Stop Praying for God To Help You
It’s Time To Let Go and Submit to God’s Will
After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
(Matthew 6:9-13 KJV)
I used to pray to God to help me. Prayers such as help me be a stronger Christian man or help my son fall asleep.
While this was not an incorrect way to pray, I now think it’s ineffective. Mainly because when asking for help in something, it puts some of the work on us. But God is in control of everything and since this is the case, he has the power to make me do anything.
Take what they often refer to as “The Lord’s Prayer”. The prayer Jesus Christ used to teach us how to pray. No where in that prayer we see Christ asking for help. Everything Christ prays for is for God the Father to do what we ask in His will.
Do the things he prayed for help? Of course, but the onus is on God the Father to carry out the actions. When we ask for help in doing something, we are in effect asking God only to assist us so we can achieve the result.
But prayer is a gift, not a self-improvement tactic for us to boast in.
Prayer is a Powerful Gift
Prayer is a gift from God for us to communicate with him, to seek his intervention, and to align ourselves with his will. When we pray to God to make thing happen, we are showing our faith, trust, and obedience to him.
We also must accept his response when it’s “no”. Asking for help can lead us to think it’s our own doing which gave the undesirable outcome. When in fact, it’s God's sole choice to answer “yes” or “no” to a prayer.
Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. (Matthew 7:7-8 KJV)
God will always answer according to His will, and prayer builds our faith and trust in God. This gift even extends to the rest of the body of Christ.
Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. (James 5:16 KJV)
We have the command to pray for each other. Asking God to do things in the lives of our brothers and sisters in Christ. Even in these intercessory prayers, we should avoid asking God to help them and instead ask God to make what they need happen.
Pray for God to Make You
Brothers, stop asking God to help you and start asking God to make you. Ask him to make you a strong Christian man. Ask him to make you a gentle father and husband while being a bold, aggressive force against evil.
Look at Psalm 51: Here you find David prays for God’s mercy and forgiveness after committing adultery and murder. He confesses his need for God to make his heart clean and make a right spirit within him.
He’s not asking God to help him be better or to help him correct his ways. David is asking God to make these things happen because only God has the power to do so.
Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. (Psalm 51:1-2 KJV)
Also, in the New Testament, the Apostle Paul speaks as if he’s praying for the Christians in Ephesus to have more strength by the power of the Holy Spirit. Again, we don’t see Paul asking for God to help them become stronger, but asks God to do it.
That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; (Ephesians 3:16 KJV)
When we pray for God to make us different, we are recognizing his supreme authority and power over creation. It also forces us to surrender to His will and what He wants. This way, there is only relying on God and no reliance on ourselves or other people.
Pray for the Judgement of God
“he who neglects to pray alone and in private, however sedulously he frequents public meetings, there gives his prayers to the wind, because he defers more to the opinion of man than to the secret judgment of God.” - John Calvin
We must pray alone and as often as we breathe, to send to God all our cares.
As we read in Philippians 4:6, we a told to be “careful for nothing” and to let our “requests be made known unto God.”
Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. (Philippians 4:6 KJV)
All our cares, whether it be anxiety, questions, grief, or praise, must go to God alone. We must direct everything to Him and not men of this world.
It’s fine to read and learn from earthy men, but we need to not defer to their opinions instead of God’s will. The only way to know God’s judgment on our petitions is to take them to Him in pray and conform to His will in all matters.
Submit To God’s will and experience His peace
In Philippians 4:7 we read about the “peace of God, which passeth all understanding”.
And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:7 KJV)
This peace in directly related to taking all our cares to God in prayer and trusting in His sovereignty. God is in complete control and nothing happens outside of His will.
When praying for God to make things happen, instead of asking Him to help us make things happen, we acknowledge our dependence on God.
The more we pray for God to do, the more we align with His will because we put the choice into God’s hands alone.
Attention: My Brother in Christ
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