Prayer

Today in Sunday school, we talked about James 5:17-18 and it really resonated with me.

It pulls from the Old Testament, from 1 Kings 17, the story of Elijah when he prayed for rain. There had been a drought in the land for three and a half years. Elijah prayed for rain, then sent a servant out to see if there was evidence of rain...there wasn't. Elijah prayed again, sent the servant, but no rain. Six times they did this, and on the seventh the servant saw a little cloud, "and the sky poured rain and the earth produced it's fruit."

So often with prayer we pray for things - specific things, and then get upset when we do not get the answer we desire. We get upset when God doesn't answer our prayer right away, exactly how we want it. We give up, we get frustrated, we loose our trust in "the system" if I can call it that. We don't realize that it isn't about praying for what we want, it's about praying for what God wants. We can't pigeon-hole God into answering prayers. He is much bigger than that. We think we know what is best, but we don't - God has the best plan for our lives, we need to trust Him and His plan.

Elijah had to send the servant 7 times before he got his answer. Sometimes we have to pray 7 times, sometimes its a year, sometimes its 10 years, whatever the wait, we need to pray for His will. "The length of the wait develops the depth of my faith and trust." (Amy Peterson) Sometimes God delays giving us what we want because it isn't what is best for us right now. That is so hard for me to understand, because the things that I want aren't bad things. How can they not be good for me?? The longer He waits to give me my answer, the more my trust and faith grows. The more deeper my relationship with Him is. That is what is best for me right now - not what I am desiring, but my relationship with Him. Becoming the woman I am supposed to become - which will influence and impact the rest of my life.

So the question is: "Can I let go and surrender what I want in prayer to receive what I get through prayer" (Amy Peterson)