Many people are quite familiar with the story of Joseph, a bright young teenager, who had big dreams and great hopes for the future. A very innocent and sincere person that he was, he shared his dreams as well as his reservations for the things his brothers did wrong with his family. He certainly stirred a hornet’s nest at home. His elder brothers, except Rueben, ganged up against him, tried to kill him but later chose to make some passive income by selling him off to slavery.
Now, let’s stop for a minute and imagine Rueben, realizing that Joseph was still alive, praying that the slave masters would have mercy on the poor boy and bring him back to Israel. Would God have answered that prayer? Knowing what we know now of Joseph, would we have said the same prayer if we were in Rueben’s shoes?
How about when Potiphar’s wife framed Joseph and he ended up in prison, what do you think Joseph’s prayer could have been? Would he have prayed to be vindicated? Mind you, there’s no record that Potiphar’s wife confessed or that Potiphar later declared Joseph innocent. How else would he have been announced to Pharaoh, if he hadn’t met the cup bearer in the prison?
If all those prayers had been answered, would the world have survived the 7 years of famine? Where would Israel, Jacob and David and even Christ have been? With the benefit of hindsight, we can say ‘thank God Joseph was hated, sold, enslaved, framed, imprisoned and forgotten.’
The Bible is teeming with several other examples of seemingly unfortunate circumstances that turned out to serve God’s ultimate purpose: the massacre of the Hebrew boys led Moses to the palace where he learned to read and write – a skill needed to document the Pentateuch. Had the prayers of all the Hebrew mothers been answered at the time, there would have been no Moses. Had there been no Goliath, there would have been no David; no Deborah without a Sisera; no spreading of the Gospel without the persecution of the church; and certainly no Christ without the cross. If every human prayer was answered, then the world would have self-destructed.
How then should we pray?
Rick Warren once taught me to pray in sickness that God’s will should be done. I didn’t understand what he meant at the time. But now I know better. God’s will is the ultimate thing I can possibly hope for. His earnest prayer is that men would be reconciled to Him, through Christ. In times past, he made it known to the world that He would spare nothing including human lives, in ensuring that His salvation plan for mankind is established. The seriousness with which he takes this salvation plan makes me realise the folly in wanting physical comfort or anything more than His will.
If we must pray, then let’s follow the template Jesus himself gave us: thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven…
Am I by this wishing ill on myself? Not necessarily. One thing is certain. I desire God, and aim to seek him daily with all my heart. And if He is who the Bible says He is, then I am comforted that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
