"Blessed be the LORD, because he hath heard the voice of my supplications." - Psalm 28:6 Do you struggle in prayer? I'm sure you have had times where you felt that your prayers were on point, with the right balance of praise and prayer requests. And then. . . those other times come, when it feels like your prayers are weak, rambling on, going through the motions, and heavily leaning toward the prayer request side of things. Ever have those days? Our confidence wanes and at times we may even doubt that the Lord hears our weak, shriveled prayers. Oh, but, friends, He does hear. He does listen. Want to hear one of those times when His grace broke through and answered a meager prayer? Come on and pull up a chair. Let me tell you a story. I have a life update: I got a new job! And as it always ends up, that FIRST DAY can be a stressful time for a newbie in the workplace, what with getting use to the routine and learning all the new things to be learned. I remember praying the night before and the morning of my first day of work. My brain was scrambling in all different directions, wandering to the anticipated work so often that my prayers felt hasty and feeble. Oh, so feeble. I was so distracted by the worry, the stress, that I was sure those prayers wouldn't get far. But God. . . Don't you just love that phrase? It breaks in like light in the darkness, like sudden peace in the storm. God was SO gracious and SO merciful to hear those prayers and not only to hear them but to answer them in the "exceeding, abundantly, above all that we ask or think" way of His. ;-) I was so grateful at the end of that first day that I went home and read the entire twenty-eighth chapter of Psalms and especially rejoiced in the verse above. Earlier in the chapter, David prays, "Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle." (verse 2) And notice what happens four verses later! (Read the above verse again.) I pray that this is an encouragement to you to keep on praying, ESPECIALLY on those days when your prayers feel weak. He is there, He is listening, ever stooping to hear your prayers. Don't give up, friends. "Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not." (Jeremiah 33:3) Know what else is cool? How the later chapters in this book (I was reading it at the time) coincided with the "prayer theme" above. :) This was my first Sarah Sundin read and it was AMAZING! It had the perfect chapter length (short and suspenseful), lots of mystery (I read Nancy Drew growing up and it mentions that several times in this book), sweet romance, and scriptures weaved through at just the right time.
One of the memorable lines for me was in a particularly suspenseful climax, where Mary was in a difficult situation, and she was praying that help would come in time. Turns out, an abundance of help came, more than she had prayed for. "Mary broke out in strange, shaking, loud laughter. She couldn't stop. When God answered a prayer, he answered it abundantly." Ahhh! Isn't that line so great? Especially the last sentence. ;-) It immediately reminded me of Ephesians 3:20. Thank you for writing this sweet, meaningful story, Sarah! Can't wait to read more of your books. =)
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AuthorHi! I'm Carolyn, a writer seeking to glorify God with my words. Archives
February 2024
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