That Christian Next Door

One of the omnipresent contexts in every prayer that we speak to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, is that there are unknowns in the future which we feel, if not believe, that only He can resolve. This is one of the strongest motivators for prayer. The hope or belief that God is able to do what we ask – in a way that we cannot do for ourselves – is a key factor that drives us to Him.

If we do make the decision to pray, then the goings-on in the prayer time of a Christian are incredibly important and telling. If we can form the habit of leaving space during prayer, instead of only sticking religiously to our self-prescribed list of needs, we allow the possibility of reconfiguration and realignment to God’s plan and we give ourselves a certain shot at getting what we pray about – which may not necessarily be what we entered the prayer time for.

This reconfiguration and realignment can get weird and embarrassing but if we are driven by making God happy and serving Him without self-consciousness, then we are better-equipped to accept the possibility that during or after praying we may get acceptance from Him for the prayers we were led to pray but not acceptance for the prayers that were our main reason for praying in the first place.

A good personal example is: Asking God to increase our social media following so that we can reach more people, then doing a massive about-turn and praying for the strength to remain obedient in reaching out regardless of the audience size. Consequently, our social media following has been more or less the same but the resolve to continue the work is stronger.

Every Christian entering prayer should be open and welcoming to this kind of eventuality because of Romans 8 vs 28 and our knowledge that God will make all things work out for the good of those who love Him and who are called according to His purpose.

Our prayers that God works things out for our good are important but only useful if we are aligned and subject to His purpose.

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