My praying in the past could not be characterized by the word confidence. I’ve doubted whether God was really listening to me, not because I doubted His ability, but that I wasn’t important enough. God had much more important things to respond to than me. But my view of God was far too small. He is able and willing to listen, but He wants me to talk with Him. God knows if I could handle an answer the way I want, and He sees the big picture through His sovereign rule. Mature praying seems to be a continuous process of seeking the practice of His kingdom and His righteousness. Praying with surrender and honesty changes us just as much as the a situation.
“Edmund P. Clowney wrote, “The Bible does not present an art of prayer; it presents the God of prayer.” We should not decide how to pray based on the experiences and feelings we want. Instead, we should do everything possible to behold our God as He is, and prayer will follow. The more clearly we grasp who God is, the more our prayer is shaped and determined accordingly.” - Timothy Keller, Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God
“Sometimes Christians speak of each decision of their lives as though they were launching a moon-shot where a single miscalculation would send the capsule into a trackless void. Even space scientist do better than that, correcting the flight of their space-probes by radioed signals. God does much better. He knows that we are often incapable of distinguishing trivial decisions from momentous ones, and that we are foolish and imperceptive. He knows---- and keeps us in his hand.” - Edmund P. Clowney, Called to the Ministry
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