Over the years I have written different
articles on prayer. And about a year ago, a
person very close to my heart sent me
a Facebook Message asking, "How
about sending me a good prayer I
can think about." I wasn't
sure exactly what she was asking, so
I briefly put my thoughts together
on prayer and sent that to her via
Message.
That short dialogue started me to thinking about prayer and led me to examine some of my previous blogs on prayer that I have written in the last few years. This blog is sort of a compilation of the best of the others as I attempt to offer an overview of what I believe is an effective prayer life.
When I became a Christian believer in 1987, I was afraid to pray openly in church, Sunday School, Bible study, etc. It seemed that everyone else was so good at praying and could pray such eloquent prayers - that my simple whispers were better done silently. For that reason it took me seven years before I would pray aloud in a group.
In our Sunday School Class in the late 1980s, Pastor Sam Lacanienta would sometimes ask me to close in prayer, and at first I would wince and wiggle to get out of it. After a while I was running out of excuses. Then Dory and I devised a scheme to save me. When Pastor Sam would ask me to close in prayer, we would all bow our heads, close our eyes - and Dory would say the prayer. I have long joked that for seven years folks thought this old Southern boy prayed with a Filipina accent.
I suppose several things contributed to solving my problem. First, I began to mature and grow in my knowledge of God's Word and in my confidence to share my faith. And, almost as important in my transformation was what Pastor Sam taught us about prayer. He taught that prayer should not be a sermon, but should be specific, avoiding broad generalizations. He also taught that prayer is a personal conversation between the believer and God - and should not sound like we are preaching a long drawn out sermon to God.
A few years ago, a Religion Forum Friend asked me, "How often do you pray, Bill? When you pray, do you ask forgiveness for your sins?"
Those are really two great questions: (1) "How often should we pray?" And (2), "Should we pray and ask forgiveness for our sins?"
Let's look at the first question: (1) "How often should we pray" And I will add: "When should we pray?"
While I do pray at specific times - always before a meal, always when going to bed at night, when I feel that I have offended God, when I see someone in need of prayer, etc. Yet in actual practice, my prayers happen all day long.
Frequently during my day, I will pause and ask God to protect, watch over, guide, and bless some particular loved one or friend. When my wife, daughter, friend, or other loved ones leave in a car - I always pray for them as they drive away, that our Lord will have His angels around them, protecting them from any accidents, problems, harm, or danger.
A funny incident happened when I was doing this about a year ago. Dory was driving out of our apartment complex gate and because of the slight curve in our driveway, to watch as she drove out I had to stand between two parked cars. The owner of one car noticed me standing by his car and asked what I was doing. I explained that I always pray for my wife as she leaves in the car and he understood. A witnessing moment? Who knows? Maybe he went into his home and prayed for his wife.
So I suppose you might say my praying is more like an ongoing conversation with my very best Friend, God. It is an ongoing process throughout the day. I relate this kind of prayer to what Pastor Sam taught us back in the late 1980s, Popcorn Prayer. What is Popcorn Prayer? It is short, specific prayers seeking God's intervention for a specific need - and it can be done at any time. When Dory, or another friend or loved one, drives away in a car - I ask God to protect her. Short and to the point. I must offer such prayers a hundred times a day. That is my ongoing conversation with God.
Keep in mind that a prayer does not have to be long, drawn out pastoral declaration, spoken in a deep, reverent voice. Prayer is really just you speaking with your best Friend, God. That prayer might be, "Lord, please give her safe travel. Protect her from any accidents or harm."
It might be, "Lord, please heal my friend as she goes to see her doctor today. Guide her doctors and give them the wisdom and knowledge to heal her."
Or, it might be something like, "Lord, please bless my Friend today as he goes for his job interview. Give him the right words and answers in his interview."
There is a big difference between a short, sincere, specific prayer - and a long eloquent sermon prayer designed to get God's attention. I have heard it suggested that we too often view God as a "Spiritual ATM." No, I am not suggesting folks can or should view God as a "Needs ATM." But He does tell us to bring all our needs and cares to Him:
So far I have been speaking of conversational prayers with God, which can and should happen throughout our day. Then there are our prayer times, the times when we set all things aside and spend time in His presence. But here again, I do not believe God is looking for us to offer a sermon length prayer.
