when you pray for opportunities, you should take them when they come...
I've prayed my whole life. I grew up praying at the dinner table every night and before going to bed. Prayer wasn't foreign to me. I knew the purpose, how it worked, believed that it worked, too. But I would mutter prayers, mostly repetitive ones, and I didn't really keep up with them. I found myself praying "safe" prayers, too. Not really asking for much out of what I already had, and not really expecting anything big. They were simple, basic prayers. But God has been patient with me through the years, and He has shown me the power of prayer as He has challenged me to pray big prayers with the expectation of an answer.
I remember the first time the Lord vividly spoke to me and specifically answered one of my prayers, I knew exactly what he was asking me to do. I was about to enter into summer after my first year of college, and I began praying for an opportunity to serve the Lord. I was reading a devotional that challenged me to step out in faith and seek opportunities to do the Lord's work. At that point, I had no idea what that looked like. I remember making that my prayer that night before going to bed. The next day (and I promise I am not making this up) my phone rang. A man was calling about a summer missions opportunity. He had received my name from the music minister at my home church and he wanted to see if I would be interested. I was shocked to say the least. Part of me was thrilled, and part of me wasn't certain. Did I really want to give up my entire summer to travel around Texas and the neighboring states with a prison ministry? But I knew the Lord was answering my prayer and giving me an opportunity. I couldn't pass it up, and so I committed to spending my summer in prisons. It was one of the best experiences of my life.
I'd be lying to say this was a once in a lifetime thing. If you're like me, sometimes you might fall into the trap of believing that if God does one "big" thing for you then your turn is up. Someone else gets to have their "big" prayer answered. But in Matthew 7:11 Jesus says, "If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" Good gifts. Plural. God is not a one and done type of God, and Jesus reminds us that when we ask, we should expect to receive. Good things, too. There is no limit.
Well, the Lord has challenged me to keep on praying those big prayers over and over and over again. To ask for things that seem out of reach, to pray for opportunities that are out of my control, to trust in His provision and His will despite my own desires, and to lay it all down at His feet. I've been praying those big prayers, keeping my eyes open, and He has been faithful to answer them. In unexpected ways, in unconventional methods, He has been giving sweet gifts that I've truly done nothing to receive. I've simply asked. Asked and believed that if it was God's will, it would come. If wasn't, then it didn't matter. After all, if we're asking for things that don't line up with God's will, then we should be thankful we don't receive them. But the key here isn't simply to expect. It's to actually receive. To take those opportunities when they come. Because it's easy to pray about them, but it's another to act up on them.
And so when you ask, expect an answer. And when you're given an answer, take it. Don't pass up the opportunities God has given you as answer to your prayer because you never know what will come from them. They may seem small, they may not seem like a big deal, but "whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much." (Luke 16:10) And when we act, God entrusts. And when we are faithful, He will supply.
"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened." - Matthew 7:7-8
I remember the first time the Lord vividly spoke to me and specifically answered one of my prayers, I knew exactly what he was asking me to do. I was about to enter into summer after my first year of college, and I began praying for an opportunity to serve the Lord. I was reading a devotional that challenged me to step out in faith and seek opportunities to do the Lord's work. At that point, I had no idea what that looked like. I remember making that my prayer that night before going to bed. The next day (and I promise I am not making this up) my phone rang. A man was calling about a summer missions opportunity. He had received my name from the music minister at my home church and he wanted to see if I would be interested. I was shocked to say the least. Part of me was thrilled, and part of me wasn't certain. Did I really want to give up my entire summer to travel around Texas and the neighboring states with a prison ministry? But I knew the Lord was answering my prayer and giving me an opportunity. I couldn't pass it up, and so I committed to spending my summer in prisons. It was one of the best experiences of my life.
I'd be lying to say this was a once in a lifetime thing. If you're like me, sometimes you might fall into the trap of believing that if God does one "big" thing for you then your turn is up. Someone else gets to have their "big" prayer answered. But in Matthew 7:11 Jesus says, "If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" Good gifts. Plural. God is not a one and done type of God, and Jesus reminds us that when we ask, we should expect to receive. Good things, too. There is no limit.
Well, the Lord has challenged me to keep on praying those big prayers over and over and over again. To ask for things that seem out of reach, to pray for opportunities that are out of my control, to trust in His provision and His will despite my own desires, and to lay it all down at His feet. I've been praying those big prayers, keeping my eyes open, and He has been faithful to answer them. In unexpected ways, in unconventional methods, He has been giving sweet gifts that I've truly done nothing to receive. I've simply asked. Asked and believed that if it was God's will, it would come. If wasn't, then it didn't matter. After all, if we're asking for things that don't line up with God's will, then we should be thankful we don't receive them. But the key here isn't simply to expect. It's to actually receive. To take those opportunities when they come. Because it's easy to pray about them, but it's another to act up on them.
And so when you ask, expect an answer. And when you're given an answer, take it. Don't pass up the opportunities God has given you as answer to your prayer because you never know what will come from them. They may seem small, they may not seem like a big deal, but "whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much." (Luke 16:10) And when we act, God entrusts. And when we are faithful, He will supply.
"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened." - Matthew 7:7-8
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