When Prayer Seems Wrong...

...because it's not life or death

I have a friend who shared a dilemma with me once:  she was dealing with the stress and uncertainly of changing jobs and moving, but a close family member had just learned some very serious, life-threatening news about their unborn baby.  My friend said to me, "I feel guilty praying and asking God to answer my prayers when their prayers are so much more important.  How can I possibly pray about my life when it doesn't even come close to what they're going through?"

Have you ever been there?  Prayed for a raise, or a safe trip, or a great parking space and then realized that some people are praying for healing from disease, for food to put on the table, for comfort as they just lost a loved one...I know I have.  And I have felt terrible about it. 

But what about those things we pray for that, while not life or death situations, are still real struggles for us?  Like "please don't let me lose my job;" "my child is failing in school;" "my husband and I don't agree on going to church;" "my best friend's husband is cheating on her and I don't know what to do."  Those are real struggles! 

There's a sentence we use in my family to describe this human nature - When I have a toothache, I don't care about the children in Africa.  Doesn't that about sum it up?  We know there are problems out there for other people, but we have our own trouble! 

So the question is, are we wrong to pray about our trouble when it's not as important as someone else's trouble?

The Bible says NO! We are not wrong!

         "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." Philippians 4:6

         "Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will sustain you." Psalm 55:22

         "For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayer." 1 Peter 3:12

         "And this is the confidence that we have toward Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us." 1 John 5:14

What good news!  Now that doesn't mean that we should take our prayers to Him frivolously (like praying for a good grade when we know we didn't study). And it does mean that He will grant us every wish and desire just because we asked Him.  It does mean that if it's important to us, it's important to Him. 

Remember my friend?  This was my answer to her:

You have two sons.  Let's say that one of them falls off his bike and skins his knee.  He runs to you, crying and hurting.  You scoop him up, kiss his face, wipe his tears.  You get his knee cleaned up and put a bandaid on.  He cuddles with you on the sofa, starting to feel better.  Your other son comes to you and asks you to color with him.  What do you say?  "How could you ask that?  Don't you see your brother hurt himself? How selfish of you!"  No, you smile and say yes.  You know that your other son needs your attention as well and this is a need you can meet.  You know that your one son is not more special because he skinned his knee, and your other son is not less special because he only wants to color.  Both children had a need and they came to their parent to make it better.  That's what we do with God.  We go to him when we are hurting and we go to him when we are not.  He doesn't pick and choose who to love based on the need.  He doesn't tell us "How dare you" when our request isn't as serious as another.  He loves us, as a Father.

God calls Himself our Father.  In that way, He has our best interest in mind, and He wants to hear about our struggles.  He wants us to leave our burdens with Him.  And while His answer may not always be the one we hope for or expect, you can be sure that He cares about the things that are troubling you.

So take your petitions to the Lord with confidence.  He hears you and He loves you.