Here’s something I had never really thought of before. God asking us to trust in Him is actually another gift in itself because even the very mindset affords peace. Whether or not an outcome appears the way we expected or wanted, it’s profoundly settling to be able to rest in the assurance that someone else is taking care of it.

Think of the relief you feel when a problem arises that you don’t know how to handle and then, just when you think there’s no more hope, a kind and understanding service person appears, listens to the problem, and then tells you that they have both the knowledge and authority to fix it for you. That scenario is what could happen every time we experience problems if we simply choose to take God at His word. When He says He’ll take care of us and provide for our needs, we’re only doing ourselves a disservice by not believing Him.

And here’s a related thought. If we can assume that God can be trusted to provide for us, why would we need prayer at all? That question could obviously provide grounds for a lengthy response and I do believe there are a lot of reasons for prayer that fall outside the realm of supplication. But if we accept that God will provide for us, but He still asks us to request things of Him anyway, perhaps there are underlying reasons that God instructs us to come to Him in prayer.

What if we’ve come to God in the past with requests that we feel like He didn’t fulfill? Perhaps a track record of “unanswered” prayers is worth more than we think. Instead of becoming bitter or frustrated, what if we viewed our past requests as a history by which we could learn to better hone our requests to the things He desires? Perhaps the purpose of prayer is not to fulfill our own needs or desires but in fact to learn what God desires of and for us.

-L