The power of prayer... Seriously, its powerful

So we have really been learning alot about prayer lately. We have both prayed most of our lives, but it seems that lately we are really learning what it means to pray and how to pray. From an early age we are taught to pray for our families and those we know that are sick. We are also taught to pray when life seems to be going bad. Don't get me wrong, these are all great things to pray for, but we're starting to realize that they only scratch the surface of not only God wants from us, but also what He wants to give us. Matthew 7:7-11 says,
7"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
9"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!"
What a novel concept that all we have to do is ask, seek, and knock. I especially like the last part because I think it gets overlooked alot. If we ask for things, God is not going to give us things that will hurt us (i.e. snakes and stones). He will "give good gifts to those who ask him!" I think sometimes we wonder why God isn't doing great things in our lives but we don't even bother to look at whether or not we are asking for them. How can He give us what we don't ask for? We just go through life assuming that God hasn't really planned for us to do much for Him. When I say great things, I don't mean that He is going to send all of us to the other side of the world or turn everyone into an inspirational preacher. One of the things we have learned since we have been down here is that you don't have to go to the other side of the world to do great things. Its funny that we would learn that on the other side of the world :). People here are just like people anywhere else in the world. If we are looking to impact the lives of people, all we need to do is look around. There isn't some great plan that we have learned while we are down here that lets us minister to others. All you need to do is just ask God to use you and be willing to let Him use you. God can do great things through you in your ordinary, day to day life. All you have to do is ask.

Ashley and Zach

P.S./Warning:
Be careful what you ask for because you just might get it haha.

P.S.S.
These are two sayings about prayer from a devotional that we have been reading.

"Effective prayer claims the promises of God by faith with fervent and unrelenting passion."

"Apart from prayer, we can do nothing?"

Pictures

Here is a link to some pictures that we just posted. They are from this past weekend and a few weeks ago when we celebrated the 18 of September Independence Day.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2039657&id=82202048&saved

Psalm 62:1-5

This is random, but I want to tell you guys what I had for lunch the other day. I made a fresh turkey sandwhich with homemade bread, oregano and tomatoes. I had a mango and we made guacamole with fresh paltas (avacadoes) onions tomatoes garlic and salt. I love how fresh everything is.
Ashley><>

Well now that Ashley is done bragging about the food, I guess I'll just mention a few things also haha. We are finding it harder and harder to find time to sit down and write about what has been going on in Chile. Our weeks have been filling up and we are staying pretty busy. Sometimes we just have to stop and rest in the peace of God's presence and what an amazing peace it is! We are finding that as we are doing so many things and pouring ourselves into other people, the most important thing that we need to do is rest in the comfort of our Savior. As we get busier and busier, the logical thing to do would be to cut things out that take up more time. I know in my experience, when I get really busy, I tend to cut out the very thing that I need most- time to rest with my God who wants to take care of me. I am writing this I think more to myself than to other people because this is something I need to keep practicing more and more. I have found that when I am most busy and stressed, the greatest peace that I can have only comes from God strengthening and comforting me. I want to share a verse with you that I hope can bring comfort in your life as it has brought comfort in ours. Psalm 62:1-5 says, "My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken." What powerful words! What an incredible thing for us to find much needed rest. Let this be an encouragement to all of you as it has been to us because I'm sure that many of you have schedules much busier than ours. Let God comfort you when you need it most. May you find rest, peace, and comfort in our wonderful Savior.

Love,
Zach