Have you ever really thought about the power of prayer? I personally have put so much attention on prayer lately. I love the way the new movie War Room focuses on prayer. If we all looked at prayer the way Miss Clara did, the world would be a better place. Our pastor was speaking on “pressure” yesterday and was talking about prayer. He said, “Use pressure as a prompt to pray. Use it anytime, and every time.” Prayer is one thing that we can go to no matter what our situation is or where we are.” God is always available to us in our time of need. We can call on him anytime day or night and he is there waiting to listen. Prayer is how we communicate with our God. It is where we humbly and sincerely ask our Heavenly Father for the things that we have need. Prayer is our line of communication with God. Prayer can be talking, listening, praising, or thanking God. It can be silent, spoken, sung, confessed, or written.
When I was thinking about prayer and some of the prayers that have been answered in my life and in the lives of others, I was reminded of a prayer answered several years back. My mom is probably one of the most selfless people you will ever meet. She has always given up things she may have wanted or even needed to provided for me and anyone else with a need. She and my dad divorced in 1992 and she remarried my step- father in 1995. When they got married she and my step father exchanged very simple wedding bands. A couple of years later, my step father decided to buy her a diamond ring for Christmas to go along with the band they exchanged when they shared their vows. He searched for countless hours to find the “perfect” stone. It was not a huge stone but it was near flawless and beautiful. She absolutely LOVED her ring and was beyond blessed by the generosity that was given to her that Christmas morning.
I cannot recall the exact timeline, it was several years later and Christmas had rolled around again. My mom and I had taken my grandma out for her annual Christmas shopping that we did with her every year. We had just left Walmart on Lawrenceville Highway in Tucker, GA and my mom happened to look down at her hand and the stone was gone from her ring. Naturally, she panicked. She was so upset, she had not idea how long it had been gone. Tears immediately trickled down her face and she called my step-father to tell him. Of course, his response was it is fine, we have insurance on it. It is just a material item, it can be replaced. As much as she believed that, we have all had that one thing that means a lot to us and it was more the sentimental value than the material value that had her so upset.
Needless to say, our drive home was nothing shy of miserable. We talked about ever step we took, talked about the last time she noticed it was there, we went through every motion we tend to go through when something is missing. She went home and still had an unsettling in her spirit. My mom has always been a very faith filled woman. With that being said, she did what she does often, she prayed. She felt a little “pressure” so she turned to God and asked if it was in HIS will for her to find that diamond that HE would show her where it was, that HE would lead her in the direction of where it could be. When my step-father got home from work, she told him they needed to drive back to Tucker to the Walmart. Of course, he thought she was crazy (and I have to admit I did too). There was no possible way they would find a diamond at Walmart. We had been gone from there over 7 hours. If you have ever seen a diamond outside of a setting, they are tiny!!! She continued to pray for Gods direction and continued to feel lead to Walmart. She pulled into the parking lot and parked in the general area we parked in earlier that morning. She exited the car and took about 2-3 steps and saw something glistening on the ground……yes, I know this is unbelievable….but its the honest to God truth. Her diamond was laying right there, in the parking lot of Walmart on Lawrenceville Highway in Tucker, GA. Thousands of cars had come in and out of that lot, it was the Christmas season. She took it to the jeweler and there was not a single scratch or flaw on that stone.
God allowed my mom to find a needle in a haystack. If HE can do that for her, imagine what HE can do for you. Prayer moves God and changes us! “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 7:78
God Speaks in the silence of the heart. Listening is the beginning of prayer ~Mother Teresa
Grounded in Grace 