“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” Mark 1:35
Why do people pray? What does it consist of? Can I pray incorrectly? If I babble will God not answer me? Will the people around me laugh if I say something weird? How long do I need to pray? Do I need to cross my arms, get on my knees, or close my eyes?
This month I have been reading Celebration of Discipline, by Richard Foster. He states, “Prayer brings us to the heart of God. God meets us where we are and slowly moves us along to deeper things.” Many times the bible says, “Jesus, moved with compassion…” before He did miracles or prayed for people. Compassion is an essential component to prayer. It is hard to pray for the freedom of a country or a revival in a city, if you don’t care about the people in the city. There must be a connection before you pray earnestly for people.
Foster says, “Prayer is your life, it is not an add on.” Pastor John (from Serbia) told, “When asked for tangible help (money, shelter, food, etc.), people often say I can do nothing for you, but pray for you. We discount prayer as helping someone in need. But we must realize that prayer can greatly effect a person’s circumstances. Prayer brings change. Life long, long lasting change. It meets more than just the immediate need we see around us.” Pretty cool to think about. So the next time someone asks for help, boldly say, yes I will pray for you, even when you cannot provide any tangible help.
Everyone around the world prays. While talking to a Buddhist Monk in Thailand, I asked “When you pray does Buddha talk back to you?” He chuckled at us and said no. His prayers consisted of reciting chants from a book. In Japan, prayer consisted of receiving visions and words from the Lord and sharing them with others. I’ve watched men in Kosovo fall to their knees, sobbing, pouring out their heart to God. In Montenegro, I heard men and women speak in tongues and believe passionately in the power of prayer. All around the world, we have heard prayers in Chinese, Thai, Khmer, Japanese, Albanian, Serbian, and English. God is bigger than one language and one people group. I amaze and delight in a prayer time that includes multiple languages. How cool is it to realize that God understand people even though we don’t understand one another. I often times do not know what the person is speaking about, but to hear the passion in their voice and see the tears on their face is amazing. If you have never experienced a church service in two languages, step out of your comfort zone and visit a bilingual church. In France, I heard a teaching by an English speaking man, then be translated into French, and in the crowd be translated into Korean and Spanish. How cool is that? Four languages in one room! God is big and we are so very small.
Frank Laubach (I guess he’s famous from the past) once said, “I can tell when people are praying for me. When people are praying for me, I feel a strange power.” That is so cool! So I want to thank everyone who has prayed for me over this past year. My race has been amazing. God has shown me so many things over these last 7 months. He has kept me safe and it is because people are praying for me on a daily basis. I believe that I have been so blessed this year, because many people pray for me. I hope when I get home I continue to be prayed for and continue to be blessed by the prayers of others.
