A lesson on prayer!

Praise God!! For He had answered my prayer once again!! Hee Hee!! Well, yesterday night, me and my girlfriend (Xueling) planned to go cycling at East Coast Park this afternoon. So, i told her to pray that there will be sunshine and no rain. I woke up early in the morning at 0530 to pray and spend time with God. Of course, I asked God for a wonderful weather so that I may have a wonderful cycling trip with Xueling.

In the afternoon, it started to rain heavily in my estate. But in my mind, i trust that God had heard my prayer and the rain did not cause me to doubt. Before i went out of my house to meet Xueling, I saw my umbrella and i thought "should i bring?... Na! God will answer my prayer!" I even brought out my sunglasses as I prayed that there will be sunshine. Ha Ha! Praise be to God! Once we reached East Coast, the rain stopped! The sun shone and the weather was cool! What a wonderful God we had! He listens to our prayer if we have faith in Him!

For Xueling, she learned a wonderful lesson on prayer today. Pray without doubting! During her quiet time with God this morning, God spoke to her on this issue. I quote her,

"I was reading John 17.... abt Jesus praying for His disciples.. and He asked God to protect the disciples cos He cant do it anymore (as He is going to the Cross), and after praying, he went to Mount of Olives, where He was arrested and the fulfillment of His earthly purpose began. What struck me was that He had a burden and He prayed... After praying, He was fully assured that God had heard and will answer His prayer accordingly and left for Mount Olives with his burden lifted. So I reflected, do I truly believe in what I pray? and the answer is NOT ALWAYS, because there are times when I pray and there will be a small voice within that doubts. Thus, the Lord showed me that my prayers are not effective. As written in James 1: 7-9 -That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does. "

And God is good! He gave her an experience to illustrate what He said to her in the morning. I remember her asking me to bring umbrella when she saw the rain and told me that she will get drenched in the rain. She doubted her own prayer as she prayed in the morning that it will not rain in the afternoon. I, on the other hand, believed that my prayer has been heard and will be answered accordingly. And God be the glory, prayer was answered!!! Thank God that He is always patient to teach us what we lack in, and in Xueling’s case, faith to believe in EVERY prayer that she makes, be it over trivial matters (like the weather) or for His purposes to be fulfilled.

The morale of the story, PRAY! And pray without doubting! Prayer is a means for God to change our life. Our daily communion with Him in our secret closet allows Him to change us and mold us. That is if we pray. Most of us neglect the importance of prayer. We are just too lazy to pray, we find it a chore, we find it tiring, we rush through our meeting with Him, worst, some of us do not even pray! I do hope that my testimony will help you all to see the importance of prayer in our life. Prayer bring us back into dependency on God, it help us develop a RELATIONSHIP with Him, it allows God to change us and bring us to where He want us to be - His destiny for us.

" Therefore i exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet life in all godliness ans reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our saviour,... I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting holy hands, without wrath and doubting." 1 Tim 2:1-3, 8