Today I went to my wife’s home church where she grew up in Boise, Idaho- and the pastor spoke on the same passage of Scripture! It was so cool! I was like- @H2O they are learning the same passage today. Anyway- Here are a couple of statements that Pastor Love said (yes that is name. Great name for a pastor ).

So Pastor Jeff talked about how the Bible says in Ephesians 6 that we should be praying always and he made this statement…

“Often we quit praying because our prayers are way too small. We should pray some things that only God could do.”

I think this was an incredible statement. We ought to pay BIG HUGE GIGANTIC prayers…things that show our authentic faith {<—see there it is } in God!

These were his 3 points from the passage and a key statement that he said within each point. I thought they were really thought provoking.

1. Prayer is more than what we do, prayer becomes who we are.
“You can tell you are maturing in Christ when prayer flows out of who we are rather than a activity we do.”

2. Prayer is more than talking to God during a crisis, it is about alignment.
When I pray, I’m not trying to change God. God is trying to change me.
“Don’t you want something to happen to you that only God can do.”

3. Prayer is more than asking for physical needs.
“If you had a pie chart, what percentage of your prayers would be about your physical needs and the needs of those around you?”

Application:
So today’s message really convicted me about this area of my life. Here’s how it applied to me…

Last night we went to the Meridian Speedway to check out the “Eve of Destruction.” It was awesome. They were destroying cars. They had a race where the cars dragged boats (not on trailers) behind the other cars. The point of the race was to destroy other boats without having your boats destroyed. They did all kinds of stuff like that and it was awesome.

While we were at the races there was a guy sitting near us who was tattooed all over with a black hat on. He had a weird Jesus-as-a-green-alien tattoo.   Now I’m not saying that if you have a tatoo you are bad, or you aren’t a christian.  That’s not the point.  I’m just giving you a picture of what he look liked.  This guy just kind of annoyed me.  The more beer he had, the more bold and annoying he became. He used foul language and gestures. To tell you the truth, I saw myself as better than him and annoyed by him.

After hearing today’s message though I realized something. If I was where that guy seemed to be in his attitude and demeanor, but knowing what I know now, wouldn’t I want someone praying for me? I didn’t even think to pray for that guy. How horrible is that?

My prayers for Tatoo-man should be prayers for his spiritual condition. So today during the invitation/worship/reflection time of the service, I took some time to pray for the tattoo guy with the black hat. I prayed that he would be able to meet the real Jesus-not the one on his shoulder. I prayed that if he didn’t know Jesus, that someone in his life could speak truth to him. I may never know on this side of heaven if God answered my prayer, but I know God worked in my life through it. My first response should be to pray, rather than judge.