Face Time with God
The year 2022 was very special for my wife and me. That’s the year our granddaughter, Sophia Ashley, was born—the only granddaughter of our eight grandchildren. Sophia’s grandparents haven’t stopped smiling! When our son calls via video, the excitement gets ramped up even more. My wife and I may be in different rooms, but her joyful shrills reveal that she’s getting a glimpse of Sophia. Seeing those we love from afar is now only a call or click away.
The ability to see the person we’re talking to on the phone is relatively new, but face time with God—prayer with a conscious awareness of being in His presence—is not. David’s prayer in Psalm 27—said in the midst of opposition that required assistance beyond the capability of the closest human allies (vv. 10-12)—includes these words: “My heart has heard you say, ‘Come and talk with me.’ And my heart responds, ‘
Difficult times rightly compel us to “seek his face,” but that’s not the only time we can or should be in face-to-face fellowship with the one in whose “presence is fullness of joy.” At His “right hand are pleasures forevermore” (16:11
God Will Answer
When Pastor Timothy wears his preacher collar while traveling, he often gets stopped by strangers. “Pray for me, please,” people in the airport say when they see the clerical band atop his simple dark suit. On a recent flight, a woman knelt by his seat when she noticed him, pleading: “Are you a pastor? Would you pray for me?” And Pastor Timothy prayed.
A passage in Jeremiah sheds light on why we perceive that God hears and answers prayer: God cares! God assured His beloved but sinful, exiled people, “ ‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the
The prophet learned this and more about prayer while confined to prison. God assured him, “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know” (33:3).
Jesus also urges us to pray. “Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him,” He said (Matthew 6:8). So ask, seek, and knock in prayer (7:7). Every petition we make draws us closer to the One who answers. We don’t have to be a stranger to God in prayer. He knows us and wants to hear from us. We can take our concerns to Him right now.
A Prayer for God’s Will
As a young believer in Jesus, I picked up my new devotional Bible and read a familiar Scripture: “Ask and it will be given to you” (Matthew 7:7). The commentary explained that what we really should be asking God for is our will to line up with His. By seeking for His will to be done, we would be assured that we’d receive what we asked for. That was a new concept for me, and I prayed for God’s will to be done in my life.
Later that same day I became surprisingly excited about a job opportunity I’d already turned down in my mind, and I was reminded about my prayer. Perhaps what I didn’t think I wanted was actually a part of God’s will for my life. I continued to pray and eventually accepted the job.
In a much more profound and eternal moment, Jesus modeled this for us. Before His betrayal and arrest, which led to His crucifixion, He prayed: “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42). Christ’s prayer was filled with anguish and agony as He faced physical and emotional pain (v. 44). Yet He was still able to “earnestly” pray for God’s will to be done.
God’s will in my life has become my ultimate prayer. This means I may desire things I didn’t even know I wanted or needed. The job I originally hadn’t wanted turned out to be the beginning of my journey in Christian publishing. I believe God’s will was done.
Partnership with God
When my friend and her husband struggled to conceive, doctors recommended she have a medical procedure done. But my friend was hesitant. “Shouldn’t prayer be enough to fix our problem?” she said. “Do I really need to do the procedure?” My friend was trying to work out what role human action has in seeing God work.
The story of Jesus feeding the crowd can help us here (Mark 6:35–44). We may know how the story ends—thousands of people are miraculously fed with just a little bread and some fish (v. 42). But notice, who is to feed the crowd? The disciples (v. 37). And who provides the food? They do (v. 38). Who distributes the food, and cleans up afterwards? The disciples (vv. 39–43). “You give them something to eat,” Jesus said (v. 37). Jesus did the miracle, but it happened as the disciples’ acted.
A good crop is a gift from God (Psalm 65:9–10), but a farmer must still work the land. Jesus promised Peter “a catch” of fish but the fisherman still had to cast his nets (Luke 5:4–6). God can tend the earth and do miracles without us but typically chooses to work in a divine-human partnership.
My friend went through with the procedure and later successfully conceived. While this is no formula for a miracle, it was a lesson to my friend and me. God often does His miraculous work through the methods He’s placed in our hands.
Persist in Praying
Mila, a baking assistant, felt too helpless to defend herself when her supervisor accused her of pilfering some raisin bread. The unfounded assertion and corresponding salary deduction were just two of many wrongful actions from her supervisor. “God, please help,” Mila prayed each day. “It’s so hard working under her, but I need this job.”
Jesus tells of a widow who also felt helpless against injustice. She turned to someone with the authority to resolve her case—a judge. Despite knowing that the judge was unjust, she persisted in approaching him.
