Some Days...

Did you ever notice that on some days you just plain need help? You wake up on a Thursday morning and your body is telling you that surely it is Saturday. You know in your heart that God has blessed you beyond your wildest imagination, but in your spirit you just don’t feel it today. Time alone with God seems ineffective. Prayer seems to fall short. Faith is weak. Life is little more than drudgery. Living a holy life is not so much on your mind because you are just struggling to get through the day. On those days, turn to Hebrews 4:15-16.

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” (NIV)

Most of us normally read those verses and think about the fact that Jesus was tempted to sin the same as we are tempted to sin and therefore understands our struggle to live a holy life. That is true, but I think it says so much more. On those days when I really just struggle to see my purpose… on those days when I would rather just walk away from whatever good work He has called me to… on those days when I just plain need help… I know in my heart that He is there. The problem is that on “those days” my confidence is very low and I just can’t see Him there. The truth is, faltering faith is a sin, and Jesus understands that sin because he was tempted just as we are – yet did not sin. The Hebrew writer reminds us that Jesus understands our faltering faith and encourages us to be confident in approaching God to ask for help – help in the form of grace and mercy - grace that is sufficient for today and mercy to endure until tomorrow. He is there ready to pour out that grace and mercy on me if only I would ask.

How oxymoronic it is, then, that on “those days” my prayer life falters. I have to admit that I struggle with an effective prayer life anyway and one of my personal spiritual growth goals is to improve the effectiveness of my prayers. Part of that growth, though, is to determine precisely what that means. Since God is sovereign and has ordered all the days of my life, what is accomplished by my asking for anything? How does that comport with James chapter 5, which says

“The prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well…the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” (NIV)

After all, if we pray for something that is not God’s Will and, in His Sovereignty, he just says “no,” is that really “powerful and effective”? If I pray for something that already is His Will, is that really “powerful and effective”? On the other hand, if God has both a Perfect Will and a Permissive Will, then why would I want anything other than his Perfect Will anyway? Why would I ever want “my imperfect will” to supersede His Perfect Will? Isn’t that just sin? That essentially gets me right back to the same question – what is accomplished by asking for anything? Or more importantly – what do I ask for and how do I ask it?

These are deep theological questions better addressed in a broader context, but one thing I can say with certainty. It is always God’s Will for us to be wholly and completely reconciled to Him. It is always God’s Will for us to be spiritually perfected. On “those days” when it just feels like tomorrow will never come, I can assure you that it is His Will to ask for help. He will answer your prayer for it is His Will for you to have the help – he said so in Hebrews 4:16. Tomorrow always comes.