April 10, 2016

Remember God’s Faithfulness

4 So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, 5 and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, 6 to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 7 tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.” -- Joshua 4:4-7

How specifically do you pray? Our class has been studying The Battle Plan for Prayer by Stephen and Alex Kendrick. This week’s lesson is on praying strategically and specifically.

That’s always been difficult for me. I want to be vague about it. Please, God, help me. Please, God, guide me. But I never say how I want Him to help or guide me. I want His will, of course, but I’m also a little bit intimidated by asking God Almighty for anything else.

I am so blessed. Totally. I know that. Mostly, I am blessed by His Presence. I am never alone to face whatever happens, good or bad. He has met all my needs. All of them. So I feel guilty when I want more.

Yet God gives me more. He answers my prayers. I am always amazed at how good He is to me.

Yesterday I desperately needed to talk with someone about a first aide issue. I had done all I knew to do and still blood would not stop flowing from the wound. I called a friend who is a medic, but he wasn’t home. I called the doctor’s office and was on hold waiting to speak to a person for what seemed like forever. I finally hung up.

I asked God what I should. I barely got the words out of my mouth when the phone rang. It was the doctor’s office calling to give me test results from earlier in the week. I needed to talk with a nurse and God had one call me. How amazing is that!

I immediately told her she was an answer to my prayer and, after I explained the situation, she told me what to do. It worked. Crisis averted and no trip to the ER for us.

I want to remember this. All the times in the future when I wonder where God is, I want to remember how He helped me. All the times when I don’t think God hears me, I want to remember how He answered my prayer.

We could all use stones to remind us of God’s faithfulness. And we should share our stories with others, so that everyone will know how good God is to us all. What an amazing illustration of just how much God cares.