Each of us has something we want to change. Our health, our financial situation, the heart of a loved one. I think I can say with confidence that as we pray, each of us is waiting for a miracle. We have good reason- God's Word promises that He will hear and answer.
I want to be delicate, because what God answers is not always precisely what we have in mind. We can get ourselves in a real fix if we set our hope on getting a particular outcome. Saying that, I'm not saying we shouldn't pray for a particular outcome. I do, but I think something needs clarification.
God will meet your needs. He promises that and He will deliver, but it might not look exactly like you expect. You might not win the lottery. You might get an upgrade in your employment situation. God will heal you. He promises and will deliver that, too, but He may use a medical professional to transmit this healing to you. But eventually you will die and experience the most complete healing of all.
When it comes to praying for those you love who seem hopelessly lost, know that God wants them to experience His redemption more than you do. God will work on their behalf and do everything short of coercing them to receive His grace. He will not violate someone's will. That said, it's good to pray that God will influence them so that they wish to relinquish their will to His.
Prayer is not karma. It is not crossing t's and dotting i's in order to get what we are praying for. We are not dealing with an impersonal force, a cosmic power that merely sets certain laws and principles in motion and we either follow them to the letter or we don't get what we hope for. Our God feels. He is good and His heart is full of compassion. More than an answer, He wants to give us Himself.
I am continuing (and so are many others) to pray for my youngest child, Jude. It looks like his cancer has spread to a third location. He doesn't seem very cooperative when it comes to getting help for his mental health and substance issues. Sometimes when we talk, I hear great lucidity and beautiful brokenness. Sometimes I hear blame and resentment.
It's been a roller coaster ride that has been more painful and longer in duration than anything I've experienced in my life. I know it has been for Jude's wife, Heidi and their children, Ellie and Luke, and it's been that way for my wife, Laura, and each of Jude's siblings and their families. We are praying for deliverance, healing, restoration and the godly sorrow that leads to repentance (2 Cor 7:10). We pray and we hope. I have been given great confidence from the Holy Spirit, an assurance that whatever happens with Jude, God will prove Himself more than enough and He will use this whole ordeal in a way that will ultimately embarrass the enemy. The "God of all hope," (Romans 15:13) not an outcome, is my sufficiency. And yours.