Lessons From Granny

"But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." Matthew 6:6

This Scripture isn't about God being a vending a machine. "Ok, I'm going to pray just so God will bless me."

No, the reward we get from praying is God talking back.

The other night, I was looking for batteries. I decided to look through my bedside table. I have so many old treasures I had forgotten about.

One of them was my Granny's notebook. It's so awesome to see her handwriting. She loved God. She was my mom's mom. In April of 2000 she was killed in a car accident. I hate that my kids never got to know her.

I wanted to share something she wrote.

"Dr. J. Vernon McGee Prayer"

"Waiting for God to answer prayers teaches us to SIT STILL, STAND STILL, and BE STILL. God answers all prayers. It is a paradyme. If the prayer request is wrong, God says "NO". If the timing is wrong, God says, "SLOW". And if all three of these are right, God will say, "GO".

Woodrow Kroll

We need to go to the Lord with specific prayer requests. Don't beat around the bush. Tell God exactly what's on your mind. Say it just exactly like you would say it to another friend. The secret to prayer is:

1. Start with God
2. State request clearly
3. Always submit yourself to God
4. Trust and Believe in God - rely on Him to answer

Rely completely on God. No plan B or C.God seems to completely move on our behalf when we trust Him."

What I see here is that my Granny was learning about prayer. Even at whatever age she was when she wrote this, she was still learning and growing in the Lord.

We should be that way too.

And she was learning about prayer. How awesome is that?

I remember one of the ways she used to give advice was by buying us books. One year for Christmas, she gave us all The Power of  Praying Wife and Praying Parent books. She wrote in the front and said something about how old she was and that she was learning about prayer. She thought the books were great and wanted us to have them.

I pray that I am like her when I get older. I hope that people can see Christ in me. I hope my children and Grandchildren will called me blessed and love me still.

But more important than that... I hope I'm learning and growing for God still.

Do you have any grandparents that were influential in your life? Tell me about them. I'd love to hear.

God bless you today and always.