Prayer 101: 7. Praying with trust

Trust is something, especially in human terms, that can be gained or lost.

Wives trust their husbands, explicitly and implicitly, that they will be loved and cared for. They trust that their husbands will protect them or support them not only financially, but physically and emotionally. Our wives trust us to be a good father and role model for our children. By the same token, we husbands trust that our wives will respect us for who we are and that, particularly within the context of a Christian marriage relationship, our wives will trust us when we are working at what we believe is best for the entire family. Sometimes it may not look that way, but... we just wanted to be trusted.

Typically we men can go along pretty well until we slip the first time if we allow some necessary home repairs to go undone - because we don't "feel" like doing them. Or maybe, we didn't stand up for Mom when she was being sassed by one of the teen children. Or maybe we got caught watching some porn or carrying on an inappropriate chat online with an unknown person of the opposite sex (blatant reasons to lose trust). All of those can lead to a breakdown of that initial trust.

In time, that key or cornerstone relationship itself breaks down and other relationships crack and crumble. The children begin to lose trust in their dad or mom or both. The time and effort to rebuild the trust that once fully supported the entire family structure can be massive. And sometimes, unfortunately, the broken trust may be irreparable. Those are the harsh realities of trust gained and lost or broken. Sadly, I speak from personal experience. Once trust is broken, everything that is done going forward - the motivations as well as the actions - is questioned.  Can the trust be rebuilt? With God's help and in God's economy, yes;  and only because God can do the impossible.

Broken trust is a consequence of sin. Whether it was a sin of commission or omission, a sin has been committed against another and there must be a consequence. Both parties or sides in a relationship can sin. That is human trust, mistrust, and broken trust.

Our trust in God is different. We can sin against ourselves or Him, but God cannot reciprocate - punish yes, but not sin against us. God cannot sin. Sin is not in His nature. We may "lose trust" in God because He didn't come to our rescue or answer a specific prayer, but the fact is, "'My thoughts are not  your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,' declares the LORD." Isaiah 55:8. God knows the entire picture. He knows that to "give" me a certain thing or opportunity may in reality be harmful to me or to His plan for my life. I have to trust or have faith that God knows better. But let's get back to praying with trust and faith. 

The Bible (God) teaches us, "Trust in the LORD with all your heart
   and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him,
   and he will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5 - 6.

As Christians, we may ask, "Well what about Faith?" Where does faith come in? Isn't Trust Faith? Good questions. Faith is trusting and trusting comes through or from faith. Trust and faith are intertwined. To a degree, Trust and Faith are opposite sides of the same coin. I saw this quote and liked it. It made some sense. The quote is: "Trust. (Faith in man). vs. Faith. (Trust in God)." The author goes further on to say: 

"The word 'trust' has 24  different definitions under four different uses in Webster’s  Dictionary. It comes from the Old Norse word 'traust'  meaning 'trust, protection, firmness.' As a noun, it is defined first as 'confidence, a reliance or resting of  the mind on the integrity, voracity, justice, friendship, or other sound principles of a person or thing.' 'Who so putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe -  Prov.  29:25.’' Or, also, as a noun, trust is, 'One who or that which is trusted. ‘O Lord God, thou art my trust from my youth.' ' The seventh  definition simply says, 'keeping; care; custody.' The eleventh is more specific, defining trust in law as, 'the confidence reposed in a person by giving him nominal ownership of property, which he is to keep, use, or administer for another’s benefit;' also a trust is when an 'estate or property' is 'under the charge of a trustee or trustees'  or it is when 'a person’s right to property' is 'held in trust for him' as a presumed benefit. 

"The word 'trust' can also be used as an adjective as well as a verb. As a  transitory verb, it  means 'to place confidence in; to rely on; to believe in the  honesty, integrity, justice, etc.' As an intransitory verb, it means 'to have trust or faith; to place reliance; to be confident. to hope…' " (http://www.hisholychurch.net/study/gods/cog14tvf.php)

For this discussion about Praying with Trust, we'll use the terms of trust and faith interchangeably. Let's go back to Daniel's prayer of Chapter 9.

Throughout Daniel's prayer, the prophet knows Who he is in an audience with. He prays knowing not only what God has done with the nation Israel, and what He will do, but Daniel also knows Who God is. Daniel relied on God's immutability, His "unchangingness". Daniel trusts God in prayer because he has seen God work in his and his friends' lives for the better part of seventy years. They had been taken into captivity as teenagers, brought up in the king's adviser corp, made fun of (vegetarians), thrown into a fiery furnace, made the king's top adviser, tossed into a lion's den as an old man, and now, decades have passed - a lifetime for most people - Daniel waits. 

Daniel has prayed. Daniel has poured over his copies of the Scriptures. Through God's Word, this old saint has seen God at work through His people time and time again, fulfilling His plan, and always moving forward.  He knows - he TRUSTS - that God will continue to unfold His plan. Daniel understands that he may not be returning to Jerusalem, but he is completely confident that this remnant now in exile in Babylon will soon return to rebuild the city and restore the Temple.

Daniel TRUSTS God with every fiber of his being. Let's look through Scripture and learn about Trust and God. 

Remember, we trust God for two very important reasons: What He's done and Who He is.

We pray trusting that God will answer our prayers based on what He's done. The saying goes "actions speak louder than words", and that is fairly accurate. When someone tells us they're going to do something or be somewhere, we expect those commitments to be fulfilled. We humans want "proof" as to how a person acts or performs. We don't want to know that a  person is an expert just because he or she has a string of letters after their name, we want their experiential credentials; we want to know what they've actually done or accomplished.

