Anticipation is a funny thing. You wait, and wait, and wait, then hope, and hope, and hope, then wait and hope some more until suddenly whatever you were waiting and hoping for is at your door and suddenly you realize you should have been preparing in the midst of all that waiting and hoping! And yet, there are some things in life that are almost impossible to prepare for. How do you prepare to leave your life and your family and the only things you've ever known to fly thousands of miles around to the opposite side of the world?
I don't know! I'm doing it though, and the only solution I've come up with is prayer, which is very much a work-in-progress with me. We've talked about prayer a great deal at church lately, and it's one of those things that even the pastor will say, "I don't know." How can my request move the hand of a sovereign God? I don't know. But I've seen it happen; I know that it can. I think there is a balance between rubbing the magic lamp and getting your wishes granted (sort of a genie-God) and a fatalism that says, "God's will is perfect; I wouldn't want to get in the way."
An excerpt from S.D. Gordon was included in a devotional book I'm working through. It says this:
"This leads to a very old question: does prayer influence God? No question has been discussed more, or more earnestly. Skeptical men of fine scientific training have with great positiveness said 'no,' and Christian men of scholarly training and strong faith have with equal positiveness said 'yes.' Not right in all their statements, nor right in all their beliefs, nor right in all their processes of thinking, but right in their ultimate conclusions as represented by these short words, 'no,' and 'yes.' Prayer does not influence God. Prayer surely does influence God. It does not influence his purpose. It does influence his action. Everything that ever has been prayed for, of course I mean every right thing, God has already purposed to do. But He does nothing without our consent. He has been hindered in His purposes by our lack of willingness. When we learn His purposes and make them our prayers we are giving Him the opportunity to act."
While I would hesitate to go so far as to say that my stubbornness and pride would prevent God from acting, I also think it is true that "we have not because we ask not." The devotional also includes this quote from Richard Halverson: "By prayer man consents to the rule of God in his life. By prayer man seeks God's will and yields to it. By prayer man asks God for that which he knows he needs and can receive only from God...Prayer is that contact man has with the Heavenly Father to satisfy the deepest needs of his life."
My task, then, as I jump into this grand adventure God has given me (I did ask for one; I shouldn't balk when I get what I ask for!) is to seek the will of God in my life, and trust that he will answer my prayers. May be not always when or how I want, but always to his glory. And so even though I'm sad to leave my family and my friends, I leave secure in the knowledge that the Lord God will be with me wherever I go. His will is perfect, and as Jeremiah said, God knows the plans he has for me, to prosper and not to harm me--plans to give me hope, and a future. What more could I ask for?
I don't know! I'm doing it though, and the only solution I've come up with is prayer, which is very much a work-in-progress with me. We've talked about prayer a great deal at church lately, and it's one of those things that even the pastor will say, "I don't know." How can my request move the hand of a sovereign God? I don't know. But I've seen it happen; I know that it can. I think there is a balance between rubbing the magic lamp and getting your wishes granted (sort of a genie-God) and a fatalism that says, "God's will is perfect; I wouldn't want to get in the way."
An excerpt from S.D. Gordon was included in a devotional book I'm working through. It says this:
"This leads to a very old question: does prayer influence God? No question has been discussed more, or more earnestly. Skeptical men of fine scientific training have with great positiveness said 'no,' and Christian men of scholarly training and strong faith have with equal positiveness said 'yes.' Not right in all their statements, nor right in all their beliefs, nor right in all their processes of thinking, but right in their ultimate conclusions as represented by these short words, 'no,' and 'yes.' Prayer does not influence God. Prayer surely does influence God. It does not influence his purpose. It does influence his action. Everything that ever has been prayed for, of course I mean every right thing, God has already purposed to do. But He does nothing without our consent. He has been hindered in His purposes by our lack of willingness. When we learn His purposes and make them our prayers we are giving Him the opportunity to act."
While I would hesitate to go so far as to say that my stubbornness and pride would prevent God from acting, I also think it is true that "we have not because we ask not." The devotional also includes this quote from Richard Halverson: "By prayer man consents to the rule of God in his life. By prayer man seeks God's will and yields to it. By prayer man asks God for that which he knows he needs and can receive only from God...Prayer is that contact man has with the Heavenly Father to satisfy the deepest needs of his life."
My task, then, as I jump into this grand adventure God has given me (I did ask for one; I shouldn't balk when I get what I ask for!) is to seek the will of God in my life, and trust that he will answer my prayers. May be not always when or how I want, but always to his glory. And so even though I'm sad to leave my family and my friends, I leave secure in the knowledge that the Lord God will be with me wherever I go. His will is perfect, and as Jeremiah said, God knows the plans he has for me, to prosper and not to harm me--plans to give me hope, and a future. What more could I ask for?
