The Moral of the Story (part 2)

Whenever we discussed what topics our classes wanted to study at church "how to know the will of God" came up often.  Most of us would love for God to just write His will on the wall for us or speak to us with a booming audible voice so that we would know for sure that it was God talking.  However, there are many ways to know the will of God.  Sometimes it says what the will of God is in the Bible.  "For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men." (1 Peter 2:15)  Other times it can be through the wise council of others.  

One of the things I've always found helpful when I'm having trouble deciding which direction to go is prayer.  That was another theme I tried to get across in "Best Laid Plans".  Whenever I hear someone say "I guess all we can do now is pray" in a tone that is heavy with defeat, it just irritates me so much.  Prayer is so powerful and I think it's an area that most Christians struggle with (myself included).  We so badly want to do something and often we feel like praying isn't doing.  So much is accomplished with prayer.  Whenever I've put myself in a position of fervent prayer, I find that the problem that I stressed so much about suddenly becomes very clear.  Those are the times that I feel like God is very near.

In the fifth chapter of James, he talks about the power of prayer.  "The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.  Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months.  Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit." (James 5:16b-18).  I think we'd be amazed at how many things have happened simply because someone prayed earnestly.

I think one of the first times I remember feeling awed by the power of prayer was when I was a teenager.  It was on New Year's Eve and a woman from our church was sick.  Her name was Betty and she and her husband, Walt, treated us like family.  Because of that we ended up calling them "Grandma" and "Grandpa" even though they were not blood relations.  That night Betty got very sick with an infection that turned septic.  The doctors told her husband that there was nothing they could do and suggested that he take her off life support.  My real Grandpa was with him that night. Walt told him that he wasn't ready to say good-bye, so my Grandpa told him to keep her on life support.   I remember going outside and praying earnestly for Betty.  I'm not sure if I believed that God could or would do anything, but I prayed for a long time with tears running down my face, pleading that God would somehow heal Betty.  Betty not only survived her ordeal, but was healthier and better than ever after going through it!  She has even outlived her dear husband and is still living today.

I could list many more instances where prayer has had such an amazing impact.  I'm also sure that I don't even know a fraction of the times that prayer has accomplished tremendous things!  I need to stop considering prayer the thing I do when my back is against the wall and start living a life of prayer.  I'm sure that if I could become a true "prayer warrior" that I would be astounded at the things that God does.

Best Laid Plans by Courtney Lyman