What do you do when you suffer? Do you moan and groan? Do you complain to a friend? Do you phone your mom? If I’m honest, often I think “Who can I call?” I want to talk out my problems and hopefully find solutions through the discussion. Sometimes this works, but the results are usually incomplete.

I see a lot of suffering in the world right now. Personally, I have a family member in the hospital. Again. Chronic stuff is miserable because as soon as you think the person is better, the pain rears its ugly head. A lot of my friends seem to be under a squeeze right now too with knee injuries, unemployment, cancer. The list is long and ugly and too big for me to crack. Even if I phone my mom, she can’t fix all these problems.

Instead of calling friends or family, I need to call God. James 5:13a says, “Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray” (NKJV). Wow. The Bible is clear in what to do when we are suffering. We should pray.

When we pray, we unleash the God of the universe, the Creator of Heaven and Earth, to enter the equation. We allow all of His strength and ability to fill in the holes of our human inabilities. God can solve the problems of the world today – be they big or small. We need to come with faith like a child, knowing that God cares and will act on our behalf. Psalm 18:6 says, “In my distress I called upon the Lord, And cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple, And my cry came before Him, even to His ears” (NKJV).

I want God to hear my cry. Many times, I’ve prayed with passion, fearing if I didn’t say all the right words that God may not help. Now I realize that does not align with God’s character. He cares more about the heart of the person praying than the words they speak. When we don’t know what to pray, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us with groans that cannot be uttered (Romans 8:26-27). With the Holy Spirit as our prayer buddy, with the right heart we can never pray wrong. The prayer of surrender to God is never easy, but we will have the best results when we do it His way.  

Maybe you are suffering right now. Keep your quarter, and don’t phone home. First, call upon the Lord, and He will listen to you. Let Him know the depths of your pain. He can handle it. Leave your problems in His hands and trust Him to comfort you and make a way. The path may not look how you expected, but stay on it no matter how narrow the road. It will lead you deeper into the heart of God as He sees you through all your cares. “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him” (Psalm 37:7 NKJV). His timing is perfect. Keep praying. Trust God’s character. One day, the Lord will dry every tear you cry in suffering and turn it into a thing of beauty for His glory.

• Who do you call when you are suffering?
• Have you ever tried prayer as a first resort? What happened?
• If anyone is suffering and wants prayer, I would be honored to intercede for you. If you don’t feel comfortable putting it in the comments below, go to the Contact page, and send me your requests. Prayer is powerful, and the Lord fights for those who call Him.   

Teachers around the United States and the world are trying to cope with huge hurdles to educate young minds of the next generation. Some teachers lead in person, but are unable to touch or even approach the students in their classrooms. Other teachers struggle to teach online with children who ignore instructions or cannot grasp concepts over the Internet. My heart goes out to every teacher seeking to overcome in these trying times.

If we desire a country where the leaders of tomorrow are prepared to take on the world’s challenges, we need to pray for our teachers. They are under enormous stress and our prayers can help.

I want to focus on all teachers: kindergarten through high school levels in the public and private school level, including their spiritual instruction of these students. Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it” (NKJV). Young minds need solid Christian education so they can become adults who have a foundation of truth at their core. The alarming amount of Biblical illiteracy among not just school-aged children, but even in the adults of this country saddens me. If we don’t know God’s Word, how can we expect to obey it?

That’s why I also pray for Sunday School teachers and Bible study teachers globally. James 3:1 says, “My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment” (NKJV). We shouldn’t let that scare us off and claim ignorance. Ignorance is not bliss. Ignorance allows sin to creep in unaware and leaves us vulnerable to Satan’s lies. We need the truth of God’s Word to permeate our hearts and minds so we can obey God and be a positive influence on this land. May God to raise us Bible teachers in churches that will rightly divide the Word of truth, even if it is not popular in secular society, so that Christians can know and obey God.

Dear God, I pray for teachers in public, private, charter schools, and home schools. I pray for them wisdom, discernment, and patience as they face new challenges this year. Please keep the teachers who meet with their students in person safe and healthy. Enable teachers working online to develop new methods to engage their students so everyone can understand and retain the lessons. God, I also pray for the spiritual education of the citizens of this nation. God, please call forth Christian teachers to train people to know and apply God’s Word correctly. May America be filled with people who are strong in all areas of education, especially spiritual education to know God better. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

• What’s the name of a school teacher you can pray for?
• Which Bible study teachers will you pray for too?

