Is Sharing Caring?

By Ife J. Ibitayo

After years of awkward conversations surrounding the question, “What’s your Instagram handle?” I finally setup my own account: @ifethestoryteller. I consider myself an old soul in the worst of senses. I’ve cracked Dad jokes since I was a teenager. My father is the one who’s always pushed me to adopt new technology (Apple should start paying him a commission). And I don’t understand social media. When I asked my friends, “How do you Instagram?” they struggled to reply. It was like asking them how to ride a bike or when an old man at Chick-fil-A asked me how text messages work. Apparently, millennials hold this truth to be self-evident: “All men are created equal and are endowed with the unalienable right to share every detail of their lives with the world.”

To Share or Not To Share

This past weekend, I finally finished putting together my apartment. I hung my last painting and unpacked my last box. And I strongly considered posting some pictures of my place on my Instagram account. But I hesitated. With just a few seconds of consideration, I realized how much others could learn about me from those couple pictures. From the quality of his furniture to the painting he hangs above his mantle, you can learn a lot about a man from his living room. And I wasn’t quite ready to share that with anyone who stumbled on my Instagram account. This raised a couple important questions for me, “Why do we share?” and “who should we share with?”

The Benefits of Sharing on Social Media

To share is human. The primary reason God transformed man into mankind is because “it’s not good for man to be alone” (Genesis 2:18). We need others to relate with, engage with, and do life with. Even the staunchest introvert in the world needs friendship. So steps in social media.

Facebook’s mission statement is “to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected.” And in many ways, it’s achieved its mission. I have cousins I haven’t seen in person in years, but I know about their marriages, new jobs, and firstborn children. Social media has provided countless touchstones for me to keep up with the going-ons of people I care about (and others I frankly don’t)!

The Limitations of Sharing on Social Media

But at the same time, I’ve found social media to be like a mirage. It gives the impression of knowing others and the facsimile of being known, but only on the terms others dictate and only through the filter I apply.  

If my mother only knows as much about me as JonDoe3 who follows me on Instagram, we have a problem. There is so much I don’t share online. In me “there are multitudes”, warring contradictions I siphon out of my neatly labeled posts and reels.

There are certain feelings that can only be shared in person and only with a select few people. All too often, that group can shrink to none. Trust takes time to build. It also takes proximity. There is healing that comments and likes can never give me. That is why I can only be so committed to my Instagram feed. For me to know others and truly be known by them requires coffee breaks, dinners, and weekend getaways. It requires a level of commitment that social media will never demand yet offers a level of reward that social media can’t provide.

Conclusion

So every time I post, I have to ask myself, “Is sharing caring?” If the world doesn’t care about my latest failure, do I have friends that do? And is Instagram the best way to let them know? As I finish this post, I think it’s time for me to shut down my laptop and pick up my cellphone.

“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”

(Hebrews 10:24-25)

Kindly Uncle or Loving Father (Father Complex Pt. 1)

By Ife J. Ibitayo

“I like Jesus, but I don’t like the God of the Old Testament. He’s too angry.” I’ve had this conversation with many of my non-Christian friends. They gravitate toward the humility and gentleness of the Christ. But they shy away from the wrath and fury of the Father. But I believe these are twin facets of the same coin engraved in love.

One of the most memorable moments of my childhood was when my little brother slapped my mom. My father was standing right next to her. And I still remember the terror in my little brother’s eyes as he dashed into our game room and slammed the door. My father stomped after him. And my older brother and I weren’t sure if he was going to survive the night! Of course, the youngster survived to rebel another day. But because of that discipline he never laid a hand on our mother again. Now my father’s righteous anger demonstrated two things: first, his care for his wife; second, his care for his son.

The Justice of Love

My father loves my mom as he loves himself (Ephesians 5:28), so love compelled him to defend his wife when she was so viscerally disrespected. In like manner, God loves us all as His children, and He hates to see us mistreated. In the book of Isaiah, God says, “Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of My people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless. What will you do on the day of reckoning, when disaster comes from afar” (Isaiah 10:1-3)? When God witnesses injustice, He responds with righteous indignation, just as we should.

