Sometimes, in our prayers, we ask the Lord to take away a problem for us. My brother, my sister, you may not like the sun that is heating your body and want it removed from you, but what you might forget is that someone else may need that sun for another reason. To another extend, we sometimes ask the Lord to remove or cancel or brush off unwanted situations off our ways. From today, let’s remember this prayer of the Lord: “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.” Yes, Jesus knows exactly where you are, what you are going through and He is sitting at the right hand of God interceding for all of us. He knows there are all kinds of problems, difficulties, sicknesses, etc. in the world where He left you. That is why He did not let you orphan: He send the Holy Spirit to comfort you, to strengthen you, to guide you, to pray with you.
It is therefore vain prayer to ask God to remove a situation we don’t want. Remember that on the cross, Jesus asked God to take the cup away from Him if it was God’s will (Luke 22:42)… but it was the will of God that Jesus carries the cup until the end, for His glory. My friend, God will not take away the cup you might find heavy or too hard to carry, because He has already equipped us to handle it: cast your burden unto Him if you are heavily laden or tired (Matthew 11:28); if you are thirsty or hungry, He has the solution (John 4:14)… in other words, we have the choice: continue to suffer because of our lack of trust in the Lord’s Word or submit and see His promises be fulfilled in our lives. The promises of God are eternal and immutable. Problems will not end until we leave this world or until the Lord returns, so we have no other options but to submit to the Word of God, which gives peace and joy and allows in us the transformation that gives glory to God in and through our lives, even in the midst of affliction. The best example is the way the Lord has turned Saul the persecutor into Paul, one of His most ardent apostles despite a thorn in the flesh (2 Corinthians 12:7). Paul repeatedly asked God to remove it but God did not do it, yet nothing prevented Paul from running for Jesus for the glory of God. Read what Paul said: “Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me” (2 Corinthians 12:8-9). Stay blessed in Jesus’ name.