America needs prayer! The turmoil in our country may seem political, but actually a spiritual battle with monumental consequences is being waged in the heavens. From racism to face masks to abortion to marriage, our nation is divided. I have never felt the unseen war as palpably as I do now. The other night God woke me up to pray for America. I read Psalm 18 aloud and asked God to come to our nation’s defense. We need some archangels to war on our behalf.

God is sovereign. We know that in the end, God wins. We need to fight this battle with spiritual weapons. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 NKJV says, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” When we cry out hate or blame, we add to the problem. Some of our mightiest weapons are prayer and fasting. The name of Jesus and the blood of Jesus cut down the enemy’s strongholds.  

I think sometimes in the western world we can be lulled into the lie that if we can’t see it, it doesn’t exist. Satan knows if Christians stop praying while witches and warlocks have been placing spells on the President of the United States every month, his purposes are filled instead of God’s. We don’t want to give the enemy an inch of ground. We will praise the Lord and trust in Him to overcome.  

I keep thinking about Habakkuk. He asked God how long he had cry out because of the violence in the land. God responded that He would send the Chaldeans, a bitter and hasty nation to capture Judah. Habakkuk was stunned because the Chaldeans were more wicked than the people in Judah. He also pleaded with God “In wrath, remember mercy” (Habakkuk 3:2b NKJV). Our country has strayed from God so far that honestly, we deserve God’s wrath. Yet, I still pray for His mercy. I pray for revival and a fresh wind of the Holy Spirit to fall on our land. 

This May I wrote a blog called “It’s Time to Pray in Revival.” Here’s the link for you to review if you want. I poured my heart into that blog with an examination of 2 Chronicles 7:13-14 that calls believers to repent so that the Lord heals our land. Right now, I just want to pray for America. Please pray with me.

Dear God, Please have mercy on our country. We don’t deserve it, but we need you. Please send the Holy Spirit to convict us and remind us to pray. God, we pray for more people to fast and pray on behalf of the future of our country and our families. We need you God. Please help Christians seek God’s wisdom for who to vote for on every square on their ballots. God, please protect these elections so they are free and fair from any outside influence or corruption. Lord, we pray for people who love You and seek Your face to pray now for Washington, DC so that angels may increase in strength to protect our liberties and freedoms as Americans. Get Christians out to the polling booths beyond their fear of the coronavirus, keep them healthy, and let them vote safely. Send Your winds to destroy the demonic hoards descending to cripple our country. Beat back the enemy in the heavens and let Your weapons hit the mark every time to cut down any plans of the devil to destroy America. Help us remain firm in our Christian heritage. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

• Are you praying for America? If not, what holds you back?
  

I believe one of the greatest ways we can make a positive change in our country is to pray for our politicians. Not groan about what they said at the debates. Not complain that we don’t like what they did in the past. Not gripe about how we don’t understand how they could make a certain decision. Pray. Because prayer changes things while venting frustration just builds more hate.

If we want to have peace in the land where we live, the Bible clearly instructs us to pray for our leaders. 1 Timothy 2:1-3 says, “Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior” (NKJV). This passage breaks down the types of prayers for our leaders into four powerful categories.

1. Supplications: When we pray for our leaders, we start with praying for ourselves. We can pray to have the right attitudes towards our leaders. We can also pray that we take our proper role in society by voting and being good law-abiding citizens.
2. Prayers: I see this as praying for our leaders personally. We can pray for supernatural wisdom and guidance for our leaders. They are just people, but God is Sovereign over all. One of my favorite verses is Proverbs 21:1, “The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He wishes” (NASB). The king is not a puppet on marionette strings, but God remains in control. Think of Biblical examples like King Cyrus who the Lord stirred his spirit to send the Israelites back to Jerusalem after they had been in exile for 70 years as Jeremiah had prophesized (2 Chronicles 36:22-23). Cyrus was a pagan king, yet the Lord changed his heart to favor God’s children. The earthly king must bow to the heavenly king, so when we have concern about what happens here below, we call on a higher power through prayer.
3. Intercessions: We also are blessed to intercede for those around us. The verse says we are not only to pray for the President, but for all those in authority. We should pray for all our politicians to lead our country well, including sheriffs, school board members, legislators, and governors. Each level of government makes different decisions that impact our daily lives. When we intercede for the people of our town, states, and country, everyone is blessed as God moves on behalf of the prayers of His people.
4. Thanksgiving: The more Scripture I read, the more power I realize is connected to giving thanks. Here in the United States, we have a Constitutional right to the freedom of religion. While prayer has formally been removed from public schools, no one can take our right to pray silently. We also have the freedom of assembly to meet for church with other believers. These are privileges many of the persecuted church do not enjoy. We must thank God for all the ways He has blessed us here in America.

