Rading 6

Matthew 21-24

I will admit that in my quiet time, prayer often gets less attention than scripture reading. In fact, when it comes to petitioning God in prayer, I sometimes struggle with the necessity of it. Doesn't He already know what I need before I ask? I often come to Him with both a request and a mind already made up. And then there's my faith in His ability to answer—which sometimes is more akin to crossing my fingers and hoping I can find a way to take care of it myself.

I was struggling with this attitude towards prayer when I began hearing stories from individuals working in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Groups and individuals were praying very specific prayers and God was answering in very specific ways. God used those examples to challenge me to begin to pray specifically. Answers to prayer are correlated with faith—each time I saw Him at work, it both strengthened my faith and humbled me.

Jesus addresses his disciples in Matthew 21:21-22, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer." ." Later on in James 1:5-8 the author writes that when we do ask we "must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double minded man, unstable, in all he does." These passages encourage andremind me that God expects me to come to Him—and that I can do it with confidence that He hears and answers! I can cross my fingers and rely on my own ability, or become totally dependant on Him.

Allie

Reading #6 (audio)