Tuesday, August 26, 2014

The prayers go up.....

.....and the blessings come down!

Those are part of the lyrics to a little song that we used to sing in church when I was a young girl.  The song came to mind recently after our Sunday school teacher touched on the topic of prayer and "why do we pray?", then, I visited my friend, Ms. Mary, on her blog at Visits With Mary, and God had also prompted her to talk about praying.  So, I figured God was telling me to sit up and take notice! 
(if you're not already a friend of Ms. Mary, please pay her a visit.....
she's a precious lady!!!)

Here's the number one thing I realize about prayer.....
God answers ALL prayers!
Does that mean He answers them the way we want?
Absolutely not.
For instance.....
we have a family member who told me once that God didn't answer her prayers because she had prayed for a new car and didn't get it!
Now, that's somewhat humorous, but at the same time very sad because of the perspective she had about who God really is. He wants what's  best for us.  And, obviously He didn't think a brand new car was in her best interest.

I know you have heard it said that God answers our prayers in three ways.....
Yes.....
No.....
and, Wait!
When the answer is "wait".....
oh, how difficult that is.....
to practice patience and wait for God to answer our prayers.....
in HIS time, not ours!

I'm reminded of when Pappy was laid off from work for exactly a year.
2012 was a VERY.LONG.YEAR!
With interview after interview and rejection after rejection, God was telling us to wait.  Being a person of action, I wanted to fix the situation.  
And, I want to be perfectly honest with you all.
 I'm ashamed to admit this, but I've got to be transparent.
I finally reached a point where I didn't think God was even listening to my prayers.  I began to think it was somehow my fault that Pappy didn't have a job.....for whatever reason, God was punishing us because of some big major sin in MY life! I remember the day Pappy went on the interview for the job he has now.  I was terribly depressed that day.  It was a cold and dark and dreary December day.....and that wasn't just the weather, it was also the condition of my heart and attitude.  I had decided this was going to be just another broken dream when he would receive yet another rejection letter.  But, that's now how God works.  EVERYTHING that He does is for HIS glory.....
so that we can see HIS hand at work in our lives.

Who else could have ordained that Pappy would receive a job EXACTLY one year to the day when he lost his last one?
Only GOD!!!
And, who else would have answered our prayer that Pappy's job would be a sort of ministry?
Only GOD!!!
And, since our savings account was practically depleted during that year of unemployment and I had prayed that it wouldn't go below a certain amount and it didn't.....
down to the exact amount.....
who else could have known that?
Only GOD!!!

Does God need us to pray?
No.....
God needs absolutely nothing from us.
What He does want, though, is a personal relationship with each and every one of us who is His own......
and that relationship comes through prayer!
And, in our prayers, we're going to praise and honor Him.
We're going to give HIM thanks for EVERYTHING that happens in our lives.....
good and bad.....
as difficult as it is to say "thank you" for the bad stuff!!!

Now, I didn't mean to write a novel.
I just wanted to share my thoughts on what it means to me to pray.
It's not a "gimme, gimme" time to talk to the Lord.
Although, He does want to hear the "desires of our heart".
It's a time to just simply tell Him how much we love and adore Him.
And, when we have that intimate relationship with Him.....
then, He's gonna send more blessings down on us that we can even contain.....
especially, our hearts!!!


Breathing in Grace,

Deb



3 comments:

  1. Some seem to believe when the answer to their prayer request is 'no' that God didn't hear their prayers. Only when the answer is 'yes' do they believe God heard them. Thanks for your sweet words Deb, you are such a blessing to me. ((hugs))

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  2. Deb, I LOVE this post! You have no clue how this has blessed me today! My cup is running over right now! LOVE you my friend! Hugs and blessings, Cindy

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  3. What a sweet blessing to read your post and be encouraged by the stories of God's love and provision! :)

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Kind words are like honey—
sweet to the soul and healthy for the body.
Proverbs 16:24