Interesting Coincidence

I went to prayer service today and when we all gathered together Pastor asked if anyone needed a miracle. I was so surprised because that is exactly what I had written in my previous blog post concerning my social security card. But, I found out that Pastor hadn't read my blog, so he couldn't have known I needed a miracle. I guess my Pastor doesn't even need to read my blog! He, he, he. But, anyways, I don't know if that was a cue for me to present my need or not. I guess I was too shy that night, but that's okay, I suppose.

My boyfriend went with me and afterwards he talked about a friend of his who got sick and died even though people prayed for him to heal. He suggested that sometimes our prayers don't come true if it is against God's will (such as it must have been God's will that his friend die and no prayer could change that).

It pains me inside to hear that. It seems like that mindset is just a convenient excuse for not having the faith to believe that your prayers are powerful and can enact change. Or that mindset could be a way of protecting a fragile belief in God, such that if your prayers don't come through, it's not because there is no God to answer your prayers, but that God doesn't want to answer your prayers. Both cases cripple our authority as believers and undermine our faith in God. Did not Got want to wipe the Israelites off the planet? And didn't Moses' fervent pleading actually change God's mind and spare the Israelites? Aren't there so many other examples of God changing his planned course of action because of the requests of a few or simply one of his anointed?

There is some truth to my boyfriend's statement in that we should be seeking to pray God's will. But, we should have faith in all things and we have the authority to come before God in Jesus' name to petition for specific things and we have the right to expect results. It's exactly as Pastor said before we started praying; He prefaced the prayer service with exactly that statement and emphasized it quite a bit, too.

Well, I guess I should try to act this out by expecting in faith that my social security card will be restored to me.