I was frustrated to say the least. I was in the middle of packing for a trip, had a to-do list a mile long, and in the midst of trying to get all the clothes I needed in a bag there were two items of clothing that had completely disappeared from my home. I don’t lose things. I’ve got a photographic memory. I can tell you where I was last when I touched the piece of clothing, where I put, and what I was wearing when I put it in said place. So the fact that I couldn’t find these items was not only infuriating, it felt like I was losing my mind. About the time inappropriate words were about to slip from my lips, my phone rang.
It was a friend calling to chat. Instead of chatting I started lamenting to her how two pieces of clothing I was trying to pack had literally evaporated into this air. I had searched EVERYWHERE…. Turned the house upside down…. Wasted more time than I could afford to. She simply asked me, did you pray about it? To be honest I immediately balked at the idea, but she proceeded to tell me how just that morning she had been looking for something and stopped and asked God to help her. Shortly thereafter she found the item she had been looking for.
Can I be honest? Prayer is not my spiritual gift. Not only is it not my spiritual gift, but it’s a struggle for me. I can praise Him, and thank Him, but when it comes to asking Him for things…I really stink. Even if I do it, I don’t think I pray in faith the way the bible talks about.
I think one of the reasons I struggle with it is because I’m a doer. It seems silly to me to ask for something and then just sit twiddling my thumbs waiting for it to happen. I may ask, but you better bet I’m going to be “helping”. This is my tendency. (I know lots of people who swing the other way. They ask, and then twiddle when they should get UP and DO instead of always waiting.) People who tend to be doers (ME!) need to practice just sitting and waiting patiently. It’s a struggle.
Sometimes you don’t have any choice but to wait.
After we got off the phone I realized I had nothing to loose, so decided to give it a try. I prayed and asked God to help me find the two items I’d been looking for that day. They didn’t magically appear out of thin air, but within a half hour it occurred to me to look under the bed for one item, and lo and behold, there it was! I assumed 1 out of two was a pretty good record considering God’s and I’s standings for the year, so I went about my day and moved onto other things. As I was going to bed, I felt a nudge to look through a pile of clothes I had literally looked through three time already. I found the other item! I mean answered 2 answered prayers in a 12 hour time span was some sort of new record! It was a sweet moment of God affirming me that He really does care about the little things, but more importantly, He cares deeply for me…who at the moment felt like those little things were important. After spending several months with several prayers seemingly unanswered it was His gracious reminder that He was still with me, and still for me.
A friend called the next day and she was having a rough morning. She was vented how she had managed to lose a gift card of sizable worth, and $20. It wasn’t a huge deal, but further aggravation to her already rough morning. Encouraged by the successes of the previous day, I encouraged her to pray about it. Her response sounded a little like my initial response when my friend suggested it…dubious. I told her about the conversation with my other friend, how she had found her stuff, and then how I prayed and found my stuff. She still sounded skeptical, but said she would give it a try. The next morning we talked, and she had found the $20, and thought she knew where she left the gift card (which she went on to find later)!
Sometimes God wants to use big circumstances to build our faith and other times He gives us chances to invite Him into the seemingly trivial to build our faith. He wants to be involved in more than just the big decisions, He wants to reveal His presence to us daily. Let Him have the opportunity to remind you that He cares about you and what’s important to you, whether that be finding a piece of clothing for a trip, a gift card, your keys, or that light turning green.
God is growing me in the art of prayer, and showing me over and over (despite my impatience and lack of belief) that He delights in answering me. When I seek Him in the little and everyday, He loves to be there. In conversations, in writing, in parenting, in serving through unloading the dishwasher for the third time in a day and not being bitter about it, and in finding lost things. He loves to show up, and delight us.
Do the Hard Thing today and invite Him into your day. Pray. Ask Him to show up, to be in your mundane and trivial. Talk to Him, He’s there.
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This post is part of the #write31days challenge hosted by The Nester.
Click here to read all the posts in the 31 days of Doing the Hard Thing series
I love this post and your series! Look forward to more!
Thanks Kali! Love yours too!