Praying to be Aligned with God's Purpose For Your Life - by Pastor Allan

In 1988, I was on a flight from the East Coast to the West Coast when the plane began to veer left and right. Then up and down. Two airline pilots sitting behind me calmly described why the plane was flying in what seemed like a figure eight pattern. They also were talking about the best ways to survive a crash depending how the plane hit the ground. Not very reassuring!

The pilots did an incredible job. They landed the plane and brought it to a stop. Emergency personnel arrived and pried the exterior door open. They announced that everybody was to stay in their seats while they attended to the pilots. They brought one pilot out on a stretcher. The other had his arm in a sling. There was complete silence in the plane.

For the next few years, I found every excuse possible not to travel by plane. I finally agreed to a trip to go see Rebeca’s family in Costa Rica. It was a “white knuckle” flight both ways. Every bump. Every noise. A flight attendant tried to reassure me multiple times that everything was normal, but I was on high alert!

Shortly after that flight, I received an invitation to lead a ministry that would require extensive travel. I felt that the invitation was of the Lord, but I was NOT going to fly unless absolutely necessary! I prayed: Lord, if this is of You, take the fear of flying away. Bring this fear into alignment with your purpose for my life.

The next month, I took a flight to consider the new ministry opportunity. The flight went through some heavy turbulence. But I had no fear. God had aligned that fear to permit me to fulfill his purpose for that season of my life! Strangely I have a fear of heights, but not a fear of flying.

There is something about praying to be aligned with God’s purpose for our lives that changes the way we pray. It also changes the faith that we have when we pray! Instead of pleading with God for something that we want, our focus is on God aligning things so that we can be effective in the assignment that God has for us on this earth.

This is a prayer of commitment to obey God’s call on our lives. It is the same whether we are praying for health issues, finances, or other circumstances in our lives that impact our ability to fulfill God’s purpose for our lives.

By Pastor Allan Yoder,
Hopewell Network Apostolic Team