Giving God Credit

The nice thing about having the green eyeshades of a prayer notebook is that you can debit God with prayers, and then credit Him for His answers. This is what I do with mine.

I pray the prayers He gives me. I put down the date I pray each prayer. Then I watch with “the telephoto lenses of the serious naturalist” that is given to me by prayer. And then, miracle of miracle, I see a prayer answered. And when I do, I turn to that prayer in my prayer notebook and put an “A” with a circle around it next to the last date I prayed that prayer.

Depending on how stunning I find the answer to be, I will put exclaimation marks next to the “A.” “A!” “A!!” “A!!!” “A!!!!” etc. If it is something I want to remember and memorialize, I will write a brief note about what the answer was. If it is a prayer for a specific thing that got an answer, I move the page to the section of the notebook I’ve tabbed “Answers,” so that it remains in a “book of memorial.” If it is an answer to a continuing prayer (say for strength to get through the day), I mark down the “A!” and thank God for the answer, and then ask Him to continue to answer it, and then lay down that date for the next answer. Needless to say, I thank God for every “A” He shows me I can mark down.

Now, some of you may be reading this just now and getting a quesy feeling about my level of sanity. So I will give you a concrete example of this process from my prayer notebook.

This example comes from when I was further along in concrete prayer so that I could indulge myself in prayers that required a little more of “the evidence of things not seen” (Heb 11:1) than my earlier efforts. My prayer was based on:

1 Tim 2:1-2

1 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;

2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.

(KJV)

This is the prayer I have that is based on the verse above, which I keep in one of the Rounds:

“Please grant wisdom and divine guidance to:

[my home owners association.]

The Mayor.

The County Executive

The Governor

The President

All our elective asemblies of legislatiion.

All our judges.

UN officials.

World leaders.

International Tribunals of Justice.

All our military leaders and officers.

And all voters everywhere in the world.“

This prayer used to be shorter, and reached only to “UN officials.” You’ll note that it seems like an airy-fairy prayer. Indeed it could have been one, except for the fact that I recorded the date whenever I said this prayer, and I expected it to be answered in some concrete way.

Then one day, when I was house-sitting for my sister again, and I was flipping through the channels on her cable hook-up. I came accross a C-SPAN broadcast of a speech given by the man who had been in charge of distributing the funds of the federal fund for the compensation of the victims of 9-11 and their families. I was profoundly struck by the seriousness, sagacity, and astute wisdom of this man as he went about explaining how he went about dealing with enormous tragedy, heartbreak, and pain in terms of monetary compensation.

And I immediately realized that this synchronicity of my prayer and this C-SPAN broadcast was an A!!!! on the prayer above. The answer gave me the encouragement to keep this prayer in my Round.

Later on, I ran into a website on the UN International Tribunal for the trying of Rwandan govenment officials for crimes against humanity during the Rwandan genocide. I was profoundly impressed by the legal documents I saw there. I was impressed that every measure was taken to see that no further injustice was done while bringing justice. It was very much in the spirit of: “avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.” (Rom. 12:19, KJV)

So I added world leaders and International Tribunals of Justice to my list. The war in Iraq lead me to add in our military leaders. And the recent “revolution of the purple finger” in Iraq led me to add in “all voters everywhere in the world.”

Thank Page

Ps 103:1-2

1 Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.

2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:

(KJV)

Beside having Request pages in my prayer notebook (where I request things for myself) and Supplication pages (which I request things for those I know), and Forgiveness pages, I also have Thank pages. I thank God for every benefit I daily get from Him. I believe it helps me make up for those times when I forget to say grace before eating, and other rudenesses to God like that.

Here is my thank page.

“I thank you for: The roof over my head. The food I’ve eaten. The entertainments I’ve had. The books I’ve read. The car I drive. The scenery I’ve seen. The money I’ve earned and spent. The parents and family I have. The friends I’ve had and have now. The games I’ve played. For answered prayer and contemplation of Thyself. For education and for blogging.

And for what I can’t remember to thank you for.”

Likely there are many, many other things missing from this list, but I add them as He reminds me of what they are.