A God of Prayer

It’s been a while since I last wrote, mostly due to my incessant stream of homework and my fairly crowded college life. It’s a constant struggle to get all of my work finished, simply because there is a lot of it. Not gunna lie, college is a lot harder than I want it to be.

               

My response to this onslaught of difficulties has been prayer. Jesus said that we could ask anything in his name and he would give it to us (cf. Matt. 7:7-11). That’s one of the promises of God that we don’t often pay attention to. In our minds, we put a box around God and arrogantly tell the Almighty Creator what He can and can’t do. Of course, we don’t ever phrase it that way. But think about it, when is the last time you wanted something, but figured God either a) didn’t care or b) couldn’t come through with it? I find myself guilty of both of those every single day.

Paul writes in 1 Thes. 5:17 that we are to pray without ceasing, which leads me to ask myself why I’m trying to limit God by limiting my prayers. If I only pray for the ordinary, why am I discontent when that’s all I get?

This past month at college has shown me a glimpse of what it looks like to pray big and to ask God to deliver, and He has. Many stories come to mind:

I prayed God would show me a church for me to plug into, and the Saturday night before service, He put several verses on my heart, predominately Jeremiah 29:12-13, and sure enough the church I attended the next day talked about just that. God has the answers.

I spent about 4 hours on the first half of my physics homework two weeks ago, and that was doing the easiest problems that I could find. As I was sitting down to finish it, I felt the spirit call me to speak with Him. So I ended up having an impromptu quiet time right there in the middle of my studying. I simply asked God for understanding, and finished the second half of my physics homework, the harder part, in 30 minutes. That was all God coming through.

 I left my bag with my bible and journal in the lobby while I was eating dinner one night. When I realized it was missing a while afterwards, I looked all over my room and then went down to look for it. It didn’t turn up, so I prayed that God would return it to me. Sure enough, I walked into my room, and right there on my bed was my bag with everything in it – the bed had been empty before I left. Miracles happen.

I have more examples, plenty, but those aren’t the point. The point is Jesus Christ answers prayer. Have faith and try it, you might be surprised at what you find.

-matt