We’ve heard it a zillion times, haven’t we? We’ve probably said it a zillion times. And the underlying concept is that we may wish for something that will be pleasant and comforting and all-around good, but we might get something that produces the exact opposite. At least in our eyes.
I found myself praying a very specific prayer recently, with great expectations of a joyous result, only to realize just exactly what I might get with this prayer.
I’ll get back to that story in a moment, but first a little “set-up.”
If you’ve been paying attention to movies or TV series or Broadway plays over the past few years, you may have noticed an emerging trend. Prequels. Yep, everyone and his dog is putting together the back story of a popular movie or series in hopes of capitalizing on its success.
It’s not a bad strategy and I’ve enjoyed my share of prequels as well. Hold that thought.
At the risk of creating a non-musical “ear worm,” I want to remind us of a truth we’ve discussed many times through this blog and beyond. God does his best and most permanent work in our lives through our trials.
The inherent understanding here is that God sends his trial(s), and then we respond accordingly. That is, ideally, we allow God to strengthen our faith and trust in him through it.
So, now let me bring these ideas together by sharing with you my “innocent” prayer to God recently. Very simply I prayed, “God, help me to love you more deeply.” That’s a reasonable request of God, right? What could possibly go wrong with that?
It started me thinking about just how God might go about helping me love him more deeply. My preference? He instantaneously bestows that quality upon me. “God, I love you more today than I did yesterday.” If that works, I might as well ask him for the rest of the fruits of the Spirit: joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Easy peasy.
Sadly, it doesn’t quite work that way, does it?
That’s when I realized that my prayer to love God more deeply was essentially a prequel to the whole “best and most permanent work” idea.
The way God helps us to love him more, trust him more, receive more of his wisdom, see more of his grace and mercy, and ultimately become more and more like Christ, is through those infamous trials.
Please don’t misunderstand, we should ask God to make us more Christ-like. That’s essentially what sanctification is. But don’t be surprised at the route God takes you on to achieve those purposes in your life. It just might be full of those “fiery trials” promised to us.
So, using my simple prayer as an example, here’s how I see the sequence of events from my limited human perspective.
- I ask God to help me love him more.
- He sends a difficulty into my life.
- I run to him as my only source of wisdom and comfort and ultimate refuge.
- I spend more quality time in prayer to him and study of his Word as he walks through this trial with me.
- I begin to see the myriad ways he is shaping me and yes, sanctifying me, through this time of trouble.
- I love him more deeply.
- Prayer answered.
Now, I realize it’s not always this perfect sequence of defined steps with a fully-recognized answer to our prayer. Sometimes we’re not paying attention. Sometimes God makes us wait. Sometimes we don’t want to learn the lesson. We don’t want to grow if it means we suffer.
But the overall pattern is biblical. Even if that prequel step is missing. Even if you haven’t asked God to grow you in your faith, he’s still aware that it’s exactly what he plans to give you. Here’s how the Apostle Paul explained it in Romans 5:3-5:
“Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.”
There’s a natural, God-directed progression from difficulty to promise.
How should this affect our prayer life? Do we avoid this hard road by eliminating prayers that ask God to change our hearts and our attitudes and our desires to more closely match his? I hope not! My prayer is that it would help us understand that our “good” prayer is ultimately answered with God’s “good” solution, regardless of the pain we may be called to walk through to get there.
Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial,
for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life,
which God has promised to those who love him.
James 1:12
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