Prayerful Willingness - Pouring out our Hearts and Souls to God in Prayer

It was that e-mail that came so unexpectedly during a friend’s wedding reception. My pastor asked me what happened and I shared that my son David had just suffered decompression illness while scuba-diving in Central America. He was in very serious condition in a foreign emergency room, getting ready to be transferred to a hyperbaric oxygen chamber. My pastor looked around the table and asked everyone to pray. It was the most heartfelt prayer to our generous and loving Lord. What could I do? I was thousands of miles away. I immediately thought to pray and desperately ask God for His help.

When we returned home that afternoon the most amazing thing happened! I received a call from Rev. and Mrs. Torrey, missionaries at Jesus Abbey, an intercessory prayer ministry on a remote mountaintop in South Korea. Prayers for David were being prayed in Korea, in Virginia, all the way to Central and even South America. In just what seemed like an instant, my desperate prayer request was heard and with God’s everlasting love and grace, and by His will, David recovered, was amazingly healed, and two weeks later returned home safely.

John Bunyan describes prayer as “a sincere, sensible, affectionate pouring out of our heart to God, through Christ, in the strength and assistance of the Holy Spirit, for such things as God has promised or according to His word, for the good of the church, with submission in faith to the will of God.” I had knelt down, poured out my heart and soul and asked God for healing for David.
The Apostle Paul reminds us in Philippians 4:6 – “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

Sometimes, we forget about the power of prayer. Praying and then listening to God with a willing heart requires courage and patience. Prayer transforms our lives from being self-centered to God-centered. When we place ourselves in the hands of our extraordinary God through prayer, we are asking the Holy Spirit to work through us to do God’s work here on earth and give us great hope for our future.

As I have described above, miracles can and do happen when ordinary people like you and me prayerfully and willingly place ourselves and our loved ones in the hands of our generous God. Since that time, my prayerful willingness is courageously asking God: “What do you want to do through me? How would you have me live?” Then, waiting patiently for His answer.

My Prayer: Lord, fill our hearts with gratitude, generosity, faith and trust only in you. Lord, heal our physically challenged friends; bless our college students and those looking for jobs; bless our young children who are attending virtual classes and bless our pastors and our church. Lord, give us your guidance and direction. Give us the courage to ask, the faith to believe, and the will to act. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.