Cynthia Bezek's Posts

Empowering Kids to Pray

Posted by Cynthia Bezek on April 19, 2011 at 14:00

Do the children in your church know that their prayers are as important as adults’ prayers?

Until recently, it never occurred to me that children might not know how much their prayers matter. But a couple of weeks ago I heard about a church in South Africa that was a bit surprised when, after inviting the children to intercede for one another one Sunday, the children felt empowered. “Usually only adults pray for each other in church,” the children’s pastor pointed out, but this time they were also being given the opportunity to pray. It made them feel important.”

“This particular day the Sunday school teacher spoke on Hannah and how she went to the temple to pray,” Pastor Noeleen Smerdon explained in an email. “During her lesson she noticed how sad the kids were, so she began to speak about Hannah’s feelings and how her sadness drove her to the temple. Then she asked the children to talk about what they were feeling.

“One little boy whose grandfather had just died said he missed him badly. A little girl spoke about how she was sad because her mother was getting another baby. Each child spoke of his or her challenges and feelings. The teacher then explained that when we feel down we must pray and praise. She asked them to pray for each other. And what a rejoicing there was because the kids felt empowered that they could also pray for each other!”

Learning from what happened that special Sunday, Pastor Noeleen said that church leadership now encourages children to pray, practice discernment, praise and dance in the church services that used to be geared primarily toward adults.

The children report being encouraged by their new prayer empowerment, Pastor Noeleen said. “Just last week a boy came to me and said ‘Pastor Noeleen, a miracle took place! We prayed in Sunday school and I am healed of asthma! God is awesome.’”

No Junior Holy Spirit

Jonathan Graf, the founding editor of Pray! magazine, likes to say that “There is no Junior Holy Spirit.” The same Holy Spirit who fills and empowers adults fills and empowers children. Of course Jesus didn’t make a distinction either. If anything, He was preferential to children, warning adults not to hinder them in coming to Him “for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these” (Matthew 19:14).

I’m sure our churches don’t mean to hinder children from coming to God in prayer. But are there more ways we could encourage them so that they know that they can pray for one another and that their prayers are just as important as any adult’s?

My church is having a 24-hour prayer vigil Easter weekend, with groups of people praying in one-hour shifts from Good Friday evening until Holy Saturday evening. To prepare the congregation for this event, we decided to interview several adults who have inspiring prayer stories during the church services leading up to that weekend. Almost as an afterthought, one of our planning team members suggested, “What about a child? Jeremy [not his real name] asked for prayer after the church service one Sunday and God really came through for him. Let’s ask him to share his story during the children’s sermon.”

And so we did. After he shared, the children were invited to write their prayer requests on hand-shaped pieces of paper. These “hands” were placed on sticks and then on Palm Sunday, when ordinarily the children come into the sanctuary waving palm branches, instead they lifted up their prayers. And it is my prayer that these children will feel empowered, too, knowing just how much their prayers matter to God.

Pastor Noeleen’s church and mine aren’t the only ones who intentionally invite the children to pray. In a Pray! article from 2009, Carol Madison wrote about what happened in her church.

I recently led a prayer gathering for elementary school-aged kids that was filled with refreshingly simple, pure prayers. We put an open microphone in the center of the room and watched as the children, who at first felt a little shy and self-conscious, one by one gained the courage to pray aloud in front of the entire group. Soon the line to the microphone was long as the children would pray a short prayer and then run to the back of the line to wait their turn again. Their prayers ranged from “Jesus, I worship You” to “God, please be with all the children who don’t have dads at hone.”
For the next 45 minutes the kids prayed with simplicity and abandonment. Afterward several of them stated it was the most fun they had ever had praying and pleaded with me to use the microphone again at the next prayer gathering.

In another issue of Pray! (2007) Brad Jersak wrote about inviting children to pray for him during the communion service at his church:

One of my favorite meetings at the Lord’s Table is with Allison, a precious little girl whose parents adopted her into their family. When she was not yet three years old, she already was serving communion with her mom. She would say to me, “You need prayer. I want to pray for you. I want to put oil on you.” She would smear oil on my forehead, then lay her fingers there and pray. The last time she prayed for me, a migraine I had been suffering with for several days disappeared in the space of about one minute. In our fellowship, children have led us on a path to healed hearts and bodies. We are taking the prayers and ministry of children seriously.