Recently, I joined a group of a few ladies where we meet together once a week in person to pray by name for the leaders of our country at the local, state, and national level. We are careful to social distance, but praying together in person is so powerful. We have several sheets of names where we pray for the leaders to be filled with God’s wisdom and that their advisors would point them to decisions that align with the truths in God’s Word.

Maybe the idea of praying for politicians is a new concept. Some people may wonder why we would pray for people who seem set in their ways. We return to the truth that God is in control and hears the prayers of His people. If you want to start now, you can pray with me:

Dear God, I pray for the politicians in the United States. Help me to be a good citizen and to seek your wisdom for how to vote and contribute to my community. I pray for Christian candidates to not be ashamed of the gospel, but shine forth truth. I pray for their spiritual protection, because Satan wants to attack our country. Please give our leaders discernment to make wise decisions in very difficult circumstances. God, send revival that flows from the peace of your people praying together for all the leaders of our country. Thank You God for controlling the world, even when it seems to not make sense. Thank you for the freedoms we enjoy in America to worship you in spirit and in truth. Please grant us grace and mercy as a nation. In Jesus’ Name, Amen. 

• Do you know the names of your local politicians?
• Have you thought of praying for them before?
• Do you know a few friends whom you could gather with either by phone or in person to pray for your politicians? Our country needs all the prayer it can get.  

We need to pray for pastors. Even though they are seminary-trained godly men, they are still human. Pastors can fall into temptation in many areas. It could be infidelity, financial misuse, expounding unsound doctrine, or other things. We as God’s people are honored to pray for our pastors so that they can be who God has called them to be and lead their congregations well.

I’ve been blessed with great pastors over the years, but finding pastors that teach accurately may be harder as the days go by. 2 Timothy 4:2-4, “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables” (NKJV). People often seek to justify their fleshly desires by finding others who will tell them they can do whatever they want as long as it feels good. These itchy-eared folks may take milk from the Word, but won’t dig into anything that convicts.

Fortunately, there remain some people willing to call out untruths. My friend recently shared her hurt with me after her pastor used the Lord’s name in vain in church and openly supported things that opposed the Bible. She asked him if he was concerned that what he taught did not align with truth. Instead of humbly asking forgiveness, he blasted her. It broke my heart. We prayed for her pastor on the spot, that God would convict him of his need to return to what is right. 2 Peter 2:1 says, “But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction” (NKJV). The pastor brought destructive heresies because he had more concern for what society deemed important than the word of God.

When we stay within the boundaries of living inside God’s law, we reap His blessings. Outside His law resides judgment. Now, I don’t judge her pastor, because but by the grace of God, there go I. Still, James 3:1 warns, “My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment” (NKJV). I wouldn’t want to be that man on Judgement Day.

Thus, prayer is so important. Personally, I am guilty of not praying for my pastor as much as I should. I have written the pastors and various church ministries at the end of my daily prayer list. I admit that sometimes, I don’t get that far down in the page. I can’t leave the fate of my church up to hoping that others will pray since I forgot. If I want to be fed the pure word of God, then I need to pray for my pastor to avoid heresy and cling to truth.

Please join me in prayer for our pastors:

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you for the pastors at my church and all Christian pastors around the world. God, I pray that You would put a bloodline of Jesus hedge of protection about them and their families in every area. I pray that You would keep them grounded in Your Word so that they will rightly divide the Word of truth. Let not cultural heresies creep into their sermons to destroy the church. Give them a passion for Your name and renown. May pastors have deep times receiving revelation from You to impart to us as listeners.  May they move forward on their knees as they seek wisdom for how to shepherd their flock, especially during these tough days. Please help pastors seek the praise of God more than the praise of men. God, protect their marriages, help them not have wandering eyes so Satan can have no foothold. Lord, please help pastors not be pulled into greed to steal from the church or be driven to increase the numbers of their churches. Instead, let their motivations be to grow the people in their congregation so that they resemble the Father. Give good health to our pastors so they can preach Your Word with gusto. God, for all the other ways that the enemy would seek to destroy pastors, I pray you would cut off the plans of the enemy, foil the plots, and preserve Your pastors.

