i was finishing up my lesson saturday night and thinking about how i could personalize it and grabbed my journal from 2005-2007. a lot happened over those years. the Lord did a deep work on my heart over that time. in that note book, there is a journal entry and prayer for almost every day from 2005 to 2007.
our lesson this sunday was about prayer, specifically being persistent in prayer. in luke 11, the disciples asked about how they should pray and Jesus told them a prayer similar to the one he tells them during the sermon on the mount in matt6, then he tells them a parable about a guy going to a friend's house to get bread in the middle of the night after the whole family has gone to bed.
the lesson talked about what motivated the man who got the bread. he didn't get it for his friend because he loved him, in that moment, he got up and got him the bread because his friend wouldn't stop knocking.
i thought about how God answers prayers; yes, no, wait. i thought about what i pray about. then i thought about what i have prayed persistently for... and i thought about the answers of those persistent prayers.
i was persistent in prayer, but people were overtaken by their illnesses and passed away, countries still starved, i was still uncertain. however there are other times, i was persistent and i saw people released from demonic oppression, i saw people over come addiction, i saw Christians work together, i saw people come to Christ, i heard about people's miraculous healing, i had confirmation that i was doing what i was supposed to be doing. and a lot of things, i'm still praying about and still waiting to see what He'll say.
so i was getting ready for sunday school... and i was flipping through 2005 to 2007 and i was looking at my prayers; some were flippant, some were desperate, some were persistent- but i realized that God's love and God's attitude about me was the same in spite of the inconsistency on those pages. i realized that no matter how He answered my prayers, He was drawing me closer to Him through every situation. and i saw how the persistent way i prayed was what brought me closer to Him. the things i was persistent about were the things He used to shape me. as andy stanley says, "the reward of prayer is the relationship with God." and i absolutely agree.
i like looking at that journal not only to see how God was answering my prayers, but to see how i grew in character and in my trust of Him.
im really humbled that my persistence about a person or a situation can move the heart of God. i believe that our prayers can do that because i've seen our prayers do that.
i remember praying (every tuesday, every thursday) together in joplin for things we weren't sure we would see; revival, deliverance, salvation, unity and then we were so blessed to see those things take shape. we saw shadows of God's movement all over our city. we saw so many things we never thought we would see, because we were persistent in prayer. i was encouraged to be persistent.
i hope i never stop asking. i hope i never stop seeking. i hope i never stop knocking.
love.
3 comments:
oh kate that was so ENCOURAGING to read. Thank ya Thankyou. I too, need to be persistent in prayer. I like the andy quote that the whole benefit of prayer is a deeper relationship with Him. So Good!
good stuff kate! we are doing andy stanley's "take it to the limit" for small group right now.
i love his teaching style! he'd be great for youth too!
i had a dream that you and timmy came to visit the other night...weird that i remembered when i woke up.
hope you two are well!
tara-- i KNOW! i love that quote! can you believe that's in jr. high curriculum? i love it.
erin-- that's cool that you guys are doing that too! i love andy stanley and louie giglio's teaching style too, i try to learn as much as i can from them! that would be fun to visit! are you still in KC?
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