Have you ever heard this one…
“What kind of a difference will my ‘little prayer’ make?”
Wow, that’s a big lie… and yet it can be easy to believe it, can’t it? Maybe without even realizing it sometimes.
“Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray…” – James 5:13
Sometimes in the mornings as people and situations come to mind, and I’m writing down in my journal, praying and I’m crying out to the Lord, I get overwhelmed with the burdens, overwhelmed with the largeness of it all…I pray the best that I can, knowing that the Lord hears me, and He’s the one who reminded me to pray for these people in the first place.
…But at times when “the mountain” seems so huge, it makes my prayers seem really “small.”
This morning as I was sitting with the Lord, as I felt so very small, I asked Him,
“Father, will You show me how my prayers can make the biggest difference? Will you show me how to pray into all of this? This “mountain of burden” these impossibilities, this pain, these situations, these troubles… how do I even begin? I feel so small praying about these massive things…”
He reminded me of this…
My part is to pray, and to keep praying, no matter what the outcome may be, or seem to be, or seem likely to be… and my part is to do my part…and yes, to do whatever practical, loving thing He says to do in those situations…
but…
His part belongs to Him. His part is a work that only He can do. His part is “the results.”
When we humbly come before the Lord with our whole hearts, and when we make sure we are seeking His will, and we pray using whatever faith we have, we never need to wonder, “Is my prayer doing much? Is it even making a real difference? This mountain of burden is HUGE. These situations are impossible…”
Yep, they are. But we do our part, He does His. Yes, we are small, but He’s big. So we have to just trust, and leave the results up to Him. We may not know what our prayer is doing, but we can trust that He’s doing something with it.
Mark 11:23 says, “Truly I tell you that if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and has no doubt in his heart but believes that it will happen, it will be done for him.”
The Word says this in James 5:16, “…The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” I can choose to believe that or not, but it’s truth.
So the question then is… “how do I pursue righteousness?”
Isaiah 61:10 says, “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.”
By turning to follow Christ. It’s His righteousness that I am covered in. ?
When I come, covered in the blood of Christ, wrapped in His robe of righteousness, and I bring my whole, repentant heart before Him, not focusing on how small I am, but how BIG He is… I know my prayers are “powerful and effective” no matter how big and impossible the situation may seem, and no matter “small” and insignificant I may feel, because He says they are effective! The results aren’t up to me, but it is up to me to do my part, and the Lord so clearly tells us in His Word, what our part is – to pray, to obey, and to love as Christ loves. He works it all out. He does all the orchestrating. He takes our prayers and takes it from there.
Wonder where that little thought, “does my little prayer really make a difference” came from? Maybe from ‘someone’ who knows that it does…
Why? Because God asks me to. Because it’s what He wants. And my smallness is irrelevant because of how big He is! He knows what He’s doing.
Thank You for Your truth, God. You’re incredible, and I’m thankful that You give us the opportunity to get to have a part in all of this. That’s just so wonderful of You. I can’t wait to see what all You do with all of it, God!
-Heather ?