Wednesday evenings we here at ECC, meet together for a common meal, but the main focus is prayer. Like many other Christian prayer meetings, there is the tendency to be praying from the wrong perspective. We often get focused on the difficult circumstances...sometimes tragedies...of those who we love or are concerned about. Our prayers are often driven by sympathy and the desire to “fix” the situation. Jesus changes our perspective on intercessory prayer by reminding us:

28 And do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for an assarion (A Roman copper coin, approx. 1/16 of a laborer's daily wage)? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. (Matthew 10:28-29)

Two Truth Matters we take away from Jesus' statement:
1) God is in control of even the smallest of details in the lives of those we are praying for.
2) It is God's perspective that is the most important focus of what we should be praying for.

God has placed difficult circumstances and even tragedies in the lives of those we pray for so that He can show His omniscience, omnipresence, bring about His purposes, and ultimately, cause that person to trust and love Him. We should pray not so much for “fixing” the details of the situation, but pray that God's purposes would unfold in the person's life and in the lives of those involved. It is a different perspective, but one that makes us true “intercessors.”

My prayer for you and me this day is this: Lord, we so often get caught up in the details of another's difficulty. We tend to pray for the “fix” rather than realizing You have a loving and redemptive plan for that person. Help us to pray with the mind of Christ.. “so that our faith would not be in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God (1 Corinthians 2:5). Amen.

Walk with the King today and be a blessing.