By James Wilson
I will never forget the day in Mindanao when the
mini-van transporting us to Davao City broke down in a cane field. Al Qaida agents were identified at the
gathering when Diana and I spoke and we knew for the two insurgent groups in
the interior killing Americans was a hobby.
But we also knew we were in God’s will and were not afraid – until the
breakdown.
As
our drivers attempted repairs I kept visualizing insurgents carrying AK 47s
crossing the field and trying to figure some way to protect Diana. Suddenly I heard the voice of God as clear as
day. He said, “That’s right, Jim, what
are you going to do about this?” Now I got it long ago that when God asks a
question He is not seeking information.
That afternoon I got it that His burden is light (Matt. 8:28) only when
He carries it. I responded, “Okay Lord;
it’s all about You.” Our drivers got the vehicle started.
God
does expect us to participate in the unfolding of His purposes, but as very
junior partners. He gave us gifts of
skill and imagination so we might offer them to Him; He loves it when we solve
problems and give Him the glory. But it
should always begin with submitting the problem to Him in the first place and –
sometimes – that is how it ends too…if you are an unarmed civilian stranded in
a cane field.
California
is mired in the worst drought in eighty years.
Meteorologists say the cause is a high pressure air ridge anchored high
off the California coast the past thirteen months; such ridges normally locate
no more than a few days or weeks. The
ridge deflects storms seeking a California landfall and thus our desperate
water situation. Experts say the
phenomenon is unnatural, but it clearly resides within the parameters of nature
and beyond any human ability to alter those parameters. Many churches and ministries are calling on
their members for prayer; I have been asking my own network to pray for more
than a year. Some would say,
“Really? Then why hasn’t it
worked?” The answer is simple enough –
prayer is not something that “works” but rather something that is
submitted. Praying people depend not on
the power of prayer but on the power of God.
That power is under His control, not ours, but we can depend on the
reality that He loves us more than life itself. He always exercises His power for our benefit
and no other.
Possibly
He wants to teach us something fundamental that we have forgotten – like that
day with me in the cane field. Perhaps
He waits on enough of us being consistent enough in prayer that we are less
likely to forget we are His anytime soon.
I do know prayer is one thing – like love – of which more is always
better. I know that nothing can possibly
be lost – except a bit of human arrogance – by engaging in concerted prayer to
the God Who sends His Son to now rescue some forty million of the people for
whom that Son gave His life. And I know
focusing on God in prayer is a specific act of that repentance for which He has
been calling the past five years. He
says a season of repentance – in His Church – is the necessary precursor on our
part to a Great Awakening that will rock the world in the best sense. Some say it is to begin in California. I know there is but one way to find out.
Following
Him is lots easier than figuring Him out.
Northern
California was threatened with devastating floods in 1997 because of abundant
rain and unseasonable warmth. Local Christians
begged His intervention and the snows came the very day meteorologists
predicted the next rainstorm. Southern
California was ravaged by wildfires in 2003 and hundreds went on our faces
before the Lord; a storm front changed course off-shore and provided enough
precipitation to enable fire fighters to douse the flames. The whole state lay under drought more than
two years with prophetic voices predicting a three years’ duration – if people
prayed – and the Lord lifted it just when He said He would.
It
doesn’t matter how long or articulate our prayers; it’s not about ritual or
technique. It does matter that we pray
daily, and that we remember prayer is not something that works or fails; it is
something submitted. But it’s a drought,
not a car running rough. We can pray or
we can think and strategize until we hear, “That’s right, what are you going to do?”
James A. Wilson is the author of Living
As Ambassadors of Relationships and The
Holy Spirit and the End Times – available at local bookstores or by
e-mailing him at
praynorthstate@charter.net
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