How are children being encouraged to pray at your church? If you have an inspiring or creative children’s prayer story, will you share it with the rest of us here at PrayNetwork?

—Cynthia Bezek

P.S. For more encouragement about inviting children to pray, visit the Pray! archives and look up these great articles:

http://www.navpress.com/magazines/archives/article.aspx?id=15739

http://www.navpress.com/magazines/archives/article.aspx?id=14348

Hearing God Together

Posted by Cynthia Bezek on August 23, 2010 at 17:44

Whenever I read Jesus’ last recorded prayer—“that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity” (John 17:22-23) I add my “amen,” but usually with a certain poignancy. The corporate unity He prayed for has always seemed so elusive to me. How can we get our ministry teams, churches, Christian organizations, families—any group of two or three believers gathered in His name—to operate in one accord?

Yet, somehow the early church seemed to find unity, even when they had to make important decisions and handle conflicts. I’ve been thinking about that lately, asking God what we can learn from them so we, also, can fulfill Jesus’ desire and prayer.

Two examples stand out to me from Acts. In chapter 13, while the church worships and fasts together corporately, they hear the Holy Spirit say that they are to send out Paul and Barnabas as missionaries (v. 2, emphasis added). They agree with God and one another, lay hands on them and send them off. Then, two chapters later, Luke reports a huge conflict about what is to be required of the Gentile believers who have recently come to faith. After much discussion and debate, the apostles and elders with the whole church wrote a letter with their decision. In the letter they state, “It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us” (Acts 15:28) and they move forward with what they heard from God and each other.

In neither of these cases do we learn the exact process by which the believers got onto the same page with each other and God. But we do know that they had a habit of meeting together to worship, pray, and listen to one another and God. I think we can learn something from that.

In the past few months, three significantly different ministries that I’m a part of have been trying to practice listening-together-to-get-on-the-same-page. Some attempts seem more successful than others, but overall, I’m hopeful. In one group we needed to make a decision about our participation in a specific event that we each held different opinions about. In another we wanted to know God’s heart for the people we serve so that we could get onboard with Him. In the third, we wanted to hear Him about specific strategies for doing His work.

Although the exact methods differed, there were some definite commonalities in the ways the three different groups approached listening to God corporately. In each case:

1. Someone started the time by asking God a specific question out loud

2. We took time alone in silence (depending on the group, this ranged from 10 minutes to the better part of a day)

3. During the silence each of us individually jotted down our impressions of what we thought God might be saying

4. We came back together and compared notes on what we were hearing, and noted where several of us were hearing similar things.

5. Based on where we found agreement, we took that as confirmation and talked about next steps for moving ahead.

I’m still new at this, but in each of these recent experiences, I’ve been encouraged. I’m not sure it’s the actual method that matters so much as the group’s acknowledgement that apart from Him we can do nothing, that we need His Spirit in order to come together as His body, and that we’re going to take time to be quiet and listen for what He has to say—together. It seems like God honors our desire to honor Him in this way. And I get excited because I’m starting to see that maybe Jesus’ prayer for unity could actually be answered! I want that, don’t you?

—Cynthia Bezek

Building Faith in the Everyday Stuff

Posted by Cynthia Bezek on July 21, 2010 at 18:29

I used to think that the most spiritual praying was about big-ticket items—you know, evangelism, revival, and justice for cities and nations. And it certainly is important to pray for God’s kingdom to come to earth in these large-scale ways. However, when church prayer leaders ask me why I think it’s so hard to get their people to pray for these significant causes, I sometimes suggest that it could be because people don’t see enough of the power and love of God in their everyday experience. They need to personally experience God as a God who saves. If they don’t experience God saving them out of their everyday problems, if they can’t see Him helping them lick their own bad habits, if they haven’t known Him to bring justice to their unfair work situation, why would they have faith to ask God to do similar things on a global scale? It’s hard for us to pray for really big and impersonal needs if we don’t have regular experience of God’s mercy and kindness in our personal, everyday lives.

