Prayer Passion
So I think God is trying to get my attention on the topic of prayer. A decade ago — maybe even five years ago — if you would’ve asked anyone at Calvary to describe my passion — prayer would have been a top-of-the-list topic. 
Not sure if that’s true at the moment. I mean I would still say it’s one of my top three passions, but it’s been off my passion-radar for a season…
Then Lynn (my wife) brought me a plan for us — the Calvary family — to invest 21 days of prayer into PSU.
Then Mike Hulson (my assistant) sat down in my office to talk to me about a conviction God is putting on his heart about men getting together to pray.
Then Chris Heinz (a Calvary teammate) asked me to share with you a series he is doing on prayer. It’s on his blog — good stuff. He’s on post #8. Check it out here — Chris on Prayer.
Then Sarah (my daughter) wrote this amazing — I know I’m a bit prejudiced — blog post on prayer. It’s called Desires of My Heart and includes a prayer by Charles Spurgeon,
“Lord, if what I ask for does not please You, neither would it please me. My desires are put into Your hands to be corrected. Strike the pen through every petition that I offer that is not right. And put in whatever I have omitted, even though I might not have desired it had I considered it…’Not as I will, but as Thou wilt.'”
Then tonight we dedicated a new prayer cabin at Harvest Fields. About 20 people gathered and prayed, looking out over Harvest Fields and the valley. I love the fact that the first new structure built on the property is a building dedicated to prayer.
Then this weekend — as we look at the gospel of Mark — we discover a God who cannot be kept in a box. Guess what? The way to connect to this God-unleashed is through prayer.
Yeah God is trying to get my attention. A good thing. It means he isn’t through with me yet. Years ago, I was complaining to God about how hard it is to get people to pray…and He said, “Dan I will not bring a spirit of prayer to the people until you pray in private the way you talk about prayer in public.” I’m asking God to deepen my passion for prayer — personal, private, just Jesus and me, prayer — and I’m asking you to join me.
I have a deep interest in prayer. And am looking forward to more blog posts on this topic. I am also interested in learning more about the 21 days of prayer for PSU.
One of my recent struggles regarding prayer is the following: In 2005 one of my all-time-favorite students came to my office to say Good-bye–he was graduating. As we talked about his experience at PSU, he revealed that he had come to PSU a Christian, but had lost his belief. He had become an empty atheist. He was almost as sad about it as I. But he said, matter of factly, that just how it was.
I mentioned that my son would be coming to PSU in the Fall and that I hoped the same thing didn’t happen to him. My student assured me that it would. I mentioned that I REALLY hoped not and I would be praying that it didn’t. The student said, “If prayer’s all you’ve got, you don’t have enough.”
Turns out, my son’s experience at PSU was disastrous. He got into partying, failed out of college, has never claimed to have lost his Christianity, but it looks like he did.
I have grappled with this in prayer for the last few years. Sometimes I say (respectfully), “Lord, you’re going to come through for me, right? When I get to heaven, you’re not going to let Rob be there saying, ‘I told her prayer wasn’t enough.'”
I mean our faith reveals that prayer is enough. Even when it doesn’t look like it….
For me, it is a struggle not just of the mind but of the heart. Recently, however, I have been reading E.Stanley Jones on Christians and suffering. He writes on God’s delight in turning the worst into the best and through his writing God’s Spirit has infiltrated my heart with joyful anticipation and faith that He is working in Matt’s life…
But any human looking at Matt’s life right now would have to agree with Rob, “Prayer isn’t enough.”
Prayer is a mystery that I love to think about. I am looking forward to reading more of your blog posts on prayer.
Of course, the instant communication we are accustomed to seems to interfere with ability to wait for God’s answers to prayer…and just as soon as I think that God will answer a prayer the instant it forms in my mind!