People who go to organizational churches are often mistakenly under the impression that God hasn’t changed His dealings with man. Their mantra is, ‘What God did long ago, He can and still does today.’ But, when we study “the word of God” and think about it, what God did in time past is not what He is doing today in the “but now” of today. Do global floodwaters destroy all life forms today? They once did, you know! Is the Red Sea being miraculously divided now? It once was! Does manna food rain down from Heaven today? It once did! Yes, God did those things in the past. There is no doubt that the God of the Bible can perform and did perform miracles for physical eyes to see…in “time past.”

However, we know that on the authority of the rightly divided Scriptures, God is doing something different today. There’s a better way to pray when we know the truth for this age of “the grace of God.”

So, how should we as genuine grace believers pray during times of trouble?

How would God’s grace cause us to pray for those affected by such tragedies? The Christian believer’s prayer is designed to bring “the word of God” into our lives, to reinforce in our minds and hearts with what God wrote to us in His Word… rightly divided. Someone once said: “If we want to do God’s will, then we need to find out what God is doing today and do that.” When we do by faith what God is doing, then we are doing God’s “will.”

So, what is God’s will? How do we pray according to God’s will?

Here are two very easy Pauline verses to consider.

“For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; ⁴Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” (1Timothy 2:3-4)

Regardless of the dispensation, God’s twofold ‘will’ remains the same. He wants each and every individual to be saved and have a personal relationship with Him through faith in His Word to them. While the divine message to mankind has changed throughout human history, Almighty God has always sought individuals who have had belief, trust, in that divine revelation. This is the “saved” part of v 4a. Then He wants every individual to, by faith, accomplish His work with Him. “Coming to the knowledge of the truth” (v 4b) is learning more and more about what God is specifically doing at this one particular time of human history… during this grace age… according to the words of Paul, “THE apostle to the Gentiles” who form “the body of Christ.”

“I (Paul) speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the (one) apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office.” (Rom. 11:13)

This is Paul writing as God’s spokesman to us. Therefore, if we want to know what God has to tell us, we need to listen to Paul’s words. The word “apostle” means “sent one.” The Lord Jesus said in Jn. 13:20:

“… I say unto you, He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me; and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.” Jesus Christ sent Paul to us (cf. Gal 1:11-12, Eph. 3:1). If we want to hear Jesus Christ’s words for us, we need to listen to Paul. Paul wrote 13 epistles (Romans through Philemon), the “Pauline Books of the Bible.” To reject Paul is to reject the words of Jesus; let’s heed the Pauline doctrine given to us!

The Lord Jesus Christ revealed to the Apostle Paul some special divine truths, so that Paul would then make them known to us Gentiles.

“For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, ²If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me (Paul) to (for) you-ward: ....” (Eph. 3:1-2)

This information was not previously revealed to mankind. It was not known in the Old Testament or in the Four Gospels (during Jesus’ earthly ministry). God deliberately kept it ‘secret’ until He revealed it to Paul. If we ignore or marginalize Paul, as many Christians do, we ignore hugely important information found nowhere else in Scripture!

In the Pauline epistles, of “the dispensation of the Grace of God” given to us Gentiles, we do not read about our problems being miraculously taken away. There is no natural disaster reversal or sickness removal in Paul’s 13 epistles. God does not intervene in the lives of people to supernaturally deposit money into their bank accounts. On the contrary, we read Christians suffering “deep poverty” (2 Cor. 8:1-2). We read about an ill pastor, Timothy, whom God does not miraculously heal; Timothy must use wine as medicine for his ailments (1 Tim. 5:23). Paul himself suffered various bodily afflictions (2 Cor. 12:7-10, Gal. 4:13-15). He too had financial problems, deprivations, and other difficulties (2 Cor. 11:22-28). We read about another sick Christian, Trophimus, who Paul had to leave behind with an unhealed body in 2 Tim. 4:20 (Paul’s last writing before death).

Actually, contrary to what you may have heard from their church organization and TV, we Christians are guaranteed to suffer as all men do simply because we to live in a world dominated by Satan.

“Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.” (Acts 14:22)

“Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” (2 Tim. 3:12)

It is nonsensical for Christians to pray to avoid trouble that the Bible says we will suffer (Jn. 16:33)!

Non-Christians and Christians alike all live in this fallen creation. Jesus said; “That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” (Matthew 5:45) None of us is selected out for suffering, ‘the rain falls upon all of humanity alike.” Yet, we know our sufferings are always ‘working for our eternal good.’

Sin has corrupted God’s original created universe (the heaven as well as the earth), which is why there is suffering bodily pains, violent weather, famine, drought, disease, death, etc.

“For I reckon (count) that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. ¹⁹For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. ²⁰For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, ²¹Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. ²²For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. ²³And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. ²⁴For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?” (Rom. 8:18-25)

Contrary to popular belief, Christian living is not summarized as ‘everything will go your way, you will have constant peace, you will have endless prosperity, and you will always enjoy good health.’ Certainly NOT!

God has not promised to shield us from war, sickness, natural disaster, financial ruin, physical death, and so on. Any of these evils can strike anyone without warning. The curse is random. Again, that was true in the past, in other ages, but that is not entirely true today (more on this later). Today, God doesn’t ‘select’ people for specific punishments. He simply allows the natural consequences of sin to come to fruition. One day, God will lift the curse of sin from creation. He will Rapture and give Christians new glorified spirit-bodies, ones that can never grow old, become sick, or die. Until then, though, we are not guaranteed a problem-free existence. We already saw several Bible passages that prove this to be true beyond any shadow of a doubt.