Why We Should Pray, Part 4

Today I use GPS to find where I want to go. But I am technologically challenged, so first I must learn to enter my destination, then listen to a voice or watch a moving dot for directions. I assume that the GPS will guide me forward on the best available route. If the GPS directions are correct and I follow them precisely, I have confidence in making it to my destination.

Jesus knew that his disciples needed help in finding their way, so he taught them to ask God for directions and to meet all of their needs. In the beginning of Jesus’ model prayer in Matthew 6:9-10, he first taught the disciples to acknowledge that God has a plan to establish his Kingdom on earth, and that he will fulfill this plan according to his will.

Jesus prayed: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

When we include this same acknowledgment in our prayers, we are agreeing to seek and accept God’s plan for all things, even for ourselves. Acknowledging God’s sovereignty and control helps us align our requests with his will, rather than making self-focused requests and having a limited perspective about what God wants to do.

Even Jesus had to learn to trust in God’s self-sacrificing direction for his life. As he faced death on the cross in the Garden of Gethsemane, he fell to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

Our NCF staff team has spent months praying intensely for God’s guidance as we searched for a new national director to lead NCF into the future after I retire in June, 2016. We were all stretched to trust the Lord in this process.

But God, in his great faithfulness and infinite goodness, has not left us without direction. I am pleased to announce that Kathy Schoonover-Shoffner has been appointed as the new NCF director beginning July 2016. As editor of Journal of Christian Nursing, Kathy brings a wealth of gifts and abilities, a dedication to NCF, and a passion to see nurses and students grow into a deeper love for God that flows into the lives of others. Thank you, Lord!

In this busy Christmas season, may we reflect on how Jesus, the Creator of the universe, made his way to the confined womb of a Jewish teenager to begin his human journey. Jesus didn’t need a GPS; he listened confidently and humbly to the voice of the One who guides us all.

 Merry Christmas! Jane Hall, NCF National Director