When I saw a police officer kneeling on George Floyd’s neck, I was furious, and I yearned for the justice that my hands were incapable of delivering. But because God is all-powerful and all-loving, that same anger pushes Him to bow down the heavens and act on behalf of those who’ve been wronged (Psalm 18:6-9).

The Discipline of Love

Secondly, my father loved my little brother too much to allow him to continue down the rebellious path he’d taken. Even Dr. Benjamin Spock, one of the most influential 20th century voices against corporal punishment, still knew that discipline was necessary. Whether through words or deeds, a loving parent must communicate their love by disciplining their children, so how much more our heavenly Father?

The author of the book of Hebrews said, “For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness. No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way (Hebrews 12:10-11).”

Therefore, when we as individuals, churches, or nations suffers the consequences of our wicked actions, this is not a sign that God doesn’t care for us any longer. Rather, it shows that He cares too much to allow us to keep going astray. As famous writer C.S. Lewis once said, “God shouts through our pain.” And sometimes that pain is the only restraint between us and death.

Conclusion

God so loved the world that He gave His only Son to us (John 3:16). But He also loves us so much that He doesn’t leave us to our own devices. He defends the needy, He disciplines the wayward, and He destroys the wicked. Without this aspect of God’s character, He’ll only be our kindly but distant Uncle rather than our present and loving Father.

“My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline, and do not resent his rebuke because the Lord disciplines those he loves as a father the son he delights in.”

(Proverbs 3:11-12)

https://open.spotify.com/track/1GroB3cEZTvfhKQ7PebPas?si=af7457e9ba924d71

Double Standard (How Christians Kill Christianity Pt. 2)

By Ife J. Ibitayo

Last week, the Lighten Group announced that they are shutting down. What is the Lighten Group? It is the ministry of Ravi Zacharias’ daughter.

Ravi Zacharias was one of the most well-known Christian apologists of the 21st century. He passed away two years ago, but the fallout from his sexual misconduct continues to cast a long shadow over his entire ministry. Recent investigations have also revealed a startling history of libidinous behavior and inexcusable coverup throughout the Southern Baptist Convention, America’s largest Protestant denomination.

The Standard for Others

Why is it so damaging when priests and pastors commit sexual scandal? If a famous actor and a famous pastor both sleep around, both will be condemned for their actions. But the blowback for the pastor will surely be greater. Why? Because the standard of right living that the pastor puts forth will (likely) be far higher.

From the Ten Commandments (“Thou shalt not commit adultery”) to the Sermon on the Mount (“I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart”), the Bible is filled with appeals to purity. Visit church once and you’ll be lucky not to hear a message against fornication and pornography.

So when a famous apologist writes, “sexuality is sacred, and using it for amusement brings diminishing returns“, but he secretly stores hundreds of sexual pictures on his cellphone for his own pleasure and amusement, the fallout will rightly be tremendous.

The Standard for Ourselves

The apostle Paul said, “We all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Therefore, we are called to live up to a standard that none of us can attain. The Bible’s answer to this is grace, but many of us Christians respond with self-righteousness instead. Speaking about His chosen people in the Old Testament, God said, “All day long they insult me to my face by worshiping idols in their sacred gardens…Yet they say to each other, ‘Don’t come too close or you will defile me! I am holier than you!’ These people are a stench in My nostrils, an acrid smell that never goes away’” (Isaiah 65:3, 5).

When we uphold “purity culture” where young women are condemned for exposing their thighs but male pastors are protected when they expose themselves, we surely become an acrid stench in the nose of the world too. As Jesus Himself said, “We’re straining out a gnat while swallowing a camel” (Matthew 23:24).

Conclusion

So what’s the answer then? Should we throw out the Bible with the bathwater of hypocrisy? Or Should we accept the fallibility that lies within all of us and stop calling people up and calling people out?

We can’t, otherwise we will cease being the salt of the earth and the light of the world (Matthew 5:13-16). Rather, we must be willing to call ourselves up and call ourselves out. We must look on others with eyes of grace and ourselves with eyes of justice, and only then will our two standards become one.

“‘Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?'”

