SWIPE!

So obviously I’ve had no original thoughts of my own these past few blogs & tonight is no exception. A very precious friend (who I would love to know better) offered some profound yet extremely simple wisdom tonight that really touched my heart. Are you ready for this?!? PRAY and WAIT. Yep. Told you it was amazing! Why is it that praying is so hard? I get distracted by the most meaningless things or my mind ends up wandering into the future & out of reality. I find myself taking my same old complaints for Him to fix. The times when I do endure a conversation, with much grace, He brings me away from the ledge & back to a place of trust. So now I’m starting to think that prayer is more for my benefit than His. Not sure why this is a novel idea since I know He knows our thoughts (Ps 44:1). I don’t have to speak it for Him to hear me & He certainly knows what I need, far better than I do (Mt 6:8). So why pray anyway? Could it be for the strengthening of our hearts? Can you believe the Lord loves us so much, He allows us open communication. He puts up with our incessant self-centeredness to reveal His faithfulness & stir our faith to action. Can you imagine what one bajillion ego-centric, whiny Christians must sound like sometimes? Yet He calls our prayers a fragrant incense (Rev 5:8). Jesus, Himself, taught us how to pray (Luke 11:2) and He directs us to pray with perseverance in the Spirit at all times (Eph 6:18). I think praying would come a lot easier if I truly believed that His will was better than mine. Isn’t that what the Christian life comes down to? First it starts with belief in Christ as Savior. He could end there. It would be sufficient. His death & resurrection paid & redeemed all our struggles, in full. He could have just given us that & eternity wouldn’t be long enough for us to thank Him.

Instead faith is where the journey begins. Now He wants me to trust Him as Sovereign? The One who can work things out according to the counsel of His perfect (and good by the way) will?! Then trust Him as Closest Friend? The One I turn to 1st before taking my needs to anyone else?! Who IS this God that desires a relationship with me? A relationship that grows in intimacy and trust. I am so grateful walking with Him is a journey. His act of saving us through faith alone was enough, but His gracious heart beats for not just our salvation, but our completion. Prayer isn’t for Him. He already knows all we could or would or shouldn’t say. It’s for us. He uses prayer to restore our faith & righten our perspective. I think I love Him & I might just do a little praying while I wait.

Comments:

Beth: Your post brings back a conversation I had with my best friend one day…while I was praying and waiting (which, I hate to tell you, never ends…and after your post, we can PRAISE God it never ends).

I remember telling her, “I wish that you could see into my future and just tell me that its going to be ok.” To which her response was, “Beth, I know its going to be ok b/c God always works things for good to those who love Him.”

But I also remember thinking later….Michelle is my best friend and I would trust her with knowing my future…not telling me the specifics, but just knowing and letting me know that its going to be ok. Then I thought….God is so much GREATER and more wonderful than Michelle….why don’t I trust HIM????? I know as long as I’m obedient and trust Him everything is “going to be ok”. Plus, if I knew my future, why would I NEED Him??? He makes my relationship with Him so much more than being a “fortune-teller”. He wants us to cry to Him, sing to Him, yell at Him, express our stresses, be frustrated, etc. He allows us to come before the Almighty and just be ME!!! If I knew exactly what was going to happen tomorrow, I would never need to talk to Him again!!! I am so thankful for our praying and waiting times b/c they have brought me SO much closer to Him! Still praying and waiting with you!!!!