In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

• How often do you pray for your pastor? What things could hinder people from praying more regularly for their pastor? What reminds you to pray for your pastor?
• In what other areas could you pray for your pastor?

My heart is heavy to pray for our country and our world. Please pray with me for revival. So much hurt fills our land right now, and we can't fix it ourselves. Only God can heal our wounded world. Prayer lets us join the healing process by taking our pain to the Great Physician.

We often quote 2 Chronicles 7:14, without looking at the verse before it. 2 Chronicles 7:13 says, "When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people” (NKJV). While we still have rain in America, famine could come due to global food insecurity caused by supply-chain disruptions. Locust currently swarm parts of Africa. COVID-19 is considered a pestilence or plague. Our world needs healing and not just from COVID-19. We need deep spiritual healing.

How do we get spiritual healing? 2 Chronicles 7:14 says, “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land" (NKJV). God desires to hear from heaven, forgive our sins, and heal our land, but first we must obey His requirements. Please pray with me these four things based on 2 Chronicles 7:14 to bring revival:

First: Pray for soft hearts to humble themselves before God. For people’s ears to yearn for truth and not the excuses for sin that their itching ears seek. James 4:6b says, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (NKJV). American society values independence and self-reliance; yet, when our independence comes at the cost of depending on God Almighty, the Lord resists us. We must acknowledge our desperate need for God to receive His grace.  

Second: Pray. Pray. Pray. Pray for revival. Pray for other people to pray. Pray messenger angels will move through the Holy Spirit to stir the hearts of God’s people to cry out for revival. We need a multiplicative prayer effort with prayers rising to the throne of God in force. The more prayers we raise, the more power God can release into the world to draw us back to Himself. James 5:16 says, “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” (NKJV). May our prayers bring healing to our land.

Third: Pray that we seek God’s face. As we sit in quarantine, we can make no excuses that we are too busy to spend time with God. Without the distractions that tug at our hearts, may we Christians use our time wisely by diving into the Word and getting on our knees in prayer. “Let us know, Let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord” (Hosea 6:3a NKJV). May our relationship with God be the driving motivation of our lives.

Fourth: Pray for people to repent. Often, loving God is easier in word than in deed. The sin that so easily entangles us can cry louder than the still soft voice of the Lord. Yet, only one way leads to truth and life. We must turn from our wicked ways and get back on the path of righteousness. The time for repentance has come.

It’s time we awaken from our slumber.

It’s time we rend our hearts and not our garments.

It’s time we seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.

It’s time we confess our sins, knowing that He’ll faithfully forgive.

Will you join me today and reclaim our country for Christ? The United States has a strong Christian heritage founded on religious freedom and love of God. We must forsake our sin so that God can heal our land. Don’t let our rich history end with people who have strayed so far from where we started as a nation. Who will pray with me? Who will stand in the gap and cry out for our world? Who will bring heaven to earth and call down revival?

The call is here. The time is now. How will you respond?

Send this to everyone you know to pray for revival for our country.

Everyone wants prayer, even if they aren’t aware of it. My church has held a free prayer booth at the fair the last several years as a local mission trip. This year our booth was relocated from the entrance to the center of the park. While before we thought of ourselves as the welcome committee, now we had to be much more direct. Several of us stood out front with offers of “Free Prayer.”

While some people walked by, it astounded me how many responded to our call. From the woman asking prayer for her daughter to remain sober, to the man who casually asked us to pray for his wife as he continued past the booth, to the people who barely spoke English, but wanted prayer, we prayed with them all.

We all have things that trouble our hearts and pain that seems inescapable. Deep down we know that since we can’t fix it ourselves, there has to be someone who can heal us. The answer to our longing is Christ. He is the Great Physician, able to mend all our mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual brokenness.

