Showing posts with label
trusting your prayers and the outcomes.
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Showing posts with label
trusting your prayers and the outcomes.
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Romans 8:28
Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.
Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO. All rights reserved.
A few weeks ago, the Arkansas Razorbacks football team beat the LSU Tigers 17-0 to snap a 17-game losing streak in Southeastern Conference play. The following Saturday, the team shut out then-8th-ranked Ole Miss, 30-0. I wish I could say the streak continued with a win over the University of Missouri, but this was not to be. However, the basketball team was able to secure a win on the same day against North Texas State that gave the squad their first 5-0 start since 2006-2007.
In both cases, the coaches have been quoted in the media as saying, essentially, that “wins will come – when they are supposed to.” Coach Bret Bielema has said often that his team would win when they earned it. Both coaches are relatively new to the University of Arkansas – and there has been a “learning curve” for all involved. Now, things seem to be starting to “jell”.
I’ve heard a lot of people who have endured hardships or difficult times say that they would not trade them for an easier time. I’ve heard amputees say that the loss of a limb taught them how to appreciate life – and God’s hand in theirs. I’ve known countless people who looked back on troublesome or unpleasant experiences and said, “This is where God helped me”…or “God really worked in this situation”…or even, “This was a huge turning point for me.” And I am among them.
You may be in the fight of your life. You may simply be in a 17-0 losing streak. But wherever you are…whatever is happening…God is with you - working out every detail for His perfect purposes. OUR JOB is to recognize Him…to give Him room to work…and to be grateful for His presence. He will do the rest…I promise. Will it be easy and painless? Probably not…but any day or experience with God is far better than a single minute without Him!
Keep this scripture passage handy. Read it often, and remind yourself of God’s presence in your life – and how He is perfectly orchestrating all of the details. Keep the faith...stay humble and grateful. Allow God to be GOD in your life…and watch what amazing things He brings to bear.
©2014 Debbie Robus
James 5:13-16
Is anyone among you suffering?
He should keep on praying about it. And those who have reason to be
thankful should continually be singing praises to the Lord.
Is
anyone sick? He should call for the elders of the church and they should
pray over him and pour a little oil upon him, calling on the Lord to
heal him. And their prayer, if offered in faith, will heal him, for the
Lord will make him well; and if his sickness was caused by some sin, the
Lord will forgive him.
Admit your faults to one another and pray
for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a
righteous man has great power and wonderful results.
The
Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by
permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois
60188. All rights reserved.
I pushed my 3-year-old
friend Isaac across the floor of the church nursery as he rode a
four-wheeled scooter of sorts. When I stopped, he said, “Do it again!”
I told him that I needed to rest. “Why?” he asked. “Because I’m
tired!” “But why?” he protested. “Because I’m old!” Again he asked,
“But WHY?” “I just am, Buddy,” I told him...”I just am.”
“Why?” is one of the most frequent questions we ask.
- “Why can’t I catch a break?”
- “Why can’t I find a mate – or maintain a relationship?”
- “Why can’t I skip college and get on with my life?”
- “Why can’t I find a job?”
- “Why can’t I – or someone I love – get well?”
- “Why won’t You answer my prayers, LORD?”
Often
the response and resolution is right before us...we just don’t
recognize it! More times than we can count, we have received our
answer. It was either a) not readily apparent to us; or b) not the one
we wanted!
Hear the words of James: “...pray for each other so
that you may be healed. The earnest power of a righteous man has great
power and wonderful results.” Does it say anywhere in this passage that
God will give us exactly what we prayed for – specifically as we asked
for it? Does James tell us that God is selfish and answers where, when
and how He wants – just to feel superior? While God would have every
right to do this, He simply doesn’t operate that way!
God loves
you. He wants you to be well...healthy...whole...complete in every way.
But God has a grand plan for all of us...and even though it might not
seem so, His designs are always perfect. So when you feel like you can’t
catch a break, God may be building your strength and character. When
your relationships don’t work out, God may be grooming the perfect
friend or partner for you – and teaching you the art of patience. When
you want to “skip steps” and move on to another phase of your life, God
may be slowing you in order to prevent some sort of unfortunate or
disastrous outcome.