The Words of Scripture remind us of what God has done. The kings, priests, and prophets of the united and divided Kingdom of David were able to look back on the pages of Scripture and the Law to recall God's activity in their History.

Throughout Kings and Chronicles, we read of how reminders of God's mighty hand rescued the Hebrews and brought them up out of Egypt after 400 years of slavery. They could read and reread of the conquering of God's Land of Promise with the defeat of kings and kingdoms. They read how seas and rivers parted, how walls fell, and how the masses were miraculously fed and provided for. Time and time again, God saved His people from calamity and from themselves. He heard their cries as they were subjugated by the Philistines and others. Although the people continued on "half-hearted" (because of their sin and pride) after God brought relief and salvation, He would need to repeat the process over and over. 

While reading through 1 Chronicles, I came to this short passage and It leapt off the page. 

"The Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh had 44,760  men ready for military service — able-bodied men who could handle shield and sword, who could use a bow, and who were trained for battle. They waged war against the Hagrites, Jetur, Naphish, and Nodab. They were helped in fighting them, and God handed the Hagrites and all their allies over to them because they cried out to Him during the battle.  He answered their prayers because they trusted in him. They seized the livestock of the Hagrites — fifty thousand camels, two hundred fifty thousand sheep, and two thousand donkeys. They also took one hundred thousand people captive, and many others fell slain because the battle was God’s. And they occupied the land until the exile." 1 Chronicles 5:19 - 22.

God answered their prayers while in battle because the people trusted Him. As they trusted God, as they trusted IN God, He not only gave them victory, but He also gave them the plunder. It was a full victory with all the prizes.

Notice it is not just a trust of God, it is trusting IN God. I believe this underlies a deep trust. There was something big the people could hang their trust on - just read every preceding book and chapter of the Bible before this verse. The battle was God's battle. How often do we forget, do I forget, that my daily battles are God's battles? He wants to fight my battles for me. That is NOT saying that I  will not have to participate (and sometimes actively), but the battle is  God's. God is the one who gets the victory and the glory and the praise. He also lovingly shares the joy of the victory with us.

And  He still does the same thing in our lives today. God wants to fight my battles for me. He wants me to experience His moving in my life and His victories. Oftentimes, I struggle with making a business decision. I  hesitate. I see the opportunity just hanging out there but I don't reach out and grab for it. I don't trust that God is in the opportunity.

The Amplified version of the Bible says in Ecclesiastes 11:4, "He who observes the wind [and waits for all conditions to be favorable] will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap." How many times do any of us wait for "just the right time" to venture out and act? We pray for opportunities and God puts them out there wanting and waiting for our action. And then when the opportunity passes, we (I)  grumble that God "didn't provide". Where was my trust?

God provided for all of my needs in the past. Why won't I believe that He will do amazingly and abundantly more now and in the future? Am I  sinning by putting my beliefs ahead of God's history of action and provision? 

Do I  trust God? This leads to a larger, deeper question: do I trust God based on Who He is? Do I trust God just because He is God?

Daniel trusted God in prayer because he knew Who God is. Because of Daniel's intimate relationship with Him, the prophet could effectively pray having trust and faith in God and His plan. 

We often forget that there were men of God who prayed and trusted in Him and they didn't have any Scripture to fall back on. Men like Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, and Moses. These men knew Who God is. They knew God and His character. They knew of His love, mercy, power, and provision. They each allowed God to work miraculously through their own lives.

The faith and trust of these patriarchs is what puts them in the "Hall of  Faith" in the New Testament book of Hebrews. Like children jumping into their fathers' arms, they explicitly trusted God for Who He is: God.

At one point in His ministry, Jesus challenges us to have faith in God. We think that we have (I think I have) so much faith and trust. But do I really? 

The disciples were having a problem driving out a demon. They couldn't, but  Jesus could. They asked Him why and Jesus lovingly said, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." Matthew 17:20. 

I stumble over that verse because I think I have "faith as small as a  mustard seed". Don't you? But do I really? Have I really gone out on a  twig, never mind a limb, where God has asked me to go and just prayed in faith and trust knowing that He was not only going to answer (because my plan is actually His plan) but that God was going to receive great glory as He acts in my life?

The question boils down to this: do I really know who God is? Have I (you) chosen to just "be" with God in prayer? Have I truly stopped to witness and experience all of His glorious attributes? Do I (you) truly understand that God is the Creator and Sustainer of all that was, is, and will be?

If I haven't, then, I really don't know Who God is. 

Let's go back to my old friend Job. Job was a man who was "purposefully" hit with sudden hardship. In God's eyes, Job was righteous. He had done nothing wrong to have all of those problems heaped on him - and all at once, too. In his pain and suffering, he cried out to have an audience with God. He demanded answers, and I think in his heart of hearts, he knew that God wasn't necessarily going to provide answers.

But in the middle of Job's troubles, he rightly says, "I know that my Redeemer lives,
   and that in the end, he will stand upon the earth.
And after my skin has been destroyed,
   yet in my flesh, I will see God;
I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another.
   How my heart yearns within me!" Job 19:25 - 27.

God is our Redeemer. He loves us. He loves each of us even more than a  husband or wife of a lifetime. Although we may have trusted them for all those years and through all those trials, at some point, they will be gone. In the end, there's just God; He's there - always has been, always will be. What's more, unlike the best friend or spouse or child you know or have and "trust" in, God will not and cannot sin against us; in any way. He is perfect in His love and care and grace for us. We can trust  Him completely for all we need and all we ask for.

Will I, will you, walk and talk and pray by trust and faith, knowing that we serve a God who loves and cares for us? Will I surrender my will for  His will and plan for my life and let go? May we (I) do that even today.