No Small Prayers

I have just spent an incredible seven weeks with my daughter and her family. My primary purpose for the visit was the birth of Kelley’s fourth child, another beautiful little lady who came safely and wonderfully into the world. Not only was I in attendance at the birth, little Abigail made her appearance with only her mom, dad, her eldest sister, and me to welcome her here. The midwife was two hours away at the time, and remaining in contact with her by cell phone, though the connection was at times spotty, my son-in-law and I assisted my daughter with Abigail’s delivery, quite the experience to be sure! In the midst there were prayers asking Jesus to ensure both Kelley’s and Abby’s health and safety. As always, God showed his faithfulness to us, and we are so grateful to him for his love and care over us all.

Though the miracle of my granddaughter’s birth was obviously the highlight of my time with my family, there is something else that has had a great impact. The family had just moved to their present home earlier in the summer because Kelley’s husband, Michael, took a new position in a brand new area. Though their new house was comfortably arranged, there were still some things that hadn’t quite found their place. In this environment, normally readily available and necessary items can tend to disappear. Add a brand new baby and three active young girls, and missing things become the norm.

For about a week we were looking for a Kindle that holds homeschool information, key when the school year is about to begin. We seriously turned the house inside out and upside down to search for the lost tablet. With an eleventh hour push to find it, I finally said to my granddaughter, “Libby, I think we need to pray,” which we did. I am not exaggerating: within minutes the lost Kindle was found behind a microwave that had been recently moved onto the kitchen counter. Had it not been an answer to prayer, I would have said that it was a fluke that I even looked behind it. With much excitement we thanked our gracious God for immediately answering our request.

From that point on, Libby was quick to say, “Nonnie, we should pray,” whenever there was any kind of need. Along with petitions for the Lord’s help when something could not be found, there were prayers for healing, traveling safety, and success at school. In each case, God graciously responded very quickly to our request, a testament to his genuine interest and care for every detail of our lives. Can you imagine what a faith-building experience this was for six-year-old Libby? We adults certainly benefited as well.

It is really such a shame that prayer is often a last resort rather than our first response when there is a concern. We tend to initially exhaust all the inadequate resources we believe we have at our disposal and hold out until we’re desperate and/or totally frustrated before we pray. When we do so, we rob ourselves in so many ways. Primarily we forfeit peace, not just the world’s standard of peace, but God’s peace that fully calms the heart. Philippians 4:6-7 (ESV) tells us, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus”. We totally miss out on an opportunity to witness God’s power and grace. The Word tells us in James, “The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working” (James 5:16b, ESV). The most obvious loss we bear when we hesitate to turn to God in prayer is his perfect answer for our problem. King Asa in the Bible is a heartbreaking example of what happens when we fail to pray. After a great beginning to his reign and many years of following the Lord, Asa began relying on natural solutions for his troubles rather than turning to God. He made a covenant with the worldly king of Syria, giving him all the silver and gold from the treasuries of the Lord’s house as a means of protection from invasion by Israel’s King Baasha. Here is the final recorded incident regarding Asa’s life: “In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was diseased in his feet, and his disease became severe. Yet even in his disease he did not seek the LORD, but sought help from physicians. And Asa slept with his fathers, dying in the forty-first year of his reign”
(2 Chronicles 16:12-13, ESV). Though it cannot be said that Asa would have lived if he prayed and trusted God, he would have felt God’s grace and peace as he departed this world.

One thing I want to be sure to avoid here is trivializing prayer and God’s response to our petitions. There are times and circumstances when we pray hard and often over things both small and great, and we don’t see answers to those requests. God can feel so far away, and we wonder if he’s listening. We question his intentions, and we head toward an attitude of doubt and fear. We can easily forget that though we may be enduring a painful situation, God is at work on our behalf and may be orchestrating something bigger and better that we cannot fully appreciate or comprehend. When our prayers do not seem to be powerful and effective, remember Jesus’ words found in Luke 18 (ESV). “And [Jesus] told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, ‘In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, “Give me justice against my adversary.” For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘“Though I neither fear God nor respect man yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.”’ And the Lord said, ‘Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?’”

Continue to pray about everything. Through your communication with him, seek God’s peace and grace in all situations. And remember, there are no small prayers in the eyes of our very big God!

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