The judge’s eventual response is infinitely different from that of our heavenly Father, who quickly responds to His children’s cries with love and help (vv. 4-5, 7). If persistence could cause an unjust judge to take up a widow’s case, how much more can and will God, who is the just Judge, do for us (vv. 7-8)? We can trust Him, and being persistent in praying is one way of showing our trust. We persist because we have faith that God will respond in perfect wisdom to our situation.
Eventually, Mila’s supervisor resigned after other employees complained about her behavior towards them as well. As we walk in obedience to God, let’s persist in praying, knowing the power of our prayers lies in the 0ne who hears and helps us.
Pause to Pray
A meteorologist in Mississippi went viral for uttering six simple yet profound words during his weather forecast on March 24, 2023. Matt Laubhan was tracking a severe storm when he realized a catastrophic tornado was about to bear down on the town of Amory. That’s when Laubhan paused on live TV to say this prayer heard worldwide: “Dear Jesus, please help them. Amen.” Some viewers later said that prayer prompted them to take cover. His spontaneous and heartfelt prayer may have helped save countless lives.
Our prayers can make a difference too. They don’t have to be long-winded. They can be short and sweet and can be said at any time of the day. Whether we’re at work, running errands, or on vacation, we can “pray continually” (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
God loves to hear us pray throughout the day. The apostle Paul reminds us that we don’t have to be prisoners of worry or fear but can take all our cares and concerns to God: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).
Whether we’re enjoying a sunny day or being hit by the literal or figurative storms of life, let’s remember to pause and pray throughout the day.
The Speed of Joy
Go at the speed of joy. The phrase dropped into my mind as I prayerfully considered the year ahead one morning, and it seemed apt. I had a propensity to overwork, which often sapped my joy. So, following this guidance, I committed to working at an enjoyable pace in the coming year, making space for friends and joyful activities.
This plan worked . . . until March! Then I partnered with a university to oversee the trial of a course I’d been developing. With students to enroll and teaching to deliver, I was soon working long hours to keep up. How could I go at the speed of joy now?
Jesus promises joy to His followers, telling us it comes through remaining in His love (John 15:9) and prayerfully bringing our needs to Him (16:24). “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete,” he says (15:11). This joy comes as a gift, through His Spirit, who we’re to keep in step with (Galatians 5:22-25). I found I could only maintain joy during my busy period when I spent time each night in restful, trusting prayer.
Since joy is so important, it makes sense to prioritize it in our schedules. But since life is never completely under our control, I’m glad another source of joy—the Spirit—is available to us. For me, going at the speed of joy now means going at the speed of prayer—making time to receive from the Joy-giver.
Pray Always
I got an 84 on the test!
I felt my teen’s excitement as I read her message on my phone. She’d just started attending classes at a high school and was using her phone during lunch. My mama heart leaped, not just because my daughter had done well on a challenging test, but because she was choosing to communicate it to me. She wanted to share her good news with me!
Realizing that her text had made my day, I later thought about how God must feel when I reach out to Him. Is He as pleased as I was when I talk to Him? Prayer is how we communicate with God and something we’re told to do “continually” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Talking with Him reminds us that He’s with us through the good and the bad. Sharing our news with God, even though He already knows all about us, is helpful as it shifts our focus and helps us think about Him. Isaiah 26:3 says, “You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast [fixed on you], because they trust in you.” We have peace awaiting us when we turn our attention to God.
Regardless of what we face, may we continually speak with God, or keep in touch with our Creator and Savior. Whisper a prayer and remember to rejoice and “give thanks.” After all, Paul says, this is “God’s will” for us (1 Thessalonians 5:18).
Kingdom-Shaped Workplace
The factories of Victorian England were dark places. Fatalities were high, and workers often lived in poverty. “How can the working man cultivate ideals,” George Cadbury asked, “when his home is a slum?” And so he built a new kind of factory for his expanding chocolate business, one that benefited his workers.
The result was Bourneville, a village of more than three hundred homes with sports fields, playgrounds, schools, and churches for Cadbury’s workers and their families. They were paid good wages and offered medical care, all because of Cadbury’s faith in Christ.
Jesus teaches us to pray for God’s will to be done “on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). This prayer can help us imagine, as Cadbury did, what our workplaces would be like under God’s rule, where our “daily bread” is earned and our “debtors” forgiven (vv. 11–12). As employees, it means working with “all your heart . . . for the Lord” (Colossians 3:23). As employers, it means giving staff what’s “right and fair” (4:1). Whatever our role, whether paid or voluntary, it means tending to the well-being of those we serve with.
Like George Cadbury, let’s imagine how things could be different if God were in charge of our neighborhoods and workplaces. Because when He is, people flourish.
