Good morning,
When God’s children pray
Well, last week Iran released four men who had been held hostage for some time as bargaining chips in the battle with the West to be given the right to try to control the world. One of the men released was Pastor Saeed, a godly man who had been prayed for by millions of people during the time he was held. Now his wife and family and the church as a whole are delighted by this answer to prayer. In my mind, there is no doubt that this is the will of God. The problem we face as modern day believers is still one of what happens when we pray. Is prayer an ancient form of what we now call ‘crowd funding’ where if you get enough money from supporters you will be able to develop your dream of project? Is it true that if you just get enough people to pray, God will give us what we are asking for? What about the millions of faithful Christians who have died for their faith over the last hundred years? Most of them were only known by their closest friends and family and some of them felt all alone in their suffering and sacrifice. Is it pressure from the faithful that gets God’s attention so that he will keep his promises to those in his family?
King David was a man who knew a great deal of what it meant to face suffering and death alone, and in that experience gives us some important truths for us to remember. He loved spending time with God and at one point he says, I praise your name for your unfailing love and faithfulness; for your promises are backed by all the honor of your name. David knew that his God never lied and that he could trust him to hear and answer his prayers. David knew that when he prayed that God was listening to him. David knew that God would answer him. David knew all this, but he also knew that God was in charge of his life and all that was going on around him, so what he expected we often miss when we pray. What David was expecting was, you encourage me by giving me strength. As children of God we have no right to tell God what to do. I think that most of us have learned that when God answers our prayers he can tell us no or wait or yes. What we forget is that no matter what he says, we will need his strength to live out his answer. If he tells us NO, we will need his strength to not run our own lives our way. If he says WAIT, we will need his strength to patiently keep doing what he tells us to do while we are waiting, and if he tells us YES we will need his strength to do all the new and challenging things that go with that change. Our hope must be in God’s perfect judgement, not in our own needs and imperfect plans. Dear Lord, please help us to really trust you when we sincerely pray.
Psalms 138:2 . . . I praise your name for your unfailing love and faithfulness; for your promises are backed by all the honor of your name. 3 As soon as I pray, you answer me; you encourage me by giving me strength.
Roy Wisner
