A while ago I mentioned this Bible Class that our Church was having on how to handle our anxiety. Giving God our problems, sticking to the facts of a situation, & being specific in prayer.
A few weeks ago we talked specifically about being specific in our prayers. Asking God for what we need or want. Though God already knows what we need before we ask, we’re encouraged to lay our requests before Him. See Matthew 6:8 & Philippians 4:6-8.
Over the years I’ve tried to be more specific with prayer.
If I have a lot on my mind I’ll just write my prayer out as a way of getting my thoughts on paper. For things that I pray about daily, I write the request on a notecard. Every few months or so I sort through the notecards. Seeing what prayers were answered, which ones I no longer feel led to pray about, & which ones I want to reword.
I sorted through my prayer cards earlier this week & rewrote a card specifically about which business projects to work on next. There is a running list of about a 1/2 dozen things that need to be done and I asked for guidance and wisdom about which projects would be the best to start first & help the business to grow.
Most of these projects have needed to be done for a while, but I was never sure how to start. For one project in particular I felt like I needed a resource explaining how to do it right. Another project I had attempted a few times before and never figured out a way to make it work long-term.
So, I prayed about it for a couple of days and was toying with some ideas. Talking about different things we could research, ideas we could try, and what the best course of action was. But I never felt led to do anything specific.
A mentor of mine asked if anyone wanted to join her for a project later this year. After some back and forth I gave her some information & let her take the lead. She suggested an idea and within minutes Mom, JoJo, & I came up with the specifics of how we could do it. Then I told her why I was struggling with this particular project & why I felt I couldn’t make anything work long-term. She then offered to send me some resources to help with that very thing!
And that’s not all!
The other project I’ve known needed to be done for some time. I just wasn’t sure how to start & the best resource to use without charging an arm & a leg. Last night I got an email from a new company I’ve been working with. They offered to send me A FREE e-book on the very same topic I needed to learn more about! Once I downloaded the book I quickly glanced through it & saw that it covers nearly EVERYTHING I need to know. Not only that but I’m confident that it will provide me with the next steps to actually take action versus just acquiring knowledge!
Now, I know that God doesn’t always answer prayers or even very specific prayers in just a few days time. I know that there are prayers that for whatever reason, beyond our understanding, he chooses to answer differently than we would have liked. And in 100% transparency, I’ve been in both of those situations at different times this year.
I share this with you because I know that for me, it can be hard when you’ve been praying a specific prayer over and over for years & God’s answer has been “wait”. Often times when this happens I’ll begin to wonder if God is even listening to my prayers.
And personally, I’m always encouraged when I see how God is moving & answering prayers in others’ lives.
I love sitting back from a distance and just watching. Seeing the big and little ways that God is faithful. The way His hand is SO evident in their story. Of course it was difficult & beyond challenging. But they never gave up. They never lost their faith & look at them now, living their dream. Yes, it looks different than they would have imagined but looking back they wouldn’t have had it any other way.
So, when I’m struggling to believe that God is moving in my life I take great encouragement from watching God move in others lives & my faith is strengthened. If God can do it for them, why won’t He do something like that for me?
And that’s why I share this with you today. As an encouragement. Because God does hear your prayers. He is listening. And His is moving. You may just not be able to see it yet.
Terrific post
Thanks! I’m glad you enjoyed it! (: