Prayer: God's Daily Test

I have some biblical tension for you to hold in your life that gets to the heart of prayer. Are you ready for it? Perhaps you should pray first.

Consider these verses:

• "Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham..." (Genesis 22:1)
• "Then the Lord said to Moses...'I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions.'" (Exodus 16:4)
• "God left [Hezekiah] alone only to test him, that He might know all that was in his heart." (2 Chronicles 32:31)

Now consider these verses:

• "God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7)
• "Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him." (Matthew 6:8)
• "And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, 'Why are you thinking evil in your hearts?'" (Matthew 9:4)

As a student of the Bible, you are, at this point, surely, thoroughly confused. How could it be that God tests man in order to see what's in his heart and yet, at the same time, He already knows man's heart--and knows all things even before we verbalize it?

There's a great deal of both/and with God where we would often like to apply either/or. In this instance, it would be wrong to say God either tests man to see what's in his heart or He already knows what's in man's heart. Clearly, the Bible teaches that God both tests man to see what's in his heart and He already knows what's in man's heart.

Why is this the case? Well, to skip to the final answer, God doesn't tell us. But we can reasonably assume it's because His ways are higher than our ways and His purposes are better than our purposes.

Consider too how God's testing reveals, refines, and reinforces. God's testing reveals before Creator and creature what's really in our hearts. God's testing refines our faith, purging away that which would hinder it. God's testing reinforces our faith, strengthening our hearts.

Now consider how prayer is a daily test. It's not a way of letting God know what's going on in our hearts--He's already there. Yet, at the same time, He wants to see what's in our hearts. It's a test of faith.

What is being revealed, refined, and reinforced in our prayer lives? If we don't have prayer lives, the answer is, "nothing." So, let us pray, and let us reap the great benefits of this test.