...here was given to me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:7-9)

On a recent Sunday morning, my husband and I taught a lesson on prayer to the 5th/6th grade class. The Scripture passage, Acts 12:1-19, tells of Peter in prison and the believers gathered in prayer for him. The Bible doesn’t report the content of their prayer, but it seems likely they were asking God to keep Peter safe and secure his release. God said YES in a miraculous way by sending an angel to escort Peter to freedom. We also discussed, however, that while God always hears His children’s prayers, His answer is not always YES. Paul knew from experience that He sometimes answers NO. When God doesn’t grant my request in the way I want, I shouldn’t call my prayer unanswered. Rather, I should shoulder the spiritual struggle of submission to God’s NO or NOT YET, trusting that He has a good reason for it.

Here are some suggested prayer ingredients for this week:

1. Praise God for a successful VBS last week! Thank Him for the talents and sacrificial service of the leadership team (Diana Aksel, Valerie Dyer, Jamie Gilbert, Christy Lopez, and Paula Porter) and the 80+ volunteers.

2. God constructs His church using people with different spiritual gifts, different talents, different strengths and weaknesses, different personalities, different circumstances, and different life experiences. Praise Him for that! A friend shared this quote from Philip DeCourcy of Kindred Community Church: If every person in my church were just like me, what kind of church would it be?

3. LORD, be gracious to us! We wait for You. Be our strength every morning and our salvation in time of trouble. (Isaiah 33:2)

In Christ,
Carol Gilbert, Prayer Chair
Calvary Community Church of Brea