June 4, 2018
All of them, including
wives and children, accompanied us out of the city, and there on the beach we knelt
to pray. Acts21:5
People can leave our
homes and move from our lives, but they can’t escape our prayers.
Dropping off our daughter to college was one of the most
exciting and saddening moments in our lives.
We were thrilled with the college, with the atmosphere, with the care
and connections she would have available to her. Certainly being 800 miles away had its
drawbacks, but we expected great things for her, and knew this was a good
choice in her life. But even with all of
the positives, driving away was painful.
After raising her all our lives, we were now leaving the job up to
God. (Not that He wasn’t doing it the
whole time --- but at least God let us have our delusions for a while.)
That’s when the reality sank in the first time --- our kids
can escape our homes and escape our authority, but they can’t escape our
prayers! At that point more than ever
before, Dianna and I discovered a new depth in the power of prayer. We found out how much our prayers “chase” after
the ones we pray about. Over the next
several months, every ‘crisis’ gave us a hunger to pray, since that’s about all
you can do from 800 miles away. Prayer
was no longer the prelude to action – prayer WAS the action. And it seemed like EVERY prayer found an
answer soon afterwards, as other challenges came to the forefront of our
conversations. God not only took care of
our daughter, but proved He was way better at helping her through her problems
than we ever were.
That’s a WORD for someone today. If Jesus can chase us down 2000 years later
with His prayers, then our prayers have the ability to work wonders today. People can leave your home, leave your life,
even run from your authority or advice, but they cannot escape your prayers.
Paul was facing persecution and possibly death as he headed
to Jerusalem, and the only thing left for the leaders to do was pray for
him. So they did, right on the beach
before getting back on the boat. Their prayers
chased after Paul, and God answered their prayers by protecting Paul in
Jerusalem even when men committed themselves to killing him.
Praise God – nobody can outrun your prayers. And thank God that you can’t outrun the
prayers given for you!
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