God Is Waiting
They all joined together constantly in
prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his
brothers. – Acts 1:14
How important is prayer on your daily “to do” list? Is
it an afterthought or is it something you dedicate specific time to? Is prayer
something you do out of obligation or is something you look forward to doing?
And is prayer a once-and-done kind of thing or is it something that carries you
through the day?
Several years ago I lead a study titled The Battle Plan
for Prayer. I always knew God would call me to do it again and He has. It’s
been a wonderful refresher course in being specific in my prayer life.
This study, by Stephen and Alex Kendrick and based on
the movie War Room, leads us into a more strategic prayer life. How many times do
we pray in generalities so that we never really know if our prayers are
answered? How many times do we hold back because we’re afraid God will let us
down, that He’ll say no, or, worse, that He’ll ignore us and our request?
What shallow faith we have. We’re so intent on doing
it ourselves, on counting on ourselves, that we leave God out of the equation
until all of our options are done. We have no where else to turn. We have nothing
left to lose. Then we turn to God, who was waiting there all along, eager to
help us and longing for a relationship with us.
That’s what God wants. He wants our hearts. He wants
our devotion. He wants us to turn to Him, to run to Him, with all our joys and
sorrows, our needs and our celebrations. He wants that relationship. We’re a
bit leery. He is God, after all. He is Almighty. Powerful. Our Judge. The Creator
of our world and the One in charge of it all.
What if He says no? What if He doesn’t heal or provide
for us? What if He sends us on a journey we’d rather not take to a place we’d
rather not go?
God has good plans for us. God provides for us. God
loves and sustains us. These are His promises. He wrote them down for everyone
to see. He is a God of truth. We can count on Him when we can’t count on
anything or anyone else.
What would happen if you were as devoted to prayer as
you are to your cell phone or to your kids’ ball schedule or your job? What
would happen in your if you made prayer a priority rather than an obligation or
something that was an option?
Schedule your prayer time and keep it. Then learn to
pray spontaneously throughout the day. Is it a beautiful day? Thank God for it.
Did your meeting god well? Thank God for that too. Are you stressed over
finances? Turn it over to God and thank Him for handling it – before He does.
Whatever it is, learn to include God in the moments of your day. He cares and
He wants to be included.
