"Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."
James 5:13-16
A small country town was in desperate need of rain. One Sunday morning, the pastor of the local church called for a special prayer meeting to be held that night. "It's time to pray for rain," he said. The people gathered with a sense of purpose and excitement, but when the pastor stood to lead the prayer time, his words stunned the waiting crowd. "Only one of you came in faith," he announced. Looking down at the first row, the pastor pointed at a little girl who sat quietly, a smile on her face and an umbrella in her hand.
We can pray for rain, but faith brings an umbrella. Prayer invites and expects God to step in and take charge. Rick Warren, the pastor of Saddleback Church in California and author of "The Purpose Driven Life" was once asked, "Rick, why do you think God blesses your life and this ministry in such powerful ways?" His answer was surprisingly simple, "Because I expect him to." Prayer shuts out fear and fuels faith.
Remember when Jesus came to the disciples, walking on the water, between three and six o'clock in the morning, the darkest time of the night? I have often wished I could have been on that boat with the disciples, waiting for Jesus to show up. I imagine the questions and complaints were flying! "Why would Jesus send us out here, knowing the waves were high? And where is He, by the way? Why is He waiting so long to rescue us? Can't He just calm the waves like He did before? I ministered all day long and this is my reward? Is He really coming? I don't understand!" Sound familiar?
When the winds picked up and the waves grew larger, I am sure that every disciple in that rocking boat was praying like crazy! Unfortunately, it often takes a crisis to drive us to our knees in prayer. I think I know why. Until we are utterly helpless, prayer seems like an option instead of our only hope.
Three ministers were discussing which position produces the most powerful prayer. As they were talking, a telephone repairman was working on the phone system in the background. One minister shared that he felt the key to powerful prayer was in the hands. He always held his hands together and pointed them upward as a form of symbolic worship. The second suggested that real prayer was conducted on the knees while the third minister suggested that they both had it wrong. According to him, the only position worth its salt was to pray while stretched out flat on your face in humility. The phone man couldn't resist offering his opinion, "I have found that the most powerful prayer I ever prayed was while I was dangling upside down by my heels from a power pole suspended forty feet above the ground." Helplessness underlines our need for faith and our total dependence upon God, even when the skies are clear and the water is calm.
Answered prayer should be the norm. Prayer should be as natural and constant as breathing. A mother overheard her daughter-in-law talking on the telephone to a friend who had called, asking for prayer. Five-year-old Amy came bouncing into the room, stood still for a moment to listen, and heard her mother praying. "Is that God on the phone, Mom?" Amy interrupted. "I need to talk to Him, too!"
Samuel Chadwick writes, "The one concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying. He fears nothing from prayer-less studies, prayer-less work and prayer-less religion. He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but he trembles when we pray." The best time for prayer isn't found. It's made. The average Christian spends very little time in prayer - then wonders why they have no faith and experience no power. If we are too busy to pray, we are too busy to experience the power of God. We can be very busy, but not necessarily productive because we lack faith. One of the main reasons we lack faith is because we don't pray. Consistent prayer builds consistent faith.
Father, Thank You for the gift of prayer. I am constantly amazed by Your love and the fact that You really want to spend time with me in prayer. Help me to become a mighty prayer warrior for You.
In Jesus' name,
Amen.
Does this not convict you!? Oh, it does me! I don't pray expectantly. And it is not a natural, constant thing as it should be in my life... as easy as breathing! As I was preparing to take my certification test last summer, I was soo nervous! I needed God in a BIG way to be with me through the test and see me through it, give me the answers and allow me to pass. I prayed unceasingly! Tony and I prayed more together during those 2-3 weeks than we had/have in a long time! I felt SO close to God, I know He was with me in that room and He was the reason I passed my test! Now I've passed my test and I'm looking for a job.... But I have not prayed with such passion and consistency and expectancy since taking that test.... WHY!? I'm so discouraged that I haven't found a teaching position yet and I cry out to God the desires of my heart to be in a classroom, but do I show up on my knees with "my umbrella"?
You know when we first moved here and we began blogging so that we could keep our family and friends back home up-to-date, we were always listing prayer requests.... We don't really do that much anymore... WHY!? Maybe because we've been to busy updating you and excited about what is going on in our lives... But we should be excited about what God is doing in our lives and sharing our prayer requests with you so that we can pray together and expect God to show up! So, not every post, but more often, I will be sharing our prayer requests with you, our loved ones. Please comment your own requests so that we can pray for you too!
- My attitude/depression - I am getting discouarged as time passes and I continue not getting called back or emailed responses from schools for a teaching position. Pray for my attitude in my current position.
- Tony's schoolwork - he has been doing so well and is in his 3rd semester. Midterms are finishing and the end of the year is around the corner - Pray for his endurance, stress level and that he can stay on top of school work, work and YML.
- YML - Tony has mentioned that he is Co-Chair of the Youth Ministry Lab at SWBTS. This is a great honor with a lot of responsibility. Pray for God's grace to shine through his leadership and Tony not to be spread to thin.
- Finances - Not to bore you with this request over and over - but as long as we are here and with mostly one income, finances will be a constant burden and prayer request.
Thank you for your prayers on our behalf! We love you friends and we miss you!
Blessings,
Diamend
