Praying or Prying

Written by ​Janet Mueller - Heartland Church of Fort Wayne

So he said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty. (Zachariah 4:6 NIV.) 

“The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.” (James 5:16b NLT.) 

I have been praying for years for the heart of someone I love to be open to Christ.  As a simple reminder, I placed some Scrabble tiles on my kitchen window ledge to spell the word, PRAY.  This was just a visual prompting to pray for my loved one whenever I stood at the kitchen sink. 
One day as I was dusting the window frame, I accidentally knocked over the letter A.  Now it spelled PRY.  In that moment God asked me, “Which will it be?  PRAY or PRY?” 

Heading to the online dictionary, I read that pry means to move, raise, or open by leverage; to obtain, extract, or separate with difficulty, for example, to pry a secret out of someone.  Was I going to trust the Holy Spirit to open the heart of this one or was I going to turn to the leverage I have to pry it open?  If through leverage, I am able to get the result I want, will it be the result I would want years from now?  Will it be genuine heart change?  Will it come from the free will of the individual?  Will it be lasting?  Sadly, I knew it would not.  Only the Holy Spirit’s power will work. 

We all have been given good gifts that can serve as leverage to open difficult situations or people.  Things like wisdom, persuasiveness, knowledge, strength, beauty, gifts, and yes, even love.  “Remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.” (James 5:20.)  How and when we wield our leverage to turn a soul and whether it is in our own strength and will or in God’s way and time, determine the effectiveness.  And sometimes God does things without any of our help.  Because He can.  Because He is God.

For eons of time, He has been opening darkened, deceived, blinded, and broken hearts.  He has been reversing circumstances that have been set in stone for years. Impenetrable, immovable, and seemingly unchangeable situations can change in a moment.  This one is no exception.  Neither is yours. 

Pray with me: Father, I yield my leverage to you.  Help me to wield it when You say, “Now,” and not a moment before.  Give me Your patience as silently and secretly the Holy Spirit works.  Amen.