In the Sermon on the Mount, found in Matthew 7-9, Jesus teaches us how to pray. In Matthew 6:5-8 Jesus warns His disciples about the self-righteous and hypocritical Pharisees who stand in public and make their prayers into a grand performance to show their piousness. In Matthew 6:6, He tells us to go into our own inner room, our place of serenity and peace, and there offer our prayers to Him.
He is not suggesting that we should hide in a closet to pray - as many who are opposed to public prayer will suggest . I believe He is referring to our "inner spiritual place." I believe He is telling us to stop all distracting activities, close out the noise of our day - and find a place and time of inner peace, quiet, and solitude for communion with Him.
Was Jesus saying that we should not pray in public? No, absolutely not. Prayer is a major part of our worship services, Bible studies, Sunday School classes, Christian fellowship, and our daily Christian lives. He was telling us that, even in public, our prayers should be our way of communing with Him - and not a performance to impress men. And to illustrate, He gave His disciples, and us, a simple prayer guideline - the Lord's Prayer:
In the Lord's Prayer, Jesus tells us to, "Pray, then, in this way:"
Can there be a more eloquent prayer than this one given to us by Jesus Christ Himself?
Let me give you an example of what I believe to be the wrong way to go to God in prayer. For a while in the 1990s, we had a Caucasian man who pastored one of our Fil-Am churches. And in my brief exposure to him, I had begun to believe his longest sermons were his prayers. He would start by telling God what He had written, i.e., "Lord, in Isaiah You tell us . . . and in Ezekiel You admonish us to. . . Lord, in Matthew You guide us to. . ." - and on, and on, and on.
I always had the unfulfilled urge to ask him, "Do you think God doesn't know what He has written in His Bible, so you have to remind him?"
One evening I witnessed this man reaching the pinnacle of his sermon praying. I stopped by a sister church which allowed me to use their copier to make copies of our Sunday bulletin. But this one evening when I got to the church, a group was having a meeting in the room where the copier was located. So, since there was a prayer meeting going on in the sanctuary, I decided to join them while waiting for the copier room to be available. In the sanctuary there was a group of about ten men, including our son, Duane, and Pastor Vince Arnaldo. I slipped in and sat in the back just as they were beginning.
As it turned out, my Sermon Praying friend was also there and had brought a friend with him. So to get the prayers started, Mr. Sermon Prayer began and went on and on for a while. Then, as soon as he paused to catch his breath, his visitor friend began to pray - and he obviously was a prayer protégé of Mr. Sermon Prayer. He went on and on and on - and then paused. At his pause Mr. Sermon Prayer jumped in again. It seemed that we had a "Dueling Prayer Competition" going on between the two of them.
This went on for about 45 minutes, with Pastor Vince getting in a short prayer only once, when both of them stopped to breath at the same time. But except for that quickie prayer from Pastor Vince - no one else in that group of men was quick enough to get in and pray between the Dueling Prayers. After 45 minutes, I could take no more and left.
I credit Pastor Sam Lacanienta, founding pastor of the Fil-Am Church of Irvine (CA), with teaching us the art of Popcorn Prayer, i.e., praying specifically. Let me explain what he meant by praying specifically. When we have a prayer need, or a friend has a prayer need - pray specifically for that need. Do not start praying in broad generalities just to fill the air with sound, "Oh, Lord, I pray for all my friends, and all their friends, that you will bless and protect them, heal all their illnesses, provide for all their needs, etc!" If you pray like that, how will you ever know when He has answered your prayer?
However, if you pray for a specific need - when He answers that prayer you will know it. And most importantly, you will be able to offer a prayer of thanksgiving for that answered prayer.
"Back up, Bill. What is Popcorn Prayer?" Glad you asked. Let me give you an example. In the early 1990s, before we began our worship service at our San Clemente church, a group of us would gather in a circle at the back of the sanctuary to pray for the upcoming service and other Spirit led needs. So that everyone would be allowed an opportunity to join in and pray - we would each keep our prayer short and specific. I might pray the God will empower and bless our pastor's message for that day. Another might pray for safe travel for all who were still on their way. Someone else might have a specific prayer need to be addressed, or know another who has a prayer need - and he/she would pray for that need.
Like popcorn pops up - we each would offer our short specific prayers as the Holy Spirit moved us, in no particular order. In other words, prayers would "pop up" around the circle as one of us was moved to pray. After praying once, if the Spirit moved one of us to add an additional prayer - that was fine. We would keep the short prayers going for 5, 10, 15 minutes, then one of us would offer a closing prayer. Popcorn Prayer allowed each of us to join in and participate in the prayers.
