Let praying be a cliché

Last night, while waiting for my friend at the mall, I was reading the news about the attacks in Paris. Just by reading it, you can feel the anger, fear and mourning of the people. And being in the mall, you can see the exact opposite of it. People went on with their shopping, strolling, chatting happily. 

Then, thoughts and questions came in. How much of these people I see at the mall are aware with what’s going on with the rest of the world? How much of these people even care? How much of these people even know how blessed they are to have so much freedom? How much of these people know about God’s Word about the end times? How much of these people know Jesus? 

Then, later in the night, I saw more people in Facebook sharing posts to pray for Paris. And even today, profile photos were updated with the shades of France’ flag. 

Then, more questions popped out again. How should we really pray? What should we really pray for? Do we just pray for Paris? Or, do we also pray for all victims of persecution, terrorism, abuse and slavery all over the world? 

To be honest, when I was praying today, I did not even know anymore what I exactly I should be praying for. When God is very clear in His Word that all of these are expected to happen. And even worst in days to come. Can we pray to stop terrorism? Can we pray to stop killings and persecutions? 

Then, God reminded me to first be thankful because all of these will pass away. However, we should never cease praying. Praying that more people will come to the light of the gospel through all of these happenings. Those people at the mall, the victims, even the terrorists, our friends, our families, our co-workers, our neighbors, our government leaders. That through the gospel, people will realize that in the midst of trembling and fear, there is a lasting peace and joy in having a relationship with Jesus. We may not experience it in this lifetime but in the promised time to come. 

We may never understand all of these things today, but there is only one thing we can always be assured of. In Jesus, we are already victorious. 

I pray that as we all desire to pray for Paris, may we pray not just for Paris but for all the victims of terrorism, persecution and slavery as well all over the world. I pray that praying will not just become a trend just because something bad happened. I pray that we will pray to the point of weeping and breaking of our hearts for those people also who are so lost and deceived by their own beliefs. 

Let praying be not just a one time thing but a constant call out to God in every moment of our life.