Prayer

So I am heading to Sipi Falls this weekend.  Suppose to be a truly beautiful place.  I am very blessed to go there and see more of Uganda, but I guess you can be praying for my safety as we (all the interns) travel.  Unfortunately, the internet died so I didn't get to finish writing this before I left for Sipi Falls, so I am already back safely.

But I thought I would share just a little something real quick on something God has been revealing to me and hammering home to me in the past few months.  This whole concept of Prayer.

It is a kind of strange thing sometimes and there is a lot in the Bible about prayer and I take so for granted sometimes.  I don't bother talking to God in a meaningful way some days, I don't feel like it or I am tired or so many excuses always come to mind.  Especially, those times where I don't feel God's presence as I come to pray.  I feel like the only one is hearing me is the dogs outside my window here.  God doesn't feel like He is there like He does sometimes.  Am I doing something wrong?

Well, here is one thing that God just revealed to me in James 1:5-8

"If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways."


So these verses I feel like basically are speaking of praying and asking God for things, but following that with Faith that God will actually answer those prayers.  I so often pray for things because I feel like I should pray for this or that, but don't really care about it that much or really think God cares enough to really want to do that usually just with small things you know?  Like I am feeling sick God please take this away heal me, but it is not accompanied by any faith.  I feel like oh God is too busy to want to take away this He is doing so many other things and my sickness isn't really a big deal or I lost my sweatshirt (again) God doesn't want to help me find it though....


But I would argue that is completely false.  Are we not talking still about the same God that didn't even spare His own Son just so I could be adopted, all of us could be adopted into His family.  He cares about all of us and everything.  This leads me also to Matthew 7:7-11:


"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds and the one who knocks it will be opened.  Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!"


So God does want us to ask him for anything and everything.  Jesus goes so far to say here that even though we are evil or wicked give good gifts to our children, somehow God our Father in Heaven doesn't want to give us good gifts.  Where did we get this misconception?  As we read in James above, God gives generously.  So God wants to give to us and give generously to us.  Don't misunderstand or confuse this with some sort of prosperity Gospel that God wants to bless you and make you healthy and wealthy because that is False.  But God is Good and wants to give to us generously.


So God wants to be generous why doesn't He just give to us what we want in our prayers like it says here...  What I feel like God showed me through James was that He wants us to expect Him to work and give what we need so we see Him work and provide and answer prayers.  How often I look back and see WOW God was so in that and provided there and in that way, but totally missed it because I didn't expect to see Him.  Darn it, but thank you James for showing me to look for God.  Obviously, we still can see that God is Good and answers prayers even when we don't expect it because God is Good.


Anyways, last little bit I thought was insightful from James 4:2b.. starts off talking about not having because we do not ask.  Oops, don't forget to ask God.  


Lastly, I guess I don't want to end that if we ask and expect God to work that He has to do it and another insight from the following verse James 4:3 talks about asking and not receiving... Wait what I thought Jesus just said ask and He will give me, what the Heck?!  Jesus tricked me... No He didn't.  Finish the verse and it says it because we ask wrongly to spend it on our own passions... WOW... So not only is God good because He gives generously to us for asking and expecting, but He is also so good that He sees some things we ask for actually aren't good for us.  God is above and beyond time so knows the future for us and how this certain answer to prayer might lead us into sin.  How merciful is our God?  To do this and Not give us sometimes.  So this is where that other aspect of faith comes in... Expect God to work and answer prayers, but if He doesn't it is because He has looked into that option for us and knows it isn't what is best for us.... whether it is a better job, more money, a girlfriend/boyfriend, kids to get on track, or whatever.... Though we don't understand why He won't answer... We throw our hands and cries up to the Father expecting Him to work, but fully trusting His Goodness.


One other little add on, if you want to learn about an amazing man of prayer, read about George Muller, a missionary from the 1830's, I just started his autobiography.  It is killer.  He prays and expects God to provide and He does in miraculous ways.  Just the basic premise is that George refuses to ask people for money.  He only asks God and at the end of the last chapter he says he has now gone 4 years without asking anyone for a temporal need such as food and money and God has provided everything as well as excess for him to begin 5 orphanages, 3 schools for the poor, distribute 6,000 bibles and support other missionaries in south East Asia.  Incredible.  I recommend it.  I also just finished Doctrine by Mark Driscoll and Gerry Bershears.  Also, a great book to address a lot of challenging questions...




Love to all and always love to hear from people.  


In faithful service to the Lord empowered by His Spirit hopefully showing people Jesus along the way!


K2