When you can’t find a job or feel unhappy or
unfulfilled in the one you have, God may be preparing you - for a
better one. When you or someone you love is sick or injured - and
healing doesn’t seem to come as you asked - know that God IS at work.
Healing comes in many forms...and God will choose what is best for His
purposes - and for your situation.
When you feel that God is not
answering your prayers, examine HOW you are praying. Do you place
conditions on Him? Do you pray specifically – and expect only that
outcome? Or do you ask God to meet your needs and the needs of those
for whom you pray – but always according to HIS will and the plans that He has prepared? Do you really TRUST God to do what is best...do you petition Him in prayer and then allow Him room to work?
Believe
me, I know this is hard. Timothy loves to watch the old classic “Frosty
the Snowman.” In the story, the magician tells the children and
Frosty, “I want that [magic] hat...and I want it NOW!” I think of this
phrase often when I am talking to God, because so often, we pray for the
“magic hat”! We want Him to answer us exactly as we asked...and we want
it NOW! This is simply not how God operates...and with good reason.
But I cannot underscore enough how much He loves you and wants to hear
from you...how much God wants to give you the very best. And He will do
exactly this, if we will only call on Him in faith to answer our
prayers and heal us in every way.
How will you talk to God
today? Will you allow Him to answer you in His way...to heal you
according to His will? Are you ready to trust in His love completely
and believe that He has your best interest at heart? Will your prayers
be filled with “Whys”...or with praise for the answers He will surely
give? What perfect healing will God accomplish in your life today?
Aren’t you ready to find out?
©2014 Debbie Robus
1 John 5:14-15
We are certain that God will
hear our prayers when we ask for what pleases him. And if we know that
God listens when we pray, we are sure that our prayers have already been
answered.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
“Can
you hear me now?” We’re all familiar with this question and its
pop-culture reference. But who among us has not asked some form of this
question of God? Surely you have wondered at least once in your life
whether He really heard you or not when you asked Him for something.
What
about that time you needed help with your studies...your job...your
bills...your health...your children...your relationships? What did you
ask of Him? Did you ask Him to give you XYZ...did you give God a list
of demands? Or did you come to God with a humble, trusting spirit and
ask Him to do what He felt was best?
Do we say to God, “LORD, I need you to do this!” Or do we ask, “LORD, will you give me what you know that I need?” The first question reflects our will...the second reflects His...and there IS a difference!
One of the hardest things for Christians to master is the confidence to ask God for His
will, rather than their own. It’s one thing to come to God and say,
“I’m struggling with my bills...what should I do?” It’s quite another
to say, “Lord, please pay my bills!” We can beseech God to “please heal
me of this cancer”...but only if we add...”in YOUR way and in Your
timing.” We must fully understand that God’s healing may not come in
this earthly lifetime...and His answers may not be what we want to hear!
Many
of us receive frequent prayer requests from others...and of course, we
agree to pray. But rather than telling someone, “Yes, I will pray that
you get pregnant, and you and your husband finally have the family you
want,” or “Yes, I will pray that you are selected for that prestigious
recognition you seek,” or “Yes, I will pray that you win the
game/election/prize”...I tell them, “Yes, I will pray for you.” And I
do...but I pray for God’s will in these situations...and for that
person’s acceptance of His answers.
Here’s the thing...God wants
us to solicit His time, attention and care...but He wants us to accept
His methods and timetable. He hears us...He really does. But
sometimes, what we ask for and what He knows to be best for us are
entirely different things. Rather than give us what we want and deal
with the potential perils and fallout, God occasionally appears to be
silent. Take this as a sign. Carefully study your path and your
motives, and make sure they are in line with God’s. I assure you that He
is working on your behalf...but maybe not in the way you expected.
Will you trust Him to do what He has said...to meet your needs...show
you the right direction to take...to heal you completely?
You
know that God hears and answers prayers that please Him. What are you
asking of Him today? Do you need to change your attitude toward your
petitions - and God’s answers? Do you have the right mindset to ask,
“LORD...can you hear me now?”
©2014 Debbie Robus
Hebrews 2:5-9
God didn’t put angels in charge of this business of salvation that we’re dealing with here. It says in Scripture,
What is man and woman that you bother with them;
why take a second look their way?
You made them not quite as high as angels,
bright with Eden’s dawn light;
Then you put them in charge
of your entire handcrafted world.
