Pray Big and Believe Even Bigger

How often have we heard that we should pray big? Our prayers are to a God who can do anything, who loves us unconditionally and who expects us to turn to Him for the biggest and the smallest of needs. Nehemiah understood this and He took God up on it. He prayed for something only a mighty God could provide, and God heard his prayers.

Nehemiah 1:8-9 (NIV) 
8 "Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, 'If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, 9 but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.'

The people Nehemiah is referring to are the last of the exiles to return from captivity. They are the third wave of Israelites to come home only to find their home in ruins. When Nehemiah heard of their fate he turned to God and prayed. He prayed big prayers, filled with faith and expectation. He praised God, begged for forgiveness after confessing his sins, thanked God for all He had done for him. Then he laid out his specific requests and waited.

Is this what we do when faced with an impossible task? It is so difficult to remember to turn to God when our world is in shambles, when our home is in ruins, our hearts are breaking, and we can't catch our breath. But this is the exact time when we should seek out God's favor. Our prayers must be filled with faith and an expectation that God hears and acts. And so we wait...

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Nehemiah 1:1-11

Praying Blindfolded

Colossians 1:9-14 New International Version (NIV)

⁹ For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,^[a] 10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, ¹¹ being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, ¹² and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you^[b] to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. ¹³ For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, ¹⁴ in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

How do we pray for someone we don't know, like missionaries across the globe? How do we lift up politicians to God and pray for them when we not only don't know them personally, we don't always understand what they are up against, the challenges they face? This is where the Holy Spirit comes alongside and using the words from Colossians 1:9-14, guides our prayers. 

It isn't necessary to have a personal relationship with the person we are praying for. We only need a personal relationship with Jesus. We can pray as though blindfolded, moving forward boldly because there is the Holy Spirit to guide us. The yellow highlighted texts above list a few of the things we can pray about for those strangers we are called to pray for. 

These are things we could all use more of in our lives. Let's pray for one another, even if we have never met.

Colossians 1:9-14

1 Corinthians 12:12-26

Imagine That

One of my favorite come back phrases is “imagine that.” I generally use it in a light hearted way when I’m told something that is not really surprising, like “The Brewers lost.” or when my daughter says, “I’m going to be late.” Either aloud or in my mind I say, “Imagine that” and then I smile.

I do imagine many things, but I also hope, dream and pray. At times I pray so long and hard I become exhausted because it seems my prayers will go unanswered.

Often my prayers are for healing people both physically and emotionally, but most of the time my prayers revolve around relationships and peace. Our God is a relational God, and the bible screams with pleas for people to love and respect one another. The letter Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 12 about the body having many parts is a beautiful expression of how we as The Body of Christ are to view ourselves and each other.

We are all different yet part of the same body,  The Body of Christ. We need each other. When one part feels less significant, that one must be taken care of and honored by the other parts.

“so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored every part rejoices with it.” 1 Corinthians 12:25-26

This speaks to jealousy, envy, passing judgment, and a host of other negatives that divide us. I long for this type unity in relationships within families, churches, communities, and the world in general, but that type of peace and unity begins with me and you.

We are all part of something so big and great we can’t even imagine. “But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be?” 1 Corinthians 12:18-19

United we stand, divided we fall.

Oh what a world we could have if only we would see ourselves as one. What a difference we could make if The Body of Christ had an attitude of togetherness, continually honoring and supporting each other!

Just Imagine That!

 Read/Listen to 1 Corinthians 12:12-26

Asked and Answered

Psalm 92:1-2 (MSG)
A Sabbath song What a beautiful thing, GOD, to give thanks, to sing an anthem to you, the High God! To announce your love each daybreak, sing your faithful presence all through the night,

How often we ask God for help; we beg for Him to get us out of sticky situations.  This Psalm makes me pause and consider how often I neglect to stop and say thank you.  I know that my prayers are answered before I finished praying them.  Shouldn't my petition also include thanksgiving?

Psalm 92:4-5 (MSG)
You made me so happy, GOD. I saw your work and I shouted for joy. How magnificent your work, GOD! How profound your thoughts!

When I have the joy of experiencing answered prayer and recognize it as such, I am filled with an overwhelming sense of gratitude.  I want to tell the world how my God loves and cares for me. Not because He answered my prayer, but that He heard it; He took the time to listen to me.  Amazing.

Psalm 92:15 (NIV)
"The LORD is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him." 

Thank you God for my life, for each breath I take.  Thank you for listening to my cries for help and my pleas for forgiveness.  Amen



Psalm 92

Philippians 4:1-23

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, 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."  (Philippians 4:6-7 NIV) 

How do you, "present your requests to God?"  During this time in life, given the unstable financial situation we find our personal lives and our country's future in, what might this look like?  How do you approach God and ask for help?  Are you specific with your requests, asking questions like, "I need your help to pay the mortgage today, Father?  Please show me what to do.  Or do your prayers remain very generic like, "You know my needs God, and I place them in your hands."

Praying is a personal matter and a public one.  My personal prayer journal is filled with specific petitions which often God will answer in a specific way.  But, there are also prayers that are merely cries for help, needs that I don't know how to express.  Sometimes I don't know how I would envision an answer to my plea; I have no idea what the answer should be.  These problems require God sized intervention.  That is when I surrender to His will.

Today let us consider our prayer life.  Today let us practice giving God control, give up anxiousness and fear.  As Christians, we might not understand the process but we can be confident in the outcome.  "God...will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."

Read Philippians 4:1-23 here

Listen to Philippians 4:1-23 here

Romans 15:23-33

My memory is not what it used to be; can you relate?.  I love to read books and would never consider reading the same book twice.  Now I am often half way through a book before I realize I have read it before, but I don't remember the ending so I might as well continue.  Sound familiar?

That said, I find that there is always something new for me when I read through Scripture.  A text I have read before, will be new, and not because of my memory issues.  There is never a reason to stop and ask myself, "Have I read this before?"  When in the Word, God always speaks to me where ever I am at this time in my life.  I may have studied this text only 6 months previous, but life has changed me and my view on the world and God.  The Word will be fresh and alive and speaking to me as though I am hearing for the first time.

In the text today I hear Paul asking for prayers for himself.  I love it!  Just today I was at a Bible Study and we were sharing prayer requests and I was struck by the fact that of the 14 women around the table only two asked for prayers for themselves.  I don't know about you, but I am one of my biggest prayer concerns.  I have lots of others I pray for; many whom I love are hurting and need my prayers, but if I don't get myself taken care of I won't have the heart to pray for them.

"I urge you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me." (Romans 15:30)

Read the Romans 15:23-33 text here.  Listen to the Romans 15:23-33 here.