Prayer.
God has reminded me numerous times of my need of prayer. Pastor Allen has challenged us as a church and as individuals to make this a year of prayer. It is a subject revisited again and again through Bible studies, devotions, and sermons. It is a discipline we are told is vital to our spiritual health and Christ Himself modeled a life of prayer to His disciples.
In our Sunday night study of Elijah, we were challenged recently to “expect God to answer unreasonable prayers”. We see examples of this in God’s word when Joshua asked that God make sun stand still, when Elijah prayed for the widow’s son to be brought back to life, when Isaiah prayed that God would move the shadow backwards, when the leper asked Jesus to make him clean, and the list goes on and on. So why do I not approach prayer this way?
If I believe that He can do “far more than I can ask or think”. (Eph 3:20)
If I believe that “nothing is impossible with God”. (Luke 1:37)
If I believe that He is the God who spoke the world into existence, parted the Red Sea, closed the mouth of the lion, sent His Son to be born of a virgin, walked on water, healed the sick, restored the sight to the blind, cast out demons, defeated death, rose from the grave and is coming again to rapture His church
Why don’t my prayers reflect that?
Is it a lack of faith? Is it because my view of God is too small? Or is it because my prayers have been so vague and nonspecific that I would not recognize that He answered them?
God has hammered me on this….My prayers should be a reflection of who I believe God truly is. If I believe He can restore what is broken, call the prodigal home, redeem what was left for ruin, and can work and move in any person or any situation then I have to start praying that way.
So, when I lift up those unreasonable prayers for God to work and move in my own life and in the lives of others and doubt tries to come in, I will echo the words back to God found in Mark 9:24 “I believe, help my unbelief”. I will ask God to reveal Himself to me and to show me His mighty hand at work because He promises us that when we seek Him, we will find Him. (Jer 29:13)
God is calling His children to their knees. Just imagine what He would do in your life, your family, our church, and our world if His children prayed like what they claimed to believe.
Will you join me in praying those unreasonable prayers?
“This is the confidence which we have before Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.” 1 John 5:14-15
Melodie
WHBC Secretary