Last time is part 1 we talked about one of the reasons we struggle with prayer.  We do from time to time neglect our relationship with God and as a result, our prayer life suffers.  When we feel that disconnection with God, we know that we often experience guilt because we know it’s our fault.  We know that He has never neglected us so we feel even worse if that’s possible which makes our struggle all the harder.  Like an old car abandoned in a field somewhere our relationship can seem like its left for dead but realizing how we neglect God is the first step in the restoration process.  It takes time and effort to make things look like new but the effort is well with it. 

Today we are going to talk about another cause for struggle with prayer.  The title for today’s message is:

Why do we Struggle with Prayer? (Part 2 - Trials)

They say that there are no atheists in a foxhole especially when the bombs are falling all around.  Trials have proven time and again to focus us on what’s most important and turn us back to God.  In my life I have had my share of trials and have watched many go through trials of their own.  Sometimes the trial passes and sometimes it remains for the rest of someone’s life.  Some of the strongest people spiritually I have ever known have gone through trials that ultimately ended their lives and they never wavered in their belief and commitment to God.  I have also witnessed people who have turned their back on this path over trials.

Whether or not we overcome or fail a trial we will see is up to us.  Today I am going to give you three truths about trials that if misunderstood can cause you to struggle with prayer during the toughest times of life.

Trials have a function and purpose

Now the word we often read as trial/Temptation in the KJV is the Greek word  Pi-ras-mos - 3986 πειρασμός peirasmos {pi-ras-mos'}
Meaning:  1) an experiment, to test, temptation or proving
Usage:  – trial/temptation 19, temptations 1, try 1; 21

We think of a trial as something we must endure or push through.  Something that is: Like a car accident is a trial, something hard that must be endured.  Or a sickness as a trial, or a loss of a job is a trial.  We see the word in a negative context.  But in Greek the word has purpose more than just a thing that lies in one’s path.  The purpose means it has an origin or reason that it is there. One of the uses of this word Pi-ras-mos is to prove something.  And this is where we struggle with trials.

If you were subject to a daily exercise program, you might see it similarly as a prisoner subjected to hard labor.  While an athlete sees the same activity as a challenge that gets them to their goal.  Abraham was tested by a trial when God told him to sacrifice Isaac, and every indication we get in scripture is that this was the toughest trial of Abraham’s life but it had a purpose.  Jesus was tempted by Satan only after He fasted for 40 days to prepare Himself for success.  The temptation had a purpose in that in denying Satan, Christ gave us both an example to follow in rejecting evil but it was also a part of the process of one day replacing Satan as head of state over the earth. 

Trials, therefore, have purpose and do not exist for no reason at all. Now one of the things we often do is blame ourselves for trials as if God is punishing us.  He did, punish Israel for sin and we know He corrects us.  So if we end up with some horrible trial is that a punishment?

The next truth about trials we don’t want to miss or suffer in prayer is:

God allows trials for a positive benefit

If you see trials simply as a negative in your life you can become discouraged and that will lead to problems in prayer and your relationship with God.  I have known people who have been angry with God because of trials.  That anger got in the way of their relationship.  God allows trials and if He does that means there is a reason.  You might see a trial as correction or a punishment.  Not all correction by God is a trial. Sometimes it can feel like a trial to be corrected.  In Hebrews 12:6-8

NKJ Hebrews 12:6-8 6 For whom the LORD loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives." 7 If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons;
for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? 8 But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.

God as a perfect parent only gives us what we can handle.  All parents know that there is correction that may or may not involve punishment.  That doesn’t mean children can always see the difference.  Sometimes a strict conversation is enough to teach a lesson but a habitual problem may require a punishment to get the point across.  Regardless if you are being corrected by God or He is allowing a punishment (usually of our own making), its purpose to help us receive a positive benefit.

God allows trials in our lives for positive results.  Trials can strengthen us.  If you were training your children to learn to work you don’t start with something difficult building a house, or working in a factory.  You start with teaching them to clean up after themselves.  For all those parents out there, you know that this is not a simple trial for our children to pick up after themselves.  Sometimes they act like you are punishing them.  They don’t think its fair that they have to clean their rooms or put their toys away.  But you know that if they are ever going to hold down a job they must start hear and allow the lessons to get progressively harder so they can be proved to be good workers.  In James 1:2-4 we read that trials are not a bad thing.

