You Did Not Pray It Wrong

"Lord, the one you love is sick." (John 11:3)

Here is one of the enemy's oldest tricks, and it works best on the sincere. You pray, and nothing happens, and in the silence a voice begins to suggest that perhaps you prayed it wrong. Maybe your motive was off. Maybe you asked for the wrong thing. Maybe there is a hidden sin or a technical flaw in the petition, and if you could only find it and fix it, the answer would come.

Now, some things do hinder prayer, and Scripture says so plainly. Unforgiveness. Unconfessed sin. Selfish intent. Ignoring the Word entirely and then arriving with a demand. Peter even tells husbands that the way they treat their wives can obstruct their prayers, which ought to sober every married man. Those hindrances are real. Do not pretend they are not, and do not skip the honest examination.

But that is not what is happening to most of us in the waiting. Look at Mary and Martha. Were they wrong to ask Jesus to come? Of course not. They wanted the best thing a person can want, the presence of Jesus in the worst hour of their lives. There is nothing more right to ask for. They asked perfectly. And he waited anyway.

So when the silence comes, do not immediately turn the blame inward and go rummaging through your prayer for the defect that explains it. Examine yourself, yes. But then rest. Sometimes the silence is no verdict on your asking at all. Sometimes the most faithful prayer, prayed by the most loving heart, is met with a wait, and the wait is not a punishment.