Is God Holding Out On Me?

Have you ever wondered if God is holding out on you? If He is withholding something that you need?

How I Feel

Let me be transparent with you. I am human (in case you didn't know). Which means that I have human emotions. I have human deficiencies. I have human insecurities. I know that God has all the answers. I know that He can answer my prayers. However, sometimes it feels like He doesn't, or won't, or can't. This is obviously a lack of faith on my part.

My lack of faith can bring me to a place where I feel that God is holding out on me. Like I have drawn the short stick or I am waiting in line for Him to bless everyone else first. (Please tell me I'm not the only one who has been through this?)

An Eye-Opening Experience

Recently I have been studying for a sermon series on prayer called "Pray by Faith." To be honest, I was frustrated with my prayer life. I had felt for some time that I was missing something in my prayer life. So the first thing I did when wanting to better my prayer life is what every logical person would do; I did everything except pray. I read books on prayer, I read many scripture verses on prayer, I talked to others about prayer and yet I was frustratingly neglecting prayer.

During my studying, I came across a book on my shelf printed in 1942. It probably hadn't been opened in the last 75 years. The pages were stiff, the binding sounded like it was going to fall apart when I slowly pried it open. It was a well-known book called "Prayer: Asking and Receiving" by Evangelist John R. Rice. I had heard of the book but had never read it. I perused through several chapters and finally landed at the end of the book where he speaks of the sin of prayerlessness and says, "All my failures are prayer failures." This hit home.

I didn't feel like I was neglecting prayer. I prayed daily, I kept short accounts with God, I longed for my time with God to be sweet. Yet, my prayers had become boring, mundane, and ineffective. I was frustrated, but I was to blame.

I felt like God was holding out on me, but the truth is, I was holding out on God.

It was some time back that my wife and I were sitting in the family room. I was noticeably downhearted. My wife looked at me and said, "are you gonna be alright?" I looked at her and said, "I don't know." I knew the answer, I needed to pray. I asked her, "Do you mind if we spend some time in prayer together?" And for the next hour, we cried out to the Lord. We confessed some things to Him, we worshiped Him, we begged Him to work in specific ways in our family and church. It was exactly what needed to happen.

It is no surprise that God answered EVERY request we made to Him that night within 24 hours. Relationships were restored, needs were met, joy was returned and God was glorified. I look back on that night as a landmark experience in my Christian life.

Facts > Feelings

Romans 8:32 says,  "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" 

God isn't holding out! He spared not His own Son! When I read this verse in my study, I was blown away. I had been subconsciously blaming God for my feelings when all the while He has been ready to freely give me all things!

The fact is, if God is willing to give us His Son, then I can pray with confidence knowing that He will answer my prayers.

God isn't holding out on you.

Perhaps you've given up on prayer, or maybe you are frustrated with your prayer life. Just remember, all of our failures are prayer failures.

It's time you begin to pray by faith.

Any questions / comments? Leave a comment below. I would love to hear from you!

#prayer #praybyfaith