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We
are asked to pray for this candidate, this party, this office
holder, this bill, or about anything else that might need God’s hand
for correction. We then get out our beads to say the rosary or the
chaplet, or our book of prayers to recite. After we do our praying
we sit back and wonder why nothing has happened.
What is praying? What is talking to God all about? After our prayer, do we turn
away and say, “God, now it is your problem.” Do we sit back and wait for a
response? The Lord wants to say something to us. He might want to tell us what
to do, and how to do it – maybe something like, “Go out and vote, call your
representative, send a letter to your senator, or call your legislators on the
phone.” We just need to listen.
Oh! I know what you are thinking. God doesn’t talk to you. He talks to other
people, but not to you.
Has this ever happened to you? After your time of praying, maybe right after, or
just before bedtime, or even just before you fall asleep, something comes to
you, a name, a face, a word? You probably turn over and forget what just
happened. Did you ever stop to think that maybe, just maybe, God put that
name, that face, that word into your mind? Why is it we are waiting for God to
flash it on some big signboard? Wait a minute!! He is flashing it on a big
signboard, it is our mind.
The wind blows where it will, and you can hear the sound it makes, but you do
not know where it comes from or where it goes; so it is with everyone who is
born of the Spirit. John 3:8. You hear the word, you see a face, you feel the
breeze on your face and you say you do not know where it comes from. It comes
from the Holy Spirit, but He is speaking to you in His own way. He is asking you
to come along to where He is going,
Then, again, I also hear, “What can I do, there is only me?” Did you ever think
that it took only one person to bite into the apple; it took only one person to
say to Pharaoh, “Let my people go.” It took only one person to put a stone in
his sling to kill Goliath. It took only one person to die on the cross for our
sins. It took only one person to say that the earth is round. It took only one
person to get prayer taken out of the schools. So don’t say, “I can’t do it.”
Well, do say it, because you can’t do it – you can only do it with God the Holy
Spirit’s help. Being in God’s will, you can do anything because He is guiding
and directing you.
How many times have you prayed for the government or anything else, and ended up
saying, “My prayers are not working.” Maybe your prayers are not working because
you are not doing anything. Have you forgotten that you are the body of Christ?
You might be the feet of the body to carry it to a place. You might be the hands
of the body to type the words on a computer, or the hand to pick up a phone and
call someone. You might be the mouth to speak to someone. The only way God can
answer your prayers is through your faith and trust that God can work through
you.
It is not easy to say “YES” to God. In Matthew 9:18, we read what the crowd said
to the official, “Don’t bother the teacher for your daughter is dead.” What did
it take for the father of that girl to enter his house with those words ringing
in his ears. It was faith and trust in Jesus. How much faith and trust do you
have in your God? Can your faith stop a bill from going through the House of
Representatives? What do you think your faith can do for you today?
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These words have not changed much since we began recording the
Now Word. The tone, the intensity, the meaning might have
changed, but the words are still the same. Why is it that when
we hear the words in our prayer time or we read the words,
“Come to Me, I have called you by name,” the first thing
that comes to our mind is, “I don’t want to become a religious!”
We start to think that God is calling us to some distant land or
to stand on some corner and evangelize. Yet, it might be true
but in a different way. In the world of work, your company might
be asking you to transfer to another city. Are you saying, “NO,
NO, NO, I don’t want to go!” Have you thought of asking God what
His plan is? His plan for you is that He will make your name
famous, so that you will be a blessing. (Gen. 12:2)
Abide in Me. This word can be hard for some of us,
so we run and hide. God, this awesome God, wants us to abide in
Him. WOW! “To abide” has to do with persevering, continuing,
lasting, staying. No wonder the term is rare. What it means is
rare, in this or any time. The accompanying Scripture to this
word is, “I will watch over this temple and be ready to hear all
the prayers that are offered there.” 2 Chronicles 7:16. This is
not some building made out of bricks and stones. This is YOU!
You are God’s temple made into His image. He is going to watch
over you and when He is watching over you, He will hear all your
prayers, because they are as the sweet smell of incense rising
before Him.
I call you, “My Desire.” Is God using this word as a verb,
“to wish or long for”? Is He using this word as a noun, “a
longing or craving, as for something that brings satisfaction or
enjoyment”? How can we bring satisfaction or enjoyment to our
God? Are we like food that can be consumed and satisfy, or like
a toy that God can enjoy? Yet, the Scripture for this word is,
“You who fear the Lord, wait for His mercy, trust Him, hope for
good things.” This gives the Word a different meaning: it is not
what we can give to God, it is what God can give to us when we
are in Him and He is in us.
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(Steve Cooper
belongs to the
Community of God’s Love
Prayer Group at St. Kieran Church in Shelby Township. He is a
member of the DCCR Assembly, representing the North Region.)
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04-4SCooper
is the 4th Focus
On Prayer article on
Government
(This is the fourth in a series of Bulletin
articles that will address the twelve areas of
prayer for which the Lord has requested that all
in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal in the
Archdiocese of Detroit intercede. Those who are
led to pray for this particular intention "Government,"
please contact Steve Cooper, the writer
of this article, at
#586-731-0579,
to let him know that you will join with him and
others in praying for this topic.)
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Also
Steve Cooper
also discerned and wrote the Now Word
for the Sept./Oct. DCCR Bulletin.
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