Monday, January 14, 2008

Not Giving Up On Prayer

When our eldest child, Gracie was three, we began to encourage Gracie to say a prayer before retiring for the evening. We suggested that she thank God for the things or people in her life that were special to her. This is the prayer that she prayed: “Thank you God for Mamaw and Papaw. Thank you God for Granddaddy Frank and Grandmudder. Thank you God for Mommy, and Daddy, and Will and Gracie. And please God, give Mommy another baby. Amen.” Mixed in Gracie's prayer were special requests for people she loved who were sick. When her great-grandmother, KK, was sick, Gracie prayed for her healing. Once KK went to heaven, we explained she didn't have to keep putting KK in her prayers because God answered them--KK was now healed and in heaven with Jesus. We did the same thing when it came to "Grandmudder" (as Gracie pronounced it). Once again, we explained to Gracie she could take Grandmudder out of her prayers because God had healed her, too. Last weekend when we were riding in the car, Gracie told me from her carseat, "I just can't get Grandmudder out of my prayers, mommy!" I asked her what she meant and Gracie said, "Well, I just prayed for her for so long."

I have a special person I pray for every day, sometimes several times a day. There are days when I tell God, "I'm tired of praying for this person. I pray everyday and you don't ever answer. I never see any results because I'm not seeing any change!" Then once again, God tells me, "If you don't pray for them, who will?"

In I Chronicles, the story of the war between the sons of Reuben, Gad and several other tribes is told. I Chronicles 5:20 says, "God answered their prayers because they trusted in Him." So maybe that's why my prayers for this special person haven't been answered after all of these years! I haven't trusted God to answer them. I've been so disappointed because I haven't seen the results I think I should! (Notice all of the "I"s.)

When God puts someone on your heart to pray for, listen. Don't give up, even if it seems like God is being slow to answer. Trust Him---He will answer. After all, if you don't pray for the person God puts on your heart, no one else will. There is a reason why God is telling YOU to pray for them.

4 comments:

John said...

God doesn't give up on us, so we shouldn't give up prayer for other people. God does things in His time and His way. There may even be results that we can't see, especially when the heart is involved.

John said...

Just heard an interesting stat on
prayer:
divorce rate 1 in 2
divorce rate among coules who pray together 1 in 1000

Unknown said...

Barbie, thanks so much for the reminder to be persistent in prayer. When I pray each morning, I have to do it in a journal because my brain gets distracted otherwise...anyway, I feel like I pray the same things over and over. But God wants us to be persistent and believe that He will work, wait patiently on His timing, and just trust. What a precious lesson you are teaching Gracie early on!

Carol said...

Thank you thank you - I needed that reminder today to keep praying even when I don't see answers to my prayers. I have someone special I pray for and I almost gave up. God never gives up on me and I know He will work in His timing not mine.