I really like the chorus of the Martina McBride song “Anyway” (I’ve included the whole thing at the end of this post):

God is great
But sometimes life ain’t good
And when I pray
It doesn’t always turn out like I think it should
But I do it anyway
I do it anyway

- Martina McBride, “Anyway” from the album Waking up laughing (RCA Records, 2007)

What kind of life is it when we don’t do anything for fear that it won’t work out “like the way [we] think it should”? Not much of one. This is particularly true of prayer. Some people fall in to the trap of thinking, “I don’t know what God wants me to pray, so I won’t pray anything.” My advice is to pray anyway – and once you start praying, God may well show you what to pray for!

It’s kind of like a car or a boat: it’s much easier to steer once you’re actually moving. Similarly, it’s easier for God to tell you about his plans if you’re actually in conversation with him in the first place! By all means start out by asking him what to pray for… but even if you don’t get an answer straight away, it’s still cool to keep praying!

On another note, don’t be discouraged because “when I pray / It doesn’t always turn out like [you] think it should.” Sometimes God has other plans. And sometimes his plans are the same as yours, his timing is just different. Consider this story from the book of Daniel. In Daniel 10, Daniel comes to a realisation that a great war is coming. He then begins mourn, fasting and praying. At the end of 3 weeks, he still hasn’t heard anything from God – until an angel appears and says:

‘Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days… Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future.’

- Daniel 10:12-14

If Daniel had given up on praying, I reckon he would have missed out. But because he kept praying, the angel won through to pass on God’s message to him. Because he was persistent, even though it seemed that God was ‘silent’, he got the result he was looking for. Because he “did it anyway” he unleashed God’s blessing into his life, and into the life of his nation.

You can spend your whole life building
Something from nothin’
One storm can come and blow it all away
Build it anyway

You can chase a dream
That seems so out of reach
And you know it might not never come your way
Dream it anyway

God is great
But sometimes life ain’t good
And when I pray
It doesn’t always turn out like I think it should
But I do it anyway
I do it anyway

This world’s gone crazy
It’s hard to believe
That tomorrow will be better than today
Believe it anyway

You can love someone with all your heart
For all the right reasons
In a moment they can choose to walk away
Love ‘em anyway

God is great
But sometimes life ain’t good
And when I pray
It doesn’t always turn out like I think it should
But I do it anyway
Yea – I do it anyway

You can pour your soul out singing
A song you believe in
That tomorrow they’ll forget you ever sang
Sing it anyway
Yea – sing it anyway

I sing
I dream
I love
Anyway

- Martina McBride, “Anyway” from the album Waking up laughing (RCA Records, 2007)