Something to consider.
At the risk of seeming callous...
God may have allowed your circumstances for a reason.
We've all been there. When we encounter a tough situation we want to escape.
To free ourselves from the pain, aggravation, or discomfort.
Oftentimes God has a better solution than what we can reason on our own.
Moses didn't pray for the Red Sea to open as an escape route. That was God's idea.
Best to present our situation to God to receive his best solution.
I have a card on my desk to remind me of this. It reads: Turn it over to God.
Which means, the PROBLEM, not my SOLUTION.
Why pray for God to CHANGE your circumstances instead of CHANGING you?
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If it's understood that
EVERYTHING that happens here on Earth happens for a reason, then each and every difficulty that we face should be welcomed.
Everything in life is either a lesson, test, reward or punishment.
If we learn our lessons quickly, and adapt (change ourselves), then we are rewarded (
spiritually). If we are obstinate/hard-headed/hard-hearted, then we are punished, so that we learn to differentiate between good and evil/selfish behavior.
So asking Father (God) to change some condition or circumstances we are experiencing is akin to asking Him to do something that will
NOT help us, as well as very arrogantly assuming that we know better than God (about the lessons, or the tests, or what the best course of action is for us and all of those around us).
Note:
People often see evil people in positions of power, enjoying worldly, material wealth, and then others who seem pious having to live through challenging conditions, and then seem confused about how this world works.
God brings the sunshine and the rain upon the just and the unjust (
Matt. 5:45). But the same is
NOT true about the spiritual gifts that God bestows upon those striving to
DO His Will.
Acts 5:29
5:29 Then Peter and the [other] Apostles answered and said,
We ought to obey God rather than men.
5:30 The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.
5:31 Him hath God exalted with His right hand [to be] a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.
5:32 And we are His witnesses of these things;
and [so is] also the Holy Spirit, whom God hath given to them that obey Him.
5:33 When they heard [that], they were cut [to the heart], and took counsel to slay them.
This is why we are repeatedly told to learn to overcome and crucify the "self" (the ego), with its selfish, materialistic values, and learn to seek the
spiritual values that Father (God) awaits to shower us with as we draw closer to Him.
Crucify the "self" daily (look in the mirror and hold out your body's arms horizontally out from its sides...that is our cross to bear):
See: (
Matt. 10:38;
Matt. 16:24-26;
Mark 8:34;
Luke 9:23;
Luke 14:26-27;
Thomas 6:9;
Gal. 2:20).
The "Overcomeths" (overcoming the "self"):
(
Rev. 2:7;
2:11;
2:17;
2:26-28;
3:5;
3:12;
3:21;
21:7).