God recently took the initiative to give me another example of this principle. A couple of months ago I realized that I only could only locate one key for my car. If I ever lost that solitary key I’d be up a creek. I was pretty sure this out-of-the-blue realization was God trying to help me.

Thanks God, You’re right. I need to get a key made. Thanks for watching out for me. And I made a mental note to get a key made soon.

But never followed through.

Several weeks later I was getting ready to leave the house for an appointment when I couldn’t find my keys. I searched high and low. In obvious and obscure places. I even looked in the freezer in case I’d absent-mindedly put my keys there when I was putting away groceries (crazier things have happened!). I remembered that God had been challenging me to let Him rescue me in everyday stuff, so I asked Him to help me find my keys. But still no success. About an hour later, I went to my desk to look up the number for a locksmith. I was beating myself up not just for losing my key and missing my appointment, but also for failing to follow through on God’s prompting that would have spared me all this trouble. I figured the price of paying a locksmith was the consequence I deserved for not listening to God—and was probably why He’d not answered the 911 prayer I’d just prayed.

But He disagreed with my perspective. I’m not punishing you, I heard Him say gently in my spirit. I just need to get your attention so you will get that key made. It’s important. And even as His words were sinking in, I noticed my keys, in plain sight on my desk—the only place in the entire house I hadn’t searched!

The next day I was at the hardware store to have a new key made. As I handed the old one to the salesman, he examined it, then looked me in the eye and said, “You’re not a day too early.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“This key is warped and beginning to crack. It’s about to break. It’s a good thing it’s never broken in your ignition or you’d be in a world of hurt. I suggest you throw it away as soon as we get you a new key made.”

Awed, and extremely grateful, I asked the salesman to make me two new keys. But I didn’t throw away the old one. I kept it as a reminder that my God saves. Even in little, everyday things. He loves me. He speaks to me. He intervenes in my life to show His care for me. Whether my needs are big or small, He loves to come to my rescue.

My thoughts quickly turned to people I know—and even ones I don’t—who don’t know there’s a God who loves them and wants to rescue them and be part of their everyday lives. With my recent experience gratefully in mind, I prayed for them with a surge of fresh faith. After all, aren’t most of the “big-ticket prayer requests” simply the needs of many individuals who all need to know that God cares about the stuff of their lives? If He cared enough to help me with a key problem I didn’t even know I had, won’t He care at least that much about their brokenness, oppression, blindness, and despair? I know He will.

—Cynthia Bezek

What If God Said Yes?

Posted by Cynthia Bezek on May 11, 2010 at 12:00

A friend posed a question last week that has challenged me ever since: "what if God said 'yes' to every prayer we prayed today? Would our neighbors or neighborhoods or nation notice? Are we praying radically?" That profound question came from prayer leader Phil Miglioratti over Facebook. I hope it's niggling at his other Facebook friends the way it's niggling at me!

I thought about the things I'd talked with God about that day. All good things. Important things. I asked Him to intervene in the needs of friends, family members, people at church, folks at work, people I minister with and to. I know He cares about each person and need I discussed with Him.

Yes, maybe people around me would be changed and take notice if God answered the prayers I prayed today, I thought. But I could be asking so much bigger! So much more! Lord, give me Kingdom-sized prayers that You are just longing to answer!

Since I read Phil's question, I've been praying a bit differently. I still pray my heart concerning the needs that are nearest to me, the people I care about the most. But then I ask God to help me look beyond my own front yard, as it were, and to see the bigger world that my prayers can impact.

It's been a good challenge for me. So now I pass it on to you: What if God said "yes" to every one of your prayers today? How much would change? Want to join me in praying more radically?

—Cynthia Bezek

Bringing God to Starbucks

Posted by Cynthia Bezek on May 4, 2010 at 14:20

I heard an inspiring "I-could-do-that" story this morning at an all-city prayer meeting for the marketplace in our community. The worship leader paused behind his guitar and told us about the three or so years he worked at Starbucks. At first it was just a job to pay the bills, he said. But gradually, God turned it into a powerful prayer ministry.

