I Will Pray

Have you ever had an experience that ended with this thought..
“I will never be the same”

So have I.

I had the enormous privilege of traveling to London for 9 days to serve with a team of Hunter Street Students and adults.

I must admit- in so many ways – I was not expecting such a transformation of my heart.
I have seen the hard hearts of London before.
I was expecting to see the Lord at work in the lives of our students and those that they spoke with...
But you see- He was at work in me.

I tear up every time I think of the people that I encountered.- even those that were just for a moment.
I get a knot in my stomach when I realize how far I am away from them now.
{ It is just over 4,300 miles by the way..}

Each time I stood at a tube stop waiting for our train I found myself staring into the faces of the men and women riding by on their trains.
Face after face- a different story.
Almost impossible to comprehend.

So many times since we have returned I have asked myself
“What now?”

What am I to do with this strong burden that I have brought home with me for a people who are half of a world away?

Last night as I was drifting to sleep I found myself repeating three words to myself that soothed me.

“I will pray. I will pray. I will pray.”

For now- the prayer will be my work with the people of London.

Oh- the power that is in prayer!

Our team saw God at work amongst us by answering very specific prayers last week.
We learned what it looked like to pray without ceasing.
Literally.
All day. Each day.
A lifestyle of prayer.

And you know the neat thing about being in this relentless conversation with our Lord?
You see Him work in such detail.
You are paying attention to His leading.
You are focused and you are attuned to His whisper.

In this reminder of the importance of PRAYER I have gone back to find one of my favorite pieces by J.C. Ryle- “ A Call to Prayer”

Several years ago I made myself a sheet that sat on my bedside table that said..

Pray with Faith

“We should endeavor to believe that our prayers are heard, and that if we ask things according to God’s will, we shall be answered.” (Ryle)

We should cultivate the habit of pleading promises in our prayers!

Pray with Boldness

“One who heard Luther praying said, ‘What a spirit., what a confidence was in his very expressions. With such a reverence he sued, as one begging of God, and yet with such hope and assurance, as if he spoke with a loving father or friend” (Ryle)

Pray with Fullness

“The cause of their weakness in prayer is to be found in their own stunted, dwarfish, clipped, contracted, hurried, narrow diminutive prayers. They have not, because they ask not.” (Ryle)



What strong words!

I will ask that the Lord will fill my prayers with humble requests and sweet praises.
I will ask that the Lord will teach me to pray with reverent boldness.
And I will pray with faith- for our God hears and sees and answers.
Our God saves!

Are your prayers filled with faith, boldness and fullness?

So often we carry along burdens and questions without even considering taking them before the Lord in prayer.

I imagine that on many days the burdens that I try to carry on my own make me look like a prisoner- with heavy shackles and chains that I am trying to drag along on my own.
Imprisoned by life because I am too prideful to pray.

How sweet is it that God looks at us in our weakness and removes these weights and woes from us and hears the cries of our hearts.

So- brothers and sisters- I will pray.

For the people of London. For the people of Hoover.
For my worries. For my fears.
For my dreams. For my deepest sins.

Will you join me in running in the direction of a lifestyle of prayer?
He hears. He sees. He answers.

I will pray.