June 10 I Monday

2 Chronicles 34-36

John 19:1-22

“For I know that through your prayers and God’s provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance.”   —Philippians 1:19

Sometimes, we would like God to give us what we want or provide us with a play-by-play on how the situation will pan-out. But God does not always give us what we would like Him to give to us and He does not always respond with the details that we request from Him.

Bill Hybels’s book, Too Busy Not to Pray, tells us, “If the request is wrong God says, ‘No.’ If the timing is wrong God says, ‘Slow.’ If you are wrong God says, ‘Grow.’ But if the request is right and the timing is right and you are right, God says, ‘Go.’” Answered prayer is not simply when God does what we tell Him we would like Him to do. Rather, answered prayer is when God says “no,” “yes,” “slow,” “wait,” or “not yet” because God’s answer to our prayers is always to send the Holy Spirit to fulfill the will of God in that situation.

Prayer opens the way for the Holy Spirit to work in our lives and in our situations. Sometimes our prayer is, “Lord, take away this pressure in my life.” This is a noble prayer that we may have prayed many times, but it may be that this pressure is the very channel by which the Holy Spirit is doing something fresh in our life.

As we pray the words, “Your kingdom come” we acknowledge God’s right to do what is according to His purpose. Praying is not about being more comfortable and making life easier. Prayer is about giving the Holy Spirit freedom to implement His agenda in our lives and in our circumstances. Sometimes, His agenda comes through things that we find difficult. Yet one day, we will look in retrospect and say that although our trials were difficult, it was through those times that God did some of His best work. This does not mean that God may not intervene during our difficult times and change our situation for the better. We can have a sense of relief in the fact that God does intervene because He does not have a morbid interest in our suffering. Rather, our repeated sufferings serve as a means for our dependence and growth in Him.

When we pray with a surrendered heart for “Your Kingdom come,” we are asking God for His kingdom, will and purpose to be effected, accomplished and brought to fruition. We may not know how God will answer our prayers, but we have the confidence to know that His answer will always be in accordance to His plans.

Prayer: Dear God, Your Kingdom come and Your will be done. I surrender my own plans and will for Your agenda in my life. Lead me in Your ways everlasting.