It was missions week for our church this past week. What an awesome time to realize that there is more going on than just each of our own little lives. Mike Carman delivered a great sermon for everyone, but something really struck me to the core.
When you pray, do you bring your umbrella? What do I mean by that, well I mean when you pray, do you expect God sized results? I think too often we pray for something or someone and don't really expect anything to happen. It got me thinking, what is the purpose of prayer if there is no faith to go along with it? I am often in charge of closing prayer for different group I am involved in, so I have the honor and priviledge to bring to the Lord everyones requests. He constanly amazes me with answered prayer, but sometimes, I will admint, it feels a bit like just goin through the motions. All that changed for me after hearing what the Lord wanted me to know through Mike. I just kept thinking of that phrase all day long...did you bring your umbrella? I believe that most of us do not, including myself. Last night in our support group for foster and adoptive children, we had a prayer request time. After everyone had shared, I closed and brought forth all the requests that had been made. By the time I had finished, everyone, including me, was in tears. The passion and faithfulness that I felt during this time was surreal. I truely felt His presences during this time, as if He was leaning over near me with His hand on my shoulder. Everyone was pouring out emotion from their hearts for not only their request, but the others around them, coming together as one to beseech the Lord for intervention and expecting God sized results. It was not a matter of oh hey can you make this happen, it was tearful and heart wrenching prayer for what we were asking our God to do. I will forever change the way I pray after hearing that sermon and how I felt during that time when I was praying for the group. When 300 people show up to gather for a prayer meeting to end a drought and only one small child shows up with an umbrella, there is a problem with your prayer expectations. So I ask you...when you prayed, did you bring your umbrella?
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