Walking by Faith, Not by Sight

“For we walk by faith, not by sight.” -2 Corinthians 5:7b. (ESV)

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”  -Psalm 46:1. (ESV)

“Be still and know that I am God.” –Psalm 46:10a (ESV)

Today in a quiet time I took two of my old prayer journals from my bookshelf and read through entries I had posted ten or more years ago.  What did I pray for then, and how were the prayers answered?

You can be assured that these journals show the results of my pouring out my heart to God. In my private writing of prayers about matters that both troubled me and about people for whom I was genuinely concerned, I bared my heart in earnest petition to Almighty God.

Since these journal entries are now history, you might wonder were the prayers answered.  I can say, assuredly, that every prayer was indeed answered.  In the way I prayed?  Certainly not always, but in God’s mercy and forbearance, He brought me, as He so adequately promises in His word, to the place of acceptance and understanding of His will. 

Did I sometimes suffer sorrow and disappoint that I had rather have escaped?  Certainly.  But as I read the answers, I noted that any dread or anticipation I had of how I might walk through the valley of the shadow of death had been removed.  He was always beside me, lending the strength and succor I needed.

On occasion I was praying for persons going through serious illness and even facing death. Among them were myself on occasion, friends and especially my dear husband who was very ill for many years.  Did my prayers add days to their lives or bring them back to better health?  Sometimes, yes, sometimes, no.  But even in the death of those who were called from this world, there was a sense of victory and rejoicing, for most of them were Christians and faced death without fear.  In their dying I learned more about both life and death. 

On prayer, Charles H. Brent wrote, “Intercessory prayer might be defined as loving our neighbor on our knees.”  The Psalmist wrote, “I love the Lord because He hears my prayers and answers them.”  (Psalm 116:1).  Reading entries from my prayer journals increased my assurance that “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1)

Reading, several years later, I would not have remembered certain incidents without the journal entry.  I put an entry about a man who asked me in the grocery store one day for some money to buy food.  I was able to help him buy some already prepared food that I prayed would assuage his hunger, at least temporarily.  I told him where our town’s soup kitchen was located and directed him there on the day it was open.  I was able to witness to him briefly about the love of Christ for everyone and asked him if he were a Christian.  His answer was not one of assurance of salvation.  I entered  the incident in my prayer journal.  I have not seen the man again.  I hope that brief encounter helped him at least to be aware that God loved him and that the food I bought him that day was given in compassion.

Corrie ten Boom is quoted in many of the brief quotations printed in the particular prayer journal I was using one year.  She wrote: “An important thing to remember when praying is that Jesus is our Advocate before the Father.  When we begin or end our prayers with ‘in the name of Jesus,’ it is just as if Jesus Himself is saying, ‘Father, this is a prayer from your beloved child.’ ”

And I had not omitted thanksgiving in the journal entries.  Certainly, prayer helps us “walk by faith and not by sight.”  Ever, there should be a thread of thanks.     –Ethelene Dyer Jones. 08.23.2015