Below is Theology Mix’s exclusive interview with Dr. John I. Snyder, author of Your 100 Day Prayer: The Transforming Power of Actively Waiting on God.
Q: The concept of praying intentionally for an extended period of time is not a new concept for you is it?
A: What do you do when faced with an impossible situation, a disturbing problem or loss, or a major life decision? For the last 20 years, my family and I have turned to God and covenanted to pray about our particular need for 100 consecutive days. In this time, we have seen God rescue and deliver us in the most amazing ways, through some of the most challenging experiences of our lives—sometimes within a day of praying, sometimes in the middle of our prayer journey, sometimes later, or even exactly the day our prayer commitment ended.
Q. Have you always received what you have prayed for?
God is sovereign. He may choose to give us what we prayed for, something far more than we hoped for, or maybe something totally the opposite. But through this entire process of praying, we find that God comforts us with his grace and his Holy Spirit strengthens us to meet whatever challenge lies before us.
Q: Is there something significant about the number 100, and how has it impacted you and others?
A: There’s nothing magic about the number 100, and at times, God had other plans. But through the praying and waiting on him, our lives were transformed. Our faith grew. Our trust in a merciful, compassionate, and loving God came alive. We can now speak honestly of how desperate, forgotten, and forsaken we felt some days, and can then affirm God’s stubborn faithfulness to us, even when we doubted his trustworthiness.
Q: What spurred you to write Your 100 Day Prayer?
A: A few years ago, several of our friends were going through various trials and impossible situations. I spoke to them about our family’s 100 day prayer. They asked me to put together a prayer guide for them, and 25 of us all over the world prayed for our specific needs—worry and stress, broken-heartedness, life purpose, money troubles, and divorce. As we all continued to pray, we felt God’s presence and guidance in our lives, and from this experience was born Your 100 Day Prayer: The Transforming Power of Actively Waiting on God.
Q: How easy is it to keep on a 100 day time commitment?
A: Through our prayer journey, we discovered that it’s often very difficult to sustain prayer without a prayer companion. Your 100 Day Prayer serves that purpose and encourages you to pray without ceasing, whether you’re alone or with others.
Q: What is your hope for readers of Your 100 Day Prayer?
A: My hope for is that many, individually or praying together as a family or church family, will experience God in the same way that others and our family have.
To purchase Your 100 Day Prayer: The Transforming Power of Actively Waiting on God click here.
Updated, May 5, 2016
For National Day of Prayer, May 7, 2016 John Snyder joined hosts Jim Daly and John Fuller on Focus on the Family’s Daily Broadcast. If you would like to hear his interview with them, please click here.
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