My fighter verse was this:
"6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:12).
I have this verse up in my office and it often comes to mind, like today.
Instead of a realization about this verse, I had a memory.
Three summers ago when I started going back to church there was a group of girls in their late teen years that wanted to go on a missions trip to Nicaragua that summer. I jumped right on board.
That trip is interesting to look back on. It was a week-long adventure where I got so caught up in having a life-changing experience that I really missed the point for a good portion of the trip.
Our last day of going out and evangelizing had come and I awoke with a bad stomach ache. I was given the option: go or stay back at the motel with the AC. I wanted to stay, I was ready to go home, but when I prayed God said, "If you stay, I'll still meet with you, but I have something just for you if you do go."
So I went, griping and grumbling. We went to two different parts of Managua and then we were supposed to go home. I went through the motions, made it back to the bus and our missions leader suggested one last trip. We voted, I didn't, the vote was we go.
It was a little church in a tiny community full of native Nicaraguan Christian women and children worshipping.
We came in, heard a small sermon and got offered as resources for prayer afterwards.
My Spanish is so-so so I mostly prayed for the women in English as they praised God in Spanish.
The last woman I prayed for was someone's abuelita, their grandma. She had tears painted on her cheeks and she was praying aloud. I walked over to her, asked how I could pray for her.
She said her daughter's husband was an alcoholic and she just wanted him to come home and take care of her grandchildren. I nodded and began praying.
This woman had her hands raised and all while I prayed she was saying, "Santo, santo, santo" which means holy, holy, holy. I could hear her as I prayed and she kept thanking God for His goodness, for His provisions for her family, thanking God for her family and her son-in-law.
That woman changed my view of prayer. Heck, she changed my view of God too!
Here was a woman whose family was struggling to survive because as is common in impovished Nicaraguan families, when the men struggle to provide they grow depressed and to turn to drinking, wasting the family's money and making it impossible for the family to thrive.
And yet, this woman prayed to a holy and kind God who saw her sufferings and knew that He would provide.
I remembered my fighter verse today and thought of my faith-filled friend from Nicaragua whose prayer meant more to me than it probably did her.
"6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:12).
We can choose today to use our shield of faith to press onward. So gather what I learned from this woman, believe in the power of prayer and in the God you are praying to. That will revolutionize your prayer life.
Choose today to believe God for the unthinkable. And remember prayer, supplication, and thanksgiving as the perfect recipes for coming to our relatable and yet Most Holy God on High.
No comments:
Post a Comment