Have you ever been going through a trial of some kind, something unexpected, something that shakes you to the core—something that actually tempts you to doubt the goodness of God or even the existence of God—and in the midst of the adversity, you say to a someone: "I just don't know what God is trying to teach me through all this." Have you wondered about that?

READ James 1:1-8

What James is saying in this passage is that in the middle of our trials, when you go to God for wisdom, you are to pray from this vantage point: "God, I still trust you. God, I still believe in you. God, this isn't a question of ‘if You don’t, then I won’t. This isn't about what I'm going to do if you fix this mess or what I'm not going to do if you don't do something to fix this mess. God, I'm not going to argue with you. I'm not going to bargain with you. I'm not going to doubt you. God, I trust you, but I need some wisdom. I need to see all this like you see this. I need to see 'how' I am supposed to act, what I'm supposed to do next to walk by faith in the middle of this mess." And James says, God will honor that prayer. God will answer that prayer because he wants us to have steadfast and unwavering faith.

Believing prayer results in steadfast faith. Believing prayer is telling God, you want to see things as He sees things—telling God you want Him to complete His work of refining your faith—telling God that, by His grace and by His Spirit, you will hold on to Him no matter what. Believing prayer is asking God for the wisdom to know how to put your faith into action and trusting Him to show you. In a very real sense, your faith must be verbalized before joy can be realized. You have to pray your faith, affirm your faith, and ask God for wisdom when your faith is shaky, in order to experience the undercurrent of joy in the midst of the terrible trials that come into your life.

Would you pray that way?