How to Pray in the Midst of Difficulties
1 John 5:14-15 and that importance of praying for a virtuous character
When difficult circumstances come in life, and they inevitably will, it is not always easy to know how to pray. Sometimes we assert our will and pray for exactly what we expect from God, as if he were a Cosmic Genie. Sometimes we petition God and ask, “if it is your will” to do such-and-such. Other times we throw up our hands and cry “Have mercy on me God! I am a sinner!” One thing is clear, and that is that Scripture teaches us to come to God with our petitions and to expect God to answer them. Consider 1 John 5:14-15:
14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.
Now the key qualifier in these verses is “accord to his will.” That’s the part that can cause some anxiety. When your difficulty is a health condition or a financial problem or a relational strain, how do you know the will of God in this situation? Well, I think one thing we can know is that God desires us to respond to difficulties in certain ways. That there are God-honoring ways to respond to suffering, struggles, and persecution, and there are ways that are dishonoring and harmful to ourselves and others. And part of what we can pray for when faced with a difficult situation is the character, heart, posture, and spirit to face the situation well. Namely, with courage and hope.
