Full transparency: It’s been an incredibly tough couple of weeks. Recent events have discouraged me. [Praise God for a great counselor. 😉 Thanks Tim Watson, LPC-S, NCC]
And then our insurance agent began shopping around for our church’s renewal.
Big, old buildings are absurdly expensive to insure. But it wasn’t just the thought of paying big premiums again that tempted me to despair. It was a whole host of discouraging pastoral situations.
Were the recent events proof that I’d need to ‘backtrack’ from the path down which I’ve led Renovation Community for many years– ‘fasting’ from typical ministry fundraising strategies while sacrificially serving the hurting people many other churches overlook?
So I poured out my heart to God in my private prayer journal (a secret email account I can access from anywhere). Over the years, I’ve learned to add more detail into these journal entries. Not because God needs it, but because I need it. When I re-read these prayers decades from now and see God’s answers, I need to remind myself of the overwhelming details and feelings I had in that moment.
Let me draw your attention to three dates:
-the date of my prayer (Tuesday, October 25)
-the date on the check (Saturday, October 22)
-the date the check was mailed (Tuesday, October 25)
Jesus reminded His followers “your Heavenly Father knows what you need BEFORE you ask Him” (Matthew 6:8). This check had already been written 3 days BEFORE I wrote out my prayer for divine clarity and financial intervention.
But (because my Heavenly Father still wants to teach me much on prayer) He waited to send my prayer’s answer (i.e. put the check in the mail) until I’d actually prayed.
Friends,
God’s ways answering prayers still remain quite mysterious to me. I can’t promise He will answer your prayers in the way or timeframe you’d like.
But I can promise you He hears your every prayer. So pour out your deepest anxieties to Him. Trust that a loving God hears and that He knows what you need before you ask.
He is faithful.
