Tag: answered prayer

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Are You Missing the Blessings

How many of us are missing the blessings given to us by Christ? We pray for an outcome that never arrives, or maybe it does. The fast pace of life focuses so much on our needs and wants that we do not see what God is doing. We have a plan, and God is part of that plan, and we expend all our energy and time living that plan.

Matthew 6:34: “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

“Roughly half of Jesus’ miracles were interruptions. He had a plan, he had a destination, but he was interruptible. I wonder how many of us miss what God is doing because we hold too tightly to our plans.” – Mark Batterson’s book “The Circle Maker: Praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears.”

God Interrupts Us With Blessings.

God interrupts us with the unexpected. I was once hiking with a new friend. I walked faster than he did. He commented on his perception that I was so busy hiking I did not take in or appreciate what I was hiking through. He was right. I planned to get from point “A” to point “B.” I didn’t appreciate all the beautiful gifts God gave me along the way, missing the blessings created by Him. Seeing them was not part of my plan. Hiking in the woods was about an accomplishment, not an experience.

Lamentations 3:22-23: “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”

Most people live in this action-constrained bubble where cause and effect rules our decisions. We get an idea that immediately germinates an action plan with multiple possible paths. We are then fixated on outcomes. Each outcome produces another potential path or even numerous paths. We lose track of intent. The idea that created the activity becomes lost in the execution. God may have initiated the original idea, but then somehow became just one of the elements required for success. We focus too much on future outcomes and their potential to live in the moment.

The present is the only moment where time touches eternity. – C.S. Lewis’s book “Reflections”

Life is Moments

God lives in the moment. With God, what we experience in the moment dictates the future. He blesses us in the moment. We may not experience the culmination of the blessing until some future point, but God delivers it at the exact time and place that he has chosen. If we fixate too much on the outcome, we may lose what God is doing in the present.

Numbers 6:24: “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.”

God wrote our story. He knows every chapter and verse. We live it word by word. Because we can not see the future, we mitigate risk by creating elaborate plans to deal with unexpected occurrences. Then, we tend to manage our expectations based on that plan. Because of this, we may miss a blessing God is bestowing on us today because of a future event that He is aware of. That event is not part of our current plan.

Capturing Blessing

I suggest taking the time and effort to see how God works in your life unexpectedly. Finding the unexpected will require intentionality. You must look for the unexpected. Do you consider your opportunities, friends, experiences, and time a blessing? Let me give you a couple of examples. Imagine you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed, standing in line at a coffee shop. A stranger ahead of you notices and offers a kind smile or starts a lighthearted conversation. Do you see it as God speaking to you?

In another scenario, a stranger might help you in a moment of need, like picking up something you’ve dropped or giving directions when lost. Did God intervene?

Philippians 4:19: “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

Such encounters are blessings. They are part of God’s plan for your life. Do you acknowledge them in the moment? Acknowledging the little things makes the big things more palpable. Knowing God cares about you daily gives you strength during uncertainty or turmoil.

James 1:17: “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”

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I Never Heard Anyone Regret Prayer.

I’ve never heard anyone regret praying. I certainly haven’t. While some may be hesitant to pray or feel like some people are still waiting for answers, no one ever regrets turning to prayer.

Prayer can be challenging. We ask for what we want, yet acknowledge that God acts within His will. When asked, “Does God answer prayer?” the typical response is that He does so with a yes, no, or not now. This response, while accurate, can feel unsatisfying.

James 4:3 says, “You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.” Understanding this, we realize that while we may not always get what we want when we want it, God’s blessings still come. I’ve prayed for the same person’s salvation for thirty years without seeing it happen. Does this mean they never will? Not necessarily. Free will play a role. Do I regret those prayers? Never.

When Does God Hear Our Prayers?

How attuned is God to us when we pray? How quickly does He hear us?

Isaiah 65:24 assures us, “It will also come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear.”

God, who created everything effortlessly, knows the plan He has for each of us. He is aware of every detail of our lives. The balance between God’s predestination and our free will is a mystery we must accept.

