My daughter has learned in her sabbath school class: ‘pray when you wake up in the morning; pray in everything you do; pray when you are going to eat; pray when you are going to sleep. Many times, I don’t think I am good at helping her to pray at these times. And although we pray always at bed time, I’m not very good at making sure she prays at the other times. I want to make sure that I’m creating good habits for her, in every area possible, and I don’t want to be one of those parents where I say ‘do as I say, but not as I do.’ She’s watching more what I’m doing, more than she’s actually listening to me, and I have to try to remember that always.
This morning, I tried to enforce a ‘you can’t watch tv unless you pray first’. I don’t think that’s the way to do it either, and the end result only left me feeling bad about myself as a parent.
The thing that left me with the thought of ‘praying anyway’ is I was having a conversation via text, which my daughter would not have been privy to. Sometimes we may not see how God is working on our behalf, but we should know that God is working on our behalf. I was impressed to send someone a devotion I had come across, not knowing that the devotion was an answer to her prayer just that morning. She would not have known that God had already prepared an answer for her. But He had. As I started thinking about the power of prayer, my daughter started sing a part of a song by Casting Crowns named, ‘Just be held’. The part that she began singing says this, ‘when you’re on your knees and answers seem so far’. WOW! I decided to play the song.
Sometimes we are praying for something specific, and we can’t see how God is working. What do you do? Pray anyway. When you think that God is taking too long to answer your prayer, what do you do? Pray anyway. When your heart is broken and you can’t understand the ‘whys’, what do you do? Pray anyway.
Friends, God is hearing you. His timing is perfect, beyond anything you or I can ever imagine. Pray anyway.
The Bible tells us in Isaiah 65:24 NIV, Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for being a father and friend who not only listens to us, but hears our requests and acts on our behalf. Lord, please break any chains and strongholds that the enemy has placed on us. Help us to live the life that you are calling us to live, through our Redeemer.