Yesterday I stumbled across my prayer journal from High School (pictured above). In it, I had about sixty names of classmates and acquaintances I was praying for at the time. Next to the name of each person was the word “lost.” When the person I was praying for came to Christ, “lost” was crossed off and the date they came to Christ was written down. It was very encouraging, as I flipped through the pages, to see that six of the sixty names were dated. I wondered briefly about how many more names would now have a date next to them if I could follow-up on each one.
I don’t share this information to brag about my faith because, quite honestly, this high school prayer journal was the most intentional prayer journal I’ve ever maintained. Lately God has used several influences to awaken me to the power of prayer in changing lives. The parable in Luke 18:1-8 illustrates for us how God answers persistent prayer. In it we see a widow persistently crying out to an unrighteous judge for a favorable ruling. The scripture says “for a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice.” (Vs. 4-5) The point being that God desires to work through persistent prayer! If this is the truth, then why don’t we pray as persistently as we talk? David Wells says that we don’t do it because “we don’t believe it will make any difference.” I hate to admit it, but I think Wells is exactly right. It’s embarrassing how my lack of prayer is often grounded in a faithless attitude toward God and His Word.
I don’t post this to give one more example of how you and I are failing at living the “perfect” life. Our motivation to pray should not be driven by guilt. If it is, then we have missed the point. God promises us that He will work through the persistent prayer of His people! This means the God of the universe give us the opportunity to be a key player in helping accomplish His agenda to transform lives through the power of prayer! What a privilege! How exciting! So, why are we not taking advantage of this amazing opportunity advance God’s mission through steadfast prayer? God asks us in verse 7, “will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night?” According to Luke 18, the answer is yes… so lets start praying!
2 comments:
this is such an inspiring post... i loved the way u have expressed your views here and i strongly agree to the fact that prayers do work... well u can too drop by My Inspiration Blog sometimes... hope u will find it interesting...!!!
I started journaling my prayers in 1999. I love to go back through them and see how God has answered some prayers and still hasn't answered others. Sometimes an answer is, "no," and often times I have not liked what "no" has looked like. But as I wait for His perfect timing, the "no" sometimes turns out better and very different than I could have imagined. It encourages me to pray more and about EVERYTHING. It also makes me really realize that God is sovereign, I hold nothing in my hands, but I have the most powerful name in the universe on the tip of my tongue - Jesus.
Jboats
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