One of the discussion points was praying audaciously with an expectation of results. At the end of the meeting, I challenged the group to pray audaciously as we shared our prayer requests and then live in a way that expects results...5 Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; 6 a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ 7 And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ 8 I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity[e] he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.9 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for[f] a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
A little background: One of the people in my group, Lizzie, has been my running partner for the past six months and I started running with, Chase, another of the group members last week.
The next morning I was meeting with Lizzie and Chase. I arrived and Lizzie was there. When Chase didn't show up, we started running around the parking lot while waiting. After a few minutes, I sent a text to make sure Chase was still planning to come...no response. Eventually we decided to run part of our route.
When we arrived back to the parking lot, Chase was there. Even though time was tight, we decided to run a little bit more and called him over to join us. As soon as he joined us, he asked, "Do you have my phone?" He couldn't find his phone and he had been delayed looking for it and had finally come, hoping that I had found it (the small group meets at my house). I had not, so I called home to have Thomas look for it, but he didn't see it among the chaise or couch cushions. So as we completed our run, I prayed out loud, "God, help us find this phone! We really need it to show up."
So I headed home with Chase following me. He was hoping that the phone would be on the side of the road where he had parked the night before. I kept thinking about all the kids who walked down the road on their way to one of the two schools in the neighborhood...
When we arrived back to the house, Chase started looking along the road and I went to check inside again. He quickly came in...no phone! I decided to just remove all the cushions to check there again. Chase started to insist that was unnecessary...and then we saw it...his phone.
God answered our prayer and we celebrated! I loved the way God had brought us on this journey. We talked about praying audaciously and expecting an answer with the whole group and then God gave the three of us that were meeting together for a run the opportunity to practice it the next morning. God was faithful and the phone was found. The story was shared with the whole group, and now with you.
Have you ever talked about some section of scripture and then seen it applied almost immediately in your life? I feel like it happens all the time when I engage with God and others, how about you? I would love to hear your stories.
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