When God put them in charge of everything, nothing was excluded. But we don’t see it yet, don’t see everything under human jurisdiction. What we do see is Jesus, made “not quite as high as angels,” and then, through the experience of death, crowned so much higher than any angel, with a glory “bright with Eden’s dawn light.” In that death, by God’s grace, he fully experienced death in every person’s place.
Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO. All rights reserved.
I recently shared in another devotional about the sudden death of a young friend… the son of a childhood classmate. Today, I visited the family and expressed my sadness over this tragic accident. I shared with my friend how I have prayed for his son for many years, and that this was not the answer I was anticipating. But I quickly added that I am learning that very often I don’t get my way in these matters. God answers… just not as I suggested!
I’ve been reading back through prayer journals in recent days, and I’ve seen several examples of answered prayers that had outcomes far different from what I expected. Still, God answered. And I must respect His sovereignty…and His decisions. In some of these instances, I could see where the answer God gave was not only different… but better. Others puzzle me to this day. And in others, I noticed that even a decade or more later, I am still praying over the same people and/or situation. And I had to wonder… do I need to shift the focus of my prayers? Am I truly praying for God’s will and respecting His plans… or am I still asking for my way in these matters – and essentially blocking any forward progress whatsoever.
Lest you think I overestimate the power of my own prayers, let me quickly add that I have the utmost respect for God’s ability to operate independently – or in spite of – my intercessions. Still, I wonder how often we fail to recognize that an unexpected death might have been God’s way of sparing someone further difficulties. How often does God say to us, “I know what you want me to do… but that will not accomplish what needs to happen in the grander scheme of things.”? Have we missed the point that God is trying to make? When it seems that God will never answer, are we disrespecting His timing with our impatience?
Scripture tells us that there were many who questioned God’s decision to send Jesus to earth as a human being. After all, we read in Psalm 8:4-8, where David says to God…“Then I look at my micro-self and wonder, why do you bother with us? Why take a second look our way? Yet we’ve so narrowly missed being gods, bright with Eden’s dawn light. You put us in charge of your handcrafted world, repeated to us your Genesis-charge, made us lords of sheep and cattle, even animals out in the wild, birds flying and fish swimming, whales singing in the ocean deeps.” He speaks of how unworthy humans are to make wise decisions and be in charge of much of anything… yet God did exactly this when He created Adam and Eve… and then He sent Jesus as a human being with the ability to heal the sick, turn water into wine, feed thousands with a basketful of food, and much more.
Not until Jesus died for our sins on the cross did we see the full spectrum of God’s plan. Only in the resurrection of Jesus after His crucifixion did we learn that He was so much more than a mere mortal. Only then did God fully reveal the total perfection of His plans. Only in this sacrifice do we see how much God loves us… and deserves our utmost respect.
I wish I could say I will never ask God “Why?”… or plead with Him to hurry up and fix something or someone. Like those in David’s Psalm… I am human. But I will do my best to be more cognizant of the intent of my prayers. I will strive to show complete respect for God’s will and His authority… to trust His outcomes more deeply, and to rest in His decisions. Someday, I may see how this all comes together perfectly. But by then, I will be in heaven with Jesus…and I seriously doubt I will care about the “hows and whys”! Meanwhile, I will keep praying… I will keep believing… and I will trust God to answer perfectly. What about you?
©2013 Debbie Robus
1 Kings 3:25-28
“Cut the baby in half! That way each of you can have part of him.”
“Please don’t kill my son,” the baby’s mother screamed. “Your Majesty, I love him very much, but give him to her. Just don’t kill him.”
The other woman shouted, “Go ahead and cut him in half. Then neither of us will have the baby.”
Solomon said, “Don’t kill the baby.” Then he pointed to the first woman, “She is his real mother. Give the baby to her.”
Everyone in Israel was amazed when they heard how Solomon had made his decision. They realized that God had given him wisdom to judge fairly.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
A friend of mine recently took a test to acquire further certification for her job. She was telling me about the questions and how confusing some of them were. She tried to think through the multiple choice answers and select the one that made the most sense. Sometimes, she felt a very clear indication in one direction or another. But there were some questions where several choices seemed plausible, and she truly had to guess at the answer.
