God Knows

One day last year I spent a day fasting and praying about a situation I was facing.  I learned a lot during the 24-hours that I spent in prayer and fasting.  It was going to be a busy day for me, but I knew that I needed to stop and spend a day seeking the Lord so I spent the time I would have been eating and making my meals in the prayer chapel at my school, praying instead.   

I had already prayed about the situation, but what I hadn’t done was stop. Telling God about my problems is only one half of what should be a two-way conversation.  So, I spent that Wednesday listening.   

Skipping the time I normally spend making my breakfast, I drove to school early and went into the prayer chapel for a few minutes before heading to work.  I unloaded with the same prayers I had been praying.  I boldly pleading with the Lord, asking Him to provide the answer I wanted just like the crowds of people who came to Jesus and boldly asked for physical healing.

After work, I rushed to class like I do every Wednesday.  But instead of spending the following hour and a half hanging out with friends and enjoying lunch, I again headed to the prayer chapel. 

An hour or more of dedicated prayer time is always a great experience for me.  I am always reminded to let my words be few.  I can begin with a laundry list of things I want to tell the Lord about, but I quickly remember an important thing that is easily forgotten:  God already knows.  He already knows all of my inmost needs and desires.  When I spend a long time in prayer, I’m reminded of that. 

Soon, I shut up.  I remember what King Solomon said, “Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God.  God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few” (Ecclesiastes 5:2). 

God is in heaven and I am on earth.  This reminds me of the overwhelming truth that my view is limited, while God’s view is infinite.  He sees the storm while I see one drop of rain.  He is sovereign. 

Part of my time in prayer that day I opened up my Bible and was reminded of the gentile woman who came and asked Jesus for healing for her daughter.  Jesus' response seems cruel as He tells her “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel… It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs” (Matthew 15: 24, 26). 

Amazingly, this Canaanite woman understands what Jesus is saying and does not take offense at this statement (I think I would have!).  She responds by saying, “Yes, Lord; but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their master’s table” (Matthew 15:27).  Even a crumb from the Lord is a treasured gift, great enough to heal this woman’s daughter. 

I was also reminded of other words Jesus spoke.  “What man is there among you, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he?  If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!” (Matthew 7:9-11)

God has only good gifts to give me when I ask Him.  But sometimes the things which I think are good are not really best for me.  As a good Father, He wants to only give me the best.  And in His sovereignty, He knows what is best for me – even when I think something else might be better.  I am reminded to ask – and sometimes to ask boldly.  But also to lay down my will, just like Christ in the garden before His betrayal.   

God knows what’s in my heart.  He also knows how best to satisfy those longings and desires.

I didn’t get any answers that day.  In a way, I’m still waiting for an answer.  But I gained so much peace from reminding myself that God is sovereign, that God knows, and that God knows what’s best for me.