Peter
The other day, I was reading through Acts and re-read the part about Peter when he was in jail (Acts 12). And I had an epiphany. Everyone was praying for Peter. They knew he could be martyred, just as James (the brother of John) had been. So obviously they were turning to God in the hopes that He would intercede somehow. But you know what I know for certain they weren’t praying for? An angel breaking Peter out of jail. Which is exactly what the LORD did.
Isn’t that wild? Clearly the entire church at that time had Peter on their heart and were fervently praying for him. They were probably praying for favor for him, or perhaps for Peter to be spared somehow. But God had much bigger and much more miraculous plans. Isn’t it awesome that God doesn’t need us to be specific? And He isn’t limited by our prayers?
He answers our prayers as we would want Him to if we had all of the information and insight. And then some! That should bring us all such peace! I often think I need to pray in a very specific way, or have exactly the right words. But praise God, He doesn’t need our perfect prayers. He already has all the perfection He needs in Himself. He wants us to turn to Him and trust Him, no matter the situation. And of course, God wants a relationship with us, to shape us and mold us. As CS Lewis has said: “Prayer does not change God; it changes me.”
Freedom in Christ
God commands us to: Rejoice always, pray continuously, and in everything give thanks (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). There is such freedom in this commandment. Praise God, He already knows all we need. He wants us to build a relationship with Him so that we can see Him work and glorify His name, all for our good and His glory.
I pray this Thanksgiving is filled with rejoicing, prayer, and giving thanks. He is good and beautiful and true and just. We can’t ask for anything more. We don’t need to.
Praising God and giving thanks
I look forward to the day when we get to all collectively praise and glorify God (Revelation 7:9-17). Now THAT will be a true time of Thanksgiving. I used to think we’d all be praising God together, all in one language. But I now think we’ll all praise God in every language in the world. And I’m hoping we’ll be able to praise in one another’s language. How amazing would that be? To fluently speak in another language, praising God together.
I thought of this as I was enjoying this video. For those of you who may not be Puerto Rican, you may not be able to appreciate how on the nose this music is. If I would have heard it on the radio, I never would have guessed in a million years it was being sung by anyone other than Puerto Ricans. It’s absolutely beautiful, and I love that it’s being sung by these Japanese men on the other side of the world. But I think it’s a glimpse of what we’ll be able to experience, except instead of praising Puerto Rico, we’ll all be praising the LORD in every language imaginable. It will be glorious. I’m really looking forward to it! I give thanks for that picture we can look forward to.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! And remember to start shopping for your loved ones with our fantastic Christmas book bundles!!
Click on the images below to purchase one of our Christmas bundles!
ANNOUNCING
New and improved Family Book Savings Club!
We have been working hard to put together an awesome resource that includes awesome family friendly Christian books! Get a month to month, pre-paid discount on books for your entire family. Cancel any time!
Click the button below to find out more!
