Devotion • April 25
Today's Hymn
“Spirit of God, Descend upon My Heart”
Teach me to feel that thou art always nigh.
Teach me the struggles of the soul to bear,
to check the rising doubt, the rebel sigh.
Teach me the patience of unanswered prayer.
by George Croly
Hymn 688, Glory to God
verse 4
Reflection
When Jesus talks about prayer, he makes it seem quite easy.
He said things like, Ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. And, Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do. And again, Ask and it shall be given to you; seek and you shall find; knock and it shall be opened to you.
Simple enough, but we know that’s not how prayers end up. Like the hymnist, we know about unanswered prayers. Prayers for loved ones who do not get better, for marriages that do not heal, for nations that are still ravaged by war.
I’ve got good news: we are in good company. The Bible is filled with disappointment and unmet expectations. Moses prayed that he would get to enter the promised land, yet he did not. David fasted and prayed for seven days that his son would live, yet he died. Jeremiah prayed that Jerusalem would not be destroyed, and yet it was wiped out.
Unanswered prayer is not a new thing, and still, it stumps us. It hurts us. It leaves us despairing, angry, and lost. And it puts honest believers in a bind between wondering whether God failed or we did. The truth is our wondering about unanswered prayer is often about a misunderstanding of what prayer is.
God is not a short-order cook.
So why pray? Why go through the exercise? Why waste the time?
When we pray, we acknowledge a desire to have God in our lives. And that means it’s less about what we want and more about what God wants: us, our attention, our honesty, our deep desires.
God wants us to be in conversation, not to give us everything we ask for, but to be with us, alongside us in our struggle, in our dashed hopes, in our anguish and pain.
Prayer is not a means of removing the unknown and unpredictable from our lives. Instead, prayer is a way of laying the unknown and unpredictable before God. And in turn, God promises to shoulder the anxiety and strife of the unknown alongside us.
Prayer
O God, my prayers are a desire not for remedy or answers, but for you. Help me to remember that in strife and pain, you are with me. Your love abides. Amen.
Written by Shawn Fiedler, Major Gift Officer
Reflection and Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church
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