“Your nose! There’s something wrong with it!” one exclaimed in shock.
“What?” The other party panicked. “What’s wrong with my nose?” They touched their face tenderly, reassured to find their nose still attached.
“Well,” began the first person “it’s in my business! Get your nose out of my business!”
A benefit of persistent prayer is that it shifts our focus. The more time we spend with God, the better we’re able to focus on the right things.
When faced with an unenjoyable chore, we sometimes seek out distractions. Like, working on ourselves, for instance. Facing our fears, learning to trust God and submitting certain habits to Him are challenging. It’s much easier to notice the struggles other face and focus on what appears to be happening to them.
Except we’re not living someone else’s life. We’re living our own. God has a personal relationship with everyone. It’s not our place to question God about what’s happening with someone else. We only see one small glimpse at their story. We don’t see the inner workings of their heart. We don’t have a complete understanding of the circumstances that led to a particular moment and the resulting reaction.
What we do have a fuller understanding of us ourselves. We know what God is telling us and what He’s trying to tell us. Sometimes we miss His message; sometimes we outright ignore His message because we’re not ready for what’s ahead.
When we find ourselves seeking distraction, give it to God. Let’s ask Him to redirect our attention to Him and to give us the courage we need to listen to His words and follow through on what He’s asking. Let’s also remember to pray for each other. Pray that those we wonder about would experience the love of God and the benefits of persistent prayer.
{Find the other posts in this series on persistent prayer here.}
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Sabrina Jacques-Rowe
Communication Leader
Henderson Highway Church