BUILDING A LIFE ON PRAYER
Hebrews 4:16
“Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
Prayer is not an easy habit to practice – nonetheless, I believe it’s an important one. It’s not about getting items on a list checked off, but it serves as a reminder that I am more dependent on God than I would naturally think I am. Instinctively, my mind believes I am in control of everything; however, we all know things don’t always go as planned. Daily prayer brings me the hope and peace that I need as I go through each day.
There are thousands of articles and books written about the importance and power of prayer. In this blog, I would like to share with you some remarkable ways my family and I have seen God touch our lives through prayer and, by doing so, encourage you to keep pressing in and become more intentional with your conversations with God.
GOING THROUGH CANCER
One of the most powerful and significant moments of my life in prayer came when Kathy was diagnosed with breast cancer. She was 42 and was the first person in our broad circle of friends who ever had cancer. We didn’t know anyone who had walked this journey.
When we came home from the doctor, I presented Kathy with two options. The first one would be to remain highly confidential about the situation. The second option was to pick 20 friends to share with and ask them to uphold us in prayer. The latter option involved going to our broad network around the world, sharing the situation with them, and asking them all to pray. The choice was Kathy’s to make.
I was so proud of her when she answered, “I want all the prayer support I can get, and I would like to reach out to our whole network.” From then on, I wrote an update every week with prayer requests and sent it to everyone in our network. I would articulate where we stood, praise for answered prayers, and share what our current prayer needs were.
I can’t tell you the number of times that Kathy and I felt ourselves being physically held up in prayer, and we felt supported throughout her entire year of treatment. We had 250 people praying for us all around the world. These prayers sustained us through the whole journey, which sometimes was very heavy. Had we not reached out, we would have never received that.
God healed Kathy, and we know a large part of that was due to the prayers that were lifted up on her behalf. For years after, we would meet people who would tell us they appreciated receiving the emails, hearing how God was answering prayers, and for the privilege of praying for a friend. God, in His wisdom, used the emails to encourage other people too.
When I was later diagnosed with cancer, it was clear what we needed to do. When I received the news from my doctor, I never allowed myself to think, “Why me, God?” Instead, from our previous experience, I was able to lean into God and lean into the process.
I truly believed that God was not done with me here on earth and that cancer was just a bump on the road. We reached out to our broad prayer network and again sent them weekly updates on my progress as well as prayer requests. We would receive supportive emails from people all over the world stating they were praying for us and sharing stories of encouragement too. I share more about my journey in my blog, Live Like You Were Dying.
I would like to encourage you, the next time you find yourself overwhelmed with an issue, to reach out to your group – friends, family, and colleagues. Be willing to be open and honest with them and ask them to pray for you. It’s not natural and may feel uncomfortable, but the experience of walking with prayer support far outweighs trying to walk through it alone.
PRAYERS AT THE WORKPLACE
How does this translate into the workplace? Well, I had the benefit of owning my own company, which gave me the capacity to lead my business how I felt was best. I chose to always make it clear that we were a Christian company, especially during the interview process. One didn’t have to be a Christian to work with us, but they were aware of the values that we stood for.
Setting it up this way allowed me to bring prayer into the workplace. I opened with prayer at all company meetings, and felt comfortable saying grace before each meal at large company events and celebrations that I hosted, even those that included bankers and other outside executives. In twenty years, I only received two negative comments.
When I worked at Banker’s Mutual, we had a six-member strategic planning team. Only four of us on that team were Christians. We prayed as a team on a regular basis, asking God for wisdom and guidance as we planned the strategy for the organization.
For all important decisions that I have needed to make, I have always prayed about it, and God has given clarity and direction on the way forward. Whether it was selling Banker’s Mutual, selling our ranch, buying a home, or any major decision, God has answered on the steps to take.
PRAYING FOR THE IMPOSSIBLE
Pastor Oscar Muriu–a dear friend from Nairobi–was a keynote speaker at a conference we held at our Church here in California. As part of his message, he asked the question, “When you pray, do you pray the kind of prayer where God says, ‘No problem,’ checks it off, and moves on, or do you pray the kind of prayer that makes God sweat?” He further challenged us to pray an impossible prayer. I liked the idea and decided to take it up.
At the time, we had been trying to sell our ranch for four years and had not been successful. My impossible prayer became asking God to bring a buyer for the ranch that we would feel great about handing over the stewardship responsibilities to. Next, I prayed that he would bring a price that honored all He had done at the ranch, along with all of our hard work and good management. I asked God to make it an all-cash offer, and for the extra impossible, I asked if we could close a sale by the end of the year (in three months). Amen! I thought, “Now, that is an impossible prayer!”
The next day, a family who had been interested visited the ranch for the first time. They immediately fell in love with everything on the property. Soon after, they called and told us they would give us their highest and best offer, all cash, and a two-week close. They also stated that they’ve never had someone who’s been trying to sell them something be so honest and transparent. Due to this, they shared they were not going to perform any due diligence on the ranch as they felt I was trustworthy, and they had confidence that everything was in great shape. Wow!
I can’t begin to share with you the emotions, amazement, and overall excitement I felt as I reflected on praying what was absolutely an impossible prayer. Less than 24 hours later, God answered all four points of my prayer in a way that was better than I could have imagined.
UNANSWERED PRAYERS
One of the benefits of praying is the opportunity to see God answer prayers in tangible, meaningful, and miraculous ways. However, not all prayers are answered in the time and way we want them to be. Kathy and I have learned this many times, but we trust and hold on to the hope that God will answer in his perfect timing.
KAIROS – SEIZE THE MOMENT
Kairos is an ancient Greek word that means the right, critical, or opportune moment. I made a commitment to myself about 25 years ago that if I was ever in a group situation that required prayer, I would not stay quiet and let the opportunity pass. I promised I would always offer to pray.
We are all familiar with those situations where someone vulnerably shares something about themselves, or we are collectively faced with a mountainous issue, but nobody says anything, and the time lapses. When this has happened to me, I have felt strongly convicted that we missed an opportunity to bless someone or the group with prayer.
Therefore, I have chosen to never miss an opportunity to pray. This means if I’m heading into a situation where prayer may be needed, I mentally prepare myself, so if I’m ever asked, I can respond in an appropriate way. I can’t remember a time I have regretted praying, even when I fumbled through, and I would encourage you to do the same.
ACTION STEP
Write down at least two prayer goals that you would like to achieve. There is no
wrong answer or goal. I’d suggest basing it on where you currently feel you need to grow in prayer. It could be a commitment to pray every morning, pray with your spouse/partner, friend, or life group once a day, or any of the other areas that I’ve shared in this blog. Commit to sharing them with someone who can encourage you and hold you accountable. Place your goals somewhere you will see them often, and begin to make note of the ways that you see God move and answer prayers.
Take a moment to read Making Prayer a Foundation. In this blog I share some methods that have allowed me to incorporate prayer into my day-to-day life.