Weeks later, I still remember one woman in particular. She’d given me a sideways glare when I’d asked if she wanted prayer and kept walking. We’d had worse responses, so I wasn’t fazed. A man returned with his friend who knew someone struggling with sickness. She began asking me to pray for her friend’s health and for personal peace about her friend’s situation. Then the lady who’d stared at me reappeared.

“I’m an atheist, and I need to hug you,” she said. She proceeded to embrace as if I was her long-lost friend. I hugged her and prayed as she lingered. When she pulled back, she said, “You and I are different. We come from opposite sides, but I needed to hug you.” I stared into her eyes and saw turmoil storming inside. No one wakes up one morning and decides to become an atheist. Often times they’ve been hurt by someone in the church or had a time when life’s circumstances were so crushing that they couldn’t conceive of God’s existence.

My heart went out to this woman. I figured I was a stand in for someone she wanted to hug. I remembered John 13:35, “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” I felt like the body of Christ, holding someone to display His love for her. She began to leave. After a short internal struggle, I shouted “God bless you.” I decided that even if she didn’t believe in God, He knew her and wanted to bless her. I prayed that strongholds would break inside her and that the Lord would begin to heal her hurts and reintroduce Himself as the lover of her soul.

I turned back to the other lady whose prayer had been interrupted and prayed for her friend’s illness and for her to be supportive. Prayer flowed through me for the rest of the day. My two-hour shift extended to five and a half hours as I couldn’t tear myself away.

God showed me before I left that I could pray both for those who asked for prayer and for those who didn’t. They needed prayer just as much and maybe more. I prayed for Holy Spirit eyes to see people the way He did and reach through their hurt with the hope of Christ. God would point out someone with colored hair or a bright shirt to catch my eye, and I’d pray for that person. God knew their needs, even if I didn’t.

The next week, I realized I needed to make every day a local mission trip instead of just a Saturday at the fair. People needed prayer daily. I can prayer walk at the grocery store or in my workplace. God knows how to apply my prayers. This is what it means to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17 NKJV). Prayer needs to become my lifestyle. When I am in tune with the Holy Spirit, He can accomplish great things through my prayers. I have to focus on the eternal instead of the hectic craze of my day. This transforms the mundane into the extraordinary as God provides divine appointments where He lets us be His hands and feet. I pray God syncs my heart with the Spirit so I extend the gift of free prayer everywhere I go.    

• What places in your routine do you interact with others? How can you turn these encounters into prayer walks? Ask the Holy Spirit to highlight people for prayer, and He will take you up on it.
• Share any experiences you’ve had of praying for someone unexpectedly. What happened?

We live in a microwave society where everything seems instantaneous. Instant popcorn, fast food, microwave vegetables. Our phones hold vast libraries worth of information at our fingertips. We watch TV “on demand” to see shows at whatever time suits our needs.

In high school, I had a pen pal in England. If I received a letter and responded the next day, I got a note every 10 days. Now with email, we can communicate across the globe in less than 10 seconds. With everything available so quickly, we can lose our ability to wait.

Waiting is never easy. So God, in His great love for us, provides opportunities for us to grow. Hebrews 10:36 says, “For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise.” (NKJV) One of the byproducts of obedience over the long haul is the ability to persevere. The more we heed God, the more we see Him care for His own.

The story of the persistent widow and the unjust judge (Luke 18:1-18) has always struck me. The widow demanded justice every day from the judge and wore him down. He granted her justice so she’d leave him alone. God is a just judge, and avenges His children speedily. It probably didn’t feel fast to the widow, but God took care of her. Part of our job is to ask God for help.

Matthew 7:7-11 (HCSB) says “Keep asking, and it will be given to you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened to you.” The original Greek verbs denote a continued action, not a one-time occurrence. We are to keep asking, not just ask once. We need to continue praying and not give up.

We must keep praying, because sometimes God says no before saying yes. Trying to find my first real job was stressful. I had seasonal work, which had the possibility to lead into full time employment. The position I wanted to fill was in my field of studies. My coworker had a different educational background and unrelated work experience. I assumed I’d get the job. I didn’t.

I was devastated. I couldn’t understand why she was hired. In my mind, I was more qualified. I questioned God’s wisdom in withholding this job from me. This showed a lack of faith when I acted like God didn’t care. Our Heavenly Father always heard me, but I needed to endure. Daniel fasted three weeks before the angel brought a message to him because of a spiritual battle. I had to pray and trust God, knowing He would come through.

