Prayer Changes Things
The other day I was scrolling on Facebook and saw a post that alluded to Matthew 7:11, which reads: (NLT) “So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.” It made me begin to think about my dad. I was transported to a time when I was about five or six years old. That year, I made a Christmas list that included a trampoline, a puppy, a scooter and some other items. I didn’t get everything on my list that year, but I did get the scooter and some other items, which left me ecstatic. Years later, I realized that eventually I got the puppy and the trampoline. Even now, if my parents are able, there isn’t too much I ask for that they won’t do. It made me think, if my earthly parents love me this much, how much more does God love me.
God has been so faithful to me, even when I wasn’t faithful to him. When I was lonely, He sent friends. When I wrote out my desires for my next job, He blessed me with one that met all the criteria. When I prayed to become a leader, He placed me in a leadership position. When I pray over school assignments, He comes through. When I pray for increase in spiritual giftings, I find myself in situations that stretch me to help me foster those gifts. Matthew 7:7-8 (NLT) says: “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.”
Now, this isn’t to say everything you ask for will be given to you. God knows our hearts and intentions. If you want the million dollars to stunt on your family members and your haters, He probably won’t bless you with it. As I’m growing in my faith, I think the key prayer is: God help me to want what you want for me and to desire what you desire for me to have. I say that because I realized that the more I pray that prayer, the less I desire things that had a stronghold over my life. My career goals began to change. My interests began to change. My attitude began to change. I have more confidence in my prayers because what I am now desiring is what God wants to bless me with anyway. I want to have more faith in Him. I want to be able to be His faithful servant. I want everything He ever set out for me before I was even born!
Regardless of the actions of your earthly parents, we all have the same spiritual one and He wants to bless all of us. Try him and see how the blessings in your life unfold.
