When Prayers Become Trends

What Do You Really Mean?

Beloved Friend,

It’s a new week, and I’ve been thinking about how easy it is for us to pray without understanding. You know those everyday lines we throw around, “God when,” “God abeg,” “God no let me die for this Lagos.” They’ve become part of how we talk about hope, and survival.

A few weeks ago, I found myself saying one of those popular prayers, “Lord, show me how good it can get.” It wasn’t tied to anything specific. I had just seen or heard it a few times, and it felt like a nice prayer to add to my list. But the moment I said it again, the Lord quietly asked me what His goodness meant to me. What it looked like in my life at that moment, and what I even thought it should look like.

That question stopped me. I realised I didn’t have a full understanding of what I was asking for. I wanted “good,” but I couldn’t clearly define it beyond what felt comfortable or exciting.

Truth is, I already have evidence of His goodness. I have good health now, and there was a time I didn’t. I’m living in answered prayers, reminders that faithful is He who has promised and that He watches over His word to perform it.

What about the believers in the north or in parts of the world where they’re being persecuted for their faith? What would the goodness of God mean for them? Surely, it’s not always in material comfort or ease, but in the peace of knowing He’s near, in the middle of fire, like the three Hebrew boys, or in the middle of prison, like Paul.

Sometimes, His goodness shows up as chastisement. Scripture reminds us that the Lord corrects those He loves. Think of Jonah, swallowed by a fish because he ran from obedience, only to be redirected back into purpose. Or David, whose sin with Bathsheba brought painful consequences, yet he could still say, “It was good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your decrees” (Psalm 119:71) Omooooo.

Imagine praying for the goodness of God, and the answer comes in form of redirection, a total change of plans. Would we still call that goodness or you’ll cast and bind? I’ve come to see that even in rebuke, He is kind. His discipline is proof that He hasn’t left us to ourselves.

His goodness can also look like withholding something we think we desperately need. Like a parent refusing a child’s constant request for sweets, not out of wickedness but wisdom. Or the partner you were sure was yours ended things, and you later find out He’s in a secret competition with Roman Reigns or she’s the only one that knows God, God doesn’t know her.

I recently began to thank God deeply for refusing me something I thought I needed. When light finally came and I saw how that thing was masquerading as good, I was grateful for mercy that held me back even when my discernment was faltering. The realization didn’t come immediately, but now I can trace His hand and say, “That was Your goodness all along.”

This isn’t me saying we shouldn’t desire God’s best. Scripture is clear that no good thing will He withhold from those who love Him. So maybe before echoing a popular prayer, we should ask ourselves if we truly understand what we’re inviting into our lives.

For me, I think I just wanted pleasant surprises. You know how someone asks what you want from the mall and you say, “Anything, surprise me.” You just don’t want the usual. Maybe you’re hoping they’ll get you something you never knew you needed but did. That was my heart posture.

Still, God’s goodness isn’t always wrapped in excitement. Sometimes it’s in discipline, or in pruning. It’s in the waiting seasons that test our faith and the interruptions that push us back into alignment.

I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living (Psalm 27:13).

And maybe, we already are.

When you think about it, what does His goodness look like to you right now?

With thoughts of kindness,

ABBA’s Shofar