NKJ James 1:2-4 2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

Remember in Job the exchange between God and Satan starts with God asking Satan to consider His servant Job, that there was none like him on earth.  This provokes a response from Satan to test Job.  Later, God would allow Satan to test His son who even more than Job was like no other.

So if trials, like what Job and Christ went through at the hands of Satan were meant to allow faith to work out a perfect work and that we learn patience and perspective as we overcome trials it would tell us that trials are allowed by God.  Down a few verses, we see an apparent contradiction.

NKJ James 1:12-16 12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. 14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. 16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.

551ἀπείραστος apeirastos{ap-i'-ras-tos}Vs 3986πειρασμός peirasmos{pi-ras-mos'}
This word is different from the other previous two words in this sentence.

to test, to make trial of one, put him to proof the limits of mind, or temper, in particular, to attempt to induce one to commit some crime

The state of being tempted to sin

So God does not want us to fail, He did not allow Satan to attack Job because He wanted nor expect Job to fail.  Just the opposite.  In other words, God allows trials that He expects we will overcome.  God led His Son by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan.  It was Satan doing the evil work just as with Job but God allowed it so the trial could have its perfect work. 

However, trials have been known to break some people.  I have had employees leave because the job was too tough for them.  People can be easily offended by others or even God.  Satan would love to discourage you with trials just as he tried with Job.  But there was something in Job that God could see that meant that he was not simply going to give up.  You can read the dozens of chapters where Job was trying to figure out why the trials came.  That need in Job kept him coming back time and again.  God knew this would serve as an object lesson for everyone and benefit Job as well.  There was none like Job when Satan started with him and afterward he was so much more.  Satan hoped that by inflicting maximum pain on Job would cause him to reject God. 

So even the trials that are inflicted on us by Satan, they can be overcome for positive effect. But not all trials that we face are a direct result of Satan’s attack.  There is something called time and chance.  We see this in other countries that do not have building codes like God inspired in countries blessed because of promises made to Abraham.  A storm or earthquake causes buildings to collapse and kill thousands.

Not every bad thing we have to endure is put there deliberately because this world is full of time and chance.  People make mistakes and those mistakes can cause all kinds of misery.  I have been injured on the job when a mistake by me or someone else is missed and them wham.  A wall falls and you happened to be next to it.  For you it’s a trial but it fell because of Time and chance.  The question is, do you blame God for it?  Jesus discusses this in Luke 13:1-5

NKJ Luke 13:1-5 There were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And Jesus answered and said to them, "Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? 3 "I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. 4 "Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? 5 "I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish."

So what Jesus is saying here is that tragic things can happen to people all over the world.  Its not because of a special sin its because this world is perishing.  Repentance and forgiveness frees us of the fate worse than death because it opens the door for redemption and eternal life.  God may, also, choose to spare you from time and chance.  I have told stories of injury and deliverance in my life.  There were times in my life I could very well have died because of time and chance but were delivered.  That does not mean time and chance cannot yet take my life. 

Sin has abounded in the world and as a result there are trials of our own making and because of the sins of others.  It does not mean those trials do not have a positive purpose.  Why does God allow Suffering in this life?

This is a question that every member of the body of Christ should be able to answer.  God allows the world to experience pain as a result of trying to guide ourselves through life.  Sometimes we suffer because of circumstances of our own making, other times by the hand of other’s mistakes, or even because God allows Satan to interfere directly in our lives within limits. 

So a trial can have a positive impact on us if we understand its purpose.  If we allow it to discourage us we will struggle with prayer and our relationship with God will suffer.  And as you endure the trial you won’t get the support you need from prayer.  We have to see the trial as an opportunity and not just a punishment. 

We can struggle with prayer during a trial because we focus on the trouble is causes us rather than the challenge it represents.  God does not maliciously try to get people to fail by throwing obstacles in their path hoping to trip them.  Every trial is an opportunity to learn, grow, and overcome.  It’s the process of building righteous character.

