DAY 77 - PRAISING THROUGH THE UNANSWERED PRAYER
MILANNA MARTILLARO, YA CREATIVE & PRODUCTION TEAM LEAD
“Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had the power to do what He has promised” - Romans 4:20
If I am being honest, prayer has always been a roller coaster for me. I will go through seasons of being the most prayerful I have ever been, spending hours just delighting in bringing my thanksgiving and requests to God, believing in the power of prayer. Then I will have seasons where it’s a real struggle for me, where I have to fight to believe that God is going to hear my cries and bring me into His promises. Anybody else?
Maybe this last season has been one where you have leaned into prayer more than ever, or maybe in this last season, you have struggled to meet with God. Maybe God has been faithfully answering every single request that you have brought to Him. Or maybe He hasn’t answered a single one and you have struggled to hand anything over to Him because of it.
One thing I have learned in both situations is the power of faith within our prayers. So many times in the Bible we see stories of people receiving healing or miracles and Jesus proclaiming it was their faith that made it possible (Luke 17, Mark 10, Matthew 9). While we know that it is Jesus that saves us, that heals us and brings us closer to God, the bible puts importance on our faith. Ephesians 2:8 tells us that it by the grace of Jesus and THROUGH our faith. By grace through faith.
Now I am not saying that faith is the answer to everything. I could have all the faith in the world that I was going to have a million dollars in my bank account tomorrow morning, but chances are there will still barely be enough for gasoline. Bringing faith into prayer does not mean that if you blindly trust God to do whatever that it will definitely happen. Faith is having confidence in what we hope for (Hebrews 11). It is having faith that God is who He says He is and He will do what He said He will do. And even more importantly, He is ALWAYS GOOD. Bringing faith in your prayer is praising God before you see an answer.
When we praise God before He has answered prayer or performed a miracle it shows Him that we are confident in who He is and His promises. It shows that we trust His character and His plan more than our own desires and requests. Our praise and our confidence in God can show Him our faith.
I think oftentimes when we are tirelessly praying a prayer that has seemingly gone unanswered, we can start to doubt that it will ever happen. This is detrimental to our prayer life. Having faith that God is not only capable but willing to do what we ask of Him is so glorifying to Him. When we praise God before the miracle, before the victory, before the answer we are glorifying Him through our faith. And this, young adult, this is what keeps your prayer life full. This is what will sustain you during times where you cannot wait to spend time in prayer and times when it takes everything in you to meet with God.
So I challenge you today, bring faith into your prayers today. Start praising God for the miracles you haven’t seen yet, start praising Him for His goodness and faithfulness and watch what happens!