Skip to main content

The God Of Forgotten Prayers

At the beginning of 2013, I started a three week prayer and fast with my church in Boise. We spent the time praying over God to move throughout 2013. It was one of the most amazing times in my life. I have never been through such an awesome time of God moving in my life, and the lives of those who joined me. I believe that time of prayer was what got me completely through 2013. During that time, I spent a week of praying over my future in missions. I prayed that God would give me something big in my life when it came to getting back to Uganda. I prayed for something tangible, something I can look back and say, “2013 was my ticket to getting back to Uganda.” Then life happened. The fast came to an end. I got the job I desperately prayed for, and forgot about my prayer over Uganda.
My life took a dark turn when summer rolled around. I just grew into a routine that didn't really allow me to let God fully work in my life. I had too many commitments that tied me down. I had a dear professor remind me of my dreams. Out of concern, she reminded me that God had a better plan for my life than sticking in America. She gave me two options: quit my stinking hotel job, find something rewarding, and go back to school, or quit my stinking hotel job, find something rewarding, and figure out how to get back to Uganda. So... I quit my hotel job, found a job at Saint Alphonsus and the YMCA that I absolutely LOVED, and found Redeemer House.
Even though I held the time of prayer and fasting in my heart, I simply forgot the prayer over Uganda. After I got my official departure date, my pastor was speaking at church. He reminded us of the fast at the beginning of the year. He was challenging us to think of the things we prayed for God to do in 2013. Since the year was coming to an end, he wanted us to go through and see what God had done. If there were still unanswered prayers, seek God and resolve those things before the end of the year. As I knelt before my King, and I remembered my prayer over Uganda. I remember thinking “tangible” meant being connected to a ministry. A ministry that I would be in the process of working with, but maybe not actually there. Little did I know, that the last month of 2013, I would actually be IN Uganda, doing the work of God. I fell before God as I realized the magnitude of this prayer. He took my small minded prayer, and brought me to what I thought would be impossible. Even though I forgot my earnest prayer, God still answered it.
I wish I could form words to explain the overwhelming love that found me that Saturday night, but words cannot explain. So many of us know Psalms 37:4, where it says, “Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.” I don't know how many of you know the rest of that chapter. I love it. It continues to say, “Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him, and He will do it. He will bring forth your righteousness as light and your judgment as the noonday. Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way” (4-7). I think my forgetfulness of my prayer was a doubt that God would do it. I didn't think it would happen, and so I just let it go. But why? I will never have that answer. However, when I took the time to commit to Uganda, God was able to work. He worked wonders. He answered my prayers in bigger ways than I could have imagined. “Commit your way to the LORD” I want that to be my anthem. “Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him” my constant actions. I pray that as 2014 becomes a reality, God will continue to move and be a constant presence in my life.

I praise God for 2013. And I praise God for 2014!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Time I Made My Dog Puke

  Fridays are my day off. They generally consist of me barricading myself inside my compound with my pups. We may do a number of things, but usually it is a whole lot of nothing! As Thursday evening approached, I looked forward to my Friday. Oh, I would nap and maybe binge watch something stupid, but most importantly, never get dressed! This dream crashed when I realized my house was the only one not receiving power. This meant calling the electric company and corralling my enthusiastic lab away from people who are terrified of him. But we did it. This brings us to noon. I still had half the day to relax. I sprawled out on my bed and put on an episode of Psych, one of my favorite shows. I get ten minutes into the episode, when I hear Teddy barking at the gate. He is such a wonderful watchdog. He has different barks that I have learned, which help me to know if I should respond or not. He will give off a warning, but if someone pushes the bounds, he produces a sound so intimidating ...
Post a Comment
Read more

State of Praise

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say rejoice.” Philippians 4:4 reminds us to have a spirit of praise in all circumstances. It does not say to rejoice in the good, when ministry is smooth and all things are going the way you pictured them. Nor does it say to give up in times of struggle. It says to ALWAYS rejoice, to be in a spirit of praise through thick and thin! The past few weeks have been a battle. Living in Uganda means you are surrounded by images of poverty, brokenness, and death on a daily basis. That alone will encourage anyone to lose a spirit of praise. But of course, that is not all I deal with. Lately, it seems like everything is coming down at one time. Dear people in my life are struggling, including people back in the States. These are people who I use to be there to hold a hand through difficult times, and now they are going through something else and I am halfway around the world. A couple have confessed they wished I were there instead, and no matter how much ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Would You Go With Me?

In 5 short days, I will be heading back to America. I must say, going home proves to be a much larger leap of faith than when I came here to Uganda. I had three weeks to prepare. I knew that God was calling me, so I dropped everything and came. Now, I am returning to basically nothing. Sure, God continues to provide for me, and I know He will continue once I land and jump back into American life. However, I am still nervous. For the past couple months, I have been praying that God would go before me and pave the way. A few days ago, a friend of mine was praying over my return. She prayed that God would not only go before me, but go with me. Those words struck my heart, and I have been mulling over them for the past couple days. I cannot count how many times I have prayed God would move before me -- to work in hearts of those I would be meeting -- to guide me through a new adventure. Yet rarely, if ever, have I prayed that God would go with me, where He should be in the first place. I ...
Post a Comment
Read more