When we started having problems with the heating and cooling system in our home recently, I began lamenting to the Lord about how discouraged I was. This wasn't the first time we experienced these kinds of problems, and each time we did, it cost us quite a bit of money to fix them. I thought about how nice it would be if my husband, Joe, could maintain and service these appliances himself. Part of me thought, "That's just wishful thinking." But another part of me thought, "What would happen if I prayed for that very thing?" I decided to write down my request, and to address it to the Lord. But when days passed, and our house grew freezing cold, I began trying to find other ways to restore our heat.

I decided to call a local HVAC company, and I made an appointment for them to come to our house. The service man they sent worked on our system for more than two hours, and charged us hundreds of dollars, without resolving the problem. After that, I was really discouraged. The next morning, my husband got out of bed in the wee hours to place an order online for the tools he needed to work on our system, along with the refrigerant that it uses. When I woke up later that morning, my husband declared, "Isn't God awesome? He woke me up early to order the things I need to fix our heating and cooling system!" I was astonished, and I showed Joe the note I had written to the Lord about enabling him to repair our appliances himself. Several days later, Joe had everything he needed to restore our system, and God enabled him to get it working perfectly again.

When I wrote out my prayer request for the Lord that day, I made note of Jesus' words, "According to your faith will it be done to you." (Matthew 9:29 NIV) I knew in my heart that I was asking God for a miracle, especially since my husband didn't know the first thing about heating and cooling appliances. I also knew that God was challenging me to trust Him to do something out of the ordinary in our situation. My faith wasn't perfect - far from it. But once I wrote down the petitions that were in my heart - no matter how crazy they sounded - a little seed of hope remained on the inside of me. That was all the Lord needed to act mightily on our behalf. What about you? Is there a need or desire in your heart that God is challenging you to believe Him for? I urge you to write it down in a note addressed to Him today - and open the door for Him to do mighty things in, for, and through you!

Prayer: Lord, teach me how to pray for the desires of my heart, as well as for all of my needs. Enlarge my faith and my vision, and guard me from thinking too small. Show me how to write down my prayer requests and petitions, when it is Your will for me to do so. Thank You that as I turn to You first when problems arise, You will lead me along Your path of victory and success!