Tuesday, April 3rd, 2018
It is the Sovereign Lord who helps me. –Isaiah 50:9
Help comes from God alone. It means He does everything on behalf of someone who is in great distress. To ask for God’s help is to acknowledge our dependence on Him.
Praying for God to help this person or that is a wonderful prayer, without getting into the specifics of what you want God to do, which may or may not be in His will. But to help someone in what they need most is always in His will.
To pray for God to heal Uncle Jerry’s gout may not be best for Uncle Jerry. But to pray for God to help Uncle Jerry in his suffering is a prayer God will hear and act on. To pray that God will give Mary the job she has applied for may not be the right job for her. But to pray for God to help Mary in her job search is a prayer God will hear and act on in His own discernment of what is best for Mary.
God know what is best for this person or that. We don’t. If I pray that Diane (a person in my prayer group) finds an apartment by April 12, I may not be praying for what is best for her. If I pray for God to help her in her search, that is a prayer He will answer in His own way. He knows best. I don’t.