You Answer The Sacrifices Offered On Bended Knees, God!

I would hear it in my spirit last week when I was praying… and I knew, in an instant, it was the voice of God.

Because the truth really is that sometimes we behave too safe in the way that we pray.  And I had fallen victim to praying it safe for a long time.

And yet God, in His goodness and in His kindness, would show me a different way than the pattern I had become all too familiar with.

It would come in the form of an answered prayer just the week before.

A friend had approached me to ask for prayer for her and her family.  It was a BIG request and one that would require great faith and new levels of trust.

And I would say yes to the request… and I would pray.
Diligently. 
Fervently.
Every single day.

But through it all I would not feel the urgency to “petition” as one without faith. I would, instead, come before the throne room with boldness and expectation.  And I would pray beyond the request itself.  The prayer for restoration became a prayer for radical encounter, redemption, a spiritual awakening, an awareness of more power in presence, communion in the midst of heartbreak, peace, and a refueled passion, purpose, and position.

Because this praying for others - it’s all an invitation to impart the greatest gift onto another soul.   And when we faithfully listen, the Holy Spirit often prompts us in different directions - knowing PRECISELY what is most needed.

And my heart would literally skip a beat when I saw the words penned to me by the friend just a couple weeks later.  She would explain, in detail, the restoration that she’d been a witness to, and we would both, together, celebrate the faithful Father who delights in making all things new!

And in that moment I would hear it in my spirit from The Spirit… “If you’re not going to ask for it, you’re not going to get it.  Think about those prayers I just answered!  The outcome may just have been dependent on your diligence and bended knee.  Without your earnest and faithful petitions, just maybe those things would not have had the chance to be answered.”

And I go to the scriptures - always - to look for biblical confirmation:

“You do not have because you do not ask God.”  James 4:2

“But if you remain in Me and My words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted!”  John 15:7

“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.”  Matthew 7:7

“And this is the confidence that we have toward Him, that if we ask anything according to His will He hears us. “ 1 John 5:14

And so I start again.  Praising for all He’s done and Praying for all He has yet to do.

And I commit myself to praying earnestly and faithfully with gratitude - that I get to be used as a conduit for blessing to other people.  I can look ahead to His future faithfulness by remembering the testimony (that’s root word in the Hebrew text means “do again”) of His past faithfulness!

You answer the sacrifices offered on bended knees, God!