Sometimes I seem to forget how big my God is.

In Jeremiah 32:17, Jeremiah prays, “Ah Lord God!  behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee.”

It’s a truth I know in my head, but is it a reality in how I pray?  God has the ability to answer any request I bring before Him.  I may not see a way out of a situation, but He does.  His answer may be outside the realm of what I think is possible, but it can be done if He wills it.  Be it small or great, God can do anything.

We find nearly the same phrase in the story of Sarah in the Old Testament.  In Genesis 18:14, the Lord is speaking about Abraham and Sarah having a son in their old age.  After Sarah laughed at the thought, the Lord asked, “Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto
thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.”

Once again, in Luke 1:37, as the angel Gabriel addresses Mary regarding the conception of Jesus, he says, “For with God nothing shall be impossible.”

There’s a certain situation with one of my daughters about which I’ve been praying. I’m not sure how God might answer it, but I am letting this truth sink into my heart.  He has the power to answer in ways I can’t even imagine – and I know that however He answers, it will be what’s best for her.

I’m also praying for wisdom in another area.  I don’t know how God will make clear the way to proceed, but James 1:5 tells me that, if I ask for wisdom, He will give it to me.

As I seek God in prayer, I want to live in faith and trust, knowing that God is all powerful and is able to do anything He chooses.

Praying what seems to you like an impossible prayer?  Keep praying; God can do it.

As part of my study on prayer this year, I have been reading the prayers of Bible characters.  Hannah’s prayer of thanksgiving in I Samuel 2:1-10 is full of praise to God.  She begins her prayer by saying, “My heart rejoiceth in the Lord, mine horn is exalted in the Lord….because I rejoice in thy salvation.  There is none holy as the Lord: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God.”  The passage continues with her describing God and His wonderful works.

From there, I moved to a prayer of David in II Samuel 7:18-29.  In verse 22, he says, “Wherefore thou art great, O Lord God: for there is none like thee, neither is there any God beside thee.”  He goes on to say in verse 26, “And let thy name be magnified for ever,” and in verse 28, “And now, O Lord God, thou art that God, and thy words be true.”

What struck me about these prayers is their focus.  Both Hannah’s and David’s prayers are centered on God, not themselves.  Certainly we are told to bring our requests to God and that’s a large part of prayer.  However, I fear that I concentrate most often on asking for my needs to be met when I should spend more of my prayer time in worshipping and praising God.  As I recognize and name His attributes and recall what He has done through creation and in my own life, then I can move into my prayer requests with a heart already full of His glory and power.

May I learn from these saints of old to make more of my prayer about God, and less of it about me.

One of my goals for 2013 is to spend the first ten minutes of my daily devotional time in prayer.  I had been praying at the end of my devotions and found that I usually ran out of time.  This new plan is working very well!

We are told in I Thessalonians 5:17 to pray without ceasing.  What a blessing it is to know that we can pray anytime and anywhere.  Indeed, we should always be in an attitude of prayer.

However, in studying Bible passages on prayer lately, I’ve been motivated to look at setting more specific times of prayer.  David says in Psalm 55:17, “Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud…”  After learning of the king’s command that no prayers were to be offered except to the king himself, we read in Daniel 6:10 that Daniel “kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.” 

These men are an inspiration to me to set aside 3 times a day to pray.  I have the morning covered, but I would like to add a few minutes to pray in the middle of the day, perhaps right before or after lunch.  That part of our day tends to be busy, so I will have to be purposeful in making this happen.  I also want to add a time of prayer just before I fall asleep. 

At each of these times, I want to pray for specific needs.  In the morning, it’s my family and friends.  At lunch time, I can pray for missionaries and our country.  In the evening, it could be for our church, its ministries, and the needs of fellow members.

Strengthening my prayer life is a focus for 2013 and I hope that establishing this habit will help in that area.

Do you have any other suggestions for setting specific prayer times?

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As I mentioned in my 2013 goals post, I want to focus on strengthening my prayer life this year.  Each Monday for the next several weeks, I’ll plan to share what I’m learning as I study Bible passages about prayer.

II Chronicles 7:14 is a fairly well-known verse.  The verse begins with the following phrases:  “If my people…shall humble themselves, and pray….”

