George Bailey or Bruce Almighty?

I love the opening scene of "It's a Wonderful Life". You hear the voices of people interceding on behalf of George Bailey and then you zoom out to galaxies and stars and realize that God has heard and is getting ready to send the answer to those prayers. It reminds me that God is listening and ready and able to answer (though the answer may not LOOK exactly like what we are expecting).

There are times, though, that I replay in my mind the scene from "Bruce Almighty" where Bruce is trying to deal with all the prayer requests he gets by having them appear on sticky notes--his whole house ends up completely covered with little yellow squares. Sometimes I wonder if the Lord has time to hear and deal with my requests or are they just lost in the millions that He gets every day. And do my prayers really make a difference in the grand scheme of things?

I’m thinking about the different prayer experiences I’ve had lately. There was the wonderful opportunity I had to pray for and bless some young pastors the Lord expectantly sent my way. And then sitting in church, I just knew God wanted me to lay hands on and pray for a certain young man. These were special times of hearing specifically from God about how to pray. Then there is the weekly, scheduled prayer time for global requests from the C&MA in our office. I categorize these structured times as disciplined prayer. Then early on Saturday morning, I joined prayer group at church where we used scripture as a jumping off place and prayed as God led. I must admit that I went, in part, because I had another errand at church so was taking care of 2 things at once. I would classify that as obedience prayer time—I went because “we should pray” and ended up blessed. Then there are those personal prayer times, usually on the spur of the moment, for family and friends as their needs come to my attention. And I also read prayer requests from the workers our church partners with and try to remember to pray, but not as consistently as I should.

I would say that my “prayer life” has grown or expanded over the past several years. I’m learning to listen better to His voice and be tuned in to what he wants to accomplish. I’ve learned that there are a lot of different ways to pray (even over the phone or in a Facebook post) to fit different situations. I still need lots of reminders (like praying for whoever’s prayer card falls off the refrigerator) and I still have a lot of room for more growth.

But I will keep at it because the George Baily scene is more powerful to me than the sticky note scene. God DOES want me to “lay my requests before [Him] and wait expectantly” (Psalm 5:3). Prayer trains me in dependency on Him, and it is the way He has chosen to work in this world. I will continue to pray for my friend who is sick, for my husband as he travels, for the atheist lady who says we shouldn’t bother praying for her, for my neighbors who have yet to know Jesus, for people I’ve never met in Bosnia and Kosovo and Macedonia to open their hearts to the Savior I know and love. From the outside, this seems like a waste of time, but I’m convinced that my small prayers do make a difference in changing people’s lives. The Lord Almighty has promised that.

So, if you want to change the world, start praying. You will see amazing things happen around you. And most likely you will be amazed at what happens in you, too.