We took the youth group on a trip to Cedar Point this weekend so I've missed 3 days now. I know you've missed my blogs. I wish. I'm preaching tonight on prayer so I figure I'd share some thoughts here. I'm doing a 40 day prayer challenge right now on Draw The Circle by Mark Batterson and it's going pretty well. Prayer is something I've been trying to take more seriously lately.
I've found that most people pray. Even those who aren't sure there's a God. I mean, what do you have to lose? I guess praying can't hurt anything. It still surprises me how many people pray or claim to pray. I see people all the time on Facebook or twitter who post about something going on in their life. It's funny how many people comment back saying that they will pray for them and that the situation is in their thoughts and prayers. These are the same people that will argue with me all day that there is no God and tell me I'm an idiot for being a Christian.Prayer seems to be something the world takes lightly. We pray when we're in a moment of crisis or before we eat a meal so that we can check that box and feel good about ourselves.
When we pray, we're talking to God. That is a huge deal.
The fact that we have the capability to pray is a privilege. Think about it for a minute. We get the privilege to speak to God. The God who created the universe and everything inside of it is willing to lend and ear to us. That is not something to take lightly. God. Yahweh. Who spoke to the planets and they spun. Who broke through the shackles of slaved ones. Who sustains all life... He wants to hear from us. If we all understood that, our prayer lives would look much different.
Well, some might say "God already knows what I'm thinking so why do I need to pray?" and that is a valid question. I think that mindset misses the point of prayer. God does know what we need and knows what we are thinking but why should He help us if we aren't willing to look to him for help? Prayer is an act of humility. When we pray, we say "God, I am not You. You are You. There are things I want and need (at least we think we need them) and I can't get there myself." We are telling God that we don't have the power to get keep our lives on track and that we don't know what is best for us. The goal of prayer should be to humbly realign our lives with God's will.
I believe God answers every prayer we pray. It might not be the answer we imagined or the answer we wanted but that's because we don't know what we need. God knows what we need and I guarantee what we need doesn't look anything like what we think we need. We hesitate to pray boldly and expectantly because we don't truly believe God will answer our prayers or that He won't answer them the way we want. I can guarantee that God will not answer 100% of the prayers we do not pray. Pray boldly! We're praying to God so what is there to be afraid of? What would be too big our outrageous?
I'll end this blog with a quote from Mark Batterson's Draw the Circle. "Like a grandmaster who strategically positions chess pieces on a chessboard, God is always preparing us and positioning us for divine appointments. And prayer is the way we discern our next move. The plans of God are only revealed in the presence of God. We don't get our marching orders until we get on our knees! But if we hit our knees, God will take us places we never imagined going by paths we didn't even know existed."
Give it a shot.
Parker Sims
@pPantzims
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