Prayer and action

      Phillip Yancey is an author I have enjoyed for many years. In his book entitled, “Prayer, Does It Make a Difference?” he gives many insights into how the Bible and many godly men and women have participated and lived by prayer. In one chapter he has this to say on the subject:

    “Some people worry that prayer may lead to passivity, that we will retreat to prayer as a substitute for action. Jesus saw no contradiction between the two: he spent long hours in prayer and then long hours meeting human needs. The church in Acts prayed together about the cultural controversies between Jews and Gentiles, then convened a council to hammer out a compromise.

   The Apostle Paul prayed diligently for the early churches, but also wrote and visited them. He prayed and worked with equal abandon. On a sea voyage, after being convinced as a result of his prayers that all passengers would survive the impending shipwreck, he proceeded to take charge of the 276 on board, giving orders and organizing salvage efforts.

   The accounts in Acts present a double agency that makes it impossible to distinguish God’s work from the Christians work---the point exactly. Recall Paul’s paradoxical command to the Philippians: ‘work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you to will and to do for His good pleasure.’” (Phil. 2:12b, 13)

   Mr. Yancey then continues with a story that his pastor, Peter, tells about working with his five year old daughter. “My pastor spent a day of hard labor installing stone steps in his backyard. The individual stones weighed between a hundred and two hundred pounds, and took all of Peter’s strength and a few tools to maneuver them into place. His five-year-old daughter begged to help. When he suggested she just sing, to encourage him at his work, she said no. She wanted to help. Carefully, when it would not endanger her, he let her place hands on the rocks and push as he moved them.

   Peter admitted later that Becky’s assistance actually complicated the task. He could have built the steps in less time without her ‘help.’ At the end of the day, though, he had not only new steps, but a daughter bursting with pride and a sense of accomplishment. ‘Me and Dad made steps,’ she announced at the dinner that night. And he would be the first to agree.” (From Prayer, Does It Make a Difference?’ by Phillip Yancey, pp.113-114)

   Well, I suspect everyone with children and grandchildren can tell a story like that. Does that make you feel like you are just a child or do you remember that we are praying to the Creator of the universe and He is graciously allowing us to be a part of His grand plan to win people to Him. We should be humbled and at the same time overjoyed that the Almighty God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David, Elijah, Daniel, Peter, and Paul is willing to allow us to come along side of Him and be involved in His plans and purposes!

Pray:

2.     That our God will show up in everything we are involved with this week, and that the hearts of the people will be turned to God and to His Son Jesus.

3.     That the Holy Spirit will fill us with a desire to worship and adore the King of Kings and he Lord of Lords in a way that we have never experienced.

4.     That we will be faithful to spend time alone with God today in His Scriptures and in prayer so that we can know and love Him more today than yesterday