prayer and small groups
My daughter Tracey called me last night and asked me if my "magical" small group is still meeting because she wanted us to pray for something. We laughed about that, but she was serious in asking for prayer about a situation that she didn't know what to do about. So even though the small group is on a holiday break, I emailed the request to the small group and already a couple of them have emailed back that they have prayed for her.
We laugh about the magical part, but in the career young adult small group we are amazed every week to hear what God is doing. We've seen God answer prayers about jobs, missions trips, ministries, friends, family, illnesses, salvation, tests, school. I only know this, because early on, someone commented that God was answering all our prayers. So now, we're really careful about following up and asking each other about the requests and about telling each other when something happens.
Last Tuesday I asked them to pray for my theology final at APU. It's an essay exam, we choose 4 of the 6 questions to answer, and part of the struggle of being an older student is that my mind can't remember details like it used to. I make note cards, carry them wherever I go and memorize as much as I can. On the drive to school for the exam, I had a sense that a section I didn't know well would be on the test, so I studied it as I drove to school. And when I got to the class, I looked at the final and thought, I know everything on this test - 3 of the 6 questions were things I had just studied on the drive. I have never looked at an exam and had that sense of confidence that I could answer all the questions. I just thanked God for my small group.
It makes me wonder, what is God up to in this group? It's a little funny that I'm suspicious of God's faithfulness :) I'm sure it's not because we're any better than anyone else in praying. But I wonder . . . does God have important things ahead for these young people so that He wants them to know they can really trust him? Or did God answer prayers this consistently in other small groups I've been in and we just never noticed? Recognizing that God really does answer prayer makes us really want to ask, seek, and pray more.
We laugh about the magical part, but in the career young adult small group we are amazed every week to hear what God is doing. We've seen God answer prayers about jobs, missions trips, ministries, friends, family, illnesses, salvation, tests, school. I only know this, because early on, someone commented that God was answering all our prayers. So now, we're really careful about following up and asking each other about the requests and about telling each other when something happens.
Last Tuesday I asked them to pray for my theology final at APU. It's an essay exam, we choose 4 of the 6 questions to answer, and part of the struggle of being an older student is that my mind can't remember details like it used to. I make note cards, carry them wherever I go and memorize as much as I can. On the drive to school for the exam, I had a sense that a section I didn't know well would be on the test, so I studied it as I drove to school. And when I got to the class, I looked at the final and thought, I know everything on this test - 3 of the 6 questions were things I had just studied on the drive. I have never looked at an exam and had that sense of confidence that I could answer all the questions. I just thanked God for my small group.
It makes me wonder, what is God up to in this group? It's a little funny that I'm suspicious of God's faithfulness :) I'm sure it's not because we're any better than anyone else in praying. But I wonder . . . does God have important things ahead for these young people so that He wants them to know they can really trust him? Or did God answer prayers this consistently in other small groups I've been in and we just never noticed? Recognizing that God really does answer prayer makes us really want to ask, seek, and pray more.
posted by Donna at
9:42 AM
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