Prayer!

Prayer. Such a powerful yet at times confusing concept or at least it has been for me. I had taken my questions and concerns to my small group and the Lord and interestingly enough today our whole class was about prayer! And it was amazing! We read an amazing section of Luke (Luke 11:1-13) that discussed the elements of prayer, the exercise of prayer, and the expectation of prayer. Some highlights from that section that really inspired me were the expectations of prayer. Our teacher told us a story of a man who found favor in the eyes of a king and the king asked what he wanted. At first the man said nothing and then was informed that asking for nothing was an insult against the king. So the man asked for a golf club, thinking that he would get a driver or a nine-iron. This answer pleased the king and the next day the man was brought papers to the deed of a golf club resort. Our teacher referred this back to us and who are we asking? Are we not seeking the King of the universe? If so, why are we only taking our small, somewhat insignificant requests to Him? Do we think he cannot handle more?

 We also heard a story of a man who went for six years trying to reach a people group. For six years he got no results, so he was only left with desperate prayer. After desperately praying to the Lord, they reported 300 salvations after the following two years! This story touched me because some of my fears and concerns were if we were going to see any results. I know this is self-focused and prideful. I mean it does not matter if WE get the results but rather if GOD gets the results. I do not need to worry about the power of God or the power of prayer, because regardless of me or this mission, God will be praised. I need to worry about if I am preparing so that I can be the most effective I can be for the mission of Christ. I prepare by having my daily quiet time, spending un-interrupted time in prayer, and living and walking a life that is captivated by God’s love and faith.

After every class, they want us to journal. Two of the questions they ask us to address are what is God telling you and what are you going to do about it? God told me about the awesome, overwhelming, completely amazing power of prayer. He told me that nothing is too big or too small for Him to handle, and as long as it aligns with His will He will be faithful to answer it. Now with that knowledge I am going to pray harder. I am going to work on taking everything to the Lord, the big and the little. And I am going to be persistent in my prayer trusting in God to take care of it.

My questions to you are: what has God told you? And what are you going to do about it?