Back to specific prayers, let me give you real life examples of specific prayers answered and thanksgiving offered. In the mid-1980s, the company I had worked for filed for bankruptcy and I was unemployed for a long time. It was the last day of the month, rent was due the next day - and we had only $5. What could I do? I went into the bedroom at 3:00 PM, sat on the bed, and prayed, "Lord, please give us a way to pay our rent tomorrow." That was it! That was my complete prayer.
The next morning my mom called from Alabama. Let me preface this by adding that my mom did not know I was not working. Because of her health problems I did not want to worry her, so I never told her I had lost my job. She called me that morning and told me, "Yesterday I was taking a bath - and I just felt like I wanted to send you some money. I had your brother wire you $1000 today."
I asked, "Mom, what time were you taking a bath?" Her answer: 5:00 PM - which was 3:00 PM California time - the exact time I was in the bedroom praying.
Coincidence? Maybe ESP, as some of my secular and New Age Friends suggested? NO! There was only one valid answer. The Holy Spirit put on her heart to send me that badly needed money. And since my rent was $750 - by making it $1000, He also made provisions for food, utilities, etc., that were also needs. My Friends, you can be sure that Dory and I both gave great thanks to God for that answered prayer and blessing.
Another time during that period of extended unemployment I found myself in a situation where my electric bill of $96 was due, a notice said pay by Thursday or your service will be discontinued. What to do? I prayed about it, then went to the electric company Thursday afternoon and wrote a check to pay my bill. Then I came home and prayed again for God to provide a way for me to cover that check. A gamble? Yes, and no. I trusted God to provide a way. And, He did.
The next evening, a Friday just before Christmas, a Christian Friend, Rose Osman, rang our doorbell. When I opened the door, she gave me an envelope and told me, "God put on my heart to bring this to you." I asked her to come in but she said she was late meeting another friend and had to leave. After she left, I opened the envelope and inside was $100 - exactly enough to cover that $96 check. Thank you, Lord. Rose did not have a lot of extra money to give away - but she was faithful when God put this need on her heart.
In the year 2000, Dory and I were helping our pastor, Ed Dacio, lead a Wednesday morning Bible study at the Vintage Terrace seniors' apartment complex in Corona, California. Dory would take her keyboard and lead us in singing. And Pastor Ed and I would take turns leading the Bible study. One week we prayed for Frank, one of the senior men living at the Vintage Terrace. Frank had several large, black wart looking growths on his face and it had been diagnosed as cancer.
A few days later, I started noticing a black growth similar to Frank's in the sideburn area of my right temple. And it was rather large, causing my comb to snag. Because of Frank's situation, Dory and I were concerned and agreed that I should see a doctor right away. That evening, as I lay in bed, I held my finger on the growth and asked God to please remove it. Folks who believe in prayer will understand this, while others may just smile. But after I prayed I felt a very comforting warmth come over me and I felt a peace within, giving me confidence that God had said, "Yes." I rolled over and slept a sleep of peace - knowing that God was doing a work in me.
The next day, the growth was a little smaller, the following day it was noticeably smaller - and by the forth day it was totally gone. Nothing was left but a small white scar which I have to this day, a reminder of God's faithfulness. When I wrote about this on the Religion Forum, atheists and other non-believers were scoffing. And even some who confessed to being believers chose to shrug it off as my imagination working overtime. One fellow laughed that, "Bill has a magic finger! He just touched his growth, prayed, and poof, it was gone!" While another asked, "Bill, if God did that - why did it take Him four days?"
Good question. But, on the other hand, why did it take God six days to finish the Creation? He could have done the Creation, or removed my growth, in a split second. Why six days for the Creation and four days for my healing? The six days of Creation I believe He did as an example for us - work six days and rest on the seventh. Why four days to heal my growth? Because that was how He wanted it - for His own reason. Faith, my Friends, is the answer. We don't question why or how God works - we just offer prayers of thanksgiving when He does.
The main thing to remember is that Prayer Works! God always answers the prayers of believers: Sometimes, "Yes." Sometimes, "No." And at other times, "Wait a while, My child."
"Bill, are you implying that God will not answer the prayers of non-believers?" Another good question. But, first let me ask you, "If a person does not believe in God - why would he/she pray to God?" Will God not answer the prayers of a non-believer? I cannot say yea or nay - for God being omniscient knows that person's heart and He knows the recipient of that person's prayers. If a non-believer is praying for another person to be healed or helped, I believe God will take that into consideration.
