In the middle of the night, early Monday morning, I was awake, and after a period of time I was not able to go back to sleep.  As I often do when I cannot sleep, I begin to go through my prayer list in my mind and pray for those listed.  If I am totally honest, somewhere in that list, I dose off and fall back to sleep.  Yes, I do fall asleep when I pray.  I work my way through my wife, my kids, their spouses, and then my grandchildren, and then God will bring various people to mind.  On this particular occasion, God reminded me of people who I have been praying for for a while and I was struck by something.  Was God listening?  Does He care about the things that I care about?  Are the people who I am praying for really a priority on His list?  Here I am praying for these people and it seems as though we are making little to no progress.  Allow me to give you some examples:

I have a friend who shares my love of boating and just being around the water.  He is the one responsible for me purchasing a boat almost 20 years ago.  (It was his fault Robbi)  His wife really does not care at all to be in a boat.  She borders on hating it and he has not only one boat, but two!  My wife would much rather be on the shore line watching me enjoy my time on the water rather than experiencing the adventure of being my navigator in the boat.  This friend thoroughly enjoys being on the water and yet a couple of years ago, he had back surgery as well as several other medical complications that prohibit him from being able to do the things that he once was able to do.  We were told by the surgeon that he would probably never walk again and yet, today he walks.  He has sold one of his boats and is coming to the realization that his boating days might be coming to an end.  He is a man of God, and I know that he and his wife have prayed for the restoration of his balance and strength in his legs.  I hurt for him and I pray for him regularly, and yet as he often says:  “I am about as good as I am ever going to be here on this earth.”  Why would God prevent him from being able to enjoy something that he has enjoyed for many, many years.  

I have a friend who has been battling depression for several years.  He was a vibrant follower of Jesus.  He taught Sunday School for years and served in the leadership of his local church faithfully.  He has been an extremely successful businessman who God has used to help out people less fortunate than he at home and even more so on mission fields around the world.  He has not only given significant amounts of money, but he has also devoted hours and hours of time and his own physical labor to the works in Indonesia, Africa, and Haiti.  For years he prayed and asked God to remove his battle with depression that seems to run in his family.  He has begged God to relieve him of this struggle and God has not seen fit to do so. He believes that he is a burden to those around him, he struggles from a lack of sleep and he has grown weary to the point that he has tried to escape all of his pain by attempting to take his own life twice.  He has given up on God and is now trying to deal with everything in his own way, and it is not working too well.  I pray for him and his wonderful wife regularly as well as his six children and yet God seems to be silent.  His wife is continually begging God to restore his faith.  What do you suppose God might be doing?  Is He listening to any of our prayers?

I have a friend who is a faithful follower of Jesus.  He is a successful eye doctor who has on several occasions taken trips to third world countries to spend a week ministering to people who have vision problems and God has used him.  He and his wife have four daughters who all love the Lord.  Recently they have been experiencing several medical challenges in their family that have included a stay at Mayo Clinic for his wife including surgery.  He also has a young daughter who has been experiencing GI problems for several years now.  They have seen several doctors including several hospital stays and it just seems as though none of them are able to determine exactly what she is battling.  She has been given experimental drugs and is currently on her 5th biological medication.  She has every reason to be discouraged, and I am sure that there are times when she is, however, God used her recently to lead a boy to the saving knowledge of Jesus.  She is a good girl who loves the Lord, so why doesn’t God heal her body?  Why doesn’t God answer the heart-wrenching prayers of her daddy?  Wouldn’t you think that they could work out some kind of deal with God?  

I have a friend who has been a faithful servant of God for many many years.  He has pastored a church; he has pastored pastors; and he has served as VP for a large Christian publisher.  He has encouraged many young authors and God has used him to encourage me for more than 30 years now.  He will be 90 years old this December and he is a man of prayer.  If you want someone to pray for you, ask him, because he does it.  He meets regularly with men to pray with them and encourage them and to teach them to pray.  He is a man of prayer!  He has a beautiful wife of more than 60 years who has recently been diagnosed with Ahlzeimers.  Recently, because of the pandemic, he was not able to be with her.  She is living in the same complex however she is in a specialized care section where he was only able to meet with her twice a week for a couple of hours and they were required to maintain distancing of at least 8 feet.  He sat in one chair on one side of the room and she sat in another on the other side of the room.  He loves his wife.  He has been willing to care for her as best as he could but it got to a point where he could no longer do so.  He could not touch her let alone hold her and she would ask him “what’s wrong?  Why will you not hold me?”  It ripped his heart out and yet he prayed.  He begged God to provide a way for them to be together, but he had to wait.  In the meantime, he still met with the men to pray and to teach them to pray, and he continued to encourage me.  This man prays for everyone!  When I called him to talk, he would tell me about the heartache of not being able to be with his wife, but then he would immediately proclaim the goodness and faithfulness of God.  Amazing!  God has provided for a way for them to be together again and he praises God continually for that, but his wife is still battling Ahlzeimers.  Wouldn’t you think that God would cut this faithful man and his wife a little slack?  He keeps praying!

I could go on and on and tell you about people from our church who are dealing with lots of stuff.  Just check out our prayer list.  There are some who have been on that list since the first day I started providing the church with a prayer list.  Is it every going to end?

The question that comes to my mind every time I pray for these people is “How much longer Lord?”  “God, why does this have to continue?”  One of my friends has asked that question over and over again and has now given up on God.  Please pray for him!  Why does God seemingly not answer?  Oh yes, He does answer all of our prayers, but why does He say “no” or “wait” sometimes?  The Bible tells us to pray without ceasing. (1Thessalonians 5:16-18) Maybe this is God’s way of keeping us on our knees?  How would you pray differently if God answered all of your prayers the way that you wanted Him to?  Would you even pray?  Would your earnestness and urgency fade if all you had to do was praise Him?  Wouldn’t that get old?  We are told in Scripture that the grace of God is sufficient for all of our needs, (2 Cor 12:9) so maybe God’s plan is for us to keep asking Him to give us the grace that only He can give to press on?  I think God enjoys those kinds of prayer.  I think God desires for us to know how utterly dependent we are on Him and how faithful He really is.  My suggestion is that you keep talking to Him.  Keep asking Him for His grace that is sufficient for whatever it is that you are facing.  Don’t stop!  Keep praying!
 
One more thing.  I have a friend who I need to tell all of you about.  These four men above that I have told you about are all great friends who have impacted my life in one way or another. They are very special to me.  But, I have a friend with whom they do not compare.  Proverbs 18:24 speaks of “…a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”  Jesus is that friend with whom there is no comparison.  He knows all about our prayer list.  He knows all about your prayer list.  He knows all about your aching heart.  He is faithful to answer your prayer AND provide the grace that you need to make it to tomorrow.  Then, tomorrow, He will do the same.  Talk to Him!  Let Him hear your heart!  Then, trust Him!  He will teach you how to pray, and you will then be able to give Him the praise and glory that He deserves.

Pray, pray, pray without ceasing!

Jerry