And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
Hebrews 11:6 ESV

A friend of mine messaged me to ask how I was. I gave him all the gory details then just said at the end “Feeling very blessed”. He responded by saying he was humbled by my response. It got me thinking as to why I had said this in the first place. Was I just putting on a brave face, did I just think I needed to end the message on a positive, did I really believe it in the first place?

Ever since we told people of our cancer diagnosis earlier this year, the ripple effect, it seems, has gone wide, but the ripples coming back of everyone’s love, support, generosity and in particular prayer has been so overwhelming.  So yes, I do feel very blessed.

I am convinced more than ever of the power of prayer to change lives, change a situation or even just change the atmosphere in the room, and not just for those we prayer for, for us too. 

I can’t pretend to understand why, how or even when prayer works, but I do know something of who we pray to.  We pray to a God who created us, has chosen us, has given us freedom to pray in the first place through our saviour Jesus Christ. 

His primary aim for us is relationship with him and he gave up his only son to get it.  That’s how much you and me mean to him! And how important that relationship is to him

He is not a God of cold shoulders or a cold heart, he is a warm-hearted God who wants to listen (warts and all) and somehow, when we do, things change.

I think I get stuck in this mindset that I have to pray something “good” or “meaningful” for it to be more effective.  This is, of course, stupid! (and nothing I can see in bible tells me this is true).  What the Bible tells me is that I should pray with faith (Heb 11v6, Matt 21v21) and only a little is required (Luke 17v6)

So, whatever or whoever is on your heart keep going, change will come and while we wait, we’re building the most precious relationship we could ever want, a relationship that God himself chose for us.