Praying Can Be Hazardous to Your Health

“Be careful what you pray for, you might get it.” We’ve all heard that saying before. Sometimes what we get isn’t necessarily what we don’t want, it’s not what we expected and that can be either good or bad, depending on your perspective.

Think about the times you have prayed for someone, for their situation, for their salvation or for a situation to change and the outcome or the answer wasn’t what you expected. One thing that God has brought to my attention is as I pray I need to trust Him. Honestly, sometimes scenarios are going through my mind of how things will work out or how God will work things out. I don’t think that’s for me to know, I think that’s for me to trust.

“Not my will, but yours.” It’s God’s desire for all men to be saved, “This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” 1Timothy 2:3-4. When you are praying for someone to be saved and know Jesus as their Lord and Savior, what are you thinking?(Not “what ARE you thinking?) What are you imagining to happen? Maybe that they will be driving along one day and have this overwhelming desire to know Jesus and be forever changed. Not that, that can’t happen. But look at Saul or Paul, he was stopped dead in his tracks and made blind for a while. I know I think of easy transitions, smooth sailing for others and for situations. Rarely does that ever happen. That’s not how God works. I am learning that.

Only God can work through situations and change hearts and for Him to do that, He sometimes has to bring us and others to our knees, whatever it takes if we are sincere in our prayers. That’s also not to say we are wishing ill on them or bad things to happen, heavens no, we want to see changes and sometimes that takes hard times. Look at Jesus and His ministry. His ministry was to preach salvation to all. He came to earth as fully human and fully God as a baby to grow up in stature, teach, and to one day die on the cross and rise again in three days. Things got bad before they got better, same with Paul.

This was an “ah-ha” moment for me. When we are praying for God to change situations, change hearts, we need to be prepared that things may get worse before they get better. We need to trust God. We don’t know how God will work in each individual or situation. God knows the details of every challenging situation and the hearts of the people He created. He works “all things together for our good and His glory” Romans 8:28. God will work things out according to His plan, we have to trust. God may direct you or use you in the plan (be prepared for that) and He may give you specifics through the Holy Spirit pressing in on you to say something or do something specific.

Think back to Jesus in the Garden, things had to get worse before they got better. Sometimes we or our loved ones need to go through situations that will get worse before they get better.

We need to remember this:

1. Trust God, His Providence, His timing.
2. Things may get worse before they better.
3. Ask for endurance, courage to get through the next few days weeks, months, however long it’s going to take for God to work things out.
4. When we get to the other side, when victory comes, remember to give thanks. “Give thanks always” – 1 Thessalonians 5:16 so let’s remember days, weeks, months, even years later to recall God’s goodness in the situation, or any situation. It’s good to keep remembering what God has done for us.
5. Keep praying for the situation or person. “Pray without ceasing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:17, Now that things have changed, ask God to help you not make the same mistakes, to keep walking in His light, continue to pray for the person or situation that the person will grow spiritually and the situation will remain stable.

We have to trust God when we are praying for changes in others and in situations. We can’t know how God will work things out, other than He will work them out according to His plan for our good and His glory and that can and will look totally different than what we imagine. That’s dangerous prayer, are we bold enough to pray dangerously?