Tuesday, 09 February 2010
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Pray Expectantly
By Sharon at SheWorshipsActs 12 has single-handedly transformed my prayer life. But before I explain how, let me share with you a story I recently came across that is both funny, challenging and relevant:
There’s a story of a young girl who wrote a letter to a missionary to let him know that her class had been praying for him. But evidently she’d been told not to request a response to her letter because the missionaries were very busy. So the missionary got a kick out of her letter. It said,
“Dear Mr. Missionary, we are praying for you. But we are not expecting an answer.”
For many Christians, this girl’s letter is an analogy for their prayer lives. We pray all the time for the healing of a loved one or the reconciliation of a broken marriage, but we secretly believe it’s too late. We think we already know what God is going to do. So we pray, but we don’t expect a positive answer.
And that is exactly what happens in Acts 12. Peter is in prison awaiting his near certain execution. Verse 5 tells us that his church was earnestly praying for him, but they probably felt hopeless. Their brother James had been executed just days before.
Fortunately, God hear their prayers and delivers Peter. And He does so in a pretty extraordinary way. He sends an angel to wake Peter in the night and lead him out of the prison. Peter himself can’t believe what’s happening. He thinks it’s all a dream.
Ironically, his friends have the exact same reaction. Once he arrives at the house of Mary, they can’t believe it. The servant girl who answers the door and claims to have seen Peter is immediately dismissed. “You’re crazy!” They say.
They can’t possibly imagine that God would actually answer their prayers.
But He did. And He does. Not only does God answer our prayers, but He can do so in the most miraculous, mind-blowing ways. We rarely see this happen because our prayer lives are so faithless. We are like the man in James 1 who asks but does not believe. Scripture warns us that such people “should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.”
I challenge you to test God in this. The next time someone calls you with a prayer request that you immediately think you know the answer to, resist that reflex. Instead turn it over to God in genuine trust and see what happens. If God can send an angel to bust Peter out of prison, then I feel pretty confident about what He can do with my requests.
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About the Author
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- From: sheworships
- Name: Sharon
- About Me: Sharon Hodde Miller is a North Carolina girl, born and raised! She is originally from Charlotte, NC, and she received her undergraduate degree and Masters of Divinity from Duke University. Sharon has worked for Proverbs 31 Ministries where she was a contributing writer to the ministry’s daily devotions and radio broadcasts. She has written for Relevant Magazine’s online articles, Lifeway’s Collegiate Magazine, Ungrind Webzine, and she continues to write and minister to women all over the world about being a Christian woman in an ever-changing culture. Sharon currently lives in Durham, North Carolina with her husband, who is currently pursuing a Master of Divinity at Duke Divinity School. If you would like to contact her regarding a speaking or writing opportunity, if you have any questions, or would like to submit a blog topic, please e-mail her at sharon(at)sheworships(dot)com.
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Comments (8)
The examples you give pertain to praying for others. Do you think this applies to prayers someone prays for himself? I've been struggling with that lately. I'm much more hopeful for others than I am for myself.
I agree with this.
I've been praying expecting answers lately and guess what? I've gotten them. It's been pretty amazing. =)
Though, I do think He often answers them in other ways (ones we didn't expect, so we don't necessarily see it) or how we didn't really want - but it's better for us in the long-run, He knows what He's doing though and I trust that. :)
We must also pray according to God's will, which is the Bible, so when you pray for something selfish or ungodly, you probably wont see many results.
Just came across 1John:14-15 last night. We as genuine Christians have the privilege of knowing that we have what we ask of God.
Reminds me of the story of the prodigal son, in which the older brother did not enjoy his rights to his father's possession, and the father said to him at the end, "what I have is yours."
The confidence of knowing God answer prayers is a gift. Just need to open our hands and take it. :)
Amen
You don't know how much this really helped me. I have always prayed and expected a certain outcome (it usually doesn't work in my favor), but this will open up a new prayer life for me.