(Matthew 7:3)

The Hospital for Punk Rockers (How Christians Kill Christianity Pt. 1)

By Ife J. Ibitayo

Punk rock was my childhood. I was deeply familiar with the greats in that space: Fall Out Boy, All Time Low, Mayday Parade and every other headache-inducing rockstar you could name. I also loved the lesser known Christian artists like Emery, Anberlin, and Hawk Nelson. But as the gnarly riffs of the early 2000s gave way to the pop electronic sounds of the 2010s, the faith of many of these Christian rockers gave way as well. I first noticed this trend with Underoath—arguably the most famous Christian screamo band of all time. In 2018, they released a brand new album called Erase Me with a different sound and a different spirit. So I unearthed an interview from their frontman Spencer Chamberlain:

“The Christian community is what ruins Christianity for me…They were putting out magazines about me being a drug addict and stuff. The whole Christian world was like ‘that’s the reason that Underoath is breaking up’…The places I was most accepted and where people would listen to me and talk to me and share stories about how they’re f—d up were the people who weren’t Christians…And they were like ‘let’s talk about it’, but in Christian bands they were like ‘let’s not’- and doesn’t that seem opposite? Doesn’t that seem very unloving and very unaccepting?”

The Museum or the Hospital

There’s good reason many who are suffering avoid the church at all costs. Sometimes we focus a little too much on the high bar of holiness without acknowledging how far we all have fallen from it (Romans 3:23). Even worse, we expect “sinners” to fix themselves before we welcome then into our congregations and homes.

Noticing this problem even in the formative years of the western church, St. Augustine argued, “The church is not a museum for saints but a hospital for sinners.” We can mistakenly believe that what others need is to “get to church” or to “read their Bible.” Now these things are good and essential components of healing, but if Jesus Christ is the Great Physician (Matthew 9:12) and we are His body (1 Corinthians 12:27), doesn’t that mean we are supposed to be little physicians too?

Galatians 6:1-2 says, “Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” The law of Christ doesn’t just apply when others are at their best but all the more when they’re at their worst.

Conclusion

Some of my lowest moments have been pushed even lower by misguided Christians seeking to squeeze righteousness out of my crushed vessel. But I’ve also overcome many great sins in my life because of the love and longsuffering of my spiritual family. The tempted, the addicted, the stumbling, and the fallen need us to stumble alongside them. If even we refuse to carry their burdens, who else will?

“Jesus answered them, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.'”

(Luke 5:31)

In Pursuit of Decency

By Ife J. Ibitayo

Last week, I played my first pickup game of five-on-five basketball in three years! I made a third of our team’s points on roughly 50% field goal percentage with a handful of assists to boot. But I was also a defensive sieve and poor rebounder. So overall my performance was decent. But my path to decency was a long one.

Back in high school, I remember one day when I was shooting free throws through everything except the hoop. The assistant head coach walked up to me and said, “You can quit right now and come back for track season.” But I didn’t quit that day; I kept on clanking.

Now the value of practice doesn’t just apply to hobbies like basketball; it applies to everything in life. 1 Timothy 4:11 says, “Physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” So, if there is anything that we should want to train in, it should be loving God and loving others better. We all recognize this truth deep inside our bones. We want to be a more thoughtful friend or a more sympathetic spouse, but we don’t know where to start.

Start Small

But starting itself is often the most important task to reaching our destination. The Chinese Proverb “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” isn’t just a pithy statement, it is an undeniable fact. A fraying marriage won’t be mended over night. But one of the first patches can be saying “I love you” before you go to bed each evening. Your teenager won’t magically open up to you if you take five extra minutes to listen to them when you pick them up from school. But you’ll be astounded at what amazing bounds can arise from such seemingly small baby steps.

Don’t Give Up

But in a similar vein, if you don’t see the progress you’re hoping for yet, don’t give up. Because we live in an instant culture, we often want instant results. But one day (or even a month) of good practice often won’t be enough to reverse the course of years of bad habits That is why the apostle James mentioned how the farmer has to wait for both the autumn and the spring rain before the land yields its harvest (James 5:7). Similarly, we have to wait for God to water the seed we’ve planted and give it time to germinate before we receive the harvest we’re hoping for in our lives.

