Romans 8:22-28
Praying in Hope

We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.

New Revised Standard Version

Many times we find truth is a wholeness, a "this and that" rather than a "this or that." Certainly that is true with prayer. Jesus taught us in Matthew 7 to "ask, and it will be given you", and "how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!" We must pray earnestly and specifically, sharing with God our fears, concerns, and irritations; our needs, wants, and desires; our pain, hurts, and frustrations. To do any less in prayer is to fabricate a barrier designed to keep God away from a part of us.

At the same time, God already knows more about us than we know about ourselves. Paul tells us that God searches our kardia, a Greek word translated as heart, mind, and spirit. If we think we can hide from God our envy of our neighbor's new car, or our frustration at answers that come more slowly than we want, we are being as foolish as Adam and Eve trying to hide from God in the Garden of Eden. We must pray honestly to God from what we're thinking and feeling, with the assurance that God will never reject our sincere prayers.

We are often needlessly intimidated by prayer. How can you start a conversation with the Creator of the universe? You don't have to, God is already talking to you and helping you learn how to listen. What do you say? Be yourself, for you are a unique creation God made and God loves. How do you form your requests to God in such a way that God will answer your requests--in the way you want them answered? In the words of Shakespeare's Hamlet, "ay, there's the rub."

We are instructed to pray specifically, but we must understand that we cannot control how God will answer our prayers. We might think we can get simple "yes or no" answers to our requests to God, but God doesn't often work that way. We might be praying for a specific answer, but God might be at work in us to change our question. The primary purpose of prayer is not to affect our earthly lives, but our spiritual lives.

There is a profound choice we must make as we pray. We can put our trust in what we see, or follow Paul's instruction and live in the hope of what we do not see. We can seek to control our time frames, or we can wait for God's time with patience. We can rely on our own knowledge, or we can trust the Wisdom of the Ages. We can carefully craft our petitions to God, or we can allow the Spirit to intercede for us "with signs too deep for words." We can trust ourselves, or we can embrace our frailty and trust in God.

Paul assures us that God is actively working out everything for our good, if we love God. This word "good" is the same Greek word, agathos, used by Jesus in Matthew 19:17 when he reminded us that "there is only One who is good." We can struggle to get what we want, or we can trust God to provide what will form us into what God made us to be.

Prayer, then, develops our trust, confronts our struggles, and works out our faith. Prayer acknowledges our inability to control our circumstances and rejoices that God is in control. As prayer becomes more to us than an activity, even more than an occasional conversation, prayer becomes an "impossible" relationship and a stream of spiritual sustainment springing from our hope in God.