Life is filled with troubling times. No sooner than we wake up to a new day, we hear news about something horrifying or something that leaves us wondering, “What happened? What caused someone’s death?” Natural disasters and crises leave us searching for stability. These events cause us to pray more, asking God for answers and direction.
The Bible tells believers to bring their worries, fears, and requests directly to God through prayer during challenging times to find peace and strength. The Apostle Paul writes to the Philippians, “Do not worry. Instead, tell God what you need with a thankful heart, and God will give you a deep sense of peace.” Peace is what all of us seek in troubling times. We pray and look to God for answers when we don’t understand why something happened.
Let me encourage you that when you pray, be honest with God. Tell him your true feelings of pain, anger, or sadness. When you don’t get your answer right away, do not give up. Keep talking to God day and night because he listens to every cry and prayer you make.
When you are praying through troubling times, your prayers don’t have to be complex. A simple prayer for help asks God for strength, peace, and refuge when life feels too heavy or too troubling. Oftentimes, I simply ask God to give me the wisdom to know what to do and the strength to get through today.
The Psalmist declares that “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” You should voice your anxious thoughts to God by naming your troubles and how they make you feel. However, we should always pray with the right motives in mind.
The Apostle James writes, “You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” Too often, we pray for an easy way out of our troubles instead of praying for the strength to make it through. We pray for comfort instead of character. We should stop asking God to get us out of difficult circumstances and start asking him what he wants us to get out of them. Remember to keep on praying because as one believer assured us, “Trouble don’t last always.” Be blessed and Never Give Up! Never Give Up! Never Give Up!
Dr. Walter Ghosten