How? One morning the young man sensed God inviting him to pray a simple prayer: "Lord, is there anything You want to say to folks through me today?" Well, guess what--there was!

As he started praying that question as part of his morning going-to-work routine, each day new people would open up and share bits of their lives with this friendly baristo who served up their latte's. He'd offer to pray for them, and they'd often accept. Usually they were just simple, 30-second prayers. But God answered them and made paths to their hearts through these simple acts of love and prayer. He healed people and worked other miracles. He made Himself real to the ones that received prayer. Eventually, word traveled, and people made special trips to that Starbucks just so they could be prayed for. Over his three-year tenure, our worship leader estimated that he ministered to more that 1,100 people.

His workplace became a meeting place, where people who would never go to church could come and meet with God. And, the worship leader suggested, "Your workplace could become a meeting place, too. Perhaps God has things He wants to say to folks you encounter each day . . . through you."

Do you have prayer-and-workplace stories? If you do, please take a moment to share them with us!

—Cynthia Bezek

Questioning God?

Posted by Cynthia Bezek on April 29, 2010 at 19:00

I recently read that the Bible contains something like 3,294 questions. As a born question-asker myself, the idea intrigued me. So I decided to go on a lookout for questions in God's Word. Today, on Day One of my experiment, my regular Bible reading took me to Numbers 11, where Moses whines to God about the Israelites' whining. I was fascinated to see that his complaint mainly took the form of questions. Lots of them, in rapid-fire succession. In The Message version, there were seven. In other versions, they vary between five and seven. But whatever version you read, you will find Moses peppering God with questions. Here's his prayer:

Why are you treating me this way? What did I ever do to you to deserve this? Did I conceive them? Was I their mother? So why dump the responsibility of this people on me? Why tell me to carry them around like a nursing mother, carry them all the way to the land you promised to their ancestors? Where am I supposed to get meat for all these people who are whining to me, “Give us meat; we want meat”? (MSG vss. 11-14)

Moses’ question-filled prayer started thinking about other prayer-questions in the Bible. Without even using a concordance, I can think of lots of examples: “How long, Lord?” “Should we go up against the enemy?” “Why do the nations rage?” “Will you heal my daughter?”

I’m not going to research them all now—I think I just want to enjoy them as they come up in my reading. But I’m already starting to consider theories and ask myself questions. I’m wondering how many times I ask God questions? And if I do, what kinds of questions to I ask? Are my questions complaints like Moses’ (which apparently was okay with God, by the way)? Or are they requests for information? Do I ask Him for wisdom? Or help? Or questions about who He is or what He’s like or what is on His heart?

I’m also drawing a fairly obvious but challenging conclusion: to ask a question is to invite an answer. It’s to invite conversation and dialogue. So, I’m wondering, how will He respond to me? Do I really expect Him to? What would happen if I asked God more questions than I do now?

Moses didn’t hesitate to ask, and God answered him. He reassured him, promised him help, and told him what the next steps were. Moses asked, God answered, as a man talks with his friend (Exodus 33:11). I want my prayer life to be like that. What about you?

—Cynthia Bezek

National Day of Prayer Shot Down in Court

Posted by Cynthia Bezek on April 16, 2010 at 19:20

A Wisconsin judge has ruled that the National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional under the provisions of the First Amendment. Shirley Dobson and the National Day of Prayer Task Force is urging praying Christians to sign a petition to President Obama, asking him to appeal this decision, and to pray for this historic day of prayer for the nation to be preserved as one of our basic freedoms. For more information, go to: http://nationaldayofprayer.org/news/save-the-national-day-of-prayer/ndp-decision/

Cynthia Bezek

Of Bubble and Squeak and Breastplates

Posted by Cynthia Bezek on March 12, 2010 at 11:00

I woke up this morning thinking of Bubble and Squeak. It was an odd but brilliant idea--the obvious solution to my nagging problem about what to bring to an Irish-themed potluck I'm attending tonight. Truth be told, I don't much care for Irish cuisine. But at the very least, my humble potato and cabbage casserole will provide us with interesting conversation as we take turns trying to guess how it got its peculiar name.

