From Pastor Gary

PARKING LOT PRAYERS

Posted on Dec 18, 2017 in From Pastor Gary, SOULJournal | 0

I pulled into the mall and started to slowly drive around praying for a parking spot. This time of year a parking spot is as elusive to find as Bigfoot. As I pulled down yet another aisle I saw the reverse lights of a car coming out so I stopped and turned on my blinkers. Thank you God, you heard my prayer. I saw the problem a little too late, the car was backing out in a way that blocked me from immediately taking the spot and in that moment another car swooped in and took the spot. I admit, I almost lost my salvation! After another five minutes of fuming and looking I finally found a spot at about the furthest spot from the mall. Honestly I came close to just saying, “Forget it, I am not going to follow through on my shopping. I am so mad and frustrated.”

I wonder if that is how Joseph and Mary must have felt. I wonder if he prayed and asked God to show him favor and allow them to find a room in the town. After all, they were doing “God’s work.” God did provide a room but not in the way that they were expecting and I wonder if they could have missed the miracle because they did not see God’s answer because it did not look like the answer they were expecting. Too often we are missing God’s answer to our prayers because it is a stable not a room. We despise His answer and turn away from it and miss out on the amazing things that happen because we simply trusted and enjoyed the journey.

SAVORING

Philippians 1:9-11 (NIV) ⁹And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, ¹⁰ so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, ¹¹ filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ–to the glory and praise of God.
Romans 8:28-38