Mustard Seed

As I said in my previous post, last week ended pretty roughly for me. Sunday was such an amazing blessing of a day though. The day started out by leading the church in worship, then by getting to have a meal with my dad and Ashley (which has been a rare occurrence as of late due to this exam), then by heading out to PIN Ministry at the ocean front to hang out with some cool people, and ended by walking the boardwalk/going out to eat with some friends. I couldn't have asked for a better way to replenish my weary soul.

I would have to say that the best blessing didn't come until this morning just before BarBri class. A fellow alum suggested that we start a prayer group. I was able to send facebook messages to those students who had graduated from Regent, and this morning we met outside of our classroom to encourage one another in prayer. The part that inspired me the most was when I made an announcement to the class (full of people I've never met before) about the group and invited anyone who was interested to join us outside. Two people, whom I have never met before, decided to join us. I'm sure the time in prayer was a blessing for them, but for me their presence was the greatest inspiration. It reminded me what this is all about in the first place. It's not about passing, or studying the hardest. It's about faith.

I realized that last week, when I was feeling stressed or apathetic, I would throw up a quick "Hail Mary" prayer. Something along the lines of "DearGodPleaseHelpMeStudyAmen." Then I would open my eyes and expect a miracle to happen. And, of course, I would still be as sullen as ever with the mounting workload in front of me.

Today, I'm comforted knowing that the disciples had the same problem. In Matthew 17:14-20, a man asked Jesus to heal his son. The man said that the disciples weren't able to heal him when they tried. After Jesus healed the boy, the disciples asked why they weren't able to do the same. Jesus tells them, "Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you."

A faithless prayer gets a faithless response. Sometimes...ok, often, I find myself praying without the belief that God can accomplish what I'm asking for. How silly is that? Ha! God created everything...in 7 days, mind you...and I don't believe He can answer MY prayers? Jesus tells us to give faithful prayer; to realize that if we honestly know that God can accomplish what we're praying for, our asking is just a formality.