Fortunately, God answered my cries. A month later, I was offered a three month-internship that required me to move. I knew it was where God wanted me. If I had had a full time job, I wouldn’t have had the courage to leave for another short-term job. Even after moving in faith, it still took months to get a permanent job. I worked for a temp agency until God gave me a good job with nice people.

God’s no turned into a wait so He could give me His best. Ephesians 3:20-21 says, “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,  to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” (NKJV) God exceeded my expectations and generously provided for my needs.

My part is to pray and trust. God’s job is to hear. His timing and ways are perfect. However, God’s timing rarely seems to be my timing. When I pray, the answer is often wait. Sometimes, I wouldn’t have appreciated the things God had for me if I had received them sooner. Other times, God was laying groundwork behind the scenes for my future. I just didn’t know about it when I first prayed. Had I received my original requests, I would have missed out on better things.

Ask God boldly for all things, great and small, knowing He hears your voice. Keep praying until something changes. It might look different than what was on your original radar, so watch out. Good things are coming, just keep praying.

• When was a time you endured in prayer?
• How has God shown Himself faithful to you?
• What is the best thing you had to wait for?

Nothing is too small to take to God in prayer. In high school, I had a health issue that required me to take strong medicine with some undesirable side efforts. My emotions were chaotic. I cried a lot, including when I lost my pen cap. Yes. I cried over a pen cap.

My family had gone on vacation to Disney World. My souvenir was a pen with Mickey Mouse ears on top. One day at lunch, I lost my pen cap. You would have thought I had failed out of school. I got teary eyed and stressed out. My friends started to wonder about my sanity, but scoured the area outside the cafeteria for my pen cap. I kept praying aloud, muttering “God, help me find my pen cap!”

I never found the pen cap. Those Mickey Mouse ears are gone forever. However, I felt comfortable enough in my relationship with God to pray about the cap. Years later, I shared this story with my Bible study when one lady was having a hard time with something she considered menial. My actual quote was “It doesn’t matter if you lost your pen cap, or your dog just died, if it matters to you, it matters to God.” She has often quoted that line back to me over the years as we bring our problems both small and great to the ears of the Father.

The beauty is that He listens to all of our petitions. He doesn’t always answer every prayer the way we wish because God is not a fairy godmother. He knows how best to respond to each request. But don’t limit God by not asking.

James 4:2b-3 says “Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.” (NKJV) We need to watch our motives, but we also need to ask. Let God choose to say no. God loves to give His children good things.

Matthew 7:7-11 says “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” (NKJV)

God is not up there thinking – how can I give stones to my children? Or, how can I make their lives miserable? He is simply waiting for us to ask so He give us good things. I had to learn to receive God's no to things like my pen cap, but still reach out because I know He will provide for all my needs. He is faithful.

My car battery died the other day and refused to jump start. No one responded to my phone calls for help, and I didn’t know how to get home. So I prayed. God reminded me of public transportation. From the bus, I spied a little bird drinking water from a puddle by the road. It reminded me of Luke 12:6-7 “Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? And not one of them is forgotten before God. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” (NKJV)

God cared about her tiny cry. If God provided for her needs, He most certainly would make a way for mine. I thought of all the hairs I lost the last time I brushed my hair. God knows the intimate details of my life. Therefore, He also has a plan for the big things. I thanked God for the bus. He didn’t leave me stranded in a parking lot, but paved my road home.

God will do the same for you when you call out in time of need. Big or small, His ears hear all. Just ask. Then let Him choose how to respond best.

• ·         When is a time God answered a small request of yours? How did you feel?

• ·         What holds you back from asking God for things you want or need?

When I began to pray the long play (LP) version of the Lord's Prayer, I improved my prayer life exponentially. Ten years ago my brother was really sick. I was desperate for God to heal him and couldn’t fix the situation. I knew to pray, but words eluded me. So I returned to the basics – the Lord’s Prayer. At first, I repeated the words as a heartfelt cry unto God. Then I expanded the prayer, and it came to life as I saw the words encompass every area of my world.

Here’s how I broke up the prayer:

“Our Father, which art in Heaven.” First, I focused on God’s character. Who God is.

• “The Lord is merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.” (Psalm 103:8, NKJV)
• “He does not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men.” (Lamentations 3:3, NKJV)

Focusing on the character of God framed how I approached the rest of my prayer time.