Colossians 1:16 reminds us, “For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.”

God knows our hearts and our prayers before we speak them. We pray because God yearns to hear our voices. He longs for us to come to Him willingly, rejoicing when we acknowledge our need for Him. By turning to Him in prayer, we honor Him.

1 John 5:14 states, “This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.”

When Does God Answer Our Prayers?

If God knows our prayers before we speak, when does He answer? He begins to act immediately. The complexity of answered prayer is beyond our comprehension, considering the ripple effects across billions of lives.

E. M. Bounds said, “I think Christians fail so often to get answers to their prayers because they do not wait long enough on God.”

In Daniel Chapter 10, an angel sent to answer Daniel’s prayer was delayed by evil forces and needed the Archangel Michael’s help. Satan opposes answered prayer, but God always prevails.

Revelation 20:10 assures us, “And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”

God works on our behalf even in our frustration, disillusionment, or shortage of faith. We might not always see it, but He is there. The answers we receive may not always align with our desires, as our perspective on eternity is limited. However, no one ever regrets praying. Being in the presence of God and sharing our frustrations has intrinsic value. God loves us, understands our struggles, and longs to hear our voices.

Ephesians 6:18 encourages us, “With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints.”

The Unending Value of Prayer

No one ever regrets prayer. Praying and reaching out to God is a profound expression of faith and trust. In prayer, we find comfort, strength, and the assurance that God is always listening and working for our good.

There is a companion post about “Pray Without Ceasing.”

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Pray Without Ceasing

Pray without ceasing. I must confess I do not understand prayer. I know God answers prayer because I have seen it repeatedly. But I see the macro-level outcome, not the micro-level decision-making. Here is my analogy of experiencing prayer. I am watching this great painter paint a masterpiece, marveling at the use of color and space. I see this image slowly appear. In the end, I see what the painter had in mind. But I never see what the painter thinks as they move the brush around the canvas. I do not see their intent or motivation. Is the image they had the same as the image I see?

1 Thessalonians 5:17. "Pray without ceasing."

That is what prayer looks like to me. I can look at my past and see God moving in my life. I see outcomes I could not predict or imagine come to fruition. But what I do not see in the actual act of answered prayer. I know God is working in my life, but to what end? Again, at a macro level, this all makes sense. God created me to glorify Him. That is the macro-level view. And maybe that is all I am to care about.

The greatest tragedy of life is not unanswered prayer but unoffered prayer. – F.B. Meyer, British pastor, author, and evangelist

MICRO-LEVEL PRAYER

But at the micro-level, what are the mechanisms that drive the outcome? This conundrum boils down to predestination and free will. It is that weird and complex interaction between God knowing everything before it happens and me getting a chance to change my future by deciding. This contradiction is baffling at best and downright irritating at its worst. I must admit that part of this is the control aspect of my personality. I have no problem giving up control if I know what the controlling entity plans to do, I do not even have to agree with what they plan to do if I can anticipate the outcome. God’s not like that. God understands our limitations. He knows that we can not foresee the eternal impact of His decisions. I guess He doesn’t want to get involved with endless answers of “why?”

Romans 12:12, "Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer."

PRAYER WORKS

So, prayer works. I can tell you hundreds, if not thousands, of answered prayers, all in hindsight. I can walk you through my life from early childhood, pointing out the mile markers God placed there. He did this long before I had a relationship with Him. God created me with a purpose. Somehow, I must live up to that purpose, but He already knows my decision. Sorry, I’m getting a headache.

If prayer works, even without my understanding, what does that mean? Pray without ceasing. First, prayer changes me. It allows me to go over issues with God and receive His wisdom. Sometimes, that wisdom is peace with the outcome before I know it. Sometimes, I know He listens and cares deeply about what I am going through. He empathizes with my situation and that I can not see its impact on eternity. I leave prayer at peace.

Jeremiah 33:3, "Call to me and I will answer you and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known."

