Cameron’s Solution (by Linda Dixon)
Cameron was a grade 10 student in Toronto, Ontario. Almost every week Cameron’s mom, who attended a Bible Study would come home relaying to her family some of the many wonderful (and sometimes surprising) answers to prayer experienced by people in her class. Week by week Cameron listened until he became deeply convinced: God really does hear prayer! God really does answer prayer! The more Cameron heard, the greater his hunger for God grew. He too wanted to pray and know that God heard him… But how? Then Cameron came up with an idea: “Mom would you ask your Bible study Leader to tell me how to pray so that God answers my prayers?”
Mom agreed and at her very next Bible Study class she relayed Cameron’s request. In response, that leader sent a note to Cameron with this simple solution: “At the start of each day, pause… and ask the Lord to direct your steps because “the steps of the righteous are directed by the Lord. (Proverbs 16:9). And then at the end of each day, look back over your day and you will see that the Lord has led you. Then you will know that God has heard and answered the prayer you prayed at the start of your day”. Simple yet powerful instruction.
Years later, while reflecting on this story, told to me by Cameron’s mom, I realize how powerful Cameron’s solution is; I’ve never forgotten it. It works like this: God’s answers to Cameron’s simple prayer prayed in a “pause” at the start of the day became evident as Cameron took a few minutes to “look back” at the end of each day. Taking those few minutes to look back in reflection revealed to this student that God had indeed heard his morning prayer and directed his steps.
Day after day, with practice, Cameron’s assurance grew, until he realized that he could ask for God’s guidance and help in more areas of his life. Those initial steps outlined in Cameron’s solution could be summed up as “a pause, then reflect” approach to prayer. That God already was answering the prayers that Cameron prayed is undoubtedly true, but those answers were clouded in the busyness of each day and the hurried petitions tossed out as he ran for the school bus or rushed off to soccer practice. Now, hungry for God, Cameron intentionally took time to pause in prayer and then reflect.
Cameron’s solution shows us that prayer is neither complicated nor difficult. And like Cameron, you and I can know with certainty that God hears and answers our prayers. It’s really very simple: All that’s needed is for us to use Cameron’s solution each day. And as we do, we will find that prayer is as powerful as it is simple. Let’s take the days between now and the next Prayer Point Update to practice Cameron’s Solution for ourselves. If we practice Cameron’s solution, I am confident that like Cameron, you and I will know with certainty that God hears and answers our prayers.
General Conference
We are thankful for the emphasis on prayer that was mentioned in the various reports during General Conference. We are looking to God to continue deepening our prayer life over the years to come. We sense some momentum developing in prayer. If you wish to view the National Prayer Team’s report to GC, which looks back over the past 4 years and ahead to the next 3, you will be able to find it on our webpage soon.