One Irish-themed thought led quickly to another and soon I was thinking along more spiritual lines. I remembered parts of the famous Breastplate of St. Patrick prayer that we'd written about in the July/August 2007 issue of Pray!. I remembered hearing about the perils the Celtic Christians in St. Patricks time (c. 390-460) faced every single day of their lives. Praying on the armor of God was a life-and-death matter for them.

My physical life is not on the line every day like theirs were, but I am in no less danger spiritually. Every day I need God's spiritual protection to keep me from falling into traps and snares the enemy has set all around me. So, wondering if the Holy Spirit was prompting me to pray this wonderful prayer for myself today, I looked to see if I could locate a copy of it. I was happy to find it in my friend Liz Babb's wonderful little book, Celtic Treasure: Unearthing the Riches of Celtic Spirituality (http://www.celtictreasure.blogspot.com/). I prayed it for myself for today. And I include a portion of it for you to pray for yourself in case you feel the need of a breastplate today.

I gird myself today with the power of God:

God's strength to comfort me,

God's might to uphold me,

God's wisdom to guide me,

God's eye to look after me,

God's ear to hear me,

God's word to speak for me,

God's hand to lead me,

God's way to lie before me,

God's shield to protect me,

God's angels to save me.

From the snares of the Devil,

From temptations to sin,

From all who wish me ill,

Both far and near,

Alone and with others.

May Christ guard me today

Christ behind and before me,

Christ beneath and above me,

Christ with me and in me,

Christ around and about me,

Christ on my left and my right,

Christ when I rise in the morning,

Christ when I lie down at night,

Christ in each heart that thinks of me,

Christ in each eye that sees me,

Christ in each ear that hears me.

--Cynthia Bezek

Helping Children Pray

Posted by Cynthia Bezek on March 1, 2010 at 19:07

I imagine some of you in the Pray! Network are pretty passionate about helping children learn to pray. Maybe you're a parent or grandparent, a Sunday school or VBS teacher, or you might lead the mid-week children's program. I'd like to make a few suggestions to help you in your ministry.

First, perhaps one of you would like to start a group here on the Pray! Network around the topic of teaching children to pray. To do so, go to the groups tab at the top of the page and follow the instructions. Others of you may know of children's prayer events or ministry training events for children's prayer leaders. If so, tell the rest of the Network by going to the Events tab and posting it for everyone to see. Or, you may have some great ideas about how to help children pray. Why not post a blog so others can learn from your experience?

Finally, Pray! has a number of tried-and-true resources to help you. There's a monthly e-newsletter called PrayKids Online News that you can subscribe to for free simply by going to www.praymag.com finding the "stay current with our online newsletters" box and clicking on PrayKids! Online News. After you've signed up for that, go to the menu on the left and click on "teaching kids." When you do, you'll be directed to a number of great tools--prayer cards, curriculum, books--that can help you help children deepen their relationship with God through prayer.

Thanks to all of you who teach our children to pray. Our future depends on it!

What's a Nice Magazine Editor Like Me Doing in a Social Network?

Posted by Cynthia Bezek on February 19, 2010 at 12:00

I admit that I'm technologically skeptical. As a result, I'm always nearly the last person to get the latest gizmo. Whether it's a cell phone, laptop computer, digital camera, MP3 player, or GPS, I'm usually the one saying "But what do I need that for?" The only reason I joined Facebook was because a certain Christian publishing house I work for strongly suggested it.

So then, what business does a nice, old-fashioned magazine editor like me have singing the praises of a brand-new social network devoted to prayer?

Here's what: The Pray! Network online social community is an amazing resource and opportunity to resource and connect people who are passionate about Jesus and talking to God. When people actively participate in an online community, it becomes an incredible clearinghouse and meeting place where all kinds of things can happen. Relationships between like-minded people can form. Ideas can be shared. Creative synergy can happen. Resources can be highlighted. Speakers and prayer retreat leaders found. Events can be publicized. Ministries showcased. Questions answered, problems solved.