Second, I must pray. I know of people and situations I cannot keep to myself. I know God already knows and has a plan, but I cannot keep quiet. My soul needs to vent and cry out. It isn’t about getting what I want or changing God’s mind; it is about compassion, love, and uncertainty. If I keep it bottled up, it will fester into a viral cancer, destroying who God made me. Prayer is the pressure value that allows me to move forward.

Philippians 4:6-7, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."

Lastly, pray when you have no words. When life covers you like a dense fog, and you are left sightless, let your Spirit speak. God does not leave us on an island to fend for ourselves. He knows our weaknesses.

Romans 8:26, "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words."

PRAY WITHOUT CEASING

Brother Lawrence, a lay brother in a Carmelite monastery in Paris, wrote in his book “The Practice of the Presence of God” that we should cultivate a constant awareness of God’s presence in everyday life, creating continual conversation with God, making every moment an opportunity for communion with the Divine.

We see blessings in the rear-view mirror. Sometimes, we will not see them this side of heaven. God is wonderful and mysterious. He cares deeply about you and the issues in your life, even the tiny, mundane issues. God saw all of it as He formed you. God knows your idiosyncrasies; God created them. He knows your fears and phobias. God gave you a way around them. We find this out through prayer. 

Matthew 6:6, "But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you."

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Experiencing Answered Prayer

Mark 11:24, “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”

I love it when God validates prayer. First, let me say that this week has been a real downer for me. You don’t want to read the posts I created. They are all dark and gloomy. Bad things were happening all around me. They are not the type of things I want the world to read. So, I was stuck without something I thought God would want me to put out there. The answer is always prayer. I prayed for His word to flow through me. I got a twofer; Two-for-one. God answered my immediate prayer by reminding me of another prayer a year ago, almost to this very day.

John 5:14, “This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.”

On August 24, 2021, I published a post entitled My Last Day in Toknok. It was a lament concerning three fabulous women I had met in Toknok, Kyrgyzstan. We had met for dinner in a small restaurant next to what I could only call the most Chucky-like amusement park I had ever seen. This place was scary during the daylight; at night, it took on a new level of spookiness. The conversations were about the challenges of being a single, young, college-educated Christian woman in a predominantly Muslim country. Finding a husband and a career seemed almost insurmountable; it was a fundamental math problem.

Psalm 66:19, “But certainly God has heard; He has given heed to the voice of my prayer.”

Here is the last paragraph of that post:

“The sadness is that when I come back, and I will, there can only be one sad ending or another. These young women will have chased God’s vision for their lives, and I may never see them again. Or they will not, and I will see a shell of the person they could have been. My selfish prayer is that God’s plan for them will be revealed in a way that brings us both joy.”

“My selfish prayer is that God’s plan for them will be revealed in a way that brings us both joy.” That was my prayer, selfish and self-centered. I wanted them to experience all the joy God had in store for them and simultaneously make me happy. At the time, it seemed improbable at best, impossible at its worst.

Luke 11:10, “For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened.”

Well, let’s see what God has to say about that. First, on June 3, 2022, I wrote a post entitled An Incredible Answer to Prayer. Maftuna, the first of the three young ladies, married a great Christian man named Ravil. Their wedding video is a joy to watch. But God is not done. Today I received word that Nadya, the second of the three, is now engaged to Timothy, a pastor’s son. The three of us met a few months ago in the same restaurant where Nadya announced her dating Timothy but also voiced her concern. A concern that all of us at the table immediately dismissed as over-thinking.

Jeremiah 33:3, “Call to me and I will answer you, and tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.”

That brings us to Nelly, the third and youngest of the three women. Best I know at this moment, Nelly is not engaged. But she has moved from Toknok to Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan. In Bishkek, she is involved in a Christian outreach organization and is pursuing an opportunity to open/operate a Christian coffee house. God is not done with her yet, but He is establishing a path.

John 16:24, “Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full.”

