PARTICIPATION IN GOD’S WORK
Why do we pray for things if God already knows what is inside our hearts?
We are humans with a tendency of relying on our own understanding, instead of leaving everything on God. God is the true living lord, he has everything that he needs. He is the king of the whole universe. Love resides in God’s heart.
When we were toddlers and we did not know any language, we could not speak, think or pray, that was the time when the lord heard our heart. He knew us even before we were born.
“Why do I have to pray when God already knows my heart?” “If God already knows our desires, understands our pain, then why do we still have to ask Him for things in prayer?” “Why God doesn’t simply give us what we need?” All these questions are very common, and if you are struggling with this type of question, you have opened the right article!
Recently, while listening to one of my favourite Pastors preach, something deeply touched my heart. All his words seemed like God was directly speaking to me through him. He addressed this question with great simplicity and relatability.
He gave me an example of a child and his dad. Imagine your father is working something heavy, say he is repairing his car’s outside your home. This work needs strength, it is difficult and hard to do, and he knows that his child does not have this much strength. Yet he calls you out and asks you to help him.
Not because the father can not do this work alone, not because he really needs your help. Then why?
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DO YOU KNOW WHY? Because even if you would stand silently with your dad while he is doing the whole work, no matter if you are not doing anything, your father feels the presence of his child, standing silently beside him, seeing his dad working hard. You might not do anything, but your dad loves your presence and this is enough for him to say “my child, you helped me, we did it together”. That is exactly how prayers work with God.
God is our heavenly father, who has all the authority to change things in just once click. He has everything that he needs. One word spoken from his mouth can cause the biggest miracles. We often wonder why God does not hear us or why our prayers do not work. But all that we need to do is pray! Our father lord God just wants us to participate in his works. He can do everything on his own, but he wants your participation in that miracle, not because without you the miracle is not possible, but because his hearts get filled with your love, your presence, he feels your surrender, he loves to see you praying, he loves seeing you asking things from your father. He desires a relationship. He loves this pure and spirited presence of yours!
Prayer is not only about asking, but it is about presence, about walking doubtlessly with the Father.
Participating in God’s work can be as simple as standing with your dad while he repairs the car. In the same way, Jesus invites you to stand beside Him. You need to give your heart to the lord and walk with faith even when we do not understand anything. You must remember when Jesus said in MARK 11:24 “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer’ believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”
Keep faith and stand firm and participate in His workings because He has got you, he has seen you, he knows what you need, he wants you to be present there with Him, holding upon to your faith and holding on to Jesus, who is the king of the whole universe. The Father needs nothing, for He can do everything on His own. But he loves when our willingness to stand with his word combines with his capability.
We all have been given the holy spirit inside us, we all are gifted with the holy scriptures. We all know the power of Father. All we need is to trust the word of God and to keep faith.
He continues to strengthen and remind us of His promises.
I sincerely thank my Pastor, whose words have filled life in this article. Through his message, God helped me understand that prayer is not only about waiting behind but to come forward and walk with the Father. I am grateful for the wisdom and spiritual guidance that encouraged me to write this reflection. I dedicate this article to Pastor Beau Barton.