One more thought on prayer in action. About ten years ago I went for a late evening walk about 11:00 PM, just to relax. As I was walking along Magnolia Avenue, a major thoroughfare in Riverside, California, a homeless man jumped from behind a sign and came toward me. His eyes were red, like he was on drugs, and he was cursing and screaming at me, even demanding that I give him money.
As he stalked toward me, I began to back across the four lanes of busy east-bound Magnolia Avenue traffic with him following me. The cars whizzed by with no one seeming to notice what was happening. But the moment I stepped on the wide center island, I felt the peace of God come over me. I stopped and said to the man, "I don't have any money with me (which was true for I never took my wallet on these walks) - but can I pray for you?"
He stopped and quietly said, "Yes." I put my right hand on his left shoulder and prayed, asking God to watch over and protect this man - and to provide for his needs. After I prayed for him, I hugged him. This man, who just minutes before had been screaming and cursing as if on drugs, said in a small soft voice, "That was what I wanted." And he walked away. In all my walks since then, I have seen many other homeless people, but I have never seen that man again.
After he left and I was walking home, still shaking - from the built up energy during the stalk, and because I felt that God had used me in some way to touch that man, in a way that I did not understand, but God understood. And as I was walking I thought about the incident, it dawned on me that when I hugged the man, neither this man, very obviously homeless, nor his clothing had any unpleasant odor. How could that be when he was most certainly homeless and sleeping on the streets?
Does this Scripture verse come to mind: Hebrews 13:2, "Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it."
My Religion Forum Friend had asked me two great questions: (1) "How often should we pray?" And (2), "Should we pray and ask forgiveness for our sins?"
This blog has been to answer the first question, "How often should we pray?" Since my answer to the first question was longer than I had anticipated, I will address the second question in another blog to follow later.
I pray that this discussion has given you additional insight on prayer and how to have a conversation with your best Friend, God.
God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,
Bill
That short dialogue started me to thinking about prayer and led me to examine some of my previous blogs on prayer that I have written in the last few years. This blog is sort of a compilation of the best of the others as I attempt to offer an overview of what I believe is an effective prayer life.
When I became a Christian believer in 1987, I was afraid to pray openly in church, Sunday School, Bible study, etc. It seemed that everyone else was so good at praying and could pray such eloquent prayers - that my simple whispers were better done silently. For that reason it took me seven years before I would pray aloud in a group.
In our Sunday School Class in the late 1980s, Pastor Sam Lacanienta would sometimes ask me to close in prayer, and at first I would wince and wiggle to get out of it. After a while I was running out of excuses. Then Dory and I devised a scheme to save me. When Pastor Sam would ask me to close in prayer, we would all bow our heads, close our eyes - and Dory would say the prayer. I have long joked that for seven years folks thought this old Southern boy prayed with a Filipina accent.
I suppose several things contributed to solving my problem. First, I began to mature and grow in my knowledge of God's Word and in my confidence to share my faith. And, almost as important in my transformation was what Pastor Sam taught us about prayer. He taught that prayer should not be a sermon, but should be specific, avoiding broad generalizations. He also taught that prayer is a personal conversation between the believer and God - and should not sound like we are preaching a long drawn out sermon to God.
A few years ago, a Religion Forum Friend asked me, "How often do you pray, Bill? When you pray, do you ask forgiveness for your sins?"
Those are really two great questions: (1) "How often should we pray?" And (2), "Should we pray and ask forgiveness for our sins?"
Let's look at the first question: (1) "How often should we pray" And I will add: "When should we pray?"
While I do pray at specific times - always before a meal, always when going to bed at night, when I feel that I have offended God, when I see someone in need of prayer, etc. Yet in actual practice, my prayers happen all day long.
Frequently during my day, I will pause and ask God to protect, watch over, guide, and bless some particular loved one or friend. When my wife, daughter, friend, or other loved ones leave in a car - I always pray for them as they drive away, that our Lord will have His angels around them, protecting them from any accidents, problems, harm, or danger.
A funny incident happened when I was doing this about a year ago. Dory was driving out of our apartment complex gate and because of the slight curve in our driveway, to watch as she drove out I had to stand between two parked cars. The owner of one car noticed me standing by his car and asked what I was doing. I explained that I always pray for my wife as she leaves in the car and he understood. A witnessing moment? Who knows? Maybe he went into his home and prayed for his wife.
