Prayers

Prayer, an amazing practice with the power to change and impact greatly those that participate. A key element to the Christian faith, prayer is our way of communing with the Lord, our direct communication with Him. But how often do we abuse prayer, using it as some for of negotiation with God? How often do we expect to get anything we ask for, because we "prayed about it"? Ask and receive... right?

The whole ask and receive thing is much bigger than we really think. For Christ says if we have faith the size of a mustard seed (that's a TINY seed), we can tell mountains to move. But when was the last time we saw mountains moving? So often our prayeres are tainted by our wants - "God, give me a ferrari"- instead of positioning our hearts on things above and asking for the desires of God to be manifest in our lives. We need to get back to the basis of the Lord's prayer in Matthew 6:

This, then, is how you should pray:
'Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.'

How often do we simply throw prayers out without intentionally asking for God's will to be done? How many of us can honestly say that when we pray we trust that God will answer our prayers? And how often do we get ahead of ourselves on the whole "daily bread" thing, worrying about tomorrow? James 1 reminds us that if we ask for something, we should "..believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does."

Double Minded.

Wow. We just got called out BIG time. Double minded - in essence we're two faced, hypocritical, saying one thing while practicing another. Our actions certainly don't match our words. I definitely fall prey to all of this, outwardly confident that the Lord will show up, while inwardly questioning, "will he really do it?".

So I started writing down the prayer requests I've presented before the Lord, and I've found a few things. For one, I have some miserably "failed" prayers, such as:

*prayers for some ridiculously unnecessary car
*prayers to be married by the time I was done with college
*prayers to be invited to certain "it" parties with the "in" crowd
*prayers for stuff that inevitably would cause more harm than good.

I say "failed" in parentheseis because these prayers were not failures, God just said "no". For He hears each and every one of our prayers - and He answers each one. But sometimes, the answer in no. However, of all the "failed" prayers, He's shown up time and time again in prayers, such as:

*the move to California (friendships, housing, ministry, growth, challenges - all of it)
*for friends and family to get jobs
*prayers of healing for brokenhearted friends
*financial blessings on those who need it most
*for successful relationships of my dear friends
*for reconciliation of family relationships
*for health, strength, direction, and vision for this life on earth
*quite simply for everything of the everyday (shelter, food, clothing, etc)

I could go on and on and on in the ways God has shown up in the requests I've laid before Him, yet for all the times he's shown up, I still doubt that He'll do it again. Our instantly gratified human minds can't grasp & often quickly forget the answered prayers.

So I challenge you with this friends - start writing your prayer requests down. Start making note of the prayers you've prayed, and take time to look back on them weeks or even months later. How has God responded? What has happened in each circumstance? Are there any requests that have yet to be answered clearly? Continue praying.

Pray without ceasing.

joyful in hope
patient in affliction

Faithful in Prayer.