If You Will Ask...

I recently finished a book by Oswald Chambers entitled If You Will Ask.  I have to admit that it wasn't an easy read!  Chambers' writing is lofty and the concepts are deep and to be quite frank, half the time I didn't know what he was talking about! But, nevertheless, I was blessed by reading the book.  There were some important concepts that I needed to be reminded of and to learn.  Here are a few of them:

*God's silences are His answers.  Sometimes God doesn't answer us at all...it is like He is saying, "no".  Or He is waiting so that we can grow in Him.  There are several situations in my life where God hasn't answered the prayer and has been somewhat silent on the issue.  He is growing me through the experience.  Actually, come to think of it, every time God has said, "no" I have grown!

*Prayer comes with a price! But I am not the one it cost. We have access to God because of what Jesus did on the cross...prayer is not a sacrifice for us, but rather for God!

*Prayer alters....me and others.  Prayer also alters circumstances through me. The biggest revelation I got out of this small book is that the aim of prayer is to change me and make me more like Christ.  It isn't about a wish list that we give to our Heavenly Father each day!

*Prayer has no snares.  It is one area we can serve where we won't get nailed by others!  God has been teaching me that when you are in ministry people will come up against you to criticize what you do and how you handle things.  But prayer is private, and we can serve in this area without fear of ridicule.