Lessons On Prayer: Talking to God When Your Heart Is Broken
Prayer in the midst of deep loss and suffering can feel challenging, confusing, and even impossible in some cases. Recently, a deacon at my church shared his testimony about the faithfulness of God in answering his bold, intentional prayers related to the health of a loved one. There is no doubt that God hears every prayer we offer. Tension arises, however, when circumstances occur in life that don’t line up with what we expect from the God we always touted as good, faithful, and loving. Throughout that service, God was nudging me to share my testimony as a follow-up to the truths expressed by this fellow believer. Our experiences are far from contradictory. In fact, they complement each other by validating how God reveals Himself and His character through our prayers in every circumstance of life, including those of joy and yes, even sorrow. God has three types of responses to our requests. Sometimes His reply is yes, which feels ...