Changing the Way we Pray.

Today while in the car ride to lunch after church, my mom was telling me about the sermon she heard in her fellowship group Gracelife.  Don Green taught this morning on Proverbs 3:5-6, which read

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart
       and lean not on your own understanding;

 in all your ways acknowledge him,
       and he will make your paths straight."

Although i did not hear the whole sermon, my moms recap was amazing, and really changed the way i will look at things from now on.  She spoke about how often when we are going through a trial, or dealing with unsaved and unrepentant people in our lives, and how we pray for their salvation and that they would come to know the Lord.  When she said this i immediately thought about how i pray about the certain trials in my life right now. And praying for that unsaved persons salvation was definitely number one on my list.  But as she kept explaining the sermon, she said that praying for their salvation shouldn't be our first response. If your'e like me you're probably thinking "HUH?" right now. But she said that theres a possibility that the people who we are struggling with, or who are causing us great heartache, aren't going to be saved, and will never repent. And if we're so focused on that person coming to Christ, but in His sovereign plan, they never do repent, we can end up feeling let down, or like God didn't pull through.  Then she explained how truly trusting God is looking ahead and to the whole picture, praying for his will to be done, trusting wholly on his faithfulness and holiness, and to not be so wrapped up in someone coming to Christ that we forget; that may not be Gods plan! For me this truly hit home. I have been going through trials in which my main prayer is that the other person would get saved. But now i see how truly trusting God isn't relying on my own solution to the problem. Not to be misunderstood, we DEFINITELY should be praying for those people in our lives who are not repentant, and asking the Lord to save them from the fallen world we all are born into, BUT we should, more importantly trust in the Lords plan and not relying on that persons eventual salvation. I hope i explained this clearly enough, and I'm very sorry if i didn't! The whole conversation really made me think, and will change the way i pray during trials! Our God is so faithful!

".....The LORD is faithful in all his words 

and kind in all his works."

Psalm 145:13b