Soul Kitchen

Have you ever wanted something so badly that you could not focus or think about anything else but that particular thing? You prayed to God over and over again.... pleading with Him to answer your prayer. I can remember times I have prayed, "Please, God... please... please hear my prayer, please answer my prayer." And then turn around and pray the same thing a few minutes later as though God did not hear me the first time.

Waiting is often one of the hardest things to do. But, it is profitable! Sometimes in just the waiting, our prayer is answered. We see the things we would have never seen if God had answered our prayer the way we had anticipated in our mind. I hope I am not too hard to follow here... I will give you an illustration... hopefully, my daughter will not mind.

For the past month or so, my grandson had been trying out for rugby. This was his first year so the game was new to him. It is new to me too, although I have heard of it but never actually seen it played. There were so many kids who had come to tryouts, the coach set up an A-line and a B-line. The A-line being the team all of the kids were hoping to be on. Our grandson really wanted to be on the A-line team. He worked hard, pushed himself... gave every ounce of energy he had into making the team. We prayed for him. You know how that goes.... "God, please, please, please let him make the A-line." The evening before the coach was to tell the kids which team they would be on, my daughter called me and said you need to pray... the coach is making a decision and the kids will know tomorrow. So, as you can guess... I prayed selfishly, for my grandson to make the A-line team. The next day, brought about much disappointment when he found out, he had not made the anticipated A-line team but would be on the B-line.

The coach gave the reasoning that even though he was a good player, he did not have the experience some of the other kids had who had played rugby and that if he put him on the A-line team, he would be a substitute and would not be in the start up, meaning, he would spend most of his time on the bench. By putting him on the B-line team... he would always be playing and getting the experience he needed.  Even though, the coach had good reasoning in placing our grandson on the team he did, and it all sounded good in theory... it did not take away the disappointment that followed.

After praying, for him, and mind you.... the focus of our prayers now began to change significantly... Instead of "God, please, please, please let him make the A-line", I began to pray for his true character to shine through. I prayed that he would accept this position and give it his best. As he struggle through the disappointment... he made a choice to be there for his team and to give it his all." Many of his good friends had made the A team so he had fought deep disappointment when he realized that he would not be playing with them.

I was out of town for his first game but my daughter shared with me the excitement of watching him play. The coach had made him captain and asked him to speak with the team and encourage them before the game. He pulled the kids together and gave them a pep talk.  They played hard, but they lost.  "He played his heart out," she told me. "He gave it everything he had."  And we were so proud.

The next day, the coach approached him and told him he wanted him on the A-line team and that he would not be subbing... he would be starting. Had God answered my prayer in the "fast food" line... my grandson would still be sitting on the bench watching his buddies play. Instead, God had something different planned for him that would show his true character... things the coach would have never seen if he had not put him on the B-line first.

Julie and I talked about the things we pray for sometimes... often selfishly. I am so glad that Jesus knows our thoughts, what we are praying for, what we are thinking about. I think He sometimes says to us, "you know not what you are asking." None of us know the path God has chosen for us. We want to see an easy way out... but often... the hardships make us stronger. Our prayers are sometimes intertwined and mingled with fear. That is why Jesus intercedes for us because he knows sometimes we are not thinking clearly. The Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit and Jesus speaks to the Father for us...

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:26-28

Christ Jesus who died... more than that, who was raised to life... is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Romans 8:34b