Have you ever had one of those days when you feel like everything is a fight? Nothing comes easily. You find yourself trudging along waiting for the minutes to pass so you can escape to a slumber that you only hope will eventually come? But the battle rages on and you find yourself in a minefield, exhausted, dodging explosions and putting out fires. What do you do? Where can you turn? Where is God? And WHY does He seem silent? I admit I don’t have all of the answers for you but God has whispered this message to my soul as I have pleaded those same questions. There is a saying that goes like this. “When you are going through something hard and wonder where God is, remember the teacher is always quiet during a test.” I don’t believe that. God is never silent if we are searching for Him, seeking His will. He isn’t going to leave us hanging out to dry, left to figure things out on our own. But He isn’t going to give us the answers that we want if it isn’t His will for us. He isn’t going to just placate us to keep us happy. In our limited capabilities, we discern this as silence and in our humanity we don’t like being told “No.” On these days, we need to examine if we are actually fighting a battle with the will of God; if we are exhausted from trying to push our own agenda in our own power; and if God seems silent, is it because we don’t like what He’s saying and we have stopped listening?

Have you prayed about this as much as you have talked (or complained) about it? We have a tendency to forget how important and powerful prayer is. Examine for a moment how much time you are spending in God’s presence. Is your prayer life suffering in complacency? Does it look like the picture Max Lucado paints? “We say our prayers as casually as we’d order a burger at the drive-through: ‘I’ll have one solved problem and two blessings, cut the hassles, please.’ ”

We are told to pray boldly for things. We can ask God for anything! His main objective though, is not our happiness but instead, shaping Christ-like character in us. So while we pray boldly, let us also pray, Lord, if this is not your will please change my heart. Align my wants with your plan. Lay down whatever it is you are fighting for at Jesus’ feet, through prayer. Confess to Him your hurt, disappointment, your anger and frustration at Him for not doing what you thought He should do, not showing up when you thought He should have come. You will find the battle dissolving and the pathway smoothing.

And this is the boldness we have in God’s presence; that if we ask God for anything that agrees with what he wants, he hears us. 1 John 5:14

Finally, I leave you with this thought today, “For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.” (Matthew 6:13, emphasis mine) Who’s kingdom? Not mine but thine.

P.S – You may be saying, I have prayed faithfully for this, I have listened, and I believe that I am walking in the will of God and yet I am STILL battling. There is another kind of battle that can rage, and that what happens when Satan gets involved in trying to thwart a blessing. You can read about that type of battle in an earlier post by clicking here.