But I keep praying to you, LORD, hoping this time you will show me favor. In your unfailing love, O God, answer my prayer with your sure salvation. [Psalm 69.13]
It can be quite confusing nowadays to weed through all the religious stuff out there and find out what true devotion to God looks like.
And, while this verse doesn't offer a direct solution for pleasing God, it does make a profound indirect revelation. Keep praying.
The nice thing about God is that He is not a moving target for our lives. He is stable, He is fixed, He is firm. He never changes. God is the same God He has always been. He is love and He rules with justice. He hates and punishes sin but loves and offers redemption for sinners. He welcomes the humble but resists the proud. The only response that pleases Him is faith.
So, if we don't get what we ask for, it is not a God-problem. It is our problem. If we don't move mountains with our faith, it is not an inconsistency with God. It is our problem. If cancer or poverty are unmoved by our prayer, it is not God's doing. It is our problem.
As a matter of pure fact, God has NO problems. God has no dilemmas. God has no 'situations.'
On the other hand, we have all these things. Why? Because we are not God and we struggle with sin. We struggle with known sin and we struggle with unknown sin. Our only hope of redemption is in God. More accurately, our only hope of redemption is God in us.
Any problem we have (and we have many) is because God is not in the situation. Call me stupid, but I believe this. That is why I continue to pray, repent, and ask God to show me what it is in me that prevents Him from de-problemizing my circumstances.
Faith has to be something, right? If my faith yields nothing, then whose fault is that? God's? That is a ludicrous assumption.
The Bible says this:
God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. [Ephesians 2.8-9]
Consider this: What if the verse above is about human pride (boasting) as much as anything else? We cannot boast in our salvation because we didn't earn it. But, you know what? We cannot boast about our faith either! Why? Because faith comes from God and His Word - and we did nothing to deserve it either!
However, if our faith fails, does that make it something God did? No, He put it (faith) in us, told us how to feed it (with the Word - like yeast in dough), gave us His very Holy Spirit to execute it, and the rest is up to us. The responsibility lies with us to get ourselves out of the way and let faith work!
So that is why we should keep praying! And, I will add, that is why we keep repenting. That is why we stay humble before God, knowing that unanswered prayers (for things we know God has promised) are not God's doing but our own.
If it seems we continue to fail in our faith, then perhaps there are some things we need to change in our approach! It is not God's fault! God owes us nothing! He has already given us every tool He personally has to work with, and proven it works in the life and ministry of Jesus on earth! And then, He sent His Spirit to live in us! Now the rest is up to us. The tools and the Tool Designer are not the problem! It's the one using the tools (or, failing to use the tools properly) that is responsible for the failure!
Keep praying. But also, keep adjusting to the Holy Spirit. It is silly to think that we will always get it right. But it is equally as silly to give up trying.
Father, I needed this today. Thank You. Forgive me for being so quick to give up. Forgive me for ever thinking I am good enough that I should be getting it right by now - even after years... Forgive me for thinking I have anything to do with anything except getting out of Your Spirit's way and letting You work through me. With Your help, I will not give up, because that would be the same as saying all that You have invested in me has no value.
