3 February 2025
This year, our College theme is ‘With God, all things are possible’ from Matthew 19:26.
In context, this verse is not a blanket promise that anything we desire will come to pass and God will fulfil every human whim. Instead, this verse is about trusting in God’s possibilities.
How can we do that? Remain open-minded and pray. That's how we see God move to make ‘all things possible’!
The following three key principles about faith and prayer in light of Matthew 19:26 help us unpack this verse and put it into action:
- Prayer Aligns Us with God’s Will: Jesus’ words remind us that prayer is not about bending God’s will to ours but aligning our hearts with His. In the Lord’s Prayer, we say, ‘Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.’ Building faith through prayer means trusting that God’s will is good, even when it diverges from our desires. God’s perspective is far greater than ours. 1 John 5:14 adds a qualifying thought – 14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.
- God’s Possibilities Exceed Our Imagination: While God may not grant every prayer request in the way we envision, He often works in ways that surpass our understanding. Remain open to His unexpected movements. Faith-filled prayer invites us to marvel at how God’s plans unfold, often revealing blessings we could not foresee. Some of us might have stories about how glad we are that God didn’t answer some of our prayers back in the day, and how things turned out better than we could have imagined. Ephesians 3:20 - 20 God is able to do much more than we ask or think through His power working in us.
- Prayer Transforms Us, Not Just Our Circumstances: When we pray, God often changes our hearts before He changes our situations. Through prayer, we gain strength, wisdom, and peace - gifts that equip us to navigate life’s challenges, when our circumstances don’t change. It’s the place we learn to matter. Just as some might say about meditation, Christians truly believe that there is transformative power in persistent, heartfelt prayer, fostering a deeper connection with God and a renewed perspective on being loved, and loving others.
