Did you know prayer is powerful?... I guess the better question is, do you believe that prayer is powerful? Do you believe that prayer can really change things? Do you believe that God really listens? Do you believe that if "whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him."? (Mark 11:23) Do you believe that God can move the mountains in your life?
A few weeks ago my small group at church was looking at this passage from Mark. As we were diving into the passage, my pastor asked us what were the mountains we were praying for in our lives. After a few moments of silence, one of the women spoke up and share "I think that I've stopped asking for my mountains to be moved." Her honest observation about herself resonated with all of us there that evening. We all, in one way or another, had stopped asking for mountains to be moved and were settling for just okay; no longer praying big prayers, but prayers for the bare minimum. We were content to settle for what we think is enough when God tells us to pray for mountains to be tossed into the sea.
But isn't this so true of all of us though? We stop praying for our mountains or maybe never begin to pray for them. We either think we don't deserve it, or think we're asking God for too much, or maybe we don't believe something that big could be moved. Well I was defiantly convicted by this passage because Jesus didn't give any prerequisites for prayer other than faith and no doubt. So it doesn't depend on whether we deserve it or think we're good enough, it is a matter of faith and how Jesus tells us to pray.
So if that is all it takes why aren't I praying like that? Why aren't we praying like that? God wants me to pray, to come before Him with the things that lay heavy on my heart. And I have plenty of mountains to pray for too! In fact I have a whole mountain range of mountains just at AU alone. Yet I'm hesitant to pray for them, I've hesitated and haven't prayed for them. But it is time to stop moping around about the spiritual lostness of my campus and do what God told me to do in the first place, PRAY! God really convicted me during that Bible study, I wasn't praying enough or big enough, or chapter wasn't praying enough or big enough. So something needed to be done.
I still don't have it all right and could definitely pray bigger and more often. However, I've stepped out in faith and I'm trying to pray bigger, for the things only God could accomplish on the campus. I'm trying to pray more regularly too. And you know what, it makes a difference. I'm seeing those mountains begin to shake as students accept Christ and step up into leadership in the chapter and get excited about God's mission for our campus. I don't know why I didn't pray like this sooner. God does listen to our prayers and He does answer. Not always in the ways I expect or in the ways I want, but He is answering prayers in a way to advance His Kingdom. Prayer is more powerful than we might think. So what is your mountain prayer? Start praying for it and watch as it begins to move.
I still don't have it all right and could definitely pray bigger and more often. However, I've stepped out in faith and I'm trying to pray bigger, for the things only God could accomplish on the campus. I'm trying to pray more regularly too. And you know what, it makes a difference. I'm seeing those mountains begin to shake as students accept Christ and step up into leadership in the chapter and get excited about God's mission for our campus. I don't know why I didn't pray like this sooner. God does listen to our prayers and He does answer. Not always in the ways I expect or in the ways I want, but He is answering prayers in a way to advance His Kingdom. Prayer is more powerful than we might think. So what is your mountain prayer? Start praying for it and watch as it begins to move.
No comments:
Post a Comment