Understanding Our Relationship With God
We sometimes believe that we should come to God only when we have a need. However, prayer is about intimacy with the Father. If the Lord gave us whatever we wanted as soon as we asked Him, we wouldn’t be able to understand the dynamic of our relationship and might never learn the importance of developing patience and dependence. It was only after Paul asked God three times for his “thorn in the flesh” to be removed that God gave him a firm “no.” (2 Cor. 12:7-8) When we’ve been praying for a long time about something and don’t feel as if our words are going anywhere, that’s not the time to quit. A better approach is to pray through those situations so we understand what the Lord is teaching us through our circumstances. God is listening attentively to our cries, and His Spirit is our constant companion, even when we can’t “feel” His presence or involvement. Instead of giving up on prayer, we must call on the Holy Spirit to help us persevere.
