Can God Really Help You?

Here’s a dilemma: what do you do when you know you should pray one way but you really want the opposite?

This happened to me twice in the last few days.

The first occasion was a sprained wrist. My son came home from school having hurt his wrist in the playground. I prayed for healing, but the problem was that I wasn’t absolutely certain that was what I wanted. Why not? Why would a loving mother not want her son to be healed? Well here’s why. We are struggling to fit in a family holiday this summer. There are various reasons for this, but one of them is that we promised the above son that he could attend a two week cricket course at the beginning of the school holidays. Last year we dared to take him to Florida and he had to miss it, so we promised him that he could definitely do it this year. As soon as the cricket course is over my other son goes away on a mission, returns for his AS results and then has a week’s work experience. Here comes the selfish bit! Had the wrist been badly hurt it would have ruled him out of the cricket course and we could have gone on holiday. Oh dear, that is not very nice is it, it’s just that I really want a holiday!

The second occasion was the local carnival. We had decided to open the church with various activities, drinks and cake. We prayed beforehand and I knew I should pray for lots of people to come in the church and be blessed. Problem......I didn’t want anyone to come because I wanted to go home and watch the England match! Oh dear, that’s not very Christian is it, it’s just that I really wanted to watch the match!

In the end I managed to overcome my selfishness and pray the way I knew God wanted me to. The wrist is virtually better and lots of people came to the church. Apparently England weren’t worth watching and as for the holiday, well after an early night I felt a lot better and now I am trusting God to show us how, when and where for a holiday.

There was an occasion in the Bible when Jesus prayed for something that he didn’t really want.

      “Father if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will be done, but yours be done.” Luke 22:42

Jesus didn’t really want to be crucified. He wasn’t afraid to express his true feelings to God. He exposed his dread of the coming trials, but he also reaffirmed his commitment to do what God wanted.

Sometimes we have to do this. We don’t have to be afraid to tell God how we really feel, but we have to commit to doing what God wants, and that may mean setting our own desires aside.

I’m pleased that I prayed for healing. I know that deep down I would not have enjoyed a holiday at my son’s expense. I’m also pleased that I stayed at the carnival and had a lovely afternoon talking to people. In the end, God’s way is always best.