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God's Words For US
by Cecelia Lester
As I sat in church one Sunday, Connie joined me in my pew. Laura, who sat in front of me, turned around and asked her, “Is it true, are you moving out of state?” Connie said she wasn’t sure. She needed funds in order to do it. Laura then asked, “How can I pray for you?” The three of us decided to ask for the Lord’s will.
I knew Connie wants to move out west to be near some of her family. She had spoken of it to me almost a month and a half earlier. During the previous week Laura asked me, “Have you heard the rumor that Connie was moving out west?” I chose not to say anything beyond the fact I heard of the possibility.
This chance discussion led me to think about prayer and how we can pray for certain needs. We define prayer as communication with God. When we converse with Him we give praise, present requests, and seek Him or His presence.
Some people pray to God in the mornings- shortly after arising. Others choose to pray in the evenings. Prayer warriors pray when they feel the need and when someone asks them. On occasion, friends of mine and I have prayed at the end of a phone conversation.
The Bible gives us a lot of information on prayer. Jesus taught His disciples to pray. We have recorded evidence of our Lord praying in Gethsemane. James tells us that we don’t have because we don’t ask God. He further tells us that we may have asked and not received because we asked with wrong motives. (James 4:2-3)
When we pray, we are supposed to pray unselfishly. My parents taught me it was not becoming to ask anything of others for myself. When I chose to get serious about my faith, I transferred this to my spiritual life. Yet, we have times where we need to ask the Lord for His mercy or blessing on our lives.
I have known people who asked me to pray for them and then tell me how I should pray for what they want.
We can pray for people casually- “Lord, please be with him or her.”
We can pray for salvation-“Lord, please save his or her soul.”
We can pray blessings- “Lord, please bless that family.”
We can pray for healing- “Lord, please deliver him or her from that disease.”
We can pray for God’s guidance-“Father, please guide him or her through this trying time.”
We can pray for God’s will in our or another person’s life.
We can pray for God’s comfort-“Father, please wrap your arms of love around that family.”
Certain times we pray specifically for a need. “Lord, help Susie heal from her illness. Help John as he deals with this family matter.”
One thing we have to remember is that it is best to pray for God’s will in all these instances.
Several years ago, I received a phone call from a friend who asked me to pray for this man’s family. The man had died at the hands of another. There was a story told to the authorities by a family member. There was an arrest and a subsequent trial. During the trial, another friend called and asked me to pray for the family member who was on trial for this murder. Overall, I received two different view points about this event. I found myself confused as to how to pray. Then, all at once, I heard a whisper saying, “My will.” I could relax and pray believing that God’s will would prevail.
Understanding God’s will can be tricky. God has His general will and His specific will. His general will is that He wants all of those He created to come to love Him as He loves them. His specific will is the plan He has for each of His individual children.
When we pray, we have to believe our prayers will be answered. God has options that He uses. He can choose to say, “Yes” and answer a prayer immediately. Sometimes, He says, “No” because the petition, if granted, might harm us. A lot of times, He says, “Not now.” In these instances, He knows we are not ready for what could come if He allows us our request. But, He knows we may be ready at a later time. To believe someone we must accept certain facts about them. When we accept a principle we have learned he or she is trustworthy. To trust another person, we put our confidence in them.
We also have to trust God to answer them in His way. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. (Isaiah 55:8, KJV) We may have asked God to take a person out of a circumstance when that circumstance is God’s way of reaching them for the Kingdom or allowing him or her to come to know Him or grow in spirit.
When we look back on our lives, we will see that God has the last say. His will shall be victorious.
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Cecelia Lester has been serious about her writing for over two decades..
She composes Christian essays and posts them to her blog quietspirit-followingmyking.blogspot.com/
She has served in a faith-based organization, Grace In Action by writing two newsletters and searching for possible grants.
In July 2017, she published her first book, 'Times of Trouble Bring Rays of Joy.'
She and her husband of 54 years live in central Indiana. They have one grown son.
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