The last answered prayer? You are reading it. God warmed my heart by letting me know that He is still at work when all seems bleak and dismal. We may not see what He is doing, but we can be assured He is doing it.

Psalm 5:3, “In the morning, O Lord, You will hear my voice; In the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch.”

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Lift Your Arms

What does it take to lift your arms in praise? I was listening to the Vince Gills song “When Amy Prays.” Like most things I run across, I had to understand the genesis. I needed to know what brought him to write it. It is an incredible picture of faith. I found the interview with Amy Grant, where she discussed the song’s origin and her relationship with Vince. She had this mesmerizing way of concatenating several seemingly unrelated stories into a great answer. By the way, it is the second interview on the v-blog.

What she talked about was; what does it take to get you to raise your arms in awe and wonder at the glory of God? This was an ongoing theme in their marriage. Amy Grant stood in absolute awe of God’s love, compassion, and power, whereas Vince was more restrained.

Deuteronomy 32:40, “Indeed, I lift up My hand to heaven, and say, as I live forever.”

It got me thinking about my own life. One of the reasons I love the outdoors is that I can’t get over the intricate and complex nature of God’s design. The level of detail and beauty seen in almost everything natural is fantastic. From the grandest to the insignificant, every detail was crafted with elegance. Expand that concept to the vastness of the universe; no words can give it justice.

Hebrews 11:3, “By faith, we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.”

What does it take for you to raise your hands in glory to God? How big does a miracle have to be before you recognize it for what it is?  Do you see God in the family pet comforting your child? Do you see God’s face in a kind gesture from a stranger?

Jeremiah 33:3, “Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.”

I was in Honduras this last week working on a B.A.M. project, and I lost my passport. Weird story of impatience and ignorance; basically, I threw my passport in the trash along with a used coffee cup. The story is a little longer and more complicated, involving interaction with security that didn’t speak English, hence why I had my passport out in the first place. I didn’t realize it until I got to my room. The real problem was that I was leaving back to the states in the morning. I resigned that God would solve the problem by helping me find my passport or use my additional time in Honduras for his glory. For the record, my request was to find the passport. I had no idea what I had done with it.

So, a gringo in the middle of the night is wandering around Honduras, back-tracing his steps, looking under every bush and rock for a little dark navy-blue booklet. Nothing, nada, zippo, no passport. Then I remember throwing away my old coffee cup in a random garbage container. It was both an act of desperation and the only option left. I went dumpster diving. I found it. Did I raise my arms in admiration and glory of what God can do; absolutely.

Psalm 141:2, “May my prayer be counted as incense before You; The lifting up of my hands as the evening offering.”

The passport issue wasn’t a big deal. Worst case, it was an inconvenience. Of course, the worst case became a little scarier once I decided to look for it. Did I see God’s hand in it? Do I believe that God is in on the grand and the insignificant? What does it take for me to raise my arms? Do I find awe in the God of the universe when the only universe I am dealing with is me?

Mark 11:24, “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”

Screwtape constantly tells Wormwood how to get his patient to rationalize blessings as natural outcomes. If you haven’t read “Screwtape Letters,” read it, if you have, reread it.  It is as contemporary today as it was when it was written. Screwtape wants Christians to find a plausible explanation for every blessing. He doesn’t want to see any arms raised. He doesn’t do this by denying the event but by acknowledging the event as nothing more than the natural and obvious outcome of previous decisions.

It is easy to fall into the worldly trap of rationalizing that which we do not fully understand. We look for easy answers. We try to find an explanation in the common. Maybe, we should expand our thinking and start raising our arms to heaven worshiping the God that makes all things happen. Nothing is too small for him. Nothing is too big for Him, but we know that, its the small part we don’t always get.

Look for a reason to lift your arms in celebration because of the goodness of God.

Ezekiel 17:24, “All the trees of the field will know that I am the Lord; I bring down the high tree, exalt the low tree, dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish. I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will perform it.”

