Category Archives: Prayer

Anytime, Anywhere, and Always

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AslanMost of us have read The Chronicles of Narnia series written by C.S.Lewis. Although the major players in these fantasies are 4 sibling children, the real star is a male lion named Aslan.

My favorite line from the books is a 5-word statement that recurs throughout the series: “Aslan is on the move.”

In the storyline, once the big lion has begun to move, all kinds of impressive things begin happening, positive things that defy logic and bring delightful consequences. The lion has supernatural power over everything from relationships to the weather, and the children learn to put their fear of him aside and trust him.

Aslan dies.

When they discover that Aslan’s enemies have bound him and tortured him, they hide in the bushes, frightened and in deep distress over his suffering. As he is killed, their grief escalates, but the next day they realize their beloved Aslan has come back to life! Their joy knows no bounds.

In the Lewis allegory, Aslan parallels the character of Christ, who sacrificed his own life for another motivated purely by love. Once resurrected, the lion is again “on the move,” and eventually his good conquers all evil.

When I hear that statement, “Aslan is on the move,” I think of the way God answers prayer. Let’s say that back in 1986 I begin to pray for someone I dearly love, to commit her life to Christ.

Many years pass as I pray, and my friend evidences no changes in her beliefs or behaviors. She has zero interest in spiritual things. Eventually, as lack of an answer discourages me, my prayers for her wane, and by 2002, I table that particular request altogether. “I guess it’s not meant to be,” I think.

Then, in 2006, taking me by surprise, my friend begins asking questions about the Bible, suddenly interested in what Scripture has to say. I think, “Aslan is on the move!” I might even speak that sentence out loud thinking, “God has finally decided to answer my prayers of 20 years ago!”

In reality, he began to move way back in 1986 with the first voicing of my very first prayer about my friend. Though I didn’t see any outward evidence of change, he began creatively shaping circumstances, rearranging the details of that woman’s life, and bringing along situations that would challenge her toward faith.

In the Narnia story, Aslan’s arch-enemy is a witch who tries to work her magic on him, but his response is profound: “There is a magic deeper still the Witch does not know.”

Trust

Of course Christ’s power has nothing to do with magic and everything to do with him being God Almighty, but the principle is the same: with his unmatched supremacy he can overcome evil with good anywhere, anytime, and always.

And incredibly, he often begins the process by responding to our prayers.

“I am the Alpha and Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” (Revelation 1:8)  

Dream a Little Dream

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Some of us have had our dreams come true, and many have had dreams that haven’t. A few of those unrealized dreams have been secrets, hopes we quietly nurtured without telling anyone. When it became clear those dreams had died, we suffered in silence, since no one knew.

Other dashed dreams are shared with others because they can’t be hidden: a pink slip at work, an abandoned home, a soldier without a limb, a divorced couple. Yet nothing discourages us from dreaming.

Sometimes it’s hard to tell if our dreams are coming or going. Maybe they’re doing both. As Pastor Colin Smith says, “The home where you live is yours for a time. The work that you do is yours for a time. The people you love are yours for a time. One day, your home will be lived in by others. One day, your work will be continued by others. One day, your money will belong to others.”

Dreams.

Even in our dreaming we need to remember that old adage, “The only constant is change.” Nurturing dreams is probably a good thing, though, as long as we keep them in a proper perspective. Do we absolutely have to have a dream fulfilled before we can be happy? Or do we hold it lightly and tell the Lord, “It’s really up to you.” And then, after a dream comes true but eventually goes through a change, do we erupt in anger?

Some of us have dreamed of future scenarios that, had we been given them, might have been our undoing. Looking backwards, we see that and are thankful God prevented them from coming true.

So how are we to dream with wisdom? I think the only sure-fire way is to do it through questions. Questions addressed to God:

“My heart desires such-and-such, Lord, but is this something you want for me?” Or, “All I can think about is x-y-z, but if you want me to fill my mind with something other than that, would you please let me know what it is?” Or, “I’ve earmarked my bank account for this-or-that, but did you have a different idea for that money?”

I believe God is honored when we ask him questions, as long as we open our “ears to hear” his responses and then heed them. I also believe he will definitely respond, which is where dreaming-wisdom comes in. If one of our dreams is realized because God is behind it, we can be sure it’ll be every bit as satisfying as we’d hoped. But if it’s something we want that he doesn’t think is good for us, we can be sure the uphill battle we fight to make it happen won’t deliver the pleasure-pay-off we thought it would.

“God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.” (Ephesians 3:20, The Message)

Generational Faith

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Since the Garden of Eden, God’s heart has been filled with love for humankind, unshakeable, unmatched, supernatural love. He loves as if we are worthy of it, despite knowing full well the details of why we’re not. But through the generations his love hasn’t wavered. He’s given us his very best by offering his own Spirit to us, not just to live with us but to live within us.

This is a love-gift beyond measuring or, for that matter, beyond understanding.

Records.

In studying my family history, I’ve seen this practical gift lived out in the lives of one Spirit-filled generation praying for another, someone somewhere being sure God was listening and would answer.

As my father, Carl Johnson, grew up, his father Carl Johansson, was praying for him (yesterday’s blog). Reading further, I saw evidence that Carl Johansson’s father, Johannes Andersson, had prayed for his son, too. The notes attached to his genealogy say, “He trusted God and bent his knees praying to Him every day.”

Johannes’ son remembered listening to his father sing hymns and read psalms aloud, as well as watching him study a calendar with biblical passages ascribed to every day of the year. Toward the end of his life Johannes helped plan an evangelistic outreach in Sweden called Mission-house but was able to attend only one meeting before “he left his life on earth” at the age of 62.

This man had two children by his first wife, who died shortly after giving birth to their second child. With his second wife he had six more, and these children testified that as their father aged, he told them, “Take care of your house, because you will have to die.” Of course he was referring to the house of personhood, that they ought to live uprightly, because one day they’d have to give an account of themselves to God.

Johannes Andersson was living for the Lord even after he’d encountered intense sorrow in losing his young wife to death and later two of his other children as well. His faithful servanthood was evident to the end, however. After entering into his final illness, he had been attending a prayer meeting one night when he didn’t come home on schedule. His family was worried, knowing he was close to death, until he finally walked in after midnight.

Instead of going directly home, he’d walked to a relative’s home to work at reconciling two extended family members who hadn’t been getting along. Apparently he succeeded, because the genealogy notes mention the two women taking his advice and calling it “good.”

One week later, his son said, “My father’s life ended in peace,” and we know why. He’d embraced Christ as Savior while still a youngster, and why was that? Because one more generation back, someone had been praying for him in the power of God’s Spirit… just as someone has lovingly prayed for you and me.

“Know that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations.” (Deuteronomy 7:9)