We’ve all been there… if not an actual pencil-and-paper test, there have been times when we had to make a choice, and several options seemed reasonable – or confusing! I really like this story in 1 Kings about the two women who went before King Solomon. Both had given birth to babies at approximately the same time. One rolled over on her infant in the night and smothered him/her. In a panic, she got up and swapped babies with the other woman. Both mothers insisted to King Solomon that the living baby was theirs.
Think about it… there was no way King Solomon could know which woman was truly the mother of this infant - based on the information he had been given. There was a 50-50 chance of getting this right… or wrong! The scripture doesn’t tell us that Solomon paused to talk to God about this… but it does say that God gave him the wisdom to make the right choice. And this is where we find our message for today… when we listen to God, He will give us wise answers. When we stay in close contact with God and pray about everything, He will provide us with the necessary wisdom – and courage – to make the right decisions.
Sometimes, these choices will be abundantly clear… other times, we will have to take a leap of faith and trust that God is leading us. I cannot imagine that Solomon was eager to tell these women to “cut the baby in half” and each take a portion. Yet that was the perfect way to get a “confession” from the “wannabe” mother. Sometimes, we have to “call a bluff”…take a risk…make a choice that is unpopular – or even scary! If we feel that God is leading us in this direction, we must trust that He will manage the outcome and help us deal with the consequences.
I can tell you firsthand that letting God guide our choices can be daunting – and at times, almost petrifying! But I can also tell you that I have never regretted following His lead. And the more that I listen to God… the more clearly I hear His voice. I find “signs” that He is directing my choices, and I experience an inexplicable peace in the options I select… even the scary ones!
Life is often like my friend’s certification exam… fraught with multiple choices that all seem possible – and/or confusing. Every day we make decisions that leave us wondering if we did the right thing. Thankfully, this will probably never extend to selecting to cut a baby in half! But when we call on God to guide us – and trust His direction – we can be satisfied that we have chosen well in the end. With God’s wisdom to judge things fairly, we can live with courage and confidence. Who is guiding your choices today?
©2013 Debbie Robus
Philippians 4:6-7
Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.
Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO. All rights reserved.
Have you ever written out a message to someone and read over it before you sent it… only to discover that what you had written sounded silly or ridiculous? Maybe you expressed worry or concern over something, and once you saw it written down on paper, it all seemed trivial or less important. Often, when thoughts come into our head, it is helpful to write them down and let them settle before doing anything further. This could be akin to "shaping your worries into prayers".
If you have ever worked with cookie dough… the kind you roll out and cut into pretty shapes for baking…you know that at some point, you work and work with the dough until there is nothing left but scraps that are hard to shape and form into anything pretty. These last few pieces usually end up as a “blob cookie” – most often eaten by the baker (at least at my house!).
Writing out our prayers… listing our worries and “shaping them into prayer”… might actually be a pretty good idea. When we write things down, then step back and look at them, we can see where God is already on the job… and how He can handle certain aspects of whatever concerns us far better than we ever could hope to do. Just as with the cookie dough, we might even do a halfway decent job of working out the first few shapes… but God can take that last “blob” and mold it into something beautiful, as well.
So whether we actually write out our worries and petitions to God… or we simply voice them… let’s understand that He’s got this. God knows our concerns and is already working on them. He’s waiting for us to surrender them completely to Him, so that He can resolve them perfectly. This is a hard one for me… and maybe for you, also. I want to scoop up my worries and concerns and keep reshaping them. Surely if I just massage that “worry dough” enough, I can get it all to work out in perfectly formed “cookies”… right? What I need to learn – and maybe you do, too – is that God is the far superior “baker”… He can work everything out perfectly, and I need to step aside and let Him. AND… I need to trust Him more.
Today, I challenge you to write out a prayer to God and tell Him ALL of your worries and concerns. Then read it again and see where you are trying to “rework the dough” that God is already forming into the perfect “cookies” for your life. We are often our own worst enemy when it comes to having peace about all things. God has already promised to handle our worries and our cares and give us complete peace… isn’t it time for us to let Him?
©2013 Debbie Robus
May 30 ~ Psalm 40:1
I waited and waited and waited for God.
At last he looked; finally he listened.
Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO. All rights reserved.
