Learning to Pray

It's been a busy time, both in our house and at church. At church, last night we concluded several days of Revival Services with Evangelist Ben Farrell and family. It was a blessed time, made even sweeter by an added bonus of having Tara Hamilton Farrell's family with us for 2 services.  Ron "Patch the Pirate" Hamilton, along with Shelly, their daughter Megan, Megan's fiance Adam, and Tara & Ben ministered in music each night, and it was exciting that they graciously held a Patch the Pirate concert on Tuesday evening. The children (and adults, too!) were so excited to meet Patch and be able to help him sing the songs that they know and love!

On the home front, my husband and I are leaving tomorrow morning for Illinois, where my husband will be preaching at a Homecoming conference that our former church is having to celebrate their 20th anniversary. This will be our first visit back in the 3 1/2 years since we left, and I can't tell you how excited I am. We dearly love the people here that God has given us to minister to and are grateful for Him bringing us here, but when you minister in the same church for 18 years, the church family becomes part of you. They are very near and dear to our hearts. In addition, that is where our children grew up. Our youngest son was only 6 when we moved to Illinois, and lived there until he graduated from college and got married in 2011. There are many, many memories of raising our children and serving the Lord there, and I confess that I have been praying that we would fully be able to enjoy our time of reunion and ministry there, without being sad about that season of our life being over.

What a privilege it is to be able to pray about things like that and to know that God cares about every concern of our life! When I was with my dear friend in South Carolina at the end of February, she gave me a special wall plaque to hang in the area where I have my time with the Lord. She got one for herself just like it. When I look at it, it never fails to speak to my heart. Here is what it says:

Lord, teach me how to pray!
In everything, let me give thanks.
That I would be anxious for nothing,
That Your desires would become my own.
May forgiveness flow willingly from my heart.
Show me your plan for me for today,
and may I pray always.

There are so many thoughts in those few lines that I hardly know where to begin. The first thought that has been going through my mind is that I need to not only ask the Lord to teach me how to pray, but to teach me to pray. Period. So often when a situation comes up, I think of a hundred other things and ways to "fix" and resolve the situation rather than just praying first.

The next two lines remind me of Phil. 4:6 - "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God." We are also told in 1 Thess. 5:18 to "in everything give thanks". That can be so hard to do, but the rest of the verse gives us some helpful insight - "for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." Trusting God is such a huge and a hard thing for us to do. Why is it we can trust Him for our eternity, but not for our daily life? When we understand who God is - that He is wise, loving, and good - and because of that we can trust Him, then we truly can give Him thanks in everything.

"That Your desires would be my own." What an awesome thing to pray for and to realize that true joy comes when God's desires become our desires.  This is something we can pray not only for ourselves, but for our spouses, children, and grandchildren.

"May forgiveness flow willingly from my heart." I think the key word is "willingly." God wants us to forgive willingly, not grudgingly, and to forgive as He forgives us. If we understand how much we have been forgiven of, how can we withhold forgiveness?

"Show me your plan for today and may I pray always." If we could only get in the habit of beginning our day with this simple prayer, what a difference it would make. God does have a plan for our days, and His plan is always best, so on the days when it seems like nothing is going according to our plan, we need to remember that God might have a different plan. His plan is much better than any of ours. Psalm 18:30,"As for God, His way is perfect..."

I know that none of these thoughts are anything earth-shattering or new, but hopefully they will give you some things to think about over the next few days. May we all have a desire to go to the Lord and ask Him to "teach us to pray."

Thoughtfully,
Kathi