How To Pray When Life Gets Really Hard

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Share it. But most of all, thank you for listening and for choosing the Truth Podcast Network. So we have a timely topic today, given everything that is going on in our world lately. And today we're going to talk about how to pray when life gets really hard, when the unthinkable happens. Or you might say, how to pray in a tragedy. So, James, why don't you go ahead and take it from there?

Thanks, Ravi. So to start, I'd like to do something we usually do at the end of the podcast, but because this topic is so challenging, let's pray about it right now. Father, we need your wisdom.

We need your help as we embark on talking about something that matters so much. Lord, we think of the events in our world today, and we praise you that you are always good and that you are always faithful. So direct our steps, Father, we pray in Jesus name.

Amen. So often when tragedies happen, we just feel numb and we wonder how we can pray at all sometimes. So it's helpful for us to think of praying in difficult circumstances, a little like CPR. The time to learn CPR isn't when you're in a bad situation.

Oh, I know, yeah. You know, not in that moment when you need it, but the time to learn is beforehand so that you can practice, so that you can keep your head about you. And I think the same is really true of prayer and tragedies. If we learn to make prayer a regular practice in our lives, we find new strength when tragedies and circumstances that are unavoidable come. So an important part of this is actually praying that you will be ready when they do come, because after all, Jesus told us that in this world we'll have trouble.

Oh, that makes sense, right? It's just part of a mature faith to learn to be with God and to pray ahead, so to speak. So really you can be ready for anything.

Yeah. And an important part of this is learning to know God, to have that personal relationship with him as we go through everyday life. And I know that we say that, but do we actually do that so that we can understand his faithfulness and know that he's with us every day?

Because if we know that he's always been faithful, always gotten us through the hard times when we've been with him in the past, then we know that he's going to be that way in the future. And while we're thinking about this, it's important to emphasize that this means understanding that God's goodness isn't determined by the things that happen to us, good or bad, but to really get a sense of that, again, we have to be with him beforehand. So preparation, staying with God in prayer and also learning to trust him in everyday life can really help us when tragedies come.

So what else helps? Well, let's say that you're going through a time when you fear the worst and you hope and pray it won't happen, but then it does. It's not because you haven't had faith. Jesus had faith in the Garden of Gethsemane when he prayed, the worst wouldn't happen. And of course it did to him. But then what he did was he submitted himself to the Father. And of course, he said, not as I will, but as you will, Father, and and he knew what was coming. So Jesus' example to us in this is to say, I'm yours, Father. I may not understand this, I have difficulty accepting it, but it appears that I have to.

So whatever happens, I'm yours. I believe God loves that kind of praying and kind of giving ourselves to him when we're in the middle of something bad. And I think he'll help us do that also through his Spirit. And think about what Scripture says about Jesus in this, because Jesus humbled himself that God exalted him.

And I think God lifts us up when we pray like this as well. So what about when someone can't help asking why? Why has this happened, God? Why have you allowed this?

Well, first, Robert, I think that's absolutely allowed. I mean, some people think that we shouldn't ask God why, but that's not what God's word shows us. Ask Jesus, you know, when he cried out from the cross, my God, why have you forsaken him? You know, of course, he's praying to one. So we know that David wrote that and prayed the same way. But the point is, God is strong enough.

He can take it. And the important thing is that we go to him, you know, we can still ask why and be submitted to him. Why is a question of the mind, but submission is a matter of the heart. So when we're asking why, you know, we still love him, right? Yeah, I mean, Jesus did, David did.

So yes, again, I think this is absolutely allowed. And there's something else we can do to prepare ourselves for the most difficult moments. All right, so what's that? Okay, well, this may sound a little counterintuitive, but ask God to carry you. I have this friend who came home one day to find that the unthinkable had happened. And that was that her young child had been murdered. And when I asked her years later, how did you get through that without asking God why or being angry at him? She kind of had this look of amazement. She said, I didn't, you know, ask him why I wasn't angry with him, because he carried me.

And he amazed me. But what she was talking about is, again, that that closeness that we were referring to, when we started this conversation about preparing ourselves by staying with God, day by day, she hadn't done that. And God had actually strengthened her for what was to come in the months.

So God had given her this, this sense beforehand that he was with her, and he had given her this peace and a promise from his word. And if you think about it, this notion of God carrying us is really very scriptural. I think about the Jewish people after they left Egypt, and they wandered for 40 years in the wilderness. And right before they cross into the Promised Land, Moses tells them not to be afraid.

And that's even though they'll face hardships and battles. And then he says this in Deuteronomy 130, the Lord your God who is going before you will fight for you as he did for you in Egypt before your very eyes. And in the wilderness, there you saw how the Lord your God carried you as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place. So there is this reality to God's presence with us that makes us stronger, that prepares us for what's to come. And, you know, to realize that to actual in our lives, we have to turn to him, we have to walk with him.

Darrell Bock Well, we're out of time. So it's, I guess, my turn to pray since you prayed at the beginning. So Lord, in this time of the world, there's a lot of things going on that we can ask why. And, Lord, we just pray that, number one, you'd carry those people in Israel that are suffering so much than carry the people in the Ukraine who are also suffering so much. And help us to pray and pray and pray so that we are ready for when the unthinkable happens.

But we're also ready for when you come back. So Lord, help us to stay close to you in all this through what James has taught us today, and most of all, what you've taught us. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen. James You can hear more from Pastor James by visiting his website, jamesbanks.org, or by visiting Peace Church in Durham, North Carolina. May God bless you and encourage you as you pray. This is the Truth Network.