Skip to main content

How have your prayers been lately?

A very instructive story from Charles Stanley on prayer that honours God :
Carl had been praying for months about his rebellious son. His twenty-two-year-old son had left home and was living with some boys in a shack outside of town. Carl knew his son had been involved with drugs before he left home and soon after learned that his son had become a drug dealer. Carl’s two main concerns were that God would bring his son home and that his son wouldn’t be arrested.

One morning while he was praying for his son, God spoke to Carl. Carl realised that this had been a selfish request. He was well-known in his town and would be embarrassed if his son was arrested on drug charges. Carl told the Lord that if the only way to deliver his son from his sin was to allow him to be arrested, then he was willing for that to happen—even at the expense of his reputation.

A few days later, Carl received a phone call from the police. His son had been arrested and was charged with possession of illegal drugs. As Carl drove to the police station to pick up his son, he realised that God had been waiting for him to get his attitude right before He could allow his son to come home. God honoured Carl’s obedience. He and his son rebuilt their broken relationship and soon afterward his son left home again, this time to study for ministry (Source : Handle with Prayer, 2011)
The lesson from this story is that when we give God a condition, He often makes that the condition on which the answer to our prayer hinges. When we pray for someone or ourselves, we must take our hands off the matter completely and let God work any way He sees fit. It may not come out the way we want it, but the outcome will always be in the best interest of both parties.

Too often our prayers are inhibited by the desire to maintain our reputation or comfort. But God's reason for answering prayer is always about bringing us closer and closer in an intimate relationship. God knows that our deepest need is not our families that love us or powerful job or the praise of our friends or governments that stand for justice. These things have their merit but they can never truly satisfy us. God is our deepest need. The only one who can truly meet all our needs. And of course as we become more satisfied in God, His glory becomes more magnified in our lives. Or as John Piper puts it, "God is most glorified in us, when we are most satisfied in him".

Copyright © Chola Mukanga 2013
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I am what I am by Gloria Gaynor

Beverly Knight closed the opening ceremony of the Paralympics with what has been dubbed the signature tune of the Paralympics. I had no idea Ms Knight is still in the singing business. And clearly going by the raving reviews she will continue to be around. One media source says her performance was so electric that "there wasn’t a dry eye to be seen as she sang the lyrics to the song and people even watching at home felt the passion in her words" . The song was Gloria Gaynor's I am what I am . Clearly not written by Gloria Gaynor but certainly musically owned and popularized by her. It opens triumphantly: I am what I am / I am my own special creation / So come take a look / Give me the hook or the ovation / It's my world that I want to have a little pride in / My world and it's not a place I have to hide in / Life's not worth a damn till you can say I am what I am The words “I am what I am” echo over ten times in the song. A bold declaration that she
Post a Comment
KEEP READING →

The Price of Obedience

If we obey God it is going to cost other people more than it costs us, and that is where the sting comes in. If we are in love with our Lord, obedience does not cost us anything, it is a delight, but it costs those who do not love Him a good deal. If we obey God it will mean that other people’s plans are upset, and they will gibe us with it—“You call this Christianity?” We can prevent the suffering; but if we are going to obey God, we must not prevent it, we must let the cost be. - OSWALD CHAMBERS This is by far the hardest thing we are likely to struggle with as we seek to live lives that are totally surrendered to the Lord Jesus Christ. What if obeying God meant that your family members lost a well-known or well-loved circle of acquaintances? Had to move to a smaller house? Drove uglier cars? Wore older clothes? Lived by a weekly rather monthly budget?Accepting this part of obeying God is especially difficult for men or women who are the breadwinners for their families. The c
Post a Comment
KEEP READING →

Welcome to the Christian Life

What if someone promised you the perfect place to live, in a more beautiful location than you had ever seen or imagined, with every single one of your needs met and where you would be surrounded by relationships of love forever? What if that person told you that you would need to surrender what you now have, that the journey would be long, and that there would be sacrifices and suffering along the way, but at the end the glories that have been pictured for you would be yours? What if someone promised that when you become weak and disheartened, someone would be there to encourage and strengthen you, so you could continue the journey? What if this person said that there is a place in this gloryland prepared just for you? What would you say and do as you compared the small bag of things you have now to the unprecedented beauty of the gift laid before you? Wouldn’t you say, “I’ll take that journey”? Wouldn’t you be willing to make those sacrifices? Wouldn’t you, in moments of discouragemen
Post a Comment
KEEP READING →