A couple of days ago, a friend and I were driving to a church where parking was limited. There was a lay-by opposite and as we were driving through the rain, my friend prayed for a parking space. I told her I didn’t think it worked like that. I think God was trying to teach me something…
As we approached, someone got in their car and left. It was the spot furthest from the church, but it was somewhere to park and unload. While we were parking, someone else got in their car further down, much closer to the church. So we hopped a long and parked there instead. We didn’t just get one parking space, we got two! God gave us more than we asked for.
This was a lesson to me. It’s something silly really, a parking space. It seems sort of flippant to ask for something so unimportant in the grand scheme of things when there is so much pain in the world. I know I have prayed for things and not seen results. I know I am still waiting to see answers to some of my prayers. So why did a prayer for a parking space lead to a choice of two places to park?
Jesus teaches that we should have faith like that of a child. Jesus also says we should ask for anything and it is the Father’s pleasure to give it to us.
I’m not trying to make light of it, quite the opposite. It is easy to think some of the things we want are not important and so censor our prayers. It’s easy to take a look at the world and think it would be selfish to pray for ourselves. It is easy to get discouraged when we don’t see results from our prayers. But it’s not about us.
The point of prayer is to leave things in the hands of the Father. Its an act of faith, and symbol of trust. When the bible says to pray for everything, it means everything. Big things and small things, parking spaces and peace. Then we have to trust in the one we have prayed to to act out what is best for us. Sometimes we won’t understand, sometimes we may get frustrated at the answer (or seeming lack of answer) but that is when faith is most important.
I found this an encouragement to me, and maybe a light reproach – I shouldn’t limit God, I shouldn’t censor my prayers. I can pray about everything, I can ask for anything. The real question is do I trust God? Will I leave things in his hands and trust his answer is the right one for that situation without needing to understand straight away? Will I trust God with the big things and the little things, the good things and the bad things, the happy and the painful? Or will I make decisions on his behalf about what he wants to hear about?
It’s not always easy to be persistent in prayer, but God is good and sometimes we just have to have faith in that as we look around at the world and our hearts break at the pain or our anger burns at the injustice. And we have to keep praying for results. But we also need to remember it’s also OK to pray for parking spaces.
Philippians 4:6-7
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus
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