A friend posed a question last week that has challenged me ever since: "what if God said 'yes' to every prayer we prayed today? Would our neighbors or neighborhoods or nation notice? Are we praying radically?" That profound question came from prayer leader Phil Miglioratti over Facebook. I hope it's niggling at his other Facebook friends the way it's niggling at me!

I thought about the things I'd talked with God about that day. All good things. Important things. I asked Him to intervene in the needs of friends, family members, people at church, folks at work, people I minister with and to. I know He cares about each person and need I discussed with Him.

Yes, maybe people around me would be changed and take notice if God answered the prayers I prayed today, I thought. But I could be asking so much bigger! So much more! Lord, give me Kingdom-sized prayers that You are just longing to answer!

Since I read Phil's question, I've been praying a bit differently. I still pray my heart concerning the needs that are nearest to me, the people I care about the most. But then I ask God to help me look beyond my own front yard, as it were, and to see the bigger world that my prayers can impact.

It's been a good challenge for me. So now I pass it on to you: What if God said "yes" to every one of your prayers today? How much would change? Want to join me in praying more radically?

How? One morning the young man sensed God inviting him to pray a simple prayer: "Lord, is there anything You want to say to folks through me today?" Well, guess what--there was!

As he started praying that question as part of his morning going-to-work routine, each day new people would open up and share bits of their lives with this friendly baristo who served up their latte's. He'd offer to pray for them, and they'd often accept. Usually they were just simple, 30-second prayers. But God answered them and made paths to their hearts through these simple acts of love and prayer. He healed people and worked other miracles. He made Himself real to the ones that received prayer. Eventually, word traveled, and people made special trips to that Starbucks just so they could be prayed for. Over his three-year tenure, our worship leader estimated that he ministered to more that 1,100 people.

His workplace became a meeting place, where people who would never go to church could come and meet with God. And, the worship leader suggested, "Your workplace could become a meeting place, too. Perhaps God has things He wants to say to folks you encounter each day . . . through you."

Do you have prayer-and-workplace stories? If you do, please take a moment to share them with us!

I recently read that the Bible contains something like 3,294 questions. As a born question-asker myself, the idea intrigued me. So I decided to go on a lookout for questions in God's Word. Today, on Day One of my experiment, my regular Bible reading took me to Numbers 11, where Moses whines to God about the Israelites' whining. I was fascinated to see that his complaint mainly took the form of questions. Lots of them, in rapid-fire succession. In The Message version, there were seven. In other versions, they vary between five and seven. But whatever version you read, you will find Moses peppering God with questions. Here's his prayer:

Why are you treating me this way? What did I ever do to you to deserve this? Did I conceive them? Was I their mother? So why dump the responsibility of this people on me?  Why tell me to carry them around like a nursing mother, carry them all the way to the land you promised to their ancestors? Where am I supposed to get meat for all these people who are whining to me, “Give us meat; we want meat”? (MSG vss. 11-14)

Moses’ question-filled prayer started thinking about other prayer-questions in the Bible. Without even using a concordance, I can think of lots of examples: “How long, Lord?” “Should we go up against the enemy?” “Why do the nations rage?” “Will you heal my daughter?”

I’m not going to research them all now—I think I just want to enjoy them as they come up in my reading. But I’m already starting to consider theories and ask myself questions. I’m wondering how many times I ask God questions? And if I do, what kinds of questions to I ask? Are my questions complaints like Moses’ (which apparently was okay with God, by the way)? Or are they requests for information? Do I ask Him for wisdom? Or help? Or questions about who He is or what He’s like or what is on His heart?

I’m also drawing a fairly obvious but challenging conclusion: to ask a question is to invite an answer. It’s to invite conversation and dialogue. So, I’m wondering, how will He respond to me? Do I really expect Him to? What would happen if I asked God more questions than I do now?

Moses didn’t hesitate to ask, and God answered him. He reassured him, promised him help, and told him what the next steps were. Moses asked, God answered, as a man talks with his friend (Exodus 33:11). I want my prayer life to be like that. What about you?

I woke up this morning thinking of Bubble and Squeak. It was an odd but brilliant idea--the obvious solution to my nagging problem about what to bring to an Irish-themed potluck I'm attending tonight. Truth be told, I don't much care for Irish cuisine. But at the very least, my humble potato and cabbage casserole will provide us with interesting conversation as we take turns trying to guess how it got its peculiar name.

One Irish-themed thought led quickly to another and soon I was thinking along more spiritual lines. I remembered parts of the famous Breastplate of St. Patrick prayer that we'd written about in the July/August 2007 issue of Pray!. I remembered hearing about the  perils the Celtic Christians in St. Patricks time (c. 390-460) faced every single day of their lives. Praying on the armor of God was a life-and-death matter for them. 

