Anyways, For the past few weeks I have been blown away by the insane power of prayer. I have seen things happen before my very eyes that have brought tears of joy and awe. Over the last two or so weeks, I have witnessed adults, high schoolers, jr highers, and elementary school kids lift up prayers and requests, and I have seen them answered in indescribable ways.
Matthew 21:21-22 Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."
It all started on our mission trip to San Juan. For weeks before we even left on the trip, we had been consistently praying. Praying for open doors to evangelize, for the gospel to be proclaimed, and for our team to make in impact for Christ in the lives of the K-6th grade kids of San Juan Capistrano. As the week progressed and we ran camp compass everyday at creekside park and the sports park, we were wondering if what we were doing was gonna be worthwhile. I mean, we were entertaining little kids, playing fun games, doing songs and hand-motions, and having sugary snacks.... I was starting to think if it was really gonna make as big of an impact as we had hoped. Then on Sunday Morning, the last day of the trip, I was blown away. What I heard brought tears of awe and joy. As we were sitting in the Spanish Compass Bible Church in San Juan, the Pastor gets up and starts talking about letters, emails, and calls he has received from numerous parents of the kids that attended our Camp Compass earlier that week. They were saying how their kids had been rebellious, disrespectful, and disobedient before attending the week long camp. Then they told of how their kids had changed, how they acted differently, how they submitted to their parents, showed them respect, and obeyed them. I was so elated! I knew that it wasn't just our little camp which caused them to act in a different way. I knew it was something way bigger, something only God could do, working through us at this camp, could change lives that drastically. It was only through our prayers that lives had been changed. The power of prayer is truly incredible.
But thats not all....
The next week, was our big Camp Compass at CBC. I was a small group leader for 1st and 2nd grade kids. The camp had around 400 total kids ranging from K-6th grade. There was one section of the camp called "Molecular Missions." It was all about missionary work and they talked about the Mui Family who is currently doing missionary work in China along with a reenactment of the amazing story of Gladys Alward (which I urge you to go read because I cant fit it all in my blog!). But my favorite part was these three clear glass vase/jars that were on the table in the back. Every time one of the kids prayed for the Mui Family throughout the week they got to put a small pebble in the jar. By the end of the week, ALL THREE JARS were FILLED!!! And these were not little jars... Even better, we saw God answer many of those prayers right before our eyes. The main one was that son in the Mui family had been sick for some time before Camp Compass. Many, many of the kids prayed throughout the week that he would be made well again. By midway through the week, our kids ministry director recieved an email that he was healthy again!! Just another answer to the prayers of God's people!
Over the past few weeks, my outlook on prayer has radically changed. I now know and realize the awesome and potent power that we have when we come with humble yet confident hearts making our requests known to God. One of the main things we need to pray for is changed hearts in the high-schoolers of Orange County. We may have 20,000 students in our surrounding area who are not saved. But if we pray, and I mean PRAY! Then I truly believe that we will see a revival and a change in the lives and hearts of high-school students who are currently living in darkness. Now the only question is..... WHO IS WITH ME!??!?!
1 comments:
mhmmm so good! As one pastor once said, "Prayerlessness is a declaration of independence from God". How critical it is that we lift up all requests in prayer, understand that we can only live by God's strength!
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