A Guest Post by Sarah Gerringer
I live in the woods, and the wild birds flock to my feeders. During the day I hear the gentle peck, peck, peck of their little beaks snapping up sunflower seeds. Slow and quiet, I sneak up to the window to watch them feeding on the deck.
I’m captivated by their different colors, shapes, and sizes. Their quick moves and endless appetites gobble up the seeds I scatter.
I marvel at the birds’ freedom. Their ability to soar as high as they can. Their instinct to migrate back to my woods, year after year.
Bound by the laws of nature, their world is often harsher than mine. They need to find places to hide when storms roll through.
Yet God continues to provide for the birds, no matter what life brings them.
I can’t help but feel that He wants me to learn that lesson for myself.
Every time I watch, the birds remind me about God’s care for small things.
Every time I watch, the birds remind me about God’s care for small things.Do Small Prayers Matter?
Have you ever felt like your small prayers don’t really matter? That only the big prayers count?
Maybe you are like me. You grew up hearing others ask you to pray for big things.
Cancer. Car wrecks. Crisis. Those prayers have heft…meaning…purpose.
But how many times has someone asked you to pray for a small thing?
I’m guessing never.
Small prayers stir private embarrassment.
We pray to the God who created the sun, moon, and stars. The Lord over all creation. The Giver and Sustainer of life.
Yet we still wonder: How in the world can our smallest prayers matter to Someone that big?
We are too embarrassed to pray them ourselves, much less ask others to pray them for us.
Small prayers whisper the question, “Does God really care?”
The Bible shouts, “Yes!” Here’s how.
Small prayers whisper the question, Does God really care? The Bible shouts, Yes! Here's how...
Jesus Cares About Our Small Prayers
Jesus loved using small, seemingly ordinary or insignificant things to illustrate how much he cares for us and all of our concerns and needs, no matter how small.
Let’s look at six examples.
Example #1: Birds
In Matthew 6:26, Jesus said, “Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?”
God lovingly provides for the birds, and He cares even more for us.
He doesn’t want us to worry about our provisions, just like the birds don’t worry about theirs.
Action Step: Next time you have a small worry about provisions, offer it up as a prayer. Tell God you are trusting Him to provide, just like the birds trust Him for food.
Example #2: Flowers
Jesus drew another parallel in Matthew 6:28-29. He said, “And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.”
Can you imagine? King Solomon, one of the wealthiest and most revered kings in all history, could not compare in beauty to a tiny wildflower growing on a hillside.
Some flowers last only one day, yet God delights in their glorious beauty, just as He delights in yours.
Action Step: Do you worry about your appearance? If you’re like me, it’s a secret worry. Every time you see a blemish, gray hair, or wrinkle, whisper a small prayer to God. Trust that He always considers you beautiful.
Example #3: Mustard Seed
Jesus tells us in Matthew 17:20 that if we have faith the size of a mustard seed, we can move mountains. He tells us, “Nothing will be impossible for you.”
If you have seen round, yellow seeds left over in pickle juice, those are mustard seeds.
Do you believe that God can use small faith to move mountains?
Do you believe that nothing is impossible as long as you have faith?
Action Step: Even in the small things like having energy for the day or discipline to lose a few pounds, share your small prayers with God. Your faith will grow the more often you give God mustard-seed-sized prayers. He will teach you that nothing is impossible, even with small faith.
Example #4: A Child’s Lunch
In John 6:1-14, Jesus tested his disciples to come up with enough food for the thousands who had gathered to listen to Jesus preach. Andrew found a boy with five barley loaves and two fish. He multiplied a child’s lunch to feed everyone with plenty of leftovers.
Even though the disciples thought the boy’s lunch was insufficient, Jesus used the small offering to bless and fill so many.
Through this we can be assured that our smallest offerings matter and can be used by God.
Jesus often used small offerings to bless and fill so many. Through this we can be assured that our smallest offerings matter and can be used by God.Action Step: What small material goods do you have that God can multiply? Maybe it’s a brownie mix that can bless a lonely neighbor. Maybe it’s a casserole that will take a load off a single mom. Pray over the items in your cabinets or pantry, asking God to show you how a little offering can help someone else.
Example #5: Two Copper Coins
One day Jesus and his disciples were watching the rich place money in the temple offering box. A poor widow came and put in just two pennies, as told in Luke 21:1-4.
Jesus spoke these words: “Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”
Why did Jesus value the widow’s two copper coins? Her small gift showed her great trust in God’s abundant care. He asks us to trust Him with that kind of faith.
I’ve gone through times of financial hardship, but I always kept giving what I could. Even when giving was hard, it always increased my trust in God.
Action Step: Offer a small prayer today, asking God how you can sacrificially give so your trust can grow.
Example #6: Soil
In the parable of the sower in Matthew 13, Jesus speaks about the value of good soil. Hard, rocky, or thorny ground is not valuable. But good soil produces an abundant harvest, up to 100 times more than a single seed.
I love gardening, and every year I experiment with different plants. Plants grow best when the soil is rich, loose, moist and free from contaminants and diseases.
That’s the kind of soil Jesus wants in our hearts so He can produce an abundant harvest through us.
Soil, or dirt, has lost its value in our sanitized culture. But Jesus says when our hearts are good, the soil inside is truly valuable.
Action Step: Pray every time you discover a hard place, thorn, or rock inside your heart that blocks your faith.
Bring Your Small Prayers to God Continually
This week, I hope you will take these small steps toward continually praying over all areas of your life while trusting that God cares.
He will use the smallest prayers to draw you closer to Him and produce a great harvest through you.
God will use the smallest prayers to draw you closer to Him and produce a great harvest through you.-Sarah Geringer
P.S. If you need a place to share and be encouraged by the prayers of other believers, I hope you’ll join us on our community prayer wall, where we share our requests with one another and pray for each other.
Sarah Geringer writes about finding peace in God’s Word at sarahgeringer.com and is the author of three books. Sarah lives in her beloved home state of Missouri with her husband and three children, right in the heart of prime viewing for the Great Eclipses of 2017 and 2024. She enjoys writing in the morning, reading in the afternoon, and walking in God’s beautiful creation in the evening.
You can follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and Goodreads.
