I'm in the midst of my 5th summer season in Ibiza, and no matter how much I think I've learned, there's always more. The thing that drew me to Ibiza initially was prayer. I was at a place in my life where my passion for prayer was growing, and I knew that it was a big part of the work out here.
When we're out on in the west end at night, we work in this rhythm where you're out on the streets for an hour, and then in the prayer room for an hour. I've always loved both aspects of the work, the streets and prayer. But this season my eyes have really been opened to just how connected the two are.
I've had some nights in the prayer room where I've felt led to pray for something, and then I step out on the streets the next hour and walk right into a situation that is exactly what I was praying about. One of the girls I work with prayed something specific in the prayer room and when it was her hour out on the streets she got into a conversation with someone who then proceeded to word for word say her prayer back to her!
Seeing God move so quickly fills me with such faith! It also reminds me that God is here. He's present and he's listening. I think sometimes we pray like God has some sort of prayer answering machine.
It's as if we believe that when we pray, God's not actively listening. It's like we think we're leaving our prayers on his machine and he'll get back to us when he's free!
"And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for." - 1 John 5:15-16 (NLT)Truth is, God is listening. Seeing God move so clearly and quickly on the streets has filled my prayer life with such faith. Not just the faith to ask for stuff, but the kind of faith that wants to get closer to God's heart, and start praying the things I find there.
I think this idea of "God's answering machine" comes when we feel like God isn't answering our prayers quick enough. When we pray, sometimes the answer God gives us is...wait. During those tough waiting times, we need to remember that we're not on God's to-do list. He's with us in the waiting! I love Hagar's story in Genesis 16. When she was desperate and didn't know what to do, God stepped in and helped her. In verse 13 she decides to give God a new name. El Roi, which means "The God who Sees me". I love that because it reminds me that when things are going crazy in my life. God is there. He sees me.
TL:DR
Pray with Faith. God is listening, he's present. Believe that he's going to move in big ways in response to your prayers. And when God's answer to your prayer feels like it's taking a long time, remember God doesn't have an answering machine. He hears your prayers, he sees you, and he's with you in the waiting!
