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Why bother to pray and trust God if He isn’t going to change anything? It’s a question I was recently asked and one that sadly I believe many people ask when they are struggling in a situation. If the only reason we pray is to get our wants and desires then isn’t our God just ourselves?  If we only trust God to give us what we want then can we really say we are trusting God? I wanted so badly for the person to understand that as a child of God when I say trust God, it means I trust that He will do what’s best. I’ve often said that God isn’t Santa Claus, but to the majority of the people I know that is exactly what they see Him as. They have a list of wants and they pray for God to provide them. I remember growing up I would hear people pray and I would often hear something like”God, if it’s your will…” It’s been a while since I’ve heard anything like that. I hear the God please do this and that, but nothing about His will. There are prayers I pray that 100% are God’s will and I know that because His word says they are. When I pray for salvation for my loved ones I know that is not just my desire, but God’s as well. If you want to read more about the desires of your heart read my post here: Desires of your Heart – Psalm 37

James 4:3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

I have a friend that bought his 16 year old daughter a car. People on social media were picking on him because he didn’t get her a flashy car. Instead he purchased one that was an overall good quality car that got good gas mileage and was cheaper on insurance. Ironically, while everyone was picking on the dad, he said I wanted to get her a car that was flashy with power, but said he knew it wasn’t what was best for her. He went on to explain that because of insurance cost and having to drive to different towns to see both parents the gas would be too much for her to afford. He talked about how although she was a good kid, she was only 16 and didn’t really need a car with that much power yet. The father looked at all the pieces he could, not just the car itself. Isn’t that like God? He doesn’t just look at one piece of the puzzle, but all of them. The difference between God and the father buying a car is that God knows all the pieces. He knows what has come before and what is ahead. Only He knows what is truly best for us. We can have desires all day, but having a desire doesn’t make it what’s best.

17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.
18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. Daniel 3:17-18

When talking about trusting God people will often point out all the things that God did in the Bible. He did this for this person and that for this one and then He did this over here for another person. True He did, but did you see the relationship that they had with Him? I love the account of the three Hebrew children in Daniel chapter 3. If you haven’t read it recently I’d like to encourage you to read it again. One of my favorite parts is verses 17-18. They know with complete certainty that God is able to deliver them from the fiery furnace and they boldly declare it. Verse 18 starts with But if not. There is no question in their mind what God is able to do, but they also know that may not be His will. Either way, they completely trust Him with their lives regardless of the outcome. Can you look at your situation and say that if God doesn’t give you what you want then you will be ok with it?

Why bother to pray and trust God if He isn’t going to change anything? Praying should be about growing a relationship with Him and when that happens we change. We become like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego and say whatever God does I trust Him.