How often do we sell God short in minimizing the effect of our prayer or actions?

St. Paul in his letter to the Ephesians declares, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work in us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus.”  (Eph. 3:20-21) Paul is praising Jesus for doing more in and through us than we can ever imagine if we will only rely on him in our prayers and actions with the people and circumstances in our lives.

After experiencing a personal encounter with Jesus and the renewal of my Catholic faith in my late 30’s, I shared my experience with Pete, a work colleague and friend.  We had worked together a couple of years on a few projects and then he moved on to become a vice president in our company.  While we saw each other occasionally, we didn’t work together after that point. 

Fifteen years later he called me one day and asked if I could come up to his office.  It turns out that he had been diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer and was given about six weeks to live.  He was very distraught and lamented that because of his work, he had not spent much time with his daughters while they were growing up.  After listening for a while, I asked if I could pray with him.  He said yes.  I walked around his desk, put a hand on his shoulder, and prayed that God would bless his remaining weeks and give him some special time with his daughters and wife.  His wife shared with me at his funeral that he did indeed do that, and it was a blessing for Pete and all of them in spite of his eventual death.

We never know what God is going to do with our witness.  Fifteen years had passed since I related my story of meeting Jesus in a new way with Pete, but he still called me to share his personal crisis and his anguish over not spending more time with his family in recent years.  As St. Paul says, God can do immeasurably more than we can imagine with our words and actions.  May we reach out as the Holy Spirit leads us in sharing God’s presence with others.   

Do you sell God short, or do you have faith that he will act on your words and actions according to his good purpose?