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The Fixer

Matthew 11:28, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

I’m in my home town visiting my family. I spent my “formative” years here. Although I have been away for the better part of half a century, I still call this home. The kids I went to high school with are still kids to me. The images of them hanging out is still fresh in my mind.

THE PAST

One of my schoolmates just passed away. When she was in high school with me, she was a sweet, fun-loving girl with her whole life in front of her. Over time, disappointment and drugs took that away from her. I’m a guy, and being a guy; I want to fix things. I’m also an engineer, so double that. One of the hardest lessons I had to learn in life is that there are certain things that I can’t fix. No amount of trying and praying and working was going to improve it. Some things are the exclusive purview of God.

Psalm 73:26, “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

I love the striving. I love overcoming. I love the against-all-odds victories. I relish the emotional high of seeing someone rise above their circumstances to achieve the improbable. But it doesn’t always work out that way. Sometimes we make choices that are hard to undo. We go in directions that are hard to reverse. We pick a life that doesn’t end well. I hate that. I hate that terrible endings are even possible.  

The truth is that God gave us free will. That free will allowed us to demonstrate our love for Him by freely choosing Him. It also means that we are free not to choose Him. We can not make that decision for anyone but ourselves. The guy side of me has a problem with that concept. Even though I make bad decisions for myself, I still want to help others make good decisions. It is most apparent when it’s too late. It is with regret and remorse that I look back.

John 6:40, “For this is the will of my Father that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

THE PRESENT

We all have people in our lives that we want to see for eternity. We want them to share the beauty and majesty of eternity with our Maker. But we believe there is time. There is time to share the gospel. There is time to have that difficult conversation. There is time to save a life for eternity. One day we find out there isn’t any more time.

Psalms 27:4, “One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.”

Don’t get me wrong; you can’t fix it any more than I can. We each have to choose. But do we choose with full knowledge? It is easy to feel responsible somehow. You knew them. You knew a little about what they were going through, but you’re a thousand miles away. Your orbits crossed sometimes but never synched up. What could you have done? Nothing in some cases. But there are a lot of cases you could do something. Would you? You know people who need to hear full disclosure concerning their decisions.

Hebrews 11:6, “And without faith, it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”

Their soul gets pushed down into the mire of their lives and suffocates. They live the only life that they know. Unconditional love and redemption are not topics they believe in. Mostly these are not bad people; they do good for others and are positive examples to those around them. Their focus is worldly. Their actions are self-supporting. They believe when life is over, it is over; there is nothing else. I am sometimes surprised at how many activists don’t have an eternal view. These are people who fight against evil but don’t believe in it.

1 Peter 2:15, “For this is the will of God that by doing good, you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.”

THE FUTURE

Where most great intentions fail is in the implementation. It is in the execution that we trip and fall. No, we can’t fix certain things, but we can create an environment that attracts curiosity. We can build relationships that expose full knowledge. We can take a minute to step into the lives of those around us to draw them in. In the end, it is they that must accept or reject Christ. It is up to us to lay the groundwork for that decision. That groundwork is not just words but actions; the way we live our lives. Then we let God take over.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18, “Therefore, we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So, we fix our eyes not on what is seen but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

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“That Guy”

James 2:14-17, “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”

THE PRICE OF PRAYER

I have prayed for someone for over 40 years and still don’t know where God is taking her. I know her story, and it’s a bad one. She has endured almost every type of dysfunction imaginable, yet she still stands.  When I met her, I wanted to be that guy; you know the type, part star quarterback and part cheerleader. He knows when to step in to help and when to stand back to cheer. I never got there for her.

I get into these dilemmas where I want to be the Savior of humankind. I want to be “that guy.” The combination of Superman and Mother Teressa.  I want to be strong when strength is required and quiet and understanding when strength isn’t needed. I want to be the rock, the light on the hill, and the warm embrace. My therapist says I have a white knight syndrome, what does she know? As for me, I don’t know if “that guy” is a stereotype or a figment.

Romans 15:1, “We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves.”

