How Are You Praying?

Some time ago, I was seeing a lady for marital therapy. Her husband did not want to come in with her, so she had been coming in alone for several months. She was a sweet, petite, gentle woman who desperately wanted a deeper connection with her mate but did not feel like she was getting anywhere. One day we were talking about her relationship with God and I asked her how she was doing. She stated that she was struggling in her prayer life and could not understand why after she prayed, she would feel more depressed. I asked her to give me an example of what her prayers were like. She told me that she would often ask God why things were the way they were and when they would get better. She would brood over her husband’s faults and replay them over and over in her dialogue with God.  She lamented marrying her husband in her prayers and often asked God why He was punishing her, asking for help to get out of the marriage. No wonder she was depressed and did not sense God answering her requests! All she was doing was recycling her pain, over and over and over again. It was like a mantra of sorrow. Contrary to what Philippians 4:8 suggests, “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. “ She was meditating on the yucky, the negative, the polluted and the disastrous, and it was getting her nowhere.  Her prayers were constant outcries of pain.

2 Peter 1:3 says, “By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.” So we already have all we need in Him. How cool! But most of us don’t live like that. It’s challenging when we’re going through difficulties to embrace His promises and to believe them. That calls for faith. Yet, He works though our faith. It’s a beautiful thing to see. When we begin to lean into Him and thank Him for being our Rock, Fortress, Deliverer, Shelter, Strength, Provider and really catch a glimpse of His bigness and remain in that space, our light and momentary trials begin to look smaller and smaller from the vantage point of a very large God.