God’s Expected End, Not Ours – The Line Between Confidence and Presumption in Prayer.

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, said the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” – Jeremiah 29:11

The above verse has to be one of the most popular scripture verses used in prayer.  More often than not, when we Christians quote this verse while praying, we proceed to expressly request the expected end that we want without any reference to what God might want. This is done with a confident assurance that it will surely come to pass based on that promise and similar biblical promises on how God answers prayers. And I wonder, is this not a misunderstanding?

Like everyone else, I am a struggling daughter of the King, trying to seek God’s face everyday and know God more everyday. I am no expert in the translation or understanding of scripture. My mind is always open to a deepening of my spiritual understanding of scripture and I write this hoping that God will continue to enlighten my understanding for the glory of His own name. Having said that, I have constantly been baffled when I hear this particular verse and similar promises used in prayer without any reference to a submission to God’s will.

This came to light recently again when I was invited to join a social media prayer group of a few women praying for the success of a particular political candidate in a governorship primary election process. I hesitated, but obliged purely out of respect for the person who invited me. I love politics and the process of democracy, but I am never personally inclined to press for a particular candidate in prayer. The most I would do would be to ask that God does what is best for the region and for my loved ones and I. Having said that, I see nothing wrong in praying for a candidate’s success, I am only certain that God will do exactly what He wants to do, because He always has a plan.

In this case, the group was praying for the incumbent governor to win the primary challenge. From the onset, I sent a note to the forum leader that it would be prudent for all the prayer warriors to remember to begin or end their prayers with a submission to God’s will above all and to remember that we were really just asking God for a favor based on His mercy. No matter how highly we thought about the incumbent candidate or how lowly we thought about his opponent, I emphasized that only God in His infinite wisdom knew who would prevail and why.

After reading the first set of prayers written down by the members, I re-arranged my schedule to listen in to the first live session. As expected, the prayers were lengthy, fiery and powerful, calling for open heavens and a mighty display of divine power, but nowhere did I sense the humility of reckoning that God would ultimately do exactly what He wanted to do. Nowhere did I hear a submission to a God who holds the future in His hands. Not once did I hear anything about God’s will in the matter at hand. I was immediately downcast.

When Jesus taught his disciples how to pray, He introduced a model for prayer. In the very second sentence, right after acknowledging His Father’s holy name, He asked for God’s will to be done. This before going into the specifics of asking for daily bread and forgiveness. When He was agonizing about His impending torture on the Mount of Olives, he deferred again to God’s will in private prayer.

So where do we who claim to be Followers of Christ get our audacity to try to force God’s hands from? At least, in my own (possibly unwanted) opinion, that is what it sounds like when we do not expressly let God know that we are in submission to His will even as we are persistent in prayer and fasting for a particular need. Does it not sound like pride when we try to badger God into what we want? And are we not setting ourselves up for frustration when we don’t always acknowledge that He will always do His own expected end for the good of our souls and the glory of His name?

I do believe in the power of powerful and fervent prayers. I can write a long list of testimonies of God showing up powerfully for my loved ones and I,  and literally upsetting the status quo to grant my fervent petitions in His mercy. I never shy of sharing such mercies with my friends and family. I can also write a list of disappointments and setbacks, even as I do not give up on the petitions until the door is expressly closed. Even then, I am ever optimistic that windows will open when doors are shut, because God’s expected end for me has to glorify His name. At some point, it’s no longer about me but about He who owns me.

In both scenarios, as others can readily relate to, what keeps us grounded and prevents us from being puffed up or despondent, is the knowledge that God’s will was done for the glory of His name and the good of our souls. In the case at hand, the incumbent governor lost the primary challenge. I did note that after the loss, the consolatory remarks that were shared on the forum leaned heavily on the line that God’s will was done. So why was a submission to God’s will not readily acknowledged at the onset??

Now, could God have changed His mind after a barrage of intercessions? Absolutely! Scripture is full of examples of God changing course on a plan of action after  humble cries for mercy and compassion.  And this is the other side of prayer. We are to confidently approach the Throne of Grace to receive mercy…..the boldness in approach is only because of our High Priest’s sacrifice. The boldness is also based on our knowledge of the undisputable fact that the mercy of forgiveness, when we humbly ask for it in God’s presence, is a given. It is only after we have received this assured mercy that we can be certain that the temporal graces we are asking for will be granted, the manner and timeline unkown to us. Why? Because our hearts will not condemn us.

“21Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God, 22and we will receive from Him whatever we ask, because we keep His commandments and do what is pleasing in His sight.” 1 John 3:21-22.We will receive what we ask for because we are keeping His commandments. This is meant for we redeemed Christians who continue to struggle against sin until we reach perfection in heaven. Now please – let he who is pefectly sinless in this flesh, approach that Throne of Grace and Awe, and right away ask for graces of help without asking for mercy first!! Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me, cried Blind Bartimaeus, and then Jesus asked him what He wanted….and He granted it.

Finally, yes, we are to ask and we should expect to receive. But we are expected to ask according to His declared will. “And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.” 1 John 5:14. And His will is always for the good of our redeemed souls, (to preserve the soul on its way to heaven), and for the glory of His own name. Only requests that follow this criteria are guaranteed. Now, given that we cannot always tell if our desires will be good for our souls, the wisdom of asking according to our all-knowing God’s will becomes obvious. Only then can we be one hundred percent confident that He has heard us and will do His will, (which is implied in our petition) for us. And even then, at His own timing, a timing that He always keeps us guessing about to keep us on our toes.

“And a leper came to Jesus, beseeching Him and falling on his knees before Him, and saying, “If You are willing, You can make me clean. Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Mark 1:40-41. Our answers to prayer will always depend on His will.