9 months of Prayer

As I reflect back over the uncountable prayers I have prayed over the last nine months I realize that these prayers have changed me. Throughout my days in Egypt I would see a person, or a name would come to mind and I would pause to pray for that person. I have truly approach the throne of grace with boldness like I never have before. My faith has been tested and it has become my intimate possession through the conflicts I have endured. There is no way of knowing how my prayers impacted these individuals, but I rest in knowing that God heard them and answered them in His own perfect way. I was also comforted in knowing that hundreds if not thousands of people were praying for me while I served here in Egypt and as I stop and reflect now, I appreciate the sustaining power of intercessory prayer and how those prayers changed me and those we prayed for during Chapel.

Oswald Chambers wrote this about the purpose of prayer:

“To say that prayer changes things is not as close to the truth as saying, “Prayer changes me, and then I change things.”

 I never thought of prayer quite this way, but I believe he is absolutely right. Prayer has changed me, because God kept changing me. These prayers have not changed me externally, but have worked miracles on my inner nature. I have simply become more like Christ and that is the greatest memory and souvenir I take home from this deployment. Not even a Medal of Honor compares to that. When I depart this world, the awards and worldly accomplishments are left behind to collect dust and perish, but my soul will live on with Christ.