We once again convene in our respective homes to hear what God has to say. Let us wave in fond farewell to our portion on forgiveness (Don’t forget what it said though… that would really defeat the purpose of this whole blog, and I would never forgive you for it. Just kidding!!) and move on to a new topic! This time, I would like to talk to you about why you should pray.
Prayer really does work. With prayer, lions become like lambs before us. Tongues of fire lick our skin and do not burn us. Water retreats and leaves dry land in its place, demons are driven out, the lame walk, the blind see, and that math test doesn’t look nearly as intimidating.
God has been answering people’s prayers since the beginning of time. He will always answer you. That doesn’t mean He will always say yes, but He will always answer. God answers in three ways: Yes, No because I have something even better for you, and Wait. “How do you know He answers prayers?” you may be asking. Well, for one thing, He tells us so. It says in Zechariah 13:9 “They will call on my name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘These are my people,’ and they will say, ‘The LORD is our God.’” It says in Isaiah 65:24 “I will answer them before they even call to me. While they are still talking about their needs, I will go ahead and answer their prayers!” Here are a few examples of when God said yes to some faithful petitioners.
In 1 Kings, Elijah was in a “contest” with the prophets of baal, a false god they were worshiping, to see whose deity was the true one. Elijah prayed to God, and boy, did He answer! In 1 Kings 18:38-39, it says “The LORD immediately sent fire, and it burned up the sacrifice, the wood, and the stones. It scorched the ground everywhere around the altar and dried up every drop of water in the ditch. When the crowd saw what had happened, they all bowed down and shouted, "The LORD is God! The LORD is God!"”
When King Manasseh was in some serious trouble (I believe he was being dragged by a hook in his nose), it says in 2 Chronicles 33:13 “When he prayed to Him, God heard his prayer and listened to him, and brought him again to Jerusalem and to his nation. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God.”
King David knew what he was about when he called out in Psalm 17:6 “I pray to you, God, because you will help me. Listen and answer my prayer!”
Ok, personal testimony time! Just the other day I was really upset over something. I didn’t have a hook through my nostril or anything, but I was hurt nevertheless. I will admit, I cried quite freely for some time, trying to figure out how to talk my way through this mess. It wasn’t working, and I was still miserable. I went in my room and lay down on my bed (my favorite praying spot!) and finally asked God for peace. As I said, I was angry and hurt, and I didn’t really want to be particularly loving to said person. As I lay there begging, the tears subsided. I stopped crying, and I just had this overwhelming sense that things were alright, my Savior-Daddy was with me, and I could work through the conflict. It was like a God-hug. Anyway, I know this may not seem particularly impressive to most of you, but what happened is that God brought me comfort when I asked for it. Duh, prayer answered!
As we all know, however, He doesn’t always answer with a yes. In 1 Kings 19:4, Elijah makes a request. “He begged the LORD, "I've had enough. Just let me die! I'm no better off than my ancestors."” God denied him. God had a purpose for Elijah to fulfill.
I am reminded now of a story that I have grown up hearing, about a missionary named Amy Carmichael (true story, guys!). She was born with brown eyes. As a child, she prayed and prayed that God would change her eyes to blue, but He never did. Years later she understood why. She began smuggling child prostitutes out of Hindu temples disguised as an Indian woman. Had her eyes been blue, as she had always wished and prayed for, they would have seen she wasn’t Indian and God could not have used her in that way.
God doesn’t tell us no because He feels like being mean. He’s not up there laughing at our pain. When He says no, it’s because He has something so much better planned for us! I remember when I saw a classic illustration of this. I was coming home with my mom from State Solo and Ensemble, and I was not thrilled with my performance. I just wanted to go home, change into something comfy, and not think about anything while zoning on the computer. However, my mom decided that we needed to go shopping for something. I was fine with that, but could I just go home and change first? No. We drove right past my street three times, but she would never stop. I will tell you, I was not the funnest shopping buddy right then. I was downright crabby. Finally, she let me go home. I walk in the door, close to tears… to find that my friends had thrown me a surprise birthday party. It had been my mom’s job to keep me out of the house. I ended up having a heck of a lot better time than if I had just followed my own plan for the day. My mom wasn’t being malicious… she loves me, so why would she be? She just wanted to give me something really good. It’s the same way with God. We get snippy with Him because He doesn’t give us what we want when we want it, when all He really wants is to do what is best for us because He loves us.
There is power in prayer, and God can work miracles if we ask Him to. It’s not just about getting what we want though… God is not a cosmic vending machine. Certainly, He wants us to ask for things. It says in Matthew 7:7, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” It also says in James 4:2, “…Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it.” It isn’t that God doesn’t want to give us good things. He does! It’s just that prayer is so much more than that. How do you get to know someone? You spend time with them and talk with them. Really, that is what prayer is. It’s hanging out with God. Crazy, right? We get the chance to chill with GOD, whenever, no matter what, and He is always ready to listen. How cool is that?
Through Jesus, we have a line straight to God himself! It’s like a phone plan with unlimited minutes and texting. There are times when you and God need to talk things out and use some of those minutes, alone in your room or at the altar. Then you can just send a quick text up as you go through your day as well. “Hey God, bless old Aunt Myrtle, would You?” To take this ridiculous phone analogy a little further… how much sense would it make to leave your cell phone at the bottom of your purse or rolling around the floor of your car, and never use any of those minutes? It wouldn’t. In the same way, recognize the gift of direct communication with the Creator of the universe and get some use out of it!
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What a wonderful essay on prayer. I would like to share one of my own. Did you know that I would not be a teacher today without God's answer to a prayer. I was agonizing over whether to accept a position as president of the co-op preschool Andrea and Matt attended. I did not want to and was anxious and afraid. What did I know about being president of a preschool? As I was sitting there, almost in tears, I picked up a Guideposts magazine, flipped it open and there was my answer. It was an article by Dr. Norman Vincent Peale entitled "Just Do It". I did and it was the first step toward becoming a teacher. He showed me what I was capable of and changed the course of my life.
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