Written by: Don Poest, retired pastor of KHUSA partner church, Brunswick Reformed Church, in Brunswick, OH
I grew up on a small dairy farm in Western Michigan. In the summertime, when often there would be a lack of sufficient rainfall for the crops, our church would hold special prayer meetings to ask God to bless the land with rain. My parents would attend, and my brother and I would be taken along.
My parents were deeply rooted in their faith and in their belief in prayer. They never missed these special prayer meetings. So my father was indicting himself as well as others when he made a comment on the way home from one such meeting that I’ve never forgotten. “We all came to pray for rain,” he said, “but none of us brought an umbrella.” They certainly were not demonstrating the kind of faith Jesus affirmed in the Roman centurion as recorded in Luke 7:1-10.
When Jesus had finished saying all this to the people who were listening, he entered Capernaum. There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, “This man deserves to have you do this, 5 because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue. So Jesus went with them.
He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.
Luke 7:1-10
I’ve remembered those words often through the years, especially in those times when I’ve prayed for someone without really believing God would do what we wanted him to do. My model has more often been the man whose words are recorded in Mark 9:24: “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”
Since you’ve agreed to be a prayer partner, I suspect you may have more confidence in the power of prayer than many do. I hope so! So pray for your child and his/her mentor expectantly. Pray for yourself and others this Advent season with confidence. Don’t be surprised when God shows up in unexpected ways. And don’t lose patience when God’s timing is different than your timing. Just keep praying. But don’t forget to bring your umbrella!
Lord, thank you for the privilege I have of communing with you through prayer. Guide me by your Holy Spirit to pray according to your will. And give me the courage to pray with boldness, bringing my umbrella with me. Through Christ I pray. Amen.