My daughter and I love to complete the Brain Games at the back of my monthly Reader’s Digest magazine. I always look at the level of difficulty indicator before tackling each one. Sometimes a Difficult puzzle may be easy for me to complete, while one that’s labeled Medium may be harder, if not impossible for me to figure out.
Levels of difficulty are typically assigned by how challenging or tough it is to perform a certain skill, course, or task. But this is always a subjective measurement that depends on the viewpoint of the observer.
If we believe there is absolutely nothing too hard for God, then we should be able to approach Him with the same confidence for the big things as we do for the little things.
Some of my favorite Olympic sports are judged by level of difficulty, like gymnastics, diving, and figure skating. A competitor may have a perfect routine, but if the level of difficulty wasn’t high, they won’t earn enough points to win a medal.
Similarly, we seem to give God more points when He responds to a prayer that we consider difficult versus the lack of thanks and gratitude we show Him for something we believe was easy to accomplish. I’m definitely not as passionate in my thanks to God for waking me up in the morning as I am when He’s healed a loved one.
But why? Why do I exert so much passion when praying for a favorable test result to come back from the doctor, but don’t show that same level of energy when I’m praying for God to bless my food before I eat it?
Are there certain prayers that we feel are more difficult for God to answer than others? Do we pray with low intensity for things such as blessing our family or our nighttime prayers to keep our home safe while we sleep?
And maybe we show more emotion and effort when it’s a slightly bigger issue like when we desire a new job, or to get into that college, or selected on that sports team?
Subsequently, when we face a more difficult problem – a life-threatening disease, a child struggling with addiction, or a looming bankruptcy – we may find ourselves in tears, begging God to perform a miracle.
Why don’t we pray the same way for the easy situations as we do for the seemingly impossible?
Is it because we feel that some things are a little harder for God to accomplish than others? Is it hard for us to believe that God will answer the difficult prayers without our desperate pleading, and showing Him how badly we want a response?
I honestly don’t know the answer, but I do know if we believe there is absolutely nothing too hard for God, then we should be able to approach Him with the same confidence for the big things as we do for the little things.
This is the confidence that we have in our relationship with God: If we ask for anything in agreement with his will, he listens to us. If we know that he listens to whatever we ask, we know that we have received what we asked from him. 1 John 5:14-15 CEB
We can approach Him the same way, no matter what we are praying for. There is no level of difficulty in the requests that we make in prayer to God. As easily as He can heal a painful hangnail, He can heal stage 4 cancer. When we truly believe that we can confidently ask Him for whatever it is we need from Him.
I learned how to ski at a young age and remember the Green Circle slopes were the easiest. The Blue Squares were more difficult, but I could usually ski them without too much trouble. But the Black Diamond slopes? My heart would pound at the top of the mountain, while I decided if I had enough courage to ski down it. I never approached a Black Diamond slope with the same confidence I had for a Green Circle. That’s because I knew my skiing ability would allow me to take on the Green slope with no problem. ‘
Every request we make is like a Green Circle for God. Our challenge is to approach every prayer this week with the same level of confidence, no matter how easy or difficult we perceive our requests may be. There is absolutely no level of difficulty for God. When we truly believe that, it will change the way we pray.
CLOSING CHALLENGE:
Do you believe God is almighty, and there is nothing too hard for Him? If so, make sure your prayers and faith reflect that confidence.
If you are having a hard time believing that, ask Him to show in His own way how to help build up your confidence in Him.
Feel free to respond in the comments section… and share this story with someone in your life that could use the encouragement.
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As always, I learned something from your post. I learned that God CAN heal me while I’m here on Earth, it doesn’t have to happen when I’m in Heaven.
I am very thankful to God!
Yes Jen! And we continue to believe that he will!
Are you following my blog? I’d love some feedback.
Yes I am! I think I commented on one.