Conclusion

Lastly, forgive yourself when you misstep. We all know the saying, “No one’s perfect.” Yet sometimes we live as if we expect ourselves to be! If you continue to step forward, week by week, month by month, year by year, I’m positive that you too will achieve decency in the areas of life you’re pursuing. And with the help of God, you might just reach excellence.

“All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize.”

(1 Corinthians 9:25)

Taking My Timetable Too Seriously (Taking Myself Too Seriously Again Pt. 2)

By Ife J. Ibitayo

I went back to school to start a business. Boom or bust, by the time I walk out of my two-year MBA program, I will add “founder” to my resume. With such a short window to work with, time is of the essence. I am currently looking for a co-founder, and I have no idea how to find them.

During orientation, I met a fellow entrepreneurial student. Over the course of our conversation, I found out that he too had been looking for a co-founder, and he’d already found him a few days ago. He said, “With us only being here two years, every minute counts. And we’ll need every second of it to take advantage of the resources here.” In my head, I paraphrased that as, “I’m already behind!”

Walking Not Running

My instinctual reaction was to find a way to get ahead. I need to find a co-founder, create a business juggernaut, and commence a transition plan for my impending retirement all by next week, or I might never catch up! As ridiculous as this might sound, I think this mindset has become more prevalent than we may realize. Why else would the term “life hack” have so inundated popular discourse? We’re constantly trying to find ways to squeeze more useful time out of our twenty-four hour days.

But God’s pace is slower. When speaking of God’s plan for our lives, the apostle Paul said, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). And in the book Three Mile An Hour God, Japanese theologian Kosuke Koyama emphasized that Jesus’ pace on earth was a walking pace because love can’t be rushed.

But why is God so freaking slow?

Timing Belongs to the LORD

This question led me to the story of Moses. Everyone knows Moses: nation deliverer, Red Sea splitter, leader, prophet, warrior, poet, and writer. But what most people don’t realize is that Moses completed all of these great acts as an old man. His journey begins when most of ours end: at the age of eighty.

For the first forty years of his life, Moses grew up in Pharaoh’s household. The book of Acts says, “Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action” (Acts 7:22). These two statements “educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians” and “was powerful in speech and action” are inseparable. Moses’ formative upbringing was inseparable from his legacy.

After this, Moses—like most of us—attempted to start his mission too early. As a middle-aged man of forty, he attempted to liberate his people (Acts 7:23). But the LORD still had much training for him to undergo. So he spent the next forty years of his life as a shepherd in the wilderness. What better way to learn how to lead a stubborn, ignorant, ungrateful people than to lead stubborn, ignorant, ungrateful sheep!

Because the LORD sees the end from the beginning, He knows what steps we need to take along the way. We can’t short circuit this process without short circuiting our destiny.

The Future Belongs to the LORD

Similarly, we don’t know what the future holds. King Solomon once said, “The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all” (Ecclesiastes 9:11). There are so many factors that go into success that we, with our limited perspective, will fail to account for: the economy, the culture, even our own mental readiness and state of well being. But God takes all of these into account. And He makes all things beautiful in their own time (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

Conclusion

So I have let go of my timetable; I’ve deleted my calendar; and I’ve tossed my planner into the bin. I will still plan ahead, of course, but I’m trying to learn to clutch my schedule with a looser grip. My vision may not come true according to my plan, but God has always had a better one in store.

“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'”

(Jeremiah 29:11)

Taking Time Too Seriously (Taking Myself Too Seriously Again Pt. 1)

By Ife J. Ibitayo

Last week’s summer orientation flew by. Most days were jam-packed with at least eight hours of programming. And when evening rolled around, there were countless places to swing by: a multitude of bars, a jazz concert, and even a chicken and beer festival. But I did not go to any of them. Even this past Saturday, one of the most stressful aspects of my morning was deciding whether or not I’d go with friends to a farmer’s market on Sunday!

