10/10/2026
Do we know how to pray despite the circumstances we find ourselves in? No? Well, do you know how to talk with a parent? There is no secret to having a conversation with the Lord, and no secret to obtaining answered prayers, just one simple fact... if we pray to Him as if we were having a conversation with a parent, and ask for those things we know He can agree to during that interaction, then He will do those things for us. This is called praying within His will.
“If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”
John 15:7 ESV
This is the problem we experience in so many relationships... the two parties never hear or understand each other; they just talk. To be a good conversationalist requires that you listen more than you talk. The open exchange of ideas ensures that the two will become reconciled, and of one accord. God wants to have this kind of conversation with us, and in case you haven’t noticed, He is a patient listener, the problem comes when we tell Him what we want from Him and assume He agrees with us before He has had a chance to voice His feelings.
As an example: What if your earthly father is old and dying, and You are unhappy about it, you are hurting and don’t want to lose him... so you go into your prayer closet and instead of having a conversation regarding how you feel, and what your desires are, and without hearing God’s Word on the subject, you say “God heal my father! I pray this in the name of Jesus!” And you cry as you go back to the hospital where you watch your father take his last breath. Did God not keep His Word? Did He not heal as He promised? Or did we simply assume our will was His?
You see... Prayer is meant to be a conversation, and in it we should hear God speaking; we should hear His Word reverberating within us and in the stillness of our soul we should hear the voice of God speaking back to us. If what we are hearing is contrary to God’s revealed Word then that is not God speaking... it is most likely our own self that is hijacking the conversation; it is us as we attempt to force our own desire on God.
“How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?”
Psalms 13:1 ESV
When my own father died it happened suddenly; unlike the example I gave previously. He collapsed on a neighbor’s lawn in the dark of night as he was returning a book that he had borrowed... he never made it to their door, and if he had they weren’t at home anyway. I asked God why He took him that night, why that way, and although the answer was simple, I really didn’t want to hear it. The first part of the answer was found in His Word...
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;”
Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 ESV
And the second part was hard for me to hear... “this transaction was one between your father and me. Although he didn’t know the night, he had asked that it be sudden.”
It took me a while to be satisfied with that answer, but one day it became clear to me, and I knew it was true. During the time of my dissatisfaction, our conversation was revisited often as I spoke time and time again with Him about my hurt, and my perception of His not seeking my wishes.
Then the comfort came... I reconciled myself with God’s will through His Word, and I realized that this was indeed how my father wished to die, and that our death is a very personal transaction that occurs between one person, and God... the rest of us might feel hurt, or think we are a participant in that moment, but the transaction is not ours... our day is yet to come.
“For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's.”
Romans 14:7-8 ESV
There are soldiers and then there are warriors. Two horrific wars had transformed my father into a warrior. Deep inside he was a quiet and peaceful man. Yet during his life he had seen so much death, so much horror, and so much suffering... he had been through things that could destroy a man’s soul. He had conversations with God on subjects that no man ought to be expected to have... on subjects that would rip the hearts out of most men. My simple conversation concerning his death had been long, but I can’t begin to imagine how long the exchanges lasted between my father and God. In the midst of those conversations, many of which I believe were still ongoing the night he took his last breath. My father had told me several times that when he met death he wanted it to be swift. He was a warrior and had witnessed many deaths...
“The shield of his mighty men is red; his soldiers are clothed in scarlet. The chariots come with flashing metal on the day he musters them; the cypress spears are brandished. The chariots race madly through the streets; they rush to and fro through the squares; they gleam like torches; they dart like lightning. He remembers his officers; they stumble as they go, they hasten to the wall; the siege tower is set up.”
Nahum 2:3-5 ESV
War takes innocent children, peaceful men, and peacetime soldiers, and makes them warriors. Thus, my father returned to his childhood and found the rest of a child in death that night. He found relief from those things that had caused him much pain, and as my Merciful Father and I reconciled ourselves, and we held each other as I mourned while I cried one more time... He comforted me.
"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”
Matthew 5:4 ESV
Conversations in prayer on hard subjects can often begin in anger, heightened emotion, hurt, and sometimes in the firm grip of horror. Not every discussion between ourselves and God is civil and peaceful in nature, but each one requires that we listen, and if we have these exchanges with God, he will teach us how to pray, and we will know what we should pray for. Answered prayers don’t come as the result of a one-sided demand... they come by agreement. God can’t give us things that are contrary to His Word, at odds with His character, and that conflict with who He is. We must reach an understanding, and then pray within it... it is there that He will answer, and we will be at peace.
So, what is our desire and prayer today? Do you know how to pray it? Do you even know what to pray for? Is it a simple request that comes easily in conversation, or is it something that you don’t have the words for and only comes with the help of the Holy Spirit in groans amidst great debate? Can your discussion reveal God’s will to you in a few moments, or will it require years of soul-searching conversation before you truly know how to pray? Is it instant, or does it require persistence? Listen to the words of Pastor Andrew Murray…
“To pray, or give utterance to certain wishes and appeal to certain promises, is an easy thing, and can be learned by anyone through human wisdom. But to pray in the Spirit and speak words that reach and touch God, that affect and influence the powers of the unseen world --- such praying and speaking depend entirely upon our hearing God’s voice.” – Andrew Murray
God bless you as you seek His voice in your life and prayers.
Prayer:
Father, thank you for your answers to my prayers, but also father, I thank you for leading me to understand how I should pray, and what I should pray for. Help me Holy Father when I am so hurt that my prayers come clothed in tears, and you sooth me in those times when the world rages around my prayer closet and I am filled with emotion. Give me understanding through your Holy Spirit so that the cause of my fears and suffering are made plain to me, and your will for me in those moments is revealed. In these times of revelation my prayers flow easily within your will, and I hear your answer... I see your glory radiating from your response. Keep me close Father as we reconcile our conflicts, hold me tight to your breast as I weep and often lash out, Sooth my soul until I can at last hear your voice above my own... until that time when I can come to understand your desire for me in the midst of my selfish needs and wants. Give me patience and long suffering as we resolve those issues that require much time. Teach me of yourself as I prepare to pray, and as I come to understand you well enough to know what to ask of you. Have mercy Lord, and love me despite my undeserving nature, and if my issues go unresolved in this life, then awaken me to a full understanding at the coming of your Son Jesus Christ. You are great beyond all human understanding, good always, and true in all things and in everything you say. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God, who reveals yourself to me, and leads me in prayer.
Amen, Amen, Amen!
Rich Forbes