The Beauty of Prayer

August 23

Hi, we returned from a few days in Kampala (the capital) last week. We went to renew Lydia’s student visa which needs to be done every August. We saw God answer our prayers again. We started the process on Monday and by Tuesday at lunch we had the visa. That is amazing. God can do anything. He also provided a friend in immigrations that has been so helpful. We also were able to relax and enjoy our time away. We did do the normal shopping/stocking up, but we also were able to spend fun time together as a family. Lydia got her ears pierced which she is very proud of. She did great and looks so pretty. It was a big deal and special time. Our friends from Soroti were also in Kampala and stayed at the same guesthouse so the kids loved playing together and the adults even got to play games together. We decided to take one extra day and spend it at the pool as a family. The weather was great and everyone had fun. I was also thankful for some quality time with Josh. Things have been busy in Soroti with him teaching and even with me teaching. This gave us time to talk again.

God has really been teaching me about prayer the last six months. What a challenge. I realize that I pray but not with the passion and heart that I believe God desires. Let me explain how He has been teaching lately.

The other day I listened to a message on prayer. I was so touched by it. It was based on Hebrews 10:19-22. We are invited by God to come into the Most Holy place and experience Him! Prayer is not a discipline of the Christian life – it is our life. Prayer is fellowship with God. Relationship. Through prayer we can know God’s heart and be in the center of His will. We will know what God wants and do what He says. God doesn’t want our options when we pray but to share His heart with us. Building His kingdom is God’s will for this world. Pray in line with His will. Do you love God? It will show in prayer.

How I mourn for the way I and the church have failed in prayer. We too often think about it so casually, as a thing we are suppose to do. It is routine. We have not taken the invitation of our Father to come into His presence and fellowship with the One True God. What an awesome privilege. You desire to have a relationship with us. Why do we not long to be with you? We have not taken time, grown tired, selfish, lazy, and failed to pray. We have put our desire and will above God’s. So many Christians who claim to know and love God but don’t pray. It is not right. How can you love Him and not be with Him? You don’t know Him. What joy and power there is in prayer and we don’t even use it. God is our life. I pray He will teach us to be with Him in prayer!

As God teaches me, I have been praying for the Muslims for 30 days in this time of Ramadan. I have been challenged but the number of people who don’t know Jesus. There are 20 million people in Sudan who do not have one believer among them. Twenty Million! People of God this should not be. There are billions of Christians in the world why aren’t we sharing God’s love with them? I hear the Muslim call to prayer each night here in Uganda and wonder how can I reach out to the Muslims here and around the world? I have been praying. I appreciate the focus and passion it has brought to my prayer life. We need to enter God’s throne room and pray about the world, Muslims, and the lost. It is praying according to God’s will – to build His kingdom – His heart.

Then last night our team had a day of prayer and fasting for wisdom about a possible grant our team could receive. We wanted to know what ministry God wanted to use the money for. In the evening we gathered to pray together. We began with the message on prayer God had used in my life, praised God in song, then began to pray. It was a beautiful evening in the throne room of our God! What a beautiful experience. A place you never want to leave. Oh friends, God is here, alive, and active. I will never forget the picture of our team bowing before the Lord in prayer. What a sweet time. The God of the whole Universe was with us. There were tears and heartfelt crying out to God. We were all moved to pray for the people and the suffering here. How exciting it is to know you are praying God’s heart. We didn’t leave with any answers. We didn’t see any great visions. But we knew God had done something in our team. As Josh put God was telling us to keep the posture. Our team learned how to pray last night and it was a lesson we never want to forget. We want to trust God, follow His will, and love Him. I am so proud to be apart of this team. God is at work and that is where I want to be.

Praise God!