羊的门重新开了。

Last Sunday evening service in St John's Westwood, Sister Pipper was preaching about prayer. One of the hardest thing for a Christian about prayer is the fact that our prayers have not always been answered, or not always been answered in the way we are expecting. It is true that prayer is not just simply asking favour from God, but communication. However, not every one can hear or get what the Lord says and build up a both way communication. So a lot of time, praying is a lonely business. Loneliness is one of the most negative emotion we could experience. When we feel lonely when we pray, we would doubt if our prayer is making any sense, or if the Lord is really listening to us and caring about us. These experiences make our praying really difficult.

To make the praying even harder? Have a life-long prayer. Sister Pipper told a story. A mother has been praying that her son would turn to the Lord and enjoy the same love and joy from the Lord for the whole life. Eventually her prayer was answered, but on the very day after her funeral ceremony. I heard another fabulous story. A Christian insurance salesman passed by a house when he was working. He suddenly had the strong feeling that he was going to knock that door. But it would not involve an insurance business, but the Lord was asking him to knock that door and preach the gospels. He went up to the door and knocked it with doubt after a struggle in his heart. An old man opened the door. The guy said he wants to talk about the gospel, if he is interested. Surprisingly the old man let him in. Then he sat down and talked about the gospel for an hour. Then the old man cried and committed to the faith. Then the old man went into the kitchen, the man followed, he saw the old man kneeled down and hugged another even older woman and cried. The sales man knew the story later on that the old woman in the kitchen is the old man's mother, who has been praying for her son's converting for the whole life.

Praying with no answer is hard. The same prayer for the whole life is even harder. But, what else could be better than a life-long prayer for us to express our love and care?

Lord I pray that my girlfriend Sarah and my mother can experience your love, your grace and your mighty power. I pray that they would enjoy your endless love and care, turn to you, and share the eternal life with me. This prayer I would keep for my whole life. Amen.