Praying is an act of humility.  If I am coming to God and asking for His help, I am admitting that I am insufficient to meet the need.  This is the case with salvation – we, as sinners, come to God in prayer, admitting that we cannot save ourselves from our sins, and asking Him to redeem us.

So it continues as we walk through the Christian life.  I must be humble enough to realize that I cannot fight Satan’s temptation alone, but need the power of Christ to overcome.  I cannot make wise decisions regarding marriage, parenting, work situations, or anything else without God’s direction. 

As I bring my requests to Him daily, may my state of mind be one of humility, recognizing my own weaknesses while acknowledging God as the all powerful One who has the ability to answer my every prayer.

I love new beginnings.

From a fresh start every morning to the first day of a new year, I welcome the chance to evaluate where I am and make plans for where I want to be. 

Along with the excitement however, can come a tinge of apprehension, wondering what lies ahead.

As we step into 2013 today, I find the words of this hymn particularly comforting.

Be Still My Soul

Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side.
Bear
patiently the cross of grief or pain.
Leave to thy God to order and
provide;
In every change, He faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul: thy
best, thy heavenly Friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful
end.

Be still, my soul: thy God doth undertake
To guide the future, as
He has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;
All now
mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul: the waves and winds
still know
His voice Who ruled them while He dwelt below.

~Katharine von Schlegel

Praising the Lord for His blessings in 2012, thanking Him for His grace and protection, and looking forward to seeing His plan unfold for our family – and yours – in 2013!

You don’t usually notice them. 

At the church potluck, they’re the ones who make sure everyone else has been served before they sit down. 

They volunteer for the jobs that no one else wants, like cleaning the bathrooms.

Sometimes they spend days preparing for an event that lasts a few hours, and then, while everyone else heads home, they clean up. 

They say, “I’ve been praying for you,” and you know they mean it. 

They arrive unannounced with a pick-up-truck-load of food. 

They take care of things you didn’t even realize needed to be done. 

They’re always behind the scenes, never pushing their way to the front, avoiding public praise or recognition. 

Over the past week, our family has been privileged to be served in many of these ways.  With the passing of my father-in-law and the celebration of my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary, we have received love and generosity from many of these precious servants.

They make me want to be one of them – to serve with an unselfish spirit, expecting nothing in return, wanting only to be a blessing to others. 

These servant-hearted men and women are my heroes.

Yesterday I had the privilege of talking with an experienced homeschool mom.  She has already graduated two sons and her daughter is finishing the tenth grade.

Since this is our first year of homeschooling, I like to”pick the brain” of those who have walked this road before me.  Both Kathy and I are former teachers, so I enjoyed hearing what she’s done along the way – especially her curriculum choices and how she’s synchronized those with her children’s learning styles and personal interests.

I don’t know how long our family is called to homeschool.  This year has been a wonderful experience, and we do plan to homeschool again next year.  After that, it’s unclear.  But I thought the advice Kathy gave me was great for all of us, no matter how we are choosing to educate our children or where we are in the journey – just take it one year at a time. 

I’ve been reading passages in the Bible lately where faith and trust are the theme.  While I like to plan ahead and see the future laid out neatly before me, that’s not always what’s best for me.  Being open to change, as God leads, is a good thing.  In life, situations arise that may cause us to take things not just a year, but a month – or even a day – at a time. 

How thankful I am that, as I walk close to the Lord and listen to His voice, He will guide me, day by day, in the right way.

“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” ~Philippians 4:6

Last week, I was blessed to see God answer a prayer that’s been on my heart for months.  In His goodness and faithfulness, He granted the request.

As I thanked Him for His answer, I pondered these five things that answered prayer does in my life.

1.  It reminds me that God loves me. He hears my prayers and understands my concerns.

2.  It encourages me to continue praying for other requests that I have.  

3.  It helps me understand that God always wants what’s best for me and for those for whom I intercede. If it seems that He’s not answering my prayer, I can trust that He will work in His own way and in His own time to bring His will to pass.

4.  It reaffirms in my mind that nothing is too hard for God.  There are times when it is especially evident that God has worked in ways that man cannot explain.

5.  It gives me another reason to praise Him.  While I already have so much for which to be thankful, answered prayer is yet another reason to give God honor and glory by sharing with others what He has done for me.

May God grant us all the blessing of seeing answered prayer in our lives!