“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1)
Two years ago, my church had a 24-hour prayer vigil. Church members volunteered for specific times and the church stayed open all night long. There wasn’t a minute that lapsed during that 24-hour period when someone wasn’t at church praying.
It’s funny how God can and will bless the time that we spend serving Him, even when we didn’t really care to do it. You see, I really didn’t want to go to church that night, much like a child who fights going to Sunday School on Sunday morning. My schedule had been crowded all week and I was exhausted. I just didn’t have the energy for it. That vigil has become somewhat of a reminder to me that when you miss out on an opportunity to serve God, you just might also miss out on some of life’s biggest blessings.
As we entered the sanctuary, there were cards which members of the church had filled out requesting prayer for just about everything imaginable. Our task was to lift as many of those requests up in prayer as our time would permit.
My wife and I had volunteered to spend one hour in prayer and my son, Mark, who was visiting with me from North Carolina, came along with us. By way of background, Mark lives with his mother and had pleaded with her on several occasions to allow him to live with me in Georgia. Even though his mother would not consent, he enjoyed very liberal visitations with me, but our good-byes were extremely painful.
While Robbie and I were praying over the requests which had been given to us, Mark filled out a prayer request of his own, which included three matters, and quietly placed it on the altar table.
Two of those requests asked God to respond to specific needs that Mark believed his mother to have. The third request asked God to help him convince his mother to allow him to live with his daddy.
I can’t tell you how many people told us about that prayer request and what a joy for them it was to intercede on Mark’s behalf. The real blessing, however, was that Mark believed God would respond and indeed God honored all three of Mark’s requests. “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” (Matthew 21:22)
Sadly, as we grow older, the world teaches us to let go of some of those child-like qualities. We lose our ability to trust others, and sometimes our doubts about the world and it’s ways, stand between us and our relationship with God. In other words, our own faith can be affected and infected by the world in which we live.
Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3) We cannot allow cynicism, doubt, distrust, and hate to dilute the strength of our faith. I we must surrender just like a child surrenders to the authority of his father. Only through surrender will we ever experience real victory.
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