A week ago Sunday, God’s presence flowed in every prayer encounter. This past Sunday, prayer was like wading through peanut butter. Two of the women I had prayed with told of fierce struggle they had been through this week. One is facing divorce after praying and crying out to God for her husband and marriage for years, the other endured a physical beating. I admit, it’s a blow to faith when God moves in a powerful way yet the ones for whom you prayed still deal with hellish circumstances. On top of that, five dear friends are in the middle of intense physical sickness and painful life issues.
Does this mean prayer doesn’t work? No. It means we live in a fallen world and we’re not in Heaven yet. It means we’re in the middle of a war against a persistent, evil opponent. It means we are able to experience God’s peace that passes understanding even in the middle of the struggle. These are the moments in life where we have a choice to either (a) reject the only One who can help us or (b) allow our hearts to break and let the roots of faith burrow down in that fertile ground to a deep, clear source of strength circumstances cannot affect.
Our tears are holy, anointing oil when presented to our loving Heavenly Father. To cry and hurt and question while wrapped in God’s arms is when we enter the Holy of Holies. Those very moments when we seem to be wading through life’s excrement can become the most fertile moments of all… if we don’t reject Him in our pain.
Chana is a mezmerized Jesus follower, wife, mom and author who knows she sucks at all those jobs if she tries to do them without God’s grace. On occasion she wanders the house seeking the sunglasses propped on her head or the car keys in her hand. Her greatest desire is to live every moment to God’s glory. She and her family live in southern California. Please check out Chana’s books on