Prayer in Hardship

Ryan Ward

Last week, Pastor Ed McClanahan wrote to us that we should expect turbulence in our lives…so, guess what happened in my life this week? Yep, the fasten seat belts sign lit up. A family member had an unexpected event happen that was a bit nerve-wracking, and thankfully not horribly serious. Perhaps you can identify with this: my prayer life ramped up drastically because of this event. Why do we often press in closer to God in the tough times than we do in the good times? 

We may lean in more to Him in tough times because a particular event or circumstances has our complete attention. The psalmist wrote, “Give ear to my words, O Lord; consider my groaning. Give attention to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to you do I pray.” (Ps 5:1-2) During difficult times we often seek/petition/cry out to God to orchestrate change on our behalf because we are powerless to do so on our own. Difficult times may help us to have a greater focus on prayer, yet we know that it is not the sole purpose of prayer.

It is curious that when it came to praying for his friends, the Apostle Paul did not mention he asked God to remove their hardships. In his book on prayer, Keller (2016) cited an example found in the letter to the Ephesians (1: 15-19) that rather than praying for God to remove hardships which were certainly in their lives, he instead prayed that they may know God more deeply. Keller further added:

Paul is not giving us a universal model for prayer in the same way Jesus did. Rather, in them he reveals what he asked most frequently for his friend - what he believed was the most important thing God could give them…to know Him better (2016, Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God, p. 20).

How would our lives be transformed if our desire to know Him matched the same focus and passion we have in prayer when hardships come?

Knowing God more helped me in this week’s trails as I was able to trust in His goodness and sense His presence in the circumstance. And yet, I admit that I want to know more about the power and the sufferings of Jesus so that I can be more like Him (Philippians 3:10, my paraphrase). Knowing Him more could help us to stay grounded in any situation. In fact, this could be the very reason Paul could be content in every situation (see Phil 4: 11-13). Thus, let’s not limit our prayer time to intercession on behalf of ourselves and others - lets include space to allow God to reveal Himself to us by quieting our hearts and minds.