Praying For Change

By Javan Shashaty

This year for Christmas, my wife and I decided to surprise our two-year old son with a trampoline. I spent all day assembling it, and I was so excited about the big reveal the following morning. The look on his face when he walked outside was priceless! But then, his excitement quickly turned into panic. As he reached the top of the steep ladder and grabbed the zipper to the entrance, he started to cry. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t open the zipper to get inside and onto the trampoline. In that moment, he looked over at me and asked: “Daddy, open it for me?” Of course, I love my son so much and I want to see him jump on his brand new trampoline. So, I ran over as fast as I could and helped him in.

In Acts 16, we read the story of Paul and Silas in prison. As they begin to pray and sing to God, the prison doors flew open and everyone’s chains fell off. What a sight that must have been. But did you notice that all of this happened when they began to pray? 

The fact is Prayer Changes Things! Just like my son asked his father to open up the door to the trampoline, we can run to our Father and ask Him to open doors in our lives. And believe me, there are some doors that only God can open. No matter how hard we try, some doors can only be opened through prayer and trusting our Father. 

Throughout this plan, we will be discovering what it means to find our identity, belonging, and purpose in Christ. But before we begin, we must acknowledge that the only way this is possible is through the work of the Holy Spirit in us. He must do the work in our hearts to transform who we are from the inside out. Jesus says in John 3:6 (NIV) that “Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.” 

Take some time now and pray for the Holy Spirit to do a work in your life so that you may find your identity, belonging, and purpose only in Jesus Christ.