No Time

I’ve only been in Los Angeles for a couple weeks. And I have a seemingly endless list of important tasks I still need to finish: registering my car, setting up appointments and phone calls, even sorting out a mistaken parking ticket I received. And as the perennial busy beaver, it’s very hard for me to relax when work remains to be done.

No One

But in the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon makes an invaluable point with this allegory, “There was a man all alone; he had neither son nor brother. There was no end to his toil, yet his eyes were not content with his wealth. ‘For whom am I toiling,’ he asked, ‘and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?’ This too is meaningless—a miserable business! Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10).

A truth I will continually have to remind myself during my time here (and throughout the rest of my life) is that relationships are the end for which all hard work should point. There will always be more tasks and more assignments. So if I don’t learn how to socialize now, I might just find that when I finally have the time to, I won’t have anyone to socialize with!

Conclusion

Toward the end of the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon goes on to say, “Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for God has already approved what you do” (Ecclesiastes 9:7). When we do choose to eat or drink, God approves of our enjoyment. So we should never let the business of life keep us from enjoying life itself.

“So I recommend having fun, because there is nothing better for people in this world than to eat, drink, and enjoy life. That way they will experience some happiness along with all the hard work God gives them under the sun.”

(Ecclesiastes 8:15)

The Presence of Prayer (Prayer Changes Things Pt. 3)

By Ife J. Ibitayo

I believe there is a third often overlooked aspect of prayer. Beyond changing things outside of us (Pt. 1) and changing things inside of us (Pt. 2), prayer ushers into the presence of God. It can be easy to reduce God to a divine slot machine. If we toggle enough levers and press enough buttons, our will will be done on earth as we expect it will be in heaven. Or we can relegate Him to a glorified mentor or life coach. But God wants deeper relationship than that: He wants to be our Friend, our Father, and our Husband.

Our Friend

We as humans possess a deep, profound need for friendship. That is why God said to Adam, “It is not good for man to be alone” (Genesis 2:18). But just like our predecessor, as soon as our horizontal need for friendship is fulfilled, we often neglect our analogous vertical need for friendship (Genesis 3). A true friend is someone with whom you connect for the sake of connection. In other words, the relationship itself is the end you are seeking when you spend time with that other person.

Many evenings I find myself coming to God with a long list of topics I want to run through: the state of our nation, difficulties in my family, looming deadlines at work, and many more. But I often sense that He doesn’t need me to repeat those prayers to Him again–He already knows my concerns before I pray them anyway (Matthew 6:8). Rather, He just wants to sit with me. He wants me to focus on being with Him rather than getting from Him.

Our Father

Secondly, God wants us to relate to Him as our heavenly Father rather than our overbearing boss. I’ve been reading the book of Romans recently, and I’m struck by the distinction between wages and grace. Romans 4:4-5 says, “When people work, their wages are not a gift, but something they have earned. But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners.” Similarly, an employee is hired based on their potential to add value to a company, and their continued employment is dependent on their performance. But a son is a son because they are a son. On my best days and on my worst, I am still God’s baby boy.

I often find myself tempted to perform when I come to God in prayer. I want to say the right words and quote the right verses and sing the right songs. But God does not care. When I enter His presence, He sets aside His gavel of judgment and spreads wide His royal robes, so I can hop in His lap. And He happily welcomes me when I’m pure and pious or when I’m dirty and broken.

Our Husband

Lastly, God wants to be our Husband. I think this is an oft neglected aspect of our relationship with God, deemed too intimate for many and too uncomfortable for men. But God’s marriage to us is a powerful analogy for His deep and abiding love for us. In Isaiah 54:5, God says, “‘Your Maker is your Husband,’” which intimately reminds us that God not only made us, He also chose us specifically as the objects of His affections. And He will continue to woo us with a forever love (Jeremiah 31:3).

When I enter God’s presence, He delights in me more than any doe-eyed newlywed. When I go on a date with God, all my bad jokes are funny and my quirky remarks are insightful. God desires to spend time with me far more than I with Him because He is such a good Husband!

Conclusion

When I pray, I enter into the presence of my best Friend, my loving Father, and my doting Husband. Through prayer I find my identity as a beloved son and bride. And so I love prayer, and through prayer I embrace how much God loves me.