My physical life is not on the line every day like theirs were, but I am in no less danger spiritually. Every day I need God's spiritual protection to keep me from falling into traps and snares the enemy has set all around me. So, wondering if the Holy Spirit was prompting me to pray this wonderful prayer for myself today, I looked to see if I could locate a copy of it. I was happy to find it in my friend Liz Babb's wonderful little book, Celtic Treasure: Unearthing the Riches of Celtic Spirituality (http://www.celtictreasure.blogspot.com/). I prayed it for myself for today. And I include a portion of it for you to pray for yourself in case you feel the need of a breastplate today.

I gird myself today with the power of God:

God's strength to comfort me,

God's might to uphold me,

God's wisdom to guide me,

God's eye to look after me,

God's ear to hear me,

God's word to speak for me,

God's hand to lead me,

God's way to lie before me,

God's shield to protect me,

God's angels to save me.

From the snares of the Devil,

From temptations to sin,

From all who wish me ill,

Both far and near,

Alone and with others.

May Christ guard me today

Christ behind and before me,

Christ beneath and above me,

Christ with me and in me,

Christ around and about me,

Christ on my left and my right,

Christ when I rise in the morning,

Christ when I lie down at night,

Christ in each heart that thinks of me,

Christ in each eye that sees me,

Christ in each ear that hears me.

Recently I shared with a friend about a painful time in my life when I desperately wanted God but couldn't find Him. I mean, I knew in my head that He was with me because my theology told me so. He is omnipresent. He's always with me, that's His promise. But my heart needed Him and found Him conspicuously absent.

My friend suggested we ask Jesus to assure me of His presence and tangible care for me during that hard time. And He did. It would take more words than a blog permits to describe to you how He met me and what that meant to me--so you'll just have to trust me, He did. And He brought solace to my soul.

Since last week when He assured me of His very real presence with me, I've found myself checking in with Him throughout my daily activities. I know You're here, Jesus, but where? Could You please help me see (feel, hear, sense)  You right now, in these specific circumstances? And I've been surprised at what He has done. It's not usually dramatic, but it's been sure. He's with me, and He wants me to know it.

God confirmed these things to me again this morning.  When I opened my Bible to where the bookmark was--Genesis 28--I read about Jacob when he was facing some frightening circumstances. He'd cheated his brother Esau out of both his inheritance and his blessing, and Esau was mad. Mad enough to kill him. So Jacob was running for his life. And that's when God showed up. He comforted Jacob in a dream, assured him of His ongoing presence, and blessed him. When Jacob awoke, he said, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it" (v. 16). Apparently I'm not the only one who--when I needed Him most--wasn't aware of God's presence!

Makes me wonder: How often do we feel fearful and alone when in reality God is right there, ready to bring comfort, presence, and blessing? Sometimes it takes some intense seeking and even some spiritual warfare to cut through the obstacles that keep us from finding Him in our circumstances--that was certainly true for me last week--but He is there. Whether we are aware of it or not. He's with me. He's with you. Will you call out to Him and ask Him to be a heart reality and not just theological fact?

A lot of Christian parents worry about the influence television has on their kids. But here's a way to turn that concern on its head: What if you encouraged your kids to be the influencers. Teach them how to influence television through prayer!

Last month at meetings of the National Prayer Committee I met Karen Covell, a television producer and director of the Hollywood Prayer Network. She told me about hundreds of intercessors who are literally changing Hollywood through their prayers. And many of that change-force are children and teens. The Hollywood Prayer Network produces monthly prayer calendars for children and teens to help them pray specifically for the people and events that shape television and the silver screen. For instance, this week children are encouraged to pray for Johnny Depp as he stars in the new Alice in Wonderland movie. And teens are encouraged to pray for those participating in the Winter Olympics. Nifty idea, isn't it?

 If you'd like to turn your kids into influencers instead of the influenced-upon, click on http://hollywoodprayernetwork.org/kids-prayer-calendar, download a copy of your free calendar, and help them become intercessors for Hollywood.

So it was fascinating for me to read this morning that my perspective-seeking conversations with God were nothing new. In fact, Rebekah did the same thing I did way back in Genesis 25.

It's a simple, matter-of-factly told incident.

"Isaac pleaded with the LORD to give Rebekah a child because she was childless. So the LORD answered Isaac's prayer, and his wife became pregnant with twins. But the two children struggled with each other in her womb. So she went to ask the LORD about it. "Why is this happening to me?" she asked. And the Lord told her . . . " (vss. 21-23). You know the rest of the story, which isn't my point. My point is, she didn't understand what was going on, so without hesitation or acting like inquiring of the LORD was anything out of the ordinary, she simply asked the Him and expected Him to answer. And He did. 

To be honest, I don't always hear quite as immediately or as concretely as Rebekah did, but sometimes I actually do. And almost always I hear Him say something that lets me know He cares, He's at work for my good, and I can trust Him. Without fail, I'm always glad I took the time and risk to ask.

What about you? Wish you had God's perspective on the perplexing situations in your life? Why not take your cue from Rebekah and just ask Him: "Why is this happening to me? What's Your perspective on this, God?" Let us know how it goes.