Learning in Prayer

I had two different prayer experiences with events that have recently happened in my life. The first was an event I was dreading with everything in me. I could only think of all the reasons I would have a hard time with it. And some might have been legitimate concerns given my health at this time. So, I was asking the Lord for a way out of it and my dread grew worse as it approached, because it was evident I was going to go through it. After my experience – where my fears were not realized at all – I felt guilty that I had even asked the Lord to be exempt, but I am now forgiven for my lack of faith. In our Bible study, the speaker talked of it being tough to be a woman in the tight fist of fear. And that is true. But, she reminded us to not fear made-up things. And my dread of this experience in my life was made-up fear.  How much better it would have been to just trust in the Lord to go through this, no matter what it entailed. The second event was coming up and I began to feel that same sense of dread and fear arise in me – even though something different would be required of me. But, I had learned from my first experience how much better it would be to give my fears to the Lord, ask Him for His strength and courage and relax in my trust of Him.  As I asked others to pray for me, I cast my cares on Him and He gave me a peace beyond understanding and blessed my faith and trust in Him through it all. I am on a search to learn what I can about praying and trusting God with the concerns in my life and this was another step of growth for me. We humans tend to want to avoid anything uncomfortable (like my first experience) and live a life of ease and comfort. We want to view prayer as a way to escape from circumstances we want to avoid, when in reality prayer should make a difference in us and our perception of our circumstances. When we trust the Lord and let Him work through us, we grow in our faith and bring glory to Him! Philippians 4: 6 – 9 reminds us to not be anxious, but to pray and to think on things that are true and the God of peace will be with us. My second experience was in line with scripture and the outcome wonderful. As a potter molds a fine, usable vessel by endless patience and persistence, I want the Lord to mold me as He proves himself faithful in my life experiences, into someone He can use to energize others to trust in His great mercy and love.