This got me thinking about a lady I met in the park a few years ago. It was early spring, and the Dogwoods trees were starting to bloom. Every spring, Atlanta has the Dogwood festival. It is an event that brings some of the most incredible artisans in the country to Piedmont Park. I go down early Friday to talk with them as they build their booths. This year was no different, or I thought it wouldn’t be.

Romans 12:13, “Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.”

THE PRICE OF ART

As I sat on a picnic bench deciding what to eat for lunch, a lady sat across for me. She casually said that the price of just one piece of art would feed her for a year. I laughed and said I agreed. Then she mentioned that she had just gotten out of prison. God has done this to me enough that I have started to pick up on the tale tail signs of His hand in action. I had to ask the dreaded question, “Tell me about it.” God had a plan, and I was in the midst of it.

Galatians 6:2, “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way, you will fulfill the law of Christ.”

She told a story about a girl who somehow grew up to be a tired middle-aged woman. This girl always picked the wrong man. Her heart leads her brain to the same place every time; women’s prison. You see, these guys are always into something, something the law doesn’t appreciate. She loves them anyway. Eventually, both of them part ways in shackles and jumpsuits. She gets out and starts the process all over again. One day she looks in the mirror, and the girl has turned into a middle-aged woman going nowhere.

That woman is now sitting next to me. She knows she can’t repeat what she has done in the past, but she doesn’t see an alternative future. You know that guy I told you about a few paragraphs ago? Well, he’s an idiot. He can’t let a thing go; compassion for baby kittens and stray dogs overwhelms him. So, that guy buys her lunch, and we start to talk.

Proverbs 19:17, “Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and He will reward them for what they have done.”

THE PRICE OF SIN

As we talk, I want to cry for this woman. God has made her an incredible creature with almost limitless potential, but it has been highjacked. She gravitates to the wrong people. She is the right raw material, just in the hands of the wrong sculpturer. Lucky for us, this is God’s plan, not ours. Trust me; you don’t want to take advice from me. But God, that’s another story.

Matthew 25:44-45, “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me.’”

I asked her if she ever thought of going to church? My thought was that she might meet a better class of men. Better yet, she would find a better class of female companionship that would help her steer clear of a particular class of men. Sorry, this is all God gave me to go on. It was enough. She mentioned that group of women from the neighborhood church stop by the halfway house each week. That was her new plan to create an alternate future. She would go to church with them. God planted the seed that could grow into a better life.

THE RETURN ON THAT INVESTMENT

It was now late afternoon, and I had to return home. I didn’t get to talk to many artisans, but I watched God work. My friend from the first paragraph will always be in my heart. I always think I could have done more or been more, but that wasn’t God’s plan for us. God does remind me through these interactions that He is at work answering prayer. He has not forgotten her or me. He has planted the seed.

Hebrews 6:10 “God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown Him as you have helped His people and continue to help them.”

That is enough for now. It is enough to know that God never gives up and never quits. God will use a stranger to plant a seed of hope that will grow into a beautiful garden. It might not be part of His plan for us to see that particular garden, so He lets us walk through gardens that others have prepared beforehand.

Stay faithful in prayer and obedient to His call.

Luke 6:38, “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

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The Incredible Answer to Prayer

I leave for Kyrgyzstan today. This is one of the great joys of my life. These are incredible people.

In August of 2021, I wrote the post My Last day in Tokmok. This was a lament. I had worked with three amazing women that had uncertain futures. My last sentence was this, “My selfish prayer is that God’s plan for them will be revealed in a way that brings us both joy.”

God answers prayer in stunning, beautiful, and astonishing ways. One of the women has found the love of her life and gotten married. I get to meet her new husband. Lest you worry, they crossed all the T’s and dotted the I’s. They pursued and received the church’s blessing and, more importantly, her uncle’s blessing. Her uncle is a man of strong faith who takes his guardianship of her seriously.

I head to 22 hours in an airplane looking forward to the journey.

