The Hardest Prayer a Christian Can Pray

If you believe God is all-powerful, then you know He can do miraculous things.

He can heal the diagnosis. Restore the relationship. Open the door. Provide the money. Rescue the person you love. When we pray, we aren’t asking a powerless God to do His best. We’re talking to the God who created the universe—One who is fully capable of changing everything in an instant.

But one of the hardest parts of faith is what happens when He doesn’t.

I recently had the chance to watch a new movie called Daniel and the Fiery Furnace. It brought me back to the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in Daniel 3.

The king commanded everyone to bow before a golden image. These three men refused because God had commanded them not to worship anyone else. Furious, the king threatened to throw them into a blazing furnace if they didn’t obey.

Their response has always amazed me:

“The God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not…we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”
—Daniel 3:17–18

They knew God could save them. They believed He was powerful enough to rescue them. But they also understood that He might not—and their obedience wasn’t dependent on the outcome.

That may be one of the hardest kinds of faith.

It’s easy to trust God when the healing comes, the prayer is answered and the story ends the way we hoped it would. But what about when God doesn’t change the circumstances? Can we still believe He is good when life doesn’t seem good?

I’ve been wrestling through this lately. When God’s will doesn’t move the way I think He will with my prayers. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego decided before they entered the fire that God was worthy of their trust. Their faith wasn’t based on whether He kept them out of the flames. It was based on who He was.

And yes, God did miraculously rescue them. But their decision to trust Him came before they knew how the story would end.

As I grow in my faith, I want my prayers to sound more like theirs:

“God, I believe You can. I know You are powerful enough to change this. I’m asking You to move, heal and rescue. But even if You do not answer the way I hope, I will still trust You. I will still obey You. I will still believe You are good.”

That kind of prayer doesn’t mean we aren’t disappointed. It doesn’t mean we don’t grieve or wrestle with questions. It means our faith rests on God’s character instead of our circumstances.

If you have walked this road and experienced unimaginable heartache, I want to remind you that God is near to the brokenhearted.  You don’t have to understand or even embrace Him in this season to get access to his healing love.

Whatever fire you’re facing today. But I hope we can learn to walk into the unknown with the same confidence these men had in Daniel. God can rescue us—and even if He does not rescue us in the way we hoped, He will still be with us in the fire.

And He will still be good.

-Joy