How many times do we ask God to do great things for Him? Or how we want Him to show us opportunities or people around us to serve and minister to? At the same time, how often do we receive prayer requests and comments from people asking us to “drop a prayer for them” or “say a little prayer” for them when we get the chance?
What happens after that moment? Do you do something with that opportunity or forget about it?
Sometimes I think we don’t realize that we are on the mission field right in our own backyards. Maybe it’s because we don’t realize prayer is actually the work. When people give us prayer requests or we hear about them, those are GREAT opportunities to do the work by continuing to pray. Taking the time out of the day to spend time with the Father and to present requests before Him is one of the most powerful things we can do for each other and aligns our hearts with God. Instead though, we typically will breathe out a little prayer (if we’re lucky), and then move on to seek other ways to “actually help” someone in need. This is a mindset we have to break.
There are two parts from a book written from Paul Miller called “A Praying Life” I’d like to share:
“Many of us believe in the Christian hope of ultimate redemption, but we breathe the cynical spirit of our age and miss the heart of God.”
Meaning as Christians we can look at the big picture and believe what is going to happen in the end, but do we actually live this out daily. A way we can know is to take an “inventory” of our time. How often do you spend time with the Lord in prayer vs other things like TV, Facebook, Texts, etc.?
“We just don’t think God could be concerned with the puny details of our lives. We either believe he’s too big or that we’re not that important. No wonder Jesus told us to be like little children! Little children are not daunted by the size of their parents. They come, regardless.”
I believe this is one of the main reasons we don’t pray enough. We just don’t think of God on an intimate level. If we did, clearly we would present all requests to Him, big or small. A simple reading of Psalm 139 for example would say otherwise and give us one of many examples of just how intimate God can be.
I pray that all of us including me can get away from a mindset of not really believing in the power of prayer and that we can be stirred up and encouraged in a fresh way to approach the throne daily with all sorts of requests and when someone gives us a prayer request next time, we remember it and continue to pray for that request while praising God for the opportunity to get to serve and love one another in such a powerful way. I also pray that people who are praying like this are affirmed today by reading this and will press on!
“…praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints.” – Ephesians 6:18
Mike Mobley
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