So I suppose you might say my praying is more like an ongoing conversation with my very best Friend, God. It is an ongoing process throughout the day. I relate this kind of prayer to what Pastor Sam taught us back in the late 1980s, Popcorn Prayer. What is Popcorn Prayer? It is short, specific prayers seeking God's intervention for a specific need - and it can be done at any time. When Dory, or another friend or loved one, drives away in a car - I ask God to protect her. Short and to the point. I must offer such prayers a hundred times a day. That is my ongoing conversation with God.
Keep in mind that a prayer does not have to be long, drawn out pastoral declaration, spoken in a deep, reverent voice. Prayer is really just you speaking with your best Friend, God. That prayer might be, "Lord, please give her safe travel. Protect her from any accidents or harm."
It might be, "Lord, please heal my friend as she goes to see her doctor today. Guide her doctors and give them the wisdom and knowledge to heal her."
Or, it might be something like, "Lord, please bless my Friend today as he goes for his job interview. Give him the right words and answers in his interview."
There is a big difference between a short, sincere, specific prayer - and a long eloquent sermon prayer designed to get God's attention. I have heard it suggested that we too often view God as a "Spiritual ATM." No, I am not suggesting folks can or should view God as a "Needs ATM." But He does tell us to bring all our needs and cares to Him:
Philippians 4:6-7, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."
Philippians 4:19, "And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus."
1 Peter 5:6-7, "Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you."
So far I have been speaking of conversational prayers with God, which can and should happen throughout our day. Then there are our prayer times, the times when we set all things aside and spend time in His presence. But here again, I do not believe God is looking for us to offer a sermon length prayer.
In the Sermon on the Mount, found in Matthew 7-9, Jesus teaches us how to pray. In Matthew 6:5-8 Jesus warns His disciples about the self-righteous and hypocritical Pharisees who stand in public and make their prayers into a grand performance to show their piousness. In Matthew 6:6, He tells us to go into our own inner room, our place of serenity and peace, and there offer our prayers to Him.
He is not suggesting that we should hide in a closet to pray - as many who are opposed to public prayer will suggest . I believe He is referring to our "inner spiritual place." I believe He is telling us to stop all distracting activities, close out the noise of our day - and find a place and time of inner peace, quiet, and solitude for communion with Him.
Was Jesus saying that we should not pray in public? No, absolutely not. Prayer is a major part of our worship services, Bible studies, Sunday School classes, Christian fellowship, and our daily Christian lives. He was telling us that, even in public, our prayers should be our way of communing with Him - and not a performance to impress men. And to illustrate, He gave His disciples, and us, a simple prayer guideline - the Lord's Prayer:
In the Lord's Prayer, Jesus tells us to, "Pray, then, in this way:"
Matthew 6:9, "Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name" ~ We are glorifying and honoring God.
Matthew 6:10, "Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven" ~ We are looking forward to His coming again to restore His kingdom on earth.
Matthew 6:11, "Give us this day our daily bread" ~ We go to Him for all our daily needs. Not necessarily all our wants, but most certainly all our daily needs.
Matthew 6:12, "And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors" ~ Forgive us our sins of disobedience against You, Lord - as we are to forgive those who have wronged us.
Matthew 6:13, "And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil" ~ Or as many read this, deliver us from the wiles of the evil one, Satan, and his continuous temptations.
Can there be a more eloquent prayer than this one given to us by Jesus Christ Himself?
Let me give you an example of what I believe to be the wrong way to go to God in prayer. For a while in the 1990s, we had a Caucasian man who pastored one of our Fil-Am churches. And in my brief exposure to him, I had begun to believe his longest sermons were his prayers. He would start by telling God what He had written, i.e., "Lord, in Isaiah You tell us . . . and in Ezekiel You admonish us to. . . Lord, in Matthew You guide us to. . ." - and on, and on, and on.
I always had the unfulfilled urge to ask him, "Do you think God doesn't know what He has written in His Bible, so you have to remind him?"
One evening I witnessed this man reaching the pinnacle of his sermon praying. I stopped by a sister church which allowed me to use their copier to make copies of our Sunday bulletin. But this one evening when I got to the church, a group was having a meeting in the room where the copier was located. So, since there was a prayer meeting going on in the sanctuary, I decided to join them while waiting for the copier room to be available. In the sanctuary there was a group of about ten men, including our son, Duane, and Pastor Vince Arnaldo. I slipped in and sat in the back just as they were beginning.
