Women's Prayer Team - Week #29
Before I write anything, let me first say that I do believe in prayer, and I do believe in the power of prayer. That is NOT debatable. What I am writing about is the misunderstanding or misusing of prayer. It has been a topic that I have researched and tried to understand for years. I have questioned God, friends, spiritual leaders, and learned many verses and heard many sermons on this one topic. It still had me baffled. I have heard all the analogies, idioms, and phrases that go along with prayer- I have even used them to explain prayer to my students. It still left me with unanswered questions. I do believe that prayer is often the most neglected and most misunderstood tool that we have to stay connected to our ABBA Father. I think one of the reasons is because we really don’t understand how it works or how it doesn’t work.
Prayer Tip # 29 – Pray like Jesus - not my will, but Thy will be done.
"Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe
that you receive them, and you will have them."
Mark 11:24
"If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what
you desire, and it shall be done for you."
John 15:7
Prayer is an exercise that presses us beyond our understanding. As C. S. Lewis says, “come further up and further in.” If your requests have not been answered yet, don’t assume it can’t or won’t. This is just an invitation to draw closer to God- to really get to know Him, because God is faithful. By abiding in God and allowing His Words to abide in you, you will know how to pray according to His will. As Jon Bloom put it, “Faith is a relational response of trust in God and therefore what He promises us.” To put it more clearly, prayer is relational and not transactional. Wow, just Wow! To put it more bluntly- God is not a genie waiting to grant our requests. How many times have we used prayer just like that? God comes through and we are all “happy pants”, but God doesn’t answer as we expect, and then we blame God. Whew, how fickle we are.
As our relationship with God grows and our intimacy with Him reaches a new level, we discover more about God and more about ourself, also. We must cultivate and maintain that relationship with God, and our fellowship with Him grows sweeter and sweeter. We see things differently. When we put on the mind of Christ, suddenly our eyesight improves because we see things as He sees them. It reminds me of a song I used to sing.. "just like my Father’s eyes.” Our prayer life changes also, and we will now pray like Jesus Himself- “not my will, but Thy will be done.” We say we believe and trust God, but when things don’t go the way we envisioned them to go our flesh takes over and suddenly we are disappointed in God. We must pray that our wants, needs, and desires line up with God’s wants, needs, and desires for our life. We will never be disappointed in an answer to a prayer request if we truly believe that God’s answer is always right. Next time you pray, remember you are NOT making a transaction, but you are putting your faith and trust in a God who loves you and truly knows what is best for you because you have a relationship with Him. He is your ABBA Father, and you are His precious child.
Hopefully this has helped you a little because it totally opened my eyes. Thanks Jon Bloom for making me see prayer in a proper perspective. Thank You, God, for not giving up on me and patiently waiting for me to see prayer as relational and not transactional. And as I finish this writing, Steve, my husband, just played the song- “If it matters to you, it matters to the Master.” Why? Because He is your ABBA Father, and He loves you.
Prayer Points: Please pray over these requests:
God, Thank You for waiting on me and never giving up on me.
Father, help me to cultivate and maintain my relationship with You.
God, help me to see things the way You do.
Father, I ask for Your Will to be done in my life.
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank You for who You are! You have been so so good to me! Thank You for waiting on me and never giving up on me! Father, I ask for a love for You and Your Word! Help me to cultivate and maintain my relationship with You daily! God, I ask You to help me to see things the way You do - to think on things above! Father, help me to trust in Your Will for my life and not in my own will! I love You, Father! I ask all of this in Jesus' Name, Amen!
With Love,
Karen Rhodes
Mid-Way Baptist Church
Flourish Women's Ministry