Prayer for change
Prayer is powerful and effective, but sometimes confusing. But the more we know God, the less we are confused about prayer. It seems to me that there are many times when we want God to fix our situation through our prayers, without recognizing that the problem we are addressing through prayer is merely the fruit of a problem that has been in existence for a long time. Sometimes we live with an ungodly mindset for years and years without ever realizing or acknowledging that our particular behavior or approach has been unholy. When it eventually produces unholy fruit, we want God to change the fruit, and we scratch out heads and wonder why God didn’t answer our prayers. But prayer is as much about training and teaching us as it is about changing our world. In fact, the most effective way to change our world is to first be changed ourselves. We are, after all, made in the image of God and made to reflect that image into the world. When we misrepresent God in the world, we reap chaos. But when we repent and receive the correction of the truth, we are set free and the fruit of godliness flows from our lives. So, we can and should pray for our family members and friends to be changed by the gospel, but that is highly more likely to happen if we let the gospel change us first and often. That needs to be my own prayer again and again. “Lord, send revival and start with me!” Let’s pray today and be changed.