dream of miracles, knock with confidence

"Be earnest and unwearied and steadfast in your prayer, being both alert and intent with thanksgiving." 
- Colossians 4:2

God has been teaching me a lot about prayer these days. It's amazing how literally the Bible should be taken, because when it says, "knock and it will be opened to you" (Matthew 7:7), the truth is revealed of how simple it is. i can discuss every little thought in my head with my Father, and it's always nice to have someone to share things with who will perpetually listen and never grow tired of that. i've realized that it's a day-by-day thing too. There are days when i wake up and thank God, first thing, for that upcoming day, which sets the tone so much differently than the mornings i step out of bed without saying hi to Him. As i walk with Jesus throughout the day, i love giving him credit for littlest things, and i see that "being both alert and intent with thanksgiving" is so rewarding because He opens my eyes to gifts i can enjoy that normally i would overlook.

As for Paul's command to be "earnest and unwearied and steadfast," i have found this
wonderfully challenging and exhausting.

earnest: resulting from intense conviction; zealous

unwearied: persisting tirelessly; indefatigable

steadfast: resolutely or dutifully firm and unwavering; constant

My close friend Elizabeth had her third head surgery last week, and i got to experience a beautiful picture of community and faith because of her. Another friend put together a prayer chain email so that we could spread the news of her surgery and ask everyone we know and love to pray. It was so cool to see how people responded and how some loved Elizabeth without even knowing her, like my small group and my Young Life team. To sum it up, Elizabeth's head problems have haunted her for years and prevented her from her full potential of life. Two surgeries didn't work and this third was was basically it. We didn't care what the odds were, we just knew that our God could make this happen if we asked and believed. i had never fervently prayed for a miracle, but doing this for Elizabeth I felt so much confidence that the Lord knows what He's doing and He hears our requests. If we express our desires in prayer, He will fuel them and allow us to be zealous and dutifully firm.

"Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God." - Philippians 4:6

Elizabeth's surgery went well and she's healing now. It will be awhile before she knows if the procedure worked but for now we will just keep praying for a miracle. It was so special for me to get to see her radiant smile the day after, despite the eight incision marks on her face and the batman-looking, medically-advanced ice packs and gadgets surrounding her. Despite everything she had been through, she kind of resembles Job [see previous post]. She trusts that the Lord will use her for His glory so she stays strong and optimistic. And this has been such a blessing for me– who has never experienced such a physical pain and given it to God. That's the thing about knocking, because when God opens the door we don't know what will be on the other side. All we know is that we can trust Him to guide us as we step over the threshold into what He's prepared, in response to our request.

"It would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased." - C.S. Lewis

We all need to open our eyes to God's limitless capabilities, and open our hearts to trust His intricately woven plan to bring us home. To paradise, better than a holiday at the sea.

she's beautiful.