Don’t Ask God for the Outcome
We pray that it will work out. But maybe that is the wrong request. On the one prayer that makes you shine in this world.
Psalm 51:10
Maybe you are praying for the wrong thing.
You are standing before something big. A conversation, a decision, a goal you have been working toward for a long time. You fold your hands and ask: Lord, let it work out.
But what if that very request walks right past the door God actually wants to lead you through?
The Outcome Does Not Belong to You
We ask for outcomes because we believe everything is decided by them. Success or failure. Yes or no. Up or down.
But God does not look at the outcome first. He looks at the heart that goes through the situation.
So do not ask him for the result. Ask him for something else: that however this situation unfolds, you keep your heart pure. Whether it ends well or badly. Whether you are met with kindness or with hatred and rage.
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”
Psalm 51:10
The Real Test
The world will provoke you. It will treat you unfairly, underestimate you, hurt you. And in that moment an old voice wakes up inside you and says: Pay them back.
This is where the test lies. Not in the outcome, but in how you answer. You are not to meet hatred with hatred.
“Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.”
Proverbs 4:23
The purity of your heart decides whether you fall in this world or begin to shine. You can reach a goal and lose your heart along the way. And you can fail and come out brighter than ever before.
Lights in the World
Paul writes to people who are meant to stay pure in the middle of a twisted world. And he tells them what happens then: that they shine “as lights in the world” (Philippians 2:15). Not because everything goes their way. But because the darkness around them could not darken what is inside them.
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”
Matthew 5:8
That is why I no longer ask for the outcome first. I ask that my heart stays pure, even when things do not turn out the way I wished.
That is the prayer that carries you. No matter how it ends.
In short
Frequently asked questions about “Don’t Ask God for the Outcome”
How should I pray as a Christian?
Don’t ask God for the outcome first. Ask that, however a situation turns out, you keep your heart pure and do not answer hatred with hatred. In the Bible, David prays: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10)
Why is God not answering my prayers?
Perhaps because we ask for results, while God looks first at the heart that goes through a situation. You can reach a goal and lose your heart along the way. You can fail and come out brighter than ever before. That is why it is worth asking differently: for a pure heart instead of a particular outcome.
What should I ask God for?
For a pure heart that is kept safe in every situation. “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.” (Proverbs 4:23) The purity of your heart decides whether you fall in this world or begin to shine.
