Have you ever
prayed a prayer….and then forgotten it?
Until sometime later, when you suddenly realize that God has given you
what you prayed for? When there is a crisis or something of grave importance,
we have a tendency to pray and pray ceaselessly entreating the Lord at the
throne of grace until we see an answer.
But
I have found that the prayers that are not crisis driven, the simple prayers,
the whispers of our hearts truest desires, delivered to the Lord in simple
faith and then let go of, those prayers are still heard, and often answered in
the most miraculous ways, yet we seldom shout about them from the roof tops. The everyday prayer. The ordinary prayer. The whispered prayer. The quiet prayer.
Jabez prayed
like that. Many only know about it
because his quiet request was made much of in recent years by someone who took
his quiet prayer and made it very public, and then it was turned it into a mantra to be repeated like a
magic talisman from a Harry Potter story.
As if, if we repeated someone else’s words of prayer often enough it
could, it would - somehow compel the Lord, Creator of Heaven and earth to
answer our way in our time. As if He Himself
had no power to resist it and must
give what we requested.
I think we had
it very wrong. I know we had it very
wrong! The very idea that God MUST do
anything according to our will, for the Lord our God is sovereign and follows
His own will, not the will we attempt to impose upon Him. His will alone is perfect, unselfish and
stands the test of all Eternity. And
there is no magic prayer formula, not even what we call the Lords Prayer. Jesus prayed that prayer as an example of how
we are to pray, yet He also declared we are not to repeat endlessly, senseless,
babbling, repetitious words, but are to pray from our hearts.
And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites,
for they love to pray standing
in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward
in full.
But when you pray, go
into your room, close the
door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in
secret, will reward you.
And when you pray, do
not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of
their many words. Do
not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
I prayed a
prayer like that, like Jabez’ prayer, a quiet prayer. A prayer that lived at the very edge of my memory
and was almost forgotten by me, so quiet it was. A whispered prayer that went straight from my
heart to the heart of the Lord my God, who never forgot it, but kept it,
nurtured it until His time had come to fulfill it in my life. I could wish it were answered sooner, but
because He brought it all to pass according to His perfect will and timing, I
am deeply, thankfully, joyfully content because the timing has been and is
absolutely perfect. And I give thanks,
praise and glory to my Lord for His answers to quiet, almost forgotten prayers.
We know that the
fervent prayers of a righteous man avail much.
They, too are full of the power of words offered up as sacrifice, as
plea, as genuine and authentic request, not demand, to a loving, caring,
omnipotent God who hears and answers His people in the way that is so perfect
we could never even begin to conceive of its perfection when it is answered in
His timing according to His will.
I have said it
many times before and will repeat it for those who may not know.
Prayer is the
most powerful tool in the spiritual arsenal of a believer, fighting the good
fight of faith.
Your prayer
requests will be honored by this ministry.
Fill out the request form found in the upper left hand corner. We would be so honored if you choose to share
with us the answers God brings to your humble, simple, quiet prayers of
faith. God bless you and keep you, in
Jesus name!
