weekly devo
This is a space where every week a youth member will write up something for everyone to read. We'll try to keep it as regular and varied as possible, but bear with us as the devo gets rolling.
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on prayers in the past tense
Prayer. It's something every Christian should do, and probably one of the most common ways to keep in touch with God. I've developed a theory in response to a thought that once occurred to me while reading a book* concerning prayer and time.
In this book was a passage stating that we as humans live in time. Our perception as such is that time travels in a constant, continuous straight line going only one way - to the future. God, however (and all of the forces on his side or not) don't necessarily have that limitation, however.
If we do indeed worship an omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent God... then would he be limited to this exact moment? Or does his omnipresence (his whole thing about being everywhere at once) stretch even into other times? I personally believe that since he's all powerful, time is no problem for him.
So what does that mean? Well, let's consider prayer for a moment, and all that it entails. God promises us that what you ask will be given to you, right? As long as we have faith (as God wills it I'll write about faith later). So then we can ask for anything and God will grant it to us.
Now, let me back up a bit here. I don't mean literally anything - there are some requirements (usually on your part) before you recieve anything. First, you have to come with the confidence (note: not arrogance/pride) that you are a child of God and that God would never turn you out into the cold. Now that in itself requires a lot of faith - I personally don't count myself as worthy to approach the throne with confidence. Second, you have to have full faith that after you ask for it, God will grant it. A good deal of the time he's already granted it, and you just never noticed it. It's also really important to be staying in close contact with God, so what you ask lines up with what he wants for you. At first that sounds silly ("why couldn't he just give it to me?") but as you draw closer to Him you realize that you actually want what he wants. An example of something he probably wouldn't grant:
"Dear God, please give me a hundred dollars - I want to buy some new CD's."
You have to take into consideration what the things you ask for will do for God's plan in your life and in the lives of others. Courtesy, guys - courtesy.
Now, where does time come into all of this?
When you ask your parents for something, can you ask for it after you needed it and expect to get it? Or more simply - can your parents go back in time and do what you ask them to do?
The answer is always going to be no. Assuming, of course, that no time machines are invented.
Now, God (again) has no such limitation. My favorite example is the 'good day/bad day' example that happens in my life so often. I've started praying for God to bless my day during the moment of silence at school. On the days that I do this, I have a blessed day - from the moment I wake up. I'm not much of a morning person, by the way - it takes a team of professional weight-lifters with a forklift and a cattle prod to drag me out of bed in the mornings.
My point? I don't pray for God to bless my day until 3rd period. God starts blessing my day at 7:05am, a good 3 hours before I pray for it.
See, God knows what we're going to ask for before we ever even think of asking for it. He sets up everything in advance so that it will happen exactly the way you need it to.
So pray away, for anything and everything you need God's help with. Not even the sky's a limit for God.
-Tyler Heath
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* The book was "The Screwtape Letters," by C.S. Lewis. If you've never read it (or any other book by Lewis) I suggest you go and find a copy. The author's insight into the area of spiritual warfare (and most spiritual things in general) is astounding.