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You are God’s Delight

Psalm 149:4, “For the Lord takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the afflicted ones with salvation”

In his book “The Heart of Christ,” Thomas Goodwin states, “Christ’s joy, comfort, happiness, and glory are increased and enlarged by His showing grace and mercy, in pardoning, relieving and comforting His members on earth.”

Aside from the question of how can a God who is holy, eternal, almighty, and self-sufficient can increase in anything? How can this God that suffers no lack, knows no limitation, and experiences no deficiency be enlarged? Aside from that, we know that God delights in us asking Him for anything. The very act of asking means we have brought Him into the equation; we have thought of Him.

Zephaniah 3:17, “The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.”

‘I cried because I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet.’  From “The Rose Garden” (circa 1259) written by the Persian poet Sa’di.

I need to do what I can, and He will do what I can’t; I need to prioritize my requests. Some problems and needs are just too small for a mighty God. I should not whine and snivel; others have it worse than me. I need to get away from the concept that God is limited in His ability to answer prayer.

We are conditioned to optimize resources, and we see God as one of those resources, thus making God into our image. When we put constraints on God, we do not constrain Him but constrain what we ask of Him. We limit His impact on our lives by limiting His involvement.

God has unlimited wealth; we, the global eternal Christian community, can not exhaust His resources. His world works in infinite parallel processes that are not limited by the volume of requests; we don’t wait in line or queue up for help. He has no supply chain issues. 

FOUR REASONS WE DON’T APPROACH GOD

  • Believing sadness disappoints God
  • Our Sin Leaves Us Feeling Unworthy
  • The need to be in control
  • Hard seasons disqualify us from God’s promises

Believing Sadness Disappoints God

Hebrews uses the word “sunpathesai,” which means cosuffer. The implication is that once we are God’s children, he sympathizes with what we are going through. He is not disappointed in the muck and mire of our lives; He is sympathetic. I have said this more times than I care to count; we live in a fallen world, God knows this. God is compassionate that there are days when we feel we are drowning. What brings Him joy is when we turn to Him during those times. It is when we get comfort from laying our head on His chest to listen to His heartbeat; those are the moments He cherishes.

Our Sin Leaves Us Feeling Unworthy

John Piper made this statement, “The power by which you daily strive to overcome the imperfections in your life is the confidence that you are already perfect.” Because of Christ, we believe in Him and what He did on the cross and His perfect life. We believe in Him, and by faith, God unites us to Christ. His perfection is counted as ours. It is the devil who wants you to feel inadequate, not God.

We ask God from the desires of our hearts, and He gives us what we need. What we need may not be what we desire. You are the source of His joy, comfort, happiness, and glory. He created you to have communion with Him. So don’t start believing that just because you didn’t get what you prayed for, God treated you as unworthy. No, He gave you something better, and you didn’t recognize it.

John 6:37, “Whoever comes to me I will not cast out.”

Talk to God about everything. He loves to hear the sound of your voice. You can not exhaust Him or bore Him.

The Need to Be in Control

Ecclesiastes 3:11, “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”

Whether you are willing to accept it or not, you are not and never have been in control. Even if you do not believe in Christ, you still are not in control. Believing is not a condition put on the creator of the universe.

We are His body, His body which He is concerned over; its health and wellbeing. He does not want His body to suffer needlessly. Pain is an indicator in the human body; we immediately want to understand it and relieve it when we feel pain. Sin indicates to the Spirit that something wrong in the Christian body that needs to be understood and fixed. That is God’s domain which no human can control.

1 John 4:10, “In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

Hard Seasons Disqualify Us From God’s Promises

Webster’s New World College Dictionary defines relationship as “the quality or state of being related, a continuing attachment or association between persons.”

But what makes for a genuine, long-lasting friendship? If you’re fortunate, it is a mix of shared interests, shared values, commitment, loyalty, and kindred spirits. Would you consider a friend, indeed a friend, if they disappeared every time you found yourself in a bind? Would you abandon your friends in their time of need?

