Prayer

     I was listening today to Revive our Hearts, and the subject was about Mary.  The lady speaking was not the normal lady, Nancy Leigh DeMoss, it was another one that spoke at their true woman conference.  Anyway, she was talking about what we know from scripture about Mary and the type of woman, or girl in reality, she was.  This was very interesting, but honestly what really caught my attention was when she talked about Zechariah and Elizabeth.  They are the parents of John the Baptist, though many of you already know that, and Elizabeth was related in some way to Mary.  For many years they had waited for a child but none came.  Elizabeth was barren, and they had gotten older.  The speaker talked about how this could have caused hardship for the couple, even bitterness and anger.  But this is not how they are described at all, in fact they are said to have been, "...upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord's commandments and regulations blamelessly." (Luke 1:6)  She went on to say that in that culture, since Elizabeth could not produce a child, Zechariah could have divorced her and no one would have thought bad of him.  But he stayed with his wife.  They had prayed for a child for many years, and the answer had always seemed to be no.

     Zechariah was a priest and when he was serving his time in the temple Gabriel came to him and told him that Elizabeth would have a baby.  Can you imagine?  Gabriel tells Zechariah, "...your prayer has been heard."  There is a lot that goes on after this including a description of who John should be and Zechariah going mute for his unbelief.  What caught my ear was the fact that God had finally, in His time, given them a baby.  I can just imagine Elizabeth's joy when she found out.  Luke writes that she said, "The Lord has done this for me,' she said.  'In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people." (Luke 1:25)  I felt like I was reading this passage for the first time.  I have read this story many times, but I was very moved by what she said.  I even had tears come to my eyes. All those years they had been faithful, they had stayed together, faithfully serving God even though they had disgrace in not having children.

     This kinda relates with what I was talking about yesterday, in that we should be faithful to pray and speak of what God has done.  Of course, it was Elizabeth and Zechariah that this happened to, but I am amazed at this story and how God showered love on these people.  Not only this but they are characters that are forever to be known, heroes of the faith in some ways.  Then their son, John the Baptist, is of course one of the best known people ever from the Bible.  I realized that I should talk more to my Father in heaven, let Him know what is in my heart more.  There is nothing good that God will keep from us.  Sometimes we don't get what we are praying for, but that might mean that it just isn't good for us.  Things can be a good thing, but not for everyone if that makes sense. (I hope it does)

     A few weeks back I heard this story about a little boy who needed new clothes.  Shirts in particular. He was part of a big family and his parents were unsure if they could even afford Christmas presents or even the clothes their children needed.  The little boy told his mommy not to worry cuz he had been praying for new shirts and he knew that God would give him some.  He had been praying for months apparently and they hadn't known.  Like a week later, the owner of a department store called the mother and told her that they had all these clothes left that hadn't sold and that she could come and take whatever she wanted.  There was enough clothes in each of the kids' sizes to clothe them all, and there was more than enough.

     I know this story is something that some people may roll their eyes at, but I thought about just how much our God loves us and provides for us.  This little boy knew this and never worried.  Elizabeth prayed for a child, and stayed faithful to Him even when all hope seemed lost.  There is no rational reason that any of these things should have happened but they did because our God lives and that should be enough for me to remain faithful to Him.

  He has right to interrupt your life.He is Lord. When you accepted Him as Lord, you gave Him the right to help Himself to your life any time He wants.--Henry Blackaby