I loved Pray! magazine! I still miss it and wish its days hadn't come to a close. There are still wonderful things magazines can do that I doubt the Internet will ever be able to replace. However, there are also things that a magazine cannot do that a social network like the Pray! Network can. Here are a just a few:

• A magazine can't connect two people who live in Boise who love to prayerwalk. Or two people in Albuquerque who want start a 24/7 prayer room for their city. Pray! Network can help prayer-minded people make those connections.

• A magazine has a limited number of pages, so it can only offer a limited amount of content. In other words, a magazine probably won't post YOUR thoughts and ideas because there's too much competition for space. Pray! Network can. And will!

• A magazine can only publish every so often, like maybe six times a year. Pray! Network can publish 24/7.

• Because of those time limitations, magazines cannot offer up-to-the-minute information. So if you just found out about a great prayer event in Atlanta that happens next week, you could never get that information into a magazine because you'd need six months advance time. But thePray! Network can.

• A magazine's reach is limited because not everyone can afford to subscribe. But the Pray! Network has potential to reach hundreds of thousands of people--for free.

Though part of me hates to admit these weaknesses of magazines, another part of me thrills that we have the technology to accomplish things magazines publishers never dreamed of.

I'm so very pleased to let you know that the mission and vision of Pray! magazine lives on, in this 21st-century medium. As always Pray! is all about deepening your relationship with God through prayer. We're about equipping and mobilizing prayer leaders. We're about keeping you informed about what God is doing through prayer around the world. And we're about uniting the body of Christ through prayer.

We like to think of the new Pray! Network as your one-stop place for all things prayer. I hope you'll find that to be true--and that by adding your voice to groups, blogs, discussions, events, and the other great opportunities you'll find here--that you'll make it a welcoming, lively, helpful, resource-rich place to visit often. Please remember to go to the main page and click on "Take the Tour." When you do, you'll find everything you need to start engaging.

I'm really glad you're here.

Cynthia Bezek

God Was Here--But I Didn't Know It!

Posted by Cynthia Bezek on February 18, 2010 at 10:30

Recently I shared with a friend about a painful time in my life when I desperately wanted God but couldn't find Him. I mean, I knew in my head that He was with me because my theology told me so. He is omnipresent. He's always with me, that's His promise. But my heart needed Him and found Him conspicuously absent.

My friend suggested we ask Jesus to assure me of His presence and tangible care for me during that hard time. And He did. It would take more words than a blog permits to describe to you how He met me and what that meant to me--so you'll just have to trust me, He did. And it brought great solace to my soul.

Since last week when He assured me of His very real presence with me, I've found myself checking in with Him throughout my daily activities. I know You're here, Jesus, but where? Could You please help me see (feel, hear, sense) You right now, in these specific circumstances? And I've been surprised at what He has done. It's not usually dramatic, but it's been sure. He's with me, and He wants me to know it.

God confirmed these things to me again this morning. When I opened my Bible to where the bookmark was--Genesis 28--I read about Jacob when he was facing some frightening circumstances. He'd cheated his brother Esau out of both his inheritance and his blessing, and Esau was mad. Mad enough to kill him. So Jacob was running for his life. And that's when God showed up. He comforted Jacob in a dream, assured him of His ongoing presence, and blessed him. When Jacob awoke, he said, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it" (v. 16). I'm not the only one who--when I needed Him most--wasn't aware of God's presence!

Makes me wonder: How often have do we feel fearful and alone when in reality God is right there, ready to bring comfort, presence, and blessing? Sometimes it takes some intense seeking and even some spiritual warfare to cut through the obstacles that keep us from finding Him in our circumstances--that was certainly true for me last week--but He is there. Whether we are aware of it or not. He's with me. He's with you. Will you call out to Him and ask Him to be a heart reality and not just theological fact?

Cynthia Bezek

Influencers or Influenced-Upon

Posted by Cynthia Bezek on February 16, 2010 at 20:00

A lot of Christian parents worry about the influence television has on their kids. But here's a way to turn that concern on its head: What if you encouraged your kids to be the influencers. Teach them how to influence television through prayer!