Philippians 4:6-7, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Hard seasons are the very aspect of life that God most wants to share with you. The hard times are God’s forte. Therefore, we need to condition ourselves that when we feel insufficient, unworthy, or out of control, that is the best time to chat with God. He will surprise you with what He knows.

Jeremiah 9:24, “but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the Lord.”

Always remember this:

1 John 3:1-3, “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure?”

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Wait

Mark 16: 17-18, “And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”

Does our expectations put a fence around answered prayer?

PRAYER

Let me start with a short story on the power of answered prayer. On the very first visit to a prison, God helped me better understand answered prayer. I went with Champions for Life, and I was in Broad River Correctional, Columbia, SC. I was standing next to the rail overlooking the cellblock below me. I was in this particular location to avoid speaking to the inmates. I was uncomfortable because it was my first visit, and I didn’t feel I had anything to share. So, I was hiding in plain sight. I was there without really being there.

My thoughts were on a hundred things without landing on anything, fleeting moments of clarity that dissipated like the fog in the morning sun. I know they were there, without knowing what they were. Then I heard, “I have been praying for weeks that my lawyer would find a way to get me out of here.” This inmate had settled next to me, without making eye contact with me, and started talking to me. You see, he wasn’t a Christian, but he thought he would try out prayer. He didn’t expect anything, but he had hope. I was a Christian; maybe I knew the answer.

Jeremiah 29:12, “Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.”

The good news was that this was a conversation that didn’t require scripture memorization. This inmate didn’t know scripture. He had no preconceived theology. He didn’t even know if he had the right to expect a result. He just made a statement. New evidence came to light that proved his innocence. But getting released was a process, not an event. A lawyer had taken his case and was working on his release. For two months, the inmate hadn’t heard a thing. That had to be incredibly depressing; to know you are innocent and shouldn’t be in prison, the release would come from outside the walls, and you were stuck inside.

I can’t remember the exact conversation as none of the words were mine. It went something like this; there was evidence to be reviewed, docket to be cleared, maybe hearts to be softened, liability to be assessed; God’s time is not our time. I remember his response; “Thank you, I prayed for encouragement, and He sent it through you.” That floored me. I couldn’t remember what I said; how could it have been encouraging.

1 John 5:15, “And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.”

What I took away from that weekend was to wait upon the Lord. I’m impatient, get it done, execution is everything type of guy. Ideas are a dime-a-dozen; success comes from following through. With my first visit to a prison, my challenge was that I wanted to be a great success the first time out. I wanted God to provide me with immediate fulfillment. I didn’t see this first visit as a step toward a new destination; it was the new destination. I fall into this trap all the time. I’m impatient about God’s plan for my life. Everything is significant, and I want to know why. I want instant feedback to confirm I am on the right path.

How do these seemingly false starts keep me on the right path? Why hasn’t this person or that person responded the way I thought they should? Why has nothing happened when I have worked so hard? I am waiting on the evidence that God is with me.

Mark 11:24, “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”

FIG TREE

The second I ask, God answers. When Jesus saw the fig tree without fruit, he cursed it. But it did not die right away.

Mark 11:12-14, “The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. Then he said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard him say it.”

Mark 11:20, “In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots.”

The fig tree died from the root. It started dying the second it was cursed, but the evidence wasn’t clear until the following day. God answers prayer the second we ask, but it may be some time before we see the fruit of that blessing. My impatience saps the joy out of that blessing. Sometimes when I don’t get what I want, when I want it, I stop looking and miss the gift altogether.

All of us have had situations that we have prayed about for years. We may not have prayed for a specific resolution, just that one happens. We want God’s will to be done. It ebbs and flows like the tide crashing over the shore; good days followed by bad days followed by good days—every fiber of our being screams out to give up. Finally, we’re tired of it all. But a small, meek voice always cautions us to be patient; one day, God will reveal His plan. One day.

God may send someone to encourage you, He may not, but the blessing is already happening. Know that it is happening and know that God is faithful in all things.

Romans 12:12, “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”

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