“Hallowed be Thy Name.” Next I honed in on names of God.

• Jehovah-Raphah – The Lord who heals. (Exodus 15:26)
• Jehovah-Jireh – The Lord will provide. (Genesis 22:13-14)
• Jehovah Nissi – The Lord is my banner. (Exodus 17:8-15)

I often combined Jehovah Nissi with Isaiah 59:19 “When the enemy comes in like a flood, The Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.” (NKJV) I envisioned the Lord raising His banner above me in the midst of my battle, fighting for me as His child. I felt protected and safe.

“Thy kingdom come.” Here I included items like God’s kingdom to reign over all the earth. My prayers ranged from the government to getting the gospel out to unreached, unengaged peoples in remote parts of the world.

“Thy Will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” I couldn’t pray for God’s will while holding onto my demands. I had to surrender my hopes and dreams. God’s character and name reminded me I could trust Him. I told God even if my brother died, I would still trust Him. It helped me to envision the worst, and walk back from there. That allowed God to be Sovereign in my mind over any outcome. The verse also reminded me this world was not my home. There would be a day when things were right in heaven. Life was messy from living in a fallen world. This life was not all there was, and my hope was secure in heaven with Christ.

“Give us this day our daily bread.” Next I thanked God for all that He had already provided for, and asked Him to do it again. Asking for daily bread brings dependency on God. Too many times I want God to provide not only for my daily needs, but I want peace about the rest of my life. Lamentations 3:21-24 says “This I recall to mind, therefore I have hope. It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning. Great is Thy faithfulness.” (NKJV) God’s mercies don’t run out, and are new each day.

When the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness, they were only allowed to gather enough manna for one day. Only on the day before the Sabbath were they allowed to gather for two days. God loves to show us our need to rely on His strength. That way we don’t get proud, and God gets the glory rightfully due Him.

“And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” Forgiveness is a key aspect of prayer. I had to examine my heart and ensure I wasn’t harboring a lack of forgiveness. When I compared how much God had forgiven me with any sin a person could commit against me, I found no justification for not forgiving someone else. When I forgive others, it frees God to forgive me and hear my prayers.

“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” God knows we are tempted to turn against God. The spiritual war wages around us though our physical eyes do not see the fight. The enemy will do anything to steer us into destruction. We need to ask God to keep our feet moving on the straight and narrow so that even when we are on our knees, we crawl forward. We need God’s protection.

“For Thine is the Kingdom.” God already rules over the whole universe. We can choose to acknowledge this or not. When we submit to God’s reign, instead of trying to write our own guidelines, we have a greater peace from not striving to understand everything.

“And the power.” John 15:5 says “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. (NKJV) This verse is beautifully shows we are weak and powerless. God has all the power in the universe. I pray God uses His power to do what I cannot.

“And the glory, for ever.” All glory belongs to God. When I boast in my accomplishments, it falsely boosts my pride, and strips God of the honor due Him. God is not about building my ego, but building His kingdom. God deserves all the glory. I’d pray for God to get the glory through my brother’s sickness, regardless of the outcome. I remembered how Mary and Martha’s brother Lazarus died and was in the grave several days before Jesus came and called him back to life. God will allow our temporary grief for His greater glory.

“Amen.” This final agreement relinquishes my rights to God to take my imperfect prayers based on finite knowledge and transform them into His will. It reminds me of Romans 8:26 “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” (NKJV) The Holy Spirit turns our prayers into what we would ask if we knew all God does. He sends those corrected desires to the Father. It is as if I prayed, “God, please give me a pink pony.” The Holy Spirit, knowing I have nowhere to keep a pony, but the real issue is that I am lonely, instead asks, “Father, give her a friend.” The Holy Spirit knows the true need and translates that to the Father on my behalf. Leaving me utterly grateful.

That is my LP version of the Lord’s Prayer. As I interceded for my brother, God did heal him after over a year of us not knowing if he would survive. But my trust in God grew so much because I saw Him answer prayer and change my heart as I surrendered to Him. May the Lord’s Prayer become alive to you as you play your own LP version and commune with the Father in a new way.

• What areas does the Lord’s Prayer speak to your current needs?
• What ways have you prayed that have helped deepen your prayer life?