Last month at meetings of the National Prayer Committee I met Karen Covell, a television producer and director of the Hollywood Prayer Network. She told me about hundreds of intercessors who are literally changing Hollywood through their prayers. And many of that change-force are children and teens. The Hollywood Prayer Network produces monthly prayer calendars for children and teens to help them pray specifically for the people and events that shape television and the silver screen. For instance, this week children are encouraged to pray for Johnny Depp as he stars in the new Alice in Wonderland movie. And teens are encouraged to pray for those participating in the Winter Olympics. Nifty idea, isn't it?

If you'd like to turn your kids into influencers instead of the influenced-upon, click on http://hollywoodprayernetwork.org/kids-prayer-calendar, download a copy of your free calendar, and help them become intercessors for Hollywood.

Cynthia Bezek

"Why Is this Happening to Me?"

Posted by Cynthia Bezek on February 15, 2010 at 19:00

When I was first learning to hear from God and engage in two-way conversations with Him instead of just monologues, I would sometimes try asking Him for His perspective on things I didn't understand. I knew that His ways and thoughts were much higher than mine (Isaiah 55:9) so I would take my perplexity to Him and say, "Here's my perspective on this situation, but what's Yours?" It could be anything from an unexpected health problem to a monkey wrench in ministry to a disappointing change in plans or set back in a relationship. I was always amazed at God's willingness to respond. And even more amazed, usually, at how His response helped me to accept what it was that was happening to me.

So it was fascinating for me to read this morning that my perspective-seeking conversations with God were nothing new. In fact, Rebekah did the same thing I did way back in Genesis 25. It's a simple, matter-of-factly told incident.

"Isaac pleaded with the LORD to give Rebekah a child because she was childless. So the LORD answered Isaac's prayer, and his wife became pregnant with twins. But the two children struggled with each other in her womb. So she went to ask the LORD about it. "Why is this happening to me?" she asked. And the Lord told her . . . " (vss. 21-23). You know the rest of the story, which isn't my point. My point is, she didn't understand what was going on, so without hesitation or acting like inquiring of the LORD was anything out of the ordinary, she simply asked the Him and expected Him to answer. And He did.

To be honest, I don't always hear quite as immediately or as concretely as Rebekah did, but sometimes I actually do. And almost always I hear Him say something that lets me know He cares, He's at work for my good, and I can trust Him. Without fail, I'm always glad I took the time and risk
to ask.

What about you? Wish you had God's perspective on the perplexing situations in your life? Why not take your cue from Rebekah and just ask Him: "Why is this happening to me? What's Your perspective on this, God?" Let us know how it goes.

Cynthia Bezek

Future-Changing Prayer

Posted by Cynthia Bezek on January 28, 2010 at 17:00

I spent this morning with about 70 other members of the National Prayer Committee meeting with and praying for Christian student leaders on the campus of one of America's largest university, Arizona State. Our passionate young hosts told us that God is at work among their campus's 52,000 students--inspiring 24/7 prayer rooms, empowering bold witness, prompting compassionate outreach, and causing nonbelievers to notice, inquire, and sometimes be saved. As we prayed with these young adults, we couldn't help but catch their vision. They reminded us that the future of our nation--whether in government, media, business, or education--is all being shaped now, on university campuses. As the students go, so goes the nation, they pointed out.

It was wonderful to hear that students are praying--and I mean really praying! With contagious zeal and faith and persistence. But the young people begged us to pray with them and for them. They covet the prayers of those of us in our 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80's and beyond.

Historically, revival has come when God has caught the hearts of youth and young adults. To that end, student leaders from across the nation have united to launch a new prayer initiative: Collegiate Day of Prayer. The idea is simple. On the last Thursday of this month, ask God to move on college and university campuses and in the lives of students, faculty, and staff. To find out how to participate, go to http://www.collegiatedayofprayer.org/. For specific ideas on how to pray, check out the Pray! resource, 18 Prayers for Higher Education.

Do you already pray for colleges and universities? Does your church or prayer ministry invest in the future by praying for college students? Share your stories and ideas with the rest of us!