Two years ago, my husband and I attended a James Taylor concert in North Little Rock. Believe it or not, I discovered there are people who don’t know who James Taylor is… so if you are one of these folks, James Taylor is an international icon in the world of pop music. This singer-songwriter’s albums were incredibly popular when my husband and I were dating and attending college… and he still has a world-wide following today. Such notable hits as “Fire and Rain,” “Mexico,” Carole King’s “You’ve Got a Friend,” and “Copper Line” have stood the test of time and are still sung and widely recognized today.
What is incredible to me is that we had never attended one of James Taylor’s concerts until two years ago. We were able to obtain second-row seats on the floor with a birds-eye view of Taylor and the band. We sat next to veteran attendees of James Taylor’s concerts who told us, “He will sign autographs during intermission.”
We found this hard to believe, but the couple next to us had their items and a Sharpie® marker ready to go. So we started wondering… “What could we ask him to sign?” We had not brought any album covers… or a magazine like our seat neighbors. We had nothing. Then it hit me… I could have him sign the denim jean jacket I was wearing. I had a waterproof black marker in my purse. I would take off my jacket during intermission and see if James Taylor would sign it.
When the break came, I walked to the front of the stage and stood next to the man who had been sitting next to us. We were standing almost dead-center in front. James Taylor came out and started at one end of the stage, signing all sorts of items as he made his way toward us. But the time was short, and the crowd was huge. I convinced myself long before he made it near us that we would not be successful. Surely James would say, “That’s it, guys! I have a concert to perform,” and he would dismiss us. But he kept signing, and as he neared us, my very tall seat-neighbor grabbed my jacket and put it with his magazine and handed them to the performer.
James Taylor took my marker and my jacket and looked at me with a shrug and a grimace as if to say, “I’m not sure how I’m going to do this.” Then he crooked one knee, knelt, and placed the back yoke of my jacket across his leg…and signed his name. James Taylor had looked at last… and he had “listened”… and now I am the proud owner of a jacket with his signature!
Now I in no way compare James Taylor to God. But how many times have you been “in line” so to speak… trying to get God’s attention… waiting… and waiting… and waiting? And just about the time you were ready to give up… just when you felt like God was simply not noticing you… He answered! What is the take-away from this? Keep praying! Keep asking God… and believing He sees and hears you! I know it seems like He will never answer. I know you feel like things won’t ever change. But that is simply not how God operates!
Will God respond on our time-table… and exactly as we expect? Possibly… but most likely, the schedule will be totally different… and the outcome may be very dissimilar to what we wanted. But I assure you, everything will be perfect. Last Christmas, as I prayed for my grandmother, I begged God to let her go “home” for Christmas… to be in heaven where she longed to see Him and her friends and family members who preceded her. She was tired, sick, and so weary. Christmas came and went… and my grandmother lived. Then a dear friend and tablemate died, and my grandmother sobbed uncontrollably and asked, “Why not me? Why not me?”… and again, I asked, “LORD, why not her?” And then one morning in early March, the nurse called to say, “We cannot wake Mrs. Polly.” A little more than 36 hours later, she was “home.”
Now I see that God afforded all of us a happy Christmas holiday with my grandmother… and with our other family members, including my little nephews and niece who are just beginning to understand what Christmas is about. I see that God chose a time for my grandmother to die when there were not a million other things that I needed to do… a time when I could focus on all of the things that must be attended to when someone dies. I don’t have room in this devotional to share all of the ways God orchestrated things perfectly for that single event. While the death of a dear loved one is significant, it is still one single event in a world of zillions of occurrences that God choreographs every minute of every day!
Had I given up and sat down before James Taylor got to me in the line… or had he truly stopped signing autographs and returned to the second act (as a grumbling crowd persuaded him to do at one point)… the world would not have come to an end. But when we give up on God before He answers, we truly miss out on some incredible blessings. When we fail to yield to His timetable and exercise patience, we may miss some of the subtle brushstrokes in His painting of our lives… and that would truly be a shame.
Keep waiting… and waiting… and waiting. God does see you… He is listening… and He will answer. Make sure you stick around to hear what He has to say!
