2 December 2022
Friday of the First Week of Advent
Let this be a primer on prayer: specifically, praying to Jesus for what we need.
- Do we truly believe that Jesus can do what we ask of Him?
- Do we have the faith for what we are asking of Him?
When we pray to God for anything, we are entrusting the matter entirely to Him, to the God who created us and has gone about the incredible labor of redeeming us. We must trust that not only will He answer our prayer, but He will do so in the way it must be done. Remember that He sees consequences, obstacles, choices, and so many things we cannot see, predict, nor possibly account for. No prayer goes unanswered: none. But not every prayer is answered in the way we expect or desire, or on the timeline we demand it be answered on.
However, we absolutely can trust in God, and in His Son: Jesus would not teach us to call upon God as “Father” if this were not so. Nor is there anywhere in Scripture where anyone asked Jesus of anything and He refused. Only where faith was lacking did He struggle to answer a prayer; only where it was utterly absent was He unable to do anything at all, and it was never, ever because He did not want to. Trust Him, absolutely, and trust that whatever the outcome, God is at work through, with, and in it.