How to Bring Your Painful Requests and Petitions to God
Lately, I find myself asking God “Why.” I know friends, work peers, and family members who are dealing with excruciating circumstances. In my own life, I experience repeating thoughts that waver between an idea, a concern, a possibility, and worry. I am emotionally spent.
Amid all the tension, I often try to distract myself. I play games on my phone, binge watch yet another old TV show, or concentrate on a jigsaw puzzle. At certain junctures, I gain strength from the distraction. I function better after I pause emotionally. However, sometimes, I involve myself too much into the distraction and I avoid dealing with life.
A Struggle to Delight in God
In my quiet time one morning I read Philippians 4:4-8. The author of the devotional I read used the passage along with other scriptures to discuss delighting in God. Honestly? My heart didn’t feel like delighting in anything. Instead, I wanted answers to my questions, and a quick positive fix to the heartaches others and I were experiencing.
As I prepared to move into the tasks of my day, I received an email with a new prayer request. Someone else I knew encountered a traumatic event. I stomped my feet toward God and yelled “WHY?!” God spoke gently and reminded me of the truth from Philippians four.
Philippians 4:-8, CSB
“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your graciousness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable – and if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy – dwell on these things.”
Present Your Requests with Gratitude
The Holy Spirit reminded me God wants to hear all I have to say. He is waiting and willing to listen to every prayer and petition. God is so full of grace, He will be patient with us if we impatiently demand why, or question what He is doing.
Paul gave the Philippians and us wisdom concerning how we present our requests. Paul tells us to pray and petition with thanksgiving. So many times, when we are desperate for God’s intervention, we struggle to communicate with gratitude. Our sinful self tells us we can only be grateful if God provides what we want. We are not being thankful in that moment; we are being manipulative.
As I soaked in God’s precious Word, the Spirit brought clarity. We don’t have to be happy over difficult circumstances. We can express gratitude for truth such as Jesus died and resurrected, and we are recipients of His grace. In addition, we can be thankful God is present with us, always; we do not journey through hardship alone. Philippians 4:5 reminds us eternity is coming (the Lord is near), and verse seven reminds us God gifts us His peace.
Alter Your Perspective
We must view bringing our requests and petitions to God with a distinct attitude. We don’t ask so God will do what we want. God wants to alter our perspective about life. He desires we set aside the world’s answers to our circumstances and lean into Him. When we express our needs and longings with thankfulness, we choose to see God knows best. We trust His wisdom, and power, and vision for our lives.
I’m not saying we can’t express to God what we want. He welcomes our thoughts and ideas ~ all of them. However, He wants us to come recognizing He is Sovereign. He longs for us to come with a heart that is humble, grateful, and submissive. We can still express every hurt, ache, disappointment, and confusion. We can even clearly state what we hope He does on our behalf. But then, we must release every choice and decision into His powerful hands, trusting He will enable and empower us to live life well whatever He chooses.
After We Plead our Cause
I love that Paul gives wisdom to empower us when we move back into the rigors of life after pleading our case with God, the Father. In Philippians 4:8, Paul instructs us to dwell on only that which is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, morally excellent, and praiseworthy.
I often perceive I am to adopt a Polly-Anna point of view. I tell myself I must only think about positive things. However, did you notice, if you focus on the descriptors in Philippians 4:8, only one person fits the parameters Paul gives. Jesus fully defines each of those words. Therefore, we must fix our thoughts on the goodness and greatness of Jesus Christ.
On my struggle-bus day, God’s Spirit spoke directly to my heart. The Holy Spirit instructed me to stop my mind from traveling down the “What if… Trail.” He clarified I was giving fear space to grow. In other words, I wasn’t choosing to dwell on the truth of who Jesus is, the honorable ways He stands with me, and how just and pure His choices are. I was only viewing the harshness of this world, not His faithful love, excellent character, and praiseworthy glory.
Trouble and Hardship are Guaranteed
Jesus tells His disciples in John 16:33a, “In this world you will have trouble…” We will all deal with trauma, hardship, and grief in this world; we cannot escape it. However, Jesus doesn’t end His statement there. In John 16:33b, Jesus says, “… But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
We will one day experience life as God fully intended for us. Someday, we will stand in God’s presence and know Him fully, as we are fully known. Until then, we take our prayers and petitions to Almighty Sovereign God. We approach Him with hearts full of gratitude for who He is, and what He has already provided for us. We choose to trust and dwell on Him over the circumstances we must endure. God graciously stands with us, fills us with peace, and leads us to experience more of who He is regardless of our circumstance.
Woman Praying Photo by Diana Simumpande on Unsplash
