Honest Prayer Requests

This past Sunday was the second week that our interim pastor, Vic Taylor, shared about “Finding Your Story”. Vic has been talking about how important it is for us to share our testimonies with others both inside and outside of the church. So far, I have loved this sermon series and I am so excited to see what else God teaches me in the coming weeks!!

"Peter motioned with his hand for them to be quiet and described how the Lord had brought him out of prison." - Acts 12:17a

I want to be ready to share my story with Olivia after she arrives in just about 12 weeks. I want her to know how God has worked in my life and in Jon’s life! I want her to know what God has done in our lives! I want her to know how God has provided for her even before she was born! My prayer is that I will have this same passion toward others as I have toward my daughter. There are so many lost people who need to hear the good news.

Sharing our stories is important…there is no doubt about it. However, I believe that sharing our needs/prayer requests is just as important.

Many people that I know do not want to share prayer requests at church or in Sunday school. They feel that others will judge them for the requests that they share or begin to gossip about them. Satan has used this to cause division in the church, because we keep our brothers and sister in Christ at arm’s length.

I hate to say it, but if I was completely honest with you, I would have to confess that I’ve bought into Satan’s lie. Since April, Jon and I have been in a place of trial and tribulation. The details are complicated which is why we haven’t talked about it very much. I believe that Satan has used our silence against us. It’s caused me to stop sharing prayer requests with those around us.

It’s not just one trial we are facing either! The biggest blow may have come in April, but since then we have had many other trials to work through as well. For weeks, I’ve felt like I could not share these things with others, because I have been working so hard to put on my happy church face.

No one wants to see messy, struggling people at church.

Yesterday, it all became too much when additional trial was added to our plate. I could not take it anymore. As a result, this morning when I sent out our weekly Sunday school prayer request email, I finally opened up and got honest with the people in our Sunday school class.

One of the requests that I put in the email was that Jon and I have been having car problems. Just about one hour after I sent out that email, I received a text from my friend Julie. She wanted to let me know that her Dad could take care of us and help with our car. I passed Julie’s text onto Jon to see whether or not her Dad could really help.

Thankfully, Julie’s Dad was able to help us! He helped us fix the car and told Jon to let him know if anything else comes up!

What an answer to prayer!!

I sent Julie a text to thank her for helping us. I explained that this was such an answer to prayer. Julie’s response was simply this, “God does answer prayers sometimes it’s just a matter of sharing your problems.”

Wow! Today, that’s what I needed to hear! I am so thankful that God used my friend to remind me of this important truth.

It’s not easy to share your problems. However, there are people out there who are waiting to minister to me that may never get the chance if I don’t open my mouth and share what’s wrong!

I hope and pray that God will help me to continue to be honest with those around me.