Thread by @glprater

#GeraldsDevotional
The Power of Our Prayer to Bless Exceedingly or to Delay Needlessly

This morning the LORD woke me up with yet another burden for a word about prayer along with a few examples to illustrate the theme of this devotional. You see, there is indeed great power in your prayers and in mine. But the sad truth is that we leave most of that power on the

table unused at best, or at worst discarded as unwanted rubbish. You ask “How can this be?” Read on to see how along with some vivid examples from the bible along with some from right now today as we pray.

The key difference in these two results of prayer has always been the

focus of the prayer. Are our prayers honestly based on what “I want” (as in “I don’t like this situation, change it!”) or are they based on what “God wants” (as in “I don’t understand why this is happening and it doesn’t feel good, but I know You and trust that You are using it

for my good”).

The bible is filled with well-known examples of that first example. One easily recognized from the Old Testament is God brought the children out of Egyptian captivity and sustained them in the wilderness of Sinai. Instead of recognizing God’s awesome power to

rescue them and provide for them in that wilderness, they complained in their prayers to Him through Moses. While the LORD was in the middle of leading them on a relatively short trip to this land that He had promised to them, they prayed “We don’t like this and we think You

should do what WE want (what makes US feel good).” Of course you know that this led to a needless delay of 40 years in that short trip to the Promised Land while that generation in essence got what they prayed for. Their actions demonstrated that they thought God’s promises

(which they had all heard about) were rubbish.

Another well-known example from the New Testament is the disciples of Jesus and one of their leaders, Peter. We know how Peter was a leader of the early church (the Way) even though he was far from perfect and made many mistakes.

The LORD showed me one particular incident and used it to illustrate this theme. In Matthew 16:23 after Jesus had told His disciples that He needed to leave at that time and go to Jerusalem and be killed. After Peter boldly rebuked the LORD (“THIS will never happen to YOU!”), the

LORD rebuked, but did not disqualify Peter (“Get thee behind me Satan”). In that moment, Peter was reacting in his prayer and petition to the LORD as described above. In essence he was saying “God, I don’t understand this, it doesn’t feel good to me and I don’t like the way it is

going. Change this situation so that it will make me feel good right now.”

We all know that Peter went on to recover from this mistake and went on to be one of the leaders of the new church after the LORD’s resurrection. But the He showed me this morning that the spirit of

Peter’s prayer there in Matthew 16 remained in him and caused him to leave a significant amount of power on the table unused in his ministry. Imagine if there had been this fire burning in Peter’s spirit that said “Even though I don’t understand this right now, I know what He

said He would do and I know who He is, so I don’t have to understand it. I am going ALL THE WAY with this even at the risk of looking foolish.” With that type of mindset, Peter (and others) would have been shouting and running calling a crowd to follow him to that tomb on the

morning of the third day saying “Come everyone, SEE FOR YOURSELVES!” Imagine the additional power that would have added to their immediate ministry and following. But again, that power was left on the table unused.

Finally, look around today and if we are honest with ourselves,

we all still have the tendency to pray like this more often than not. “LORD, this is my desire in order to make me or others around me feel good right now… please change this situation. In Your Holy Name I pray.” Just this week I have heard many well-intentioned people

organizing efforts for mass prayer to ask for this virus to go away (we don’t like it, it doesn’t feel good to us, or we don’t understand why). Just as in the examples above, the real power in our prayers today would be:

“LORD, I submit to You that this doesn’t feel good and

that I don’t understand why it is happening. But I know that You are in control and that You have said that You are using EVERYTHING that happens around us for good according to YOUR purpose. I don’t have to understand why right now, but I trust that You are making a change…

a change that has the power to calm and reassure when I still don’t yet understand. Flood the earth with that power Father. Let Your will be done in all of these things, not mine, according to Your riches, power and glory.”
Amen

And we know that all things work together for good

to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. – Romans 8:28

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