The Right Prayer


Decades ago, my husband and I knelt down to pray in the woods where we were living. 

 We were running out of money and options, but we wanted to keep working together. 

 God answered. 

 Just not in the way we imagined.

I like to pray. It comes as easily as breathing. I pray as I take my morning stretch. I pray as I head out the door. I pray in the car, on walks, with people, and for people.

But what happens when God says “No” to my requests? I should know, because I’ve prayed some very specific prayers, and then waited (and waited) without seeing the heavenly results.

What I hadn’t learned then, and must remind myself still, is that I shouldn’t be asking God for all the things I want—it is far better to ask Him for all that is right. 

So when I wait and wonder over some unanswered prayer—and I know in my heart that it is something good—I still need to ask, “Is it right?” Maybe it’s a good thing but it’s the wrong time. 

Maybe it’s a good thing for someone else, and not for me. 

And those times when I want a good thing for a deserving person, God may be working on a better thing that I would never have imagined.

I may be a seasoned prayer warrior, but I’m still learning how to pray for what’s right. With God’s creativeness, his right answer will always be better than what I think I want.

 But those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. 
           Psalm 34:10b

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