What happens when we pray for something big, but God doesn’t give the answer we want? Maybe He does the exact opposite. Maybe He seems silent.

One of my top requests this month has been top on my list for years now. I am asking God for complete, absolute healing from my chronic illness of rheumatoid arthritis. He has provided seasons of healing in my past, but my struggle has been intense for several years.

I pray. I ask. I cry out in desperation. Yet He seems silent.

The despair lurks near me. The fatigue overwhelms me. The pain continues.

There is a question I have learned to ask myself:

Will I believe that God is still my Healer, even when healing is not my current reality?

Prayer is not a Santa Claus list (as I recently told my 8 year old who asks God for new Lego sets). A focused season of prayer is not about getting what I want. It is about getting closer to Jesus, seeking to know Him better, learning to trust Him more.

But there is a difficult truth to growing closer to God.

If I am going to know God as my Healer, then I need a sickness to be healed.

If I am going to know God as my Provider, then I must have a need to be provided.

If I am going to know God as my Comforter, then I need a hurt to be comforted.

Are you willing to make a difficult choice?

Choose now – in the midst of the struggle – to believe God is who His Word claims He is.

“For I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.”

II Timothy 1:12 (NASB)

We can entrust our cares, burdens, and concerns to Him because He is able. The more we know Him, the more convinced we will become.

Let’s believe that God is who He says He is, even when we don’t get what we want.

Let’s believe that His promises are still true, even when we don’t see the reality of them.

Let’s keep on praying, even when we feel like giving up.

Today’s Challenge:

Cling to God’s Name

God has many names in Scripture. Which of these aspects of Himself do you want Him to reveal to you?

Choose one Name of God. Write it down. Ask Him to reveal Himself, to convince you, to draw you close.

While you’re talking to Him, ask Him again about those requests from yesterday.