Let’s talk about prayer.
Growing up as a Christian, I have always been told prayer was basically like having a conversation with God. And for the most part, that makes sense, right? You tell things to God, either with your words or in your heart, and He listens. And on the flip side, if we listen, He even responds! The almighty creator of the heavens and earth, author and perfecter of our faith, king above kings and lord over all lords, cares enough to hear our prayers and respond! That by itself is pretty incredible.
But today I want to talk about the moments when we don’t even know where to start. Everything around us can feel so overwhelming, it seems impossible to put what we are going through into words, let alone pray to God about it. If you have been a Christian for any stretch of time, you know that prayer may be the “right response” but sometimes the circumstances around us can take our heart right out of it. It feels like the appropriate “Sunday school” answer but can it really apply to what I am going through?
I have been there. In fact, that was me just earlier this year. And for those that maybe have never experienced something like this, let me tell you, it feels dark, lonely, and hopeless. I had so much bottled up that there wasn’t much room to let God into the equation. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to. I love God and claim to follow Him with my life. Why wouldn’t I want to invite Him into this situation? I just had no way to put into words the loss, remorse, struggle, and heartache that weighed so heavily on my shoulders.
But let me tell you a bit of truth that took me far too long to understand: God doesn’t care about a perfect prayer. He doesn’t care if we have more questions than answers. He doesn’t care if our prayers are eloquent stanzas of beautiful prose or fragmented utterances from the depths of our heart. What He does care about is our heart. He does care that we come to Him when life is rough and we don’t know where to turn. He does care that we approach Him with sincerity and honesty. The bottom line is this: God cares about and honors our raw, authentic prayers.
I see this time and again in the Bible but one instance that specifically sticks out to me is a story about a prophet named Elijah. This one specifically is found in 1 Kings 17. Let’s take a look.
Then the Lord said to Elijah, “Go and live in the village of Zarephath, near the city of Sidon. I have instructed a widow there to feed you.” So he went to Zarephath. As he arrived at the gates of the village, he saw a widow gathering sticks, and he asked her, “Would you please bring me a little water in a cup?” As she was going to get it, he called to her, “Bring me a bite of bread, too.” But she said, “I swear by the Lord your God that I don’t have a single piece of bread in the house. And I have only a handful of flour left in the jar and a little cooking oil in the bottom of the jug. I was just gathering a few sticks to cook this last meal, and then my son and I will die.” But Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid! Go ahead and do just what you’ve said, but make a little bread for me first. Then use what’s left to prepare a meal for yourself and your son. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: There will always be flour and olive oil left in your containers until the time when the Lord sends rain and the crops grow again!” So she did as Elijah said, and she and Elijah and her family continued to eat for many days. There was always enough flour and olive oil left in the containers, just as the Lord had promised through Elijah.
Some time later the woman’s son became sick. He grew worse and worse, and finally he died. Then she said to Elijah, “O man of God, what have you done to me? Have you come here to point out my sins and kill my son?” But Elijah replied, “Give me your son.” And he took the child’s body from her arms, carried him up the stairs to the room where he was staying, and laid the body on his bed. Then Elijah cried out to the Lord, “O Lord my God, why have you brought tragedy to this widow who has opened her home to me, causing her son to die?” And he stretched himself out over the child three times and cried out to the Lord, “O Lord my God, please let this child’s life return to him.” The Lord heard Elijah’s prayer, and the life of the child returned, and he revived! Then Elijah brought him down from the upper room and gave him to his mother. “Look!” he said. “Your son is alive!” Then the woman told Elijah, “Now I know for sure that you are a man of God, and that the Lord truly speaks through you.”
1 Kings 17:8-24 NLT
There are a couple key things that are happening in this passage. For starters, God performs a miracle and provides exactly the amount of food and water that Elijah, the widow, and her son need. Awesome, right?
Here is the application: God knows exactly where you are, right now, and exactly what you need. Even if it feels like you are alone—like no one else could possibly understand, even if you told them—God is still there and He knows. He knows the hurt and the struggle, He knows exactly what we need, and He will always provide.
The second key thing is the main part of this passage that has resonated with me for the past few months: Elijah’s response to tragedy. Elijah is the prophet of Israel, so it goes without saying, he knows God well and follows Him with all he has. But that does not protect him from tragedy. Even as followers of God, life can still take a turn and doesn’t always pan out exactly as we want. But when tragedy strikes, this is what happens:
Then Elijah cried out to the Lord, “O Lord my God, why have you brought tragedy to this widow who has opened her home to me, causing her son to die?”
Elijah cries out to the Lord with a question, almost accusing God of not caring in this situation. Even though God performed a miracle in providing food just verses above, Elijah is focused on the pain and loss in the circumstances and brings it before the Lord without holding back.
When I am in the midst of pain and struggle, I often have more questions than answers. I want to cry out to God, “How could you?” or “Why are you doing this?” But too often I hold back, thinking it wrong to approach God like this. I think that I need to get my emotions in check or work through it before I bring it to God. But I have it backwards. I don’t need to have my act together before coming to God. In fact, God desires that we bring all of ourselves to Him: the good parts, the bad parts, and even the not-yet-figured-out parts. God wants it all.
Elijah brings it all before the Lord right away, laying out his thoughts and emotions and surrendering them to God in that moment. Then he prays:
“O Lord my God, please let this child’s life return to him.”
Elijah asks God to work a miracle in the situation and He does. He raises the son back to life!
God cares about and honors our raw, authentic prayers. When we break down before the Lord and surrender our unfiltered thoughts and feelings, we invite Him into our struggle to heal not only our hearts, but our situation. Our surrender incites dependence on God, which gives God the space to work a miracle in our lives.
I have found time and again that the times when I see God move the most are directly following the moments when I have dropped to my knees in prayer before Him, completely surrendered. When I surrender my struggles and pain, my fears and doubt, even my pride in authentic prayer, it gives God the space to work miracles.
So I challenge you with this thought today: whatever it is you are carrying—the pain of loss, sorrow about the current state of our nation, fear of the unknown—surrender it to God in raw, unfiltered, authentic prayer. You don’t have to have the perfect prayer or the right words to say. Just spill it all out before Him and He promises to meet you right in the midst of it all. Then be ready to watch Him work miracles!