As it turned out, my Sermon Praying friend was also there and had brought a friend with him. So to get the prayers started, Mr. Sermon Prayer began and went on and on for a while. Then, as soon as he paused to catch his breath, his visitor friend began to pray - and he obviously was a prayer protégé of Mr. Sermon Prayer. He went on and on and on - and then paused. At his pause Mr. Sermon Prayer jumped in again. It seemed that we had a "Dueling Prayer Competition" going on between the two of them.
This went on for about 45 minutes, with Pastor Vince getting in a short prayer only once, when both of them stopped to breath at the same time. But except for that quickie prayer from Pastor Vince - no one else in that group of men was quick enough to get in and pray between the Dueling Prayers. After 45 minutes, I could take no more and left.
I credit Pastor Sam Lacanienta, founding pastor of the Fil-Am Church of Irvine (CA), with teaching us the art of Popcorn Prayer, i.e., praying specifically. Let me explain what he meant by praying specifically. When we have a prayer need, or a friend has a prayer need - pray specifically for that need. Do not start praying in broad generalities just to fill the air with sound, "Oh, Lord, I pray for all my friends, and all their friends, that you will bless and protect them, heal all their illnesses, provide for all their needs, etc!" If you pray like that, how will you ever know when He has answered your prayer?
However, if you pray for a specific need - when He answers that prayer you will know it. And most importantly, you will be able to offer a prayer of thanksgiving for that answered prayer.
"Back up, Bill. What is Popcorn Prayer?" Glad you asked. Let me give you an example. In the early 1990s, before we began our worship service at our San Clemente church, a group of us would gather in a circle at the back of the sanctuary to pray for the upcoming service and other Spirit led needs. So that everyone would be allowed an opportunity to join in and pray - we would each keep our prayer short and specific. I might pray the God will empower and bless our pastor's message for that day. Another might pray for safe travel for all who were still on their way. Someone else might have a specific prayer need to be addressed, or know another who has a prayer need - and he/she would pray for that need.
Like popcorn pops up - we each would offer our short specific prayers as the Holy Spirit moved us, in no particular order. In other words, prayers would "pop up" around the circle as one of us was moved to pray. After praying once, if the Spirit moved one of us to add an additional prayer - that was fine. We would keep the short prayers going for 5, 10, 15 minutes, then one of us would offer a closing prayer. Popcorn Prayer allowed each of us to join in and participate in the prayers.
Back to specific prayers, let me give you real life examples of specific prayers answered and thanksgiving offered. In the mid-1980s, the company I had worked for filed for bankruptcy and I was unemployed for a long time. It was the last day of the month, rent was due the next day - and we had only $5. What could I do? I went into the bedroom at 3:00 PM, sat on the bed, and prayed, "Lord, please give us a way to pay our rent tomorrow." That was it! That was my complete prayer.
The next morning my mom called from Alabama. Let me preface this by adding that my mom did not know I was not working. Because of her health problems I did not want to worry her, so I never told her I had lost my job. She called me that morning and told me, "Yesterday I was taking a bath - and I just felt like I wanted to send you some money. I had your brother wire you $1000 today."
I asked, "Mom, what time were you taking a bath?" Her answer: 5:00 PM - which was 3:00 PM California time - the exact time I was in the bedroom praying.
Coincidence? Maybe ESP, as some of my secular and New Age Friends suggested? NO! There was only one valid answer. The Holy Spirit put on her heart to send me that badly needed money. And since my rent was $750 - by making it $1000, He also made provisions for food, utilities, etc., that were also needs. My Friends, you can be sure that Dory and I both gave great thanks to God for that answered prayer and blessing.
Another time during that period of extended unemployment I found myself in a situation where my electric bill of $96 was due, a notice said pay by Thursday or your service will be discontinued. What to do? I prayed about it, then went to the electric company Thursday afternoon and wrote a check to pay my bill. Then I came home and prayed again for God to provide a way for me to cover that check. A gamble? Yes, and no. I trusted God to provide a way. And, He did.
The next evening, a Friday just before Christmas, a Christian Friend, Rose Osman, rang our doorbell. When I opened the door, she gave me an envelope and told me, "God put on my heart to bring this to you." I asked her to come in but she said she was late meeting another friend and had to leave. After she left, I opened the envelope and inside was $100 - exactly enough to cover that $96 check. Thank you, Lord. Rose did not have a lot of extra money to give away - but she was faithful when God put this need on her heart.
