More Than I Could Ask or Think

I have been meditating on how small I pray in light of how mighty God is.  Let me explain what I mean.  From the beginning of Dennis’ battle with cancer, I have prayed for time – that Dennis would beat the horrible statistics on this cancer and live and be one of those rare long-term survivors – and I have prayed that the tumor would not return – ever.  Very reasonable prayers that I think anyone who claims Christ would pray for someone they love who is battling a deadly illness.  They are reasonable and actually, they are asking for something beyond what would normally be expected by human standards. 

But recently, I have been convicted of how very small my view of God is in these prayers.  Yes, God can answer those prayers and it would be amazing BUT He is God .  He can not only prevent the tumor from returning and give Dennis a long time to live; but is He not able to do far more than that?  You see, God is not limited to simply maintaining where Dennis is right now, He is able to do far more.  He can fully restore.  We see this power on display on several occasions in Scripture.  Job, after having faced incredible loss was fully restored two fold.  When Jesus healed, he not only healed but on one occasion the Scriptures tell us the leprosy was gone and the skin renewed as a child’s skin would be.

You see, I believe I am guilty of praying within what I see possible rather than saying, “God, please heal Dennis completely and restore him fully.”  This reflects what Ephesians 3:20-12 says, “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen."

As I was meditating on how small I pray, I remembered a message I heard on this passage and re-listened to it.  In it, Priscilla Shirer suggested that prayers should be more like this, “Lord, please restore Dennis completely or even beyond that to encompass more than I can even imagine you can do.”  Whether or not God chooses to heal and restore Dennis is part of God’s sovereign plan for our lives.  We don’t see the full picture of how He is working in our lives but He does tell us as his children to ask Him for our needs.  I’m going to do that.  I don’t want my faith or my prayers to be small.  I want to see God continue to work in our lives in ways beyond what we could ever imagine.  We have already seen that in so many ways this year and believe God will continue to do far more than I can even imagine.