The Most Powerful Prayer I Ever Heard

Katie and I were out of answers.

We had done everything we could think to do, but still our foster son was out of control.  We knew that foster care wouldn't be easy, but neither of us expected it to be this hard.

Photo Credit: Jesslee Cuizon (creative commons)

One Sunday during the altar call I went forward to pray with the pastor. I explained to him the emotional anguish our son was experiencing and his resultant destructive behavior. Then we kneeled to pray.

I expected him to pray like I had been praying: to ask for healing for our foster son, to ask God to give us wisdom, patience, and solutions to our problems.

But he didn’t.

He may have said a few of those things, but there was one thing he prayed that was so powerful, I can’t even remember anything else. It was four words:

God, give yourself glory.

When he said it I was confused, maybe even a little bit hurt. This was one of the toughest things Katie and I had ever endured, and that was his prayer?

Afterward he and I embraced in the requisite altar-call hug. I wiped up some tears and made my way back to my seat, still digesting his prayer.

It took a few days to sink in, but I came to realize just how awesome that prayer was.

God, give yourself glory.

Our situation seemed unbearable, but if the result of our suffering was the glorification of God, then every second and every tear would be worth it.

If our son were to be healed of the emotional wounds he had suffered, may it be for the glory of God: that his life would be witness to the transformative power of the blood of Jesus Christ. My pastor's prayer reminded me that what we were going through was larger than us.

As the author of life and the creator of the universe, God deserves all the glory. If we are to suffer in this life (and we undoubtedly will) may that be the end result.

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. Romans 8:18

My prayer is that God's glory will be revealed in you and in me. Join me in that journey by signing up for email updates; click here. You'll get blog updates every other Tuesday and my monthly newsletter absolutely free!