In the year 2000, Dory and I were helping our pastor, Ed Dacio, lead a Wednesday morning Bible study at the Vintage Terrace seniors' apartment complex in Corona, California. Dory would take her keyboard and lead us in singing. And Pastor Ed and I would take turns leading the Bible study. One week we prayed for Frank, one of the senior men living at the Vintage Terrace. Frank had several large, black wart looking growths on his face and it had been diagnosed as cancer.
A few days later, I started noticing a black growth similar to Frank's in the sideburn area of my right temple. And it was rather large, causing my comb to snag. Because of Frank's situation, Dory and I were concerned and agreed that I should see a doctor right away. That evening, as I lay in bed, I held my finger on the growth and asked God to please remove it. Folks who believe in prayer will understand this, while others may just smile. But after I prayed I felt a very comforting warmth come over me and I felt a peace within, giving me confidence that God had said, "Yes." I rolled over and slept a sleep of peace - knowing that God was doing a work in me.
The next day, the growth was a little smaller, the following day it was noticeably smaller - and by the forth day it was totally gone. Nothing was left but a small white scar which I have to this day, a reminder of God's faithfulness. When I wrote about this on the Religion Forum, atheists and other non-believers were scoffing. And even some who confessed to being believers chose to shrug it off as my imagination working overtime. One fellow laughed that, "Bill has a magic finger! He just touched his growth, prayed, and poof, it was gone!" While another asked, "Bill, if God did that - why did it take Him four days?"
Good question. But, on the other hand, why did it take God six days to finish the Creation? He could have done the Creation, or removed my growth, in a split second. Why six days for the Creation and four days for my healing? The six days of Creation I believe He did as an example for us - work six days and rest on the seventh. Why four days to heal my growth? Because that was how He wanted it - for His own reason. Faith, my Friends, is the answer. We don't question why or how God works - we just offer prayers of thanksgiving when He does.
The main thing to remember is that Prayer Works! God always answers the prayers of believers: Sometimes, "Yes." Sometimes, "No." And at other times, "Wait a while, My child."
"Bill, are you implying that God will not answer the prayers of non-believers?" Another good question. But, first let me ask you, "If a person does not believe in God - why would he/she pray to God?" Will God not answer the prayers of a non-believer? I cannot say yea or nay - for God being omniscient knows that person's heart and He knows the recipient of that person's prayers. If a non-believer is praying for another person to be healed or helped, I believe God will take that into consideration.
One more thought on prayer in action. About ten years ago I went for a late evening walk about 11:00 PM, just to relax. As I was walking along Magnolia Avenue, a major thoroughfare in Riverside, California, a homeless man jumped from behind a sign and came toward me. His eyes were red, like he was on drugs, and he was cursing and screaming at me, even demanding that I give him money.
As he stalked toward me, I began to back across the four lanes of busy east-bound Magnolia Avenue traffic with him following me. The cars whizzed by with no one seeming to notice what was happening. But the moment I stepped on the wide center island, I felt the peace of God come over me. I stopped and said to the man, "I don't have any money with me (which was true for I never took my wallet on these walks) - but can I pray for you?"
He stopped and quietly said, "Yes." I put my right hand on his left shoulder and prayed, asking God to watch over and protect this man - and to provide for his needs. After I prayed for him, I hugged him. This man, who just minutes before had been screaming and cursing as if on drugs, said in a small soft voice, "That was what I wanted." And he walked away. In all my walks since then, I have seen many other homeless people, but I have never seen that man again.
After he left and I was walking home, still shaking - from the built up energy during the stalk, and because I felt that God had used me in some way to touch that man, in a way that I did not understand, but God understood. And as I was walking I thought about the incident, it dawned on me that when I hugged the man, neither this man, very obviously homeless, nor his clothing had any unpleasant odor. How could that be when he was most certainly homeless and sleeping on the streets?
Does this Scripture verse come to mind: Hebrews 13:2, "Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it."
My Religion Forum Friend had asked me two great questions: (1) "How often should we pray?" And (2), "Should we pray and ask forgiveness for our sins?"
This blog has been to answer the first question, "How often should we pray?" Since my answer to the first question was longer than I had anticipated, I will address the second question in another blog to follow later.
I pray that this discussion has given you additional insight on prayer and how to have a conversation with your best Friend, God.
God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,
Bill
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