“When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. ‘Lord,’ he said, ‘my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Shall I come and heal him?’ The centurion replied, ‘Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.’ When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, ‘Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ Then Jesus said to the centurion, ‘Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.’ And his servant was healed at that moment.” [Matthew 8:5-13]

There is literally so much power in prayer. I’m still not fully comfortable in prayer. I’m not the type to pray out loud with others around. I pray out loud when I’m on my own. I see prayer as a form of communication with God. I like to keep it one on one most of the time. There is so much power in just talking to God. Sometimes He wants us to just talk to Him and have a casual conversation about what is going on in our lives. Sometimes He wants us to listen to what He has to say about what is going on our life.

There are certain situations that we are supposed to pray about and other situations where we are literally just supposed to act on them. But then, as a human, there is only so much one can do. I cannot create a change of heart in my lost friends. Only God has the power to do that. All I can do is love them unconditionally and show them that a life serving God is the best. My pastor mentioned at this Sunday’s service, “Intercede, invest, and invite.” I have to pray for them on their behalf. I have to invest my time and money to showing them real love. I have to invite them to come to know God like I do. That’s literally all I can do. The rest is up to God and my friends to decide.

No matter how far away from God my friends are, God still meets them where they are. No matter how close I am to God, He still meets me where I am. That is love. It is meeting the other person where they are at. None of that meet me halfway. None of that 50/50 amount of effort. It doesn’t work like that. The truth is one person is always putting in more work than the other. It can alternate in a human relationship, but never with Jesus. He always puts in the most effort. It’s not that we don’t love Him enough, it’s just we aren’t the essence of love like He is. He is capable of more and that’s what He wants to show us. It’s up to us to see and reciprocate that love. He’s always going to love us no matter how far we get.

Prayer is that way of reciprocating. It is coming into contact with Him. It’s putting the effort we should be. It’s giving Him all of us. Completely undone. Completely vulnerable. It’s letting Him have His way in my life. Prayer changes lives. It changes my own life and the lives I pray for. Prayer and action are the only ways we’ll see transformation and resolution in our lives.

Father, for months I have been praying to You not only about drawing me closer to You, but also drawing my loved ones’ lives closer to You. I want them to know You like I know You. I want to be able to freely share all You have done in my life with them. May I hold no reservations when it comes to Your things. I will not stop praying for their lives. I will not stop loving them. I pray my love for them grows more and more. Use me to draw them near to You. May I grow bolder and courageous. I never want to disown You. I never want to reject You. Life with You is ten times better. I pray for Your strength when I grow weak. When I feel like my efforts aren’t enough or even being recognized. You notice my efforts. You notice my sacrifice. One day, there will be break through. This isn’t the final destination for myself or my loved ones. In Your name, I pray. Amen.