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Moving Mountains? What’s the Limit? 24MAY

I wonder. I wonder many things but I wonder why I wonder if God puts limits on the number of mountains he will move for you – probably not – but it’s a valid question…

I wonder if collective prayers work better than single prayers – and I wonder why sometimes we get caught up in praying for OUR will, and instead pray for GOD’S will…  even Jesus had to admit that his future was up to God –  Matt 26:39 “But do what YOU want, not what I want.”…

So, “Everything is possible if you believe”  my new bumper sticker says… “Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Mark 19:26

An unusual occurrence for me this past Sunday,  and I wondered about the limit of moving mountains because someone visiting our church was asking everyone to pray for a very unusual occurrence…  Hmmm…  she really asked and asked for prayers – was probably there for at least an hour… moving person to person… she kept asking and asking….

I had genuine concern – but also I couldn’t help but wonder about my own motivation as I assessed the situation and my time schedule…  My brain was balancing her concerns and my concerns about how do I deal with this situation.  In this instance I could have easily said: “I got to run” but that was not what my responsibility was at that moment …it was a REAL request for help in the form of prayer… I was mixed on what to do but I decided to stay and rally the troops for a big prayer…   Were my prayers directed ok?  Were they on target or confused since I was still thinking about my time crunch?  Was God going to get mixed messages from me? or were my mixed prayers (some for her, some for us, some for me) enough? that sounds terrible to say – of course ALL prayers are what God listens to…and He knew my motivations while I was mixed up in my own head…

But that’s the crux of the issue…  are prayers enough?… We might say it but do we REALLY believe that ALL things are possible?  All those gathered there are dear friends of mine and have been crucial in my own faith journey – one afterwords sent me this scripture from Mark 11: 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours…”  This scripture and this unusual situation brings up an age old question: Do I truly believe – in a specific manner –  that God can move the mountains in HER life which were really unknown to me – but seemed insurmountable at that moment – Would this be possible from JUST from my belief? Why would I doubt? Did I spoil the whole cart with my doubt? I will never know.

People say that God answers all prayers and sometimes he says “No” – so that seems a valid thought… Normal questions are like “what’s your plan God? why now?  why is this person/situation in my path today? why do I get to choose to either ignore the situation or pay attention to it?”  What am I supposed to do when I have hundreds of these requests filling my plate?  This was actually the second person who asked me that day to ask to pray for them… and the first time I had to acknowledge, pray quickly and move on because I was running late…. hmmm….

So – how many mountains can you move for me, God?  is there a limit per day?   she asked me to pray for her everyday, do I roll her prayer up with everyone else I pray for – a big group prayer???…

God knows better than I do where to draw the line…  praying to God for discernment has been my prayer throughout time…  still praying that…

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Mark 11:22-24New International Version (NIV)

22 “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. 23 “Truly[a] I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them.24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.