United Fresno

I sleep through breakfast a lot. Actually, if I’m not careful, I tend to skip a lot of meals because I’m so into something. I end up paying for it later because I feel so hungry that I eat a huge meal that puts me into a food coma. So, yeah, I’m used to skipping meals; but not for the reasons that we are doing it this week.

In that passage in Chronicles, God tells Solomon that His people need to humble themselves, but they also need to “pray and seek [His] face.” This calling is a little more subtle. We need to be intentional about making time and taking time to pray and seek God’s face. Is it really possible for a whole city like Fresno/Clovis to be changed by God’s redemptive work? That’s a fair question. I think that the best way that it can happen, though, is if Jesus’ followers hit their knees and intentionally seek the face of God.

What does prayer accomplish? Well, here are a few things that I have discovered over the past few months as I’ve been trying to mature in how I go about intentionally praying. Prayer is an opportunity to praise God. Prayer is an opportunity to realign my will with God’s will. Prayer is an opportunity to ask in faith for God to move in others’ lives and our lives. Prayer is an opportunity to confess our sin and be made clean before our Father. Prayer is a time of examination of our hearts— seeing if perhaps there are places where we are holding onto grudges against other people. Prayer is a time to ask God to remove temptations. Prayer is a time to ask for safety from the evil one. There is a lot there. There is more than that.

My day sometimes goes by and I realize that I skipped a meal. My stomach grumbles, maybe I have a headache, or maybe I’m just irritable. Do we experience those same soul grumblings in our life when we don’t seek God? I think this is why fasting helps remind us to seek God’s face.

Are you spending real quality time in prayer, or is more like “God, um, uh, thank You for this day. I pray that, uh, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…”? You pray while you fall asleep. You pray on the fly. You pray while you are distracted. I would encourage you to follow what God calls Solomon and the people of Israel to do— pray and seek God’s face.

“Father, I praise You for all that you have done in my life: ____________. Father, I know that there are areas of my life that I feel really strongly about what should happen or what I should do (like _____________); but I pray that Your will is done in those situations. Father, I pray for people in my life: ___________. Father, I also have things that I strongly desire in my own life: __________. Father, forgive me for ____________ (be specific). Father, I pray that you would examine my heart and reveal to me any unforgiveness towards others that’s buried in there. Father, I pray that You would remove the traps and temptations in my life: ___________. Father, I understand that You have a will for my life; but I also understand that the evil one does as well. Father, protect me from his plans. Help me to be attentive to Your Spirit throughout my day. Amen.”