The last truth about trials we need to understand or we might suffer in prayer when we need it most is:

God understands how difficult trials are

God has always been there for us.  We often forget this during a trial.  We can see God as unapproachable during a trial especially if we see the trial as a punishment.  We suffer when we get the wrong impression of God during our trials.  Some get angry with God and assume that He does not understand us or what we are going through.  Hebrews 13:5-8 tells us about God’s commitment to us. 

Turn to Hebrews 13: and lets read vs. 5-8.

NKJ Hebrews 13:5-8 5 Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said,  "I will never leave you nor forsake you."  6 So we may boldly say: "The LORD is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?" 7 Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct.  8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

God is a rock in our lives and he never changes.  He cares about our struggles in life and even knows that when trials come, our prayer life can suffer.  Even Jesus struggled with prayer at the most difficult time of his life.  When Satan tempted Him it was difficult so much so that Angles had to minister to him afterward.  But the time before his arrest was so stressful and it came out in His prayers to the Father.  We have all been at that place where we cry out to God for relief from our trial.  We need to understand that even Jesus experienced this to the extreme.  Lets read about when Jesus was facing death and needed and answer through prayer.

The story begins right after the reading we do in John for Passover where Jesus prayers for His disciples, the Church, and the world. John in chapter 18:1 only covers the beginning and to continue on you have to read from Matthew 26:36-46, Mark 14:32-42, and Luke 22:40-46.  Each of these accounts give a unique view of His impassioned prayer right before His arrest.  To get the full emotion of the account I will read this story from the Harmony of the Gospels parallel account weaving each of the passages into one narrative.

Read from Harmony Page 186-189. 

Jesus certainly understands reaching out to God in pleading for an answer.  One of the things that Jesus showed by His repeated prayer is that it is Ok to go to God over and over when we are in distress.  God does not hold it against us if we need to talk things over with Him again and again. 

He made us, knows us inside and out, and through Christ, understands how difficult life can be, He knows what we are going through.  When we talk to him, we need to speak to Him and see Him as a compassionate father who wants to be close to us and not as a condemning judge.

If you don’t have a great relationship with God, the only one stopping us is ourselves.  There will be times that we will struggle to pray because we feel God must be disappointed in us.  But we need to remember:

NKJ Hebrews 4:14-16 14 Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

When you pray know that Jesus is our intercessor with God because He knows what we are going through because He lived like us.  His struggle was not because he neglected His Father, but because Life can be very hard sometimes.  He knows that people go astray that’s why he spoke the parable of the Lost Sheep.  Not to tell us the one who leaves the flock is doomed, but to say that Jesus, the good shepherd is out looking for lost sheep to restore them again.  That is what God thinks of us.  We sometimes see ourselves as a broken down old wreck that is lost an abandoned of hope.  But God looks at potential in every one of us.  I like to watch restoration shows where cars that look hopeless are brought back to life and look brand new again.  That’s what God wants to do with us when we struggle to talk to Him.  Know that and let it help us come home again.

Trials have a function and purpose

Trials are not just random bad luck or God hitting the smite button because we are a terrible person.Trials are used by God to teach and grow His people.We need the growth from trials because we are working to overcome this world and God needs to know our hearts and for us to know our own hearts, that like Abraham, will never forsake Him.Trials serve to mature us toward perfection.

God allows trials for a positive benefit

Don’t think of Trials as a punishment.Think of them as a positive opportunity to grow and overcome.Even if God allows a trial because of disobedience, the correction should be looked at positively.God Loves His children so He chastises them to straighten us out.It’s a good thing that God does not allow us to continue in sin.

God understands how difficult trials are

Lastly, God understands how difficult trials can be.  He knows more than we can know how tough they are.  Jesus promised to never leave our side and He makes intercessory prayer for us to our Father.  He also expects us to overcome as He gave us example.  We will never have a trial harder than what God went through.  And promises

NKJ 1 Corinthians 10:13-14 None of the trials which have come upon you is more than a human being can stand. You can trust that God will not let you be put to the test beyond your strength, but with any trial will also provide a way out by enabling you to put up with it.

Verse 14 tells us to Therefore, (linking the previous verses), flee Idolatry.  We know that Idolatry was the way that Satan was causing them to compromise God’s instruction and way of life.  We too must flee Satan’s distractions meant to cause us to stumble.  Satan wants us to fail but God knows we can overcome this world and so lets not let anything get in the way of our prayers and relationship with God.