“One thing I ask from the LORD, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.”

(Psalm 27:4)

Prayer Changes Us (Prayer Changes Things Pt. 2)

By Ife J. Ibitayo

For how “Prayer Changes Things Outside of Us”, click here.

Prayer moves mountains (Mark 11:23), heals nations (2 Chronicles 7:14), and ends droughts (James 5:17)–both physical and spiritual. God grants a dangerous amount of power to mankind through prayer. But if we reduce prayer to simply a means of changing our external circumstances, we may miss an even more amazing work of prayer: It changes us.

The Work of Prayer

I’ve cried out to God for countless prayer requests, and I’ve viscerally experienced God’s silence and God’s no. I’ve prayed for family members and seen them walk away from the faith. I’ve prayed for friends who’ve died weeks later. At times I’ve seen myself fall into the trap of tying my hope to an outcome rather than a Person. And when things don’t go my way, I’ve been tempted to say, “Prayer doesn’t work.” But prayer always works. Its work might just be in the precious, yet invisible space of our souls.

In the Garden of Gethsemane on the night Jesus was betrayed, He told Peter, “‘Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak’” (Matthew 26:41). Therefore, prayer is essential to aligning our flesh with God’s Spirit. And we cannot resist temptation without it.

E.M.  Bounds—an author, attorney, and clergyman fiercely devoted to prayer—once said, “Prayer makes a godly man, and puts within him the mind of Christ, the mind of humility, of self-surrender, of service, of pity, and of prayer. If we really pray, we will become more like God, or else we will quit praying.” I often find it’s only in that unhurried time away from my digital devices that the Holy Spirit reveals myself to me: my fears, my hopes, and my hidden sins. Only in the still place of God’s presence do I become more like Jesus and less like the man I used to be.

Conclusion

No matter how long and how hard we pray, we’re still promised trouble in this world (John 16:33). Trials and tribulation are our portion in this life if we take up our cross and follow Christ daily. But through prayer, we can endure the hardships of this Christian life well. And we will live to see all the good God has in store for us on the other side (Romans 5:3-5).

“Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

(Hebrews 4:16)

Prayer Changes Things Outside of Us (Prayer Changes Things Pt. 1)

By Ife J. Ibitayo

During my junior year of college, I went with my church on a retreat. There isn’t much that I recall about that trip, but I do remember committing to spending one hour each day in prayer.

It felt like a foolish choice at the time. Between my academic obligations and my church responsibilities, I was barely treading water. I struggled to find enough time each day to sleep, let alone surrender a whole hour to prayer. Yet somehow God provided the time during that harrowing season of life. Since then, I’ve prayed for many things both great and small, and I’ve seen God move in both cases.

Prayer Changes Lives

A few months after I started praying more, a good friend of mine was attempting to transfer into the geology department at the University of Texas at Austin. He’d already been rejected twice before. And if he didn’t get accepted this time, he was going to transfer universities. So I told him, “Why don’t we pray about it?” And by the end of that week, my friend excitedly told me that he’d been accepted into the geology apartment with a scholarship!

And about a year ago, another friend of mine was on the verge of graduation. But one of the most important people in his life was not planning on being there to see it—his father. Their core values had diverged drastically when Donald Trump was elected president, and their tenuous relationship had become so strained that my friend struggled to even visit his parents. So for a whole year, I prayed for healing in their relationship. And on the eve of my friend’s PH D. defense, his father flew into town and even stayed to help him work on his project for a couple days afterward!

Conclusion

These stories may not be the most exciting. I haven’t yet seen mountains fling themselves into the ocean. But there’s good reason Jesus emphasized asking God for things in prayer so much. He said, “Ask, and you will receive” (Matthew 7:7). “Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours” (Mark 11:24). And “will not God bring about justice for His chosen ones who cry out to Him day and night” (Luke 18:7)?

Jesus came to earth to connect mankind to the Father. And we do so by committing our cares to Him. Maturity in Christ is not asking God for less but entrusting Him with more. And I’m trying to learn how to do that one hour at a time.

“Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.”

(1 Peter 5:7)