Dear Lord...

Very recently, as I was sharing about all of the overwhelming things that are going on in my life, I mentioned prayer, and how there was ONE thing that I was heavily praying for. This ONE thing I wanted more than anything else.

Now I know that I lot of folks think that prayer is just a bunch of hocus pocus mumbo jumbo, and that there's no "Big Guy in the sky" who's hearing ANYTHING. I do agree with that, PARTIALLY. He's NOT "in the sky." He's EVERYWHERE.

For me however, as a follower of Christ, I wholeheartedly believe in the power of prayer. Sometimes (many times actually), prayer can be frustrating. In this "microwave age" that we live in, we've lost the patience that is required when waiting. We want everything NOW, or five minutes ago. WAITING? Nobody wants to do that. Certainly not I.

But OHHH...when a prayer is uttered, and very soon thereafter ANSWERED...it just adds another coal to the "belief furnace" and kicks one's faith up just a few notches higher.

That happened to me yesterday. I had been praying hard and heavy for something. Wrote it down in my prayer journal, and although it seemed to be a "lost cause", I continued to petition God for this thing that I so greatly wanted. Never in my prayers do I utter the words, "Lord, if you are ABLE..." But always, "Lord, if you are WILLING..." You see, as much as I know what I want, I had to come to a level of spiritual maturity to understand that God's will for me will ALWAYS trump my own...even when it hurts to think that He may not give me what I desire. That's how I felt about this particular situation. I just wasn't sure how it was gonna go.

Monday night I hit a low. Did something that I wasn't sure I should do, yet knew I had to. Wasn't sure what the result would be, I just knew that I had to do this particular thing.

As I prepared to settle in for bed much later that night, mentally and physically drained, I said my prayers for the last time that day and went to sleep.

Within hours, my prayer...the one I had so strongly been uttering for weeks, was answered, and I smiled the first GENUINE smile that I had smiled in WEEKS. All I could do was THANK GOD, because I knew that it was only He who orchestrated things in the manner that they unfolded.

So no...for me, prayer isn't a munch of hocus pocus mumbo jumbo. For me, prayer is MY way of COMMUNICATING with God. The Bible is HIS way of communicating with me. The communication MUST flow both ways in order for it to be effective.

As I write the words, I don't know how things will continue to develop with the prayer that God answered. But the moments of joy that I received as a result of what He did still have me flying high, and I feel that I can go on wee bit further. He knew I needed that. In His omniscience...of course He knew. And although He didn't have to grant me what He did...I am ever so thankful that He did.

Enough about me. How 'bout you? Let the DIALOGUE begin: When was the last time you said a prayer and very clearly knew that it had been answered?

Talk to me!

Til next time...