May 25, 2024 Devo

One of my favorite stories of all time is the story of the time that a strip club was going to be built across the street from a church. The church protested, picketed, and complained to city hall, but to no avail. The night before the strip club was to open, the church called for a prayer vigil. They prayed for two hours, calling on God to deliver them and their community from the blight of evil that was about to happen. At the end of their prayer vigil, a huge storm rolled in. Lightning struck the strip club and burned it to the ground. Everyone was in awe.
In response to what happened, the owner of the strip club filed a lawsuit against the church claiming that they were responsible for his loss. As they battled in court, the defense attorney for the church claimed that the church was not responsible. He stated on the church’s behalf that there was no way the owner could prove the lightning strike was a result of their prayers. As the judge reviewed their arguments, he stated to the courtroom, “This is a most unusual case. On the one hand, I have a strip club owner who believes in the power of prayer, and on the other, I have a church that doesn’t!”
Jesus had a similar case in our passage today. A Roman officer who had more faith in what God could do than any of the people who had grown up as the “people of God.” How does that happen? Simple. We start looking at God as a set of facts to learn, stories to know, and scriptures to memorize instead of a living, powerful being to be in awe of. Many of us can quote verse after verse about how God hears our prayers, is moved by our prayers, and answers our prayers. Yet, when we pray, we still don’t expect God to really do anything! It’s almost as if we serve a “historical God” rather than One who is alive and at work among us today. The Roman officer may not have known any of the great stories of old. But he did know Jesus. And he BELIEVED what Jesus could do!
How about YOU? Is God simply a historical God for you? Or is He alive and vibrant and moving around you TODAY? Is your faith simply one that nods its head in agreement at what God USED to do or is it one that is excited and expecting about what He is GOING to do? That same Jesus who gave the Roman soldier the faith to believe is alive today. Pray BIG. Pray EXPECTANTLY. Pray with a faith that believes that God is at work before the prayer ever leaves your lips. God is not just a historical God. He is a miracle-working God TODAY! That’s God’s Word for you today.