearly than your questions are.

Trust God where you cannot trace him. . . . The mystery is God’s; the promise is yours.