Tuesday, February 23, 2010

The Power of Prayer -- Adventures in the Life of Naomi H.


People use the words “The Power of Prayer” without really comprehending what they're saying. Have we any inkling of the power we have through Jesus Christ? Maybe just an inkling.

Since we have been scheduled to play several places in the recent weeks, we've been practicing our music. It's a challenge to get four grown girls, all of whom have strong opinions and wills, to practice together and have a good time. Add an 11 year old boy, 8 year old girl, 6 year old boy and a 4 year old girl and life just got a lot more complicated. Attitudes fly around the room like big, nasty birds, everyone is squawking at everyone and everything (each individual, the music, our family team) suffers.

In the past few days of practicing, I've had it laid on my heart that I needed to pray before we began our practice. But I ignored it. For what reason? Simply this, I was afraid. I was afraid that my family would look at me and think, “She's been as bad as the rest of us and she wants to act buddy buddy with God now?” I was afraid also that God wouldn't make a noticeable change and my younger siblings would question God's power. Ultimately, I was afraid that me praying would send my siblings further away from God.

Written out on paper, my fears are shown for what they are: ridiculous.

But they didn't seem so at the time. It finally got bad enough yesterday that I was on the verge of quitting before we were done and sending everyone their own ways. But God spoke to me as I was praying to Him silently. He reminded me of the need for prayer and told me to believe. So I did. I told everyone to be quiet and that I was going to pray. And I did. Then, I held on and believed that God would answer this prayer.

The change was immediate and very noticeable.

God gave us a spirit of love for each other.
Our skill with both our instruments and our voices was much improved.
And above all, we were able to bring glory to God.

We don't always get what we ask for but this time, God answered 'yes'.

Please pray for us, as you think of us. Pray that our focus will be kept on God and that He will keep us in peace and love for each other. It's amazing how much freedom we have in Jesus... when we allow Him to work in our lives.

How easy it is to make excuses when we know what is right. How easy it is to turn away and take another path. How easy it is for our vision to become clouded and our minds filled with things other than truth. How easy it is to depend on other things to replace a relationship with God.

But, take heart! The Bible promises that if we seek, we will find. What are you seeking?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sometimes all we have to do is simply humble ourselves and ask...you touched my heart with that story. Thank you for sharing!

Hartley Family Blog said...

Good post. Thank you!!!

Flynn