©2013 Debbie Robus
March 17 ~ Job 27:1-5
Job said: I am desperate because God All-Powerful refuses to do what is right. As surely as God lives, and while he gives me breath, I will tell only the truth. Until the day I die, I will refuse to do wrong by saying you are right…
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
As I flipped through my prayer journal this morning, I found several instances where I have made the same requests to God… day after day, week after week. I asked Him many times, “Aren’t you ready for my Mam-ma Polly yet?” because I saw how miserable she was. I asked Him to intervene in other situations, and it seemed things never really got any better. I prayed for healing for a precious friend with breast cancer… and it came all right – when God suddenly called her home to heaven.
I have repeatedly brought the same requests before God, even though it appeared He was refusing to answer me. But the one thing I have not done is to blame God or to give up on believing for an outcome. If anything, I have learned to trust Him more than ever. Even as I would write, “Can’t Mam-ma come Home yet?” I knew he was gently laughing and shaking His head at me in a fatherly way. He was saying, “Oh, sweetie… I hear you… but we’re on MY time – not yours.” So I refused to say (even to myself), “God is so mean for leaving my grandmother here in a failing body without the ability to speak and communicate.” I would not let the devil have the pleasure of knowing that even for one minute I questioned God. Yes, I asked for mercy for her… but I trusted God’s impeccable timing and outcome. And even this week as I looked at how the last days, weeks and hours of my grandmother’s life unfolded, I see God’s hand in the minute details - as well as the big picture.
As I pray for other people and situations, I learn more every day how important it is for me to step aside and let God work. He wants us to bring our petitions before Him. He doesn’t mind that I make the same requests virtually every day for certain persons and circumstances. But God expects me to lift my concerns to Him… then trust Him to handle them. Believe me, on some fronts it would be incredibly easy to throw up my hands and say, “Go ahead, devil! Take this (or them)… I’m done, and it looks like maybe God is, too!” But this is not my call. Throwing in the towel and living as we please because we didn’t exactly get our way with God is not the mark of integrity… or of a faith-filled Christian!
Yes, there are days when we feel a little desperate. But Christians do not abide by the tenet that “desperate times call for desperate measures.” To the contrary, desperate times call for a renewed resolve to trust in God and maintain our faith… and our integrity. If you feel a little desperate today, stop and think about Job and how he was tested. Consider all that Jesus endured on the cross for your sins… and the promise of eternity with Him in heaven. Then ask yourself whether giving up – or giving in – are really viable options.
God is still God. He still sits on the throne and is still very much in charge. Will you recognize this? Will you behave as if it were so? Will others always see in you a person of integrity… at all times and in all situations? Will you allow God complete control of your life and all outcomes? Will you demonstrate to others God’s power in your life to reject the devil’s advances…to refuse to concede defeat? How principled are you? Whose camp are you really in… and is it apparent to others?
©2013 Debbie Robus
James 1:5-8
If you don’t know what you’re doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You’ll get his help, and won’t be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who “worry their prayers” are like wind-whipped waves. Don’t think you’re going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open.
Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO. All rights reserved.
In our publishing business, my husband and I handled a lot of “customer service” calls. One of the things I heard over and over was, “This is probably a dumb question, but…” My response was always, “There are no dumb questions.” I will grant you… some of the questions seemed pretty ridiculous, because the answers seemed obvious to us. But for the person asking, these were serious queries. The last thing we wanted to do was to make him/her feel inferior or foolish.
When I read this passage today, I thought about how we come to God with our questions and problems. I wonder if we truly realize that He has every answer! God knows exactly what we should do and how everything will play out…and there are no “dumb questions” when we are talking with Him. More importantly, we can trust that God will not only hear our prayers… He will answer them and guide our steps.
How do you know that what you are hearing is truly God’s answer? This is a huge question… one that we wrestle with every day. Some look for “signs”… others go with a “gut feeling”… and yes, some “worry their prayers” half to death – wringing their hands and wondering if they made the right choices. And sometimes, you have well-meaning – even wise and caring – advisors telling you that your “answers” are not the right ones. What do you do with all of this?
My experience has shown me that there will be times when things readily fall into place, and I feel that I heard correctly from God. Everything may not play out exactly as I anticipated… but in the end, I see God’s hand in the results. There will also be a few times when I miss the mark… when I think God has led me in one direction, and I learn that I was not quite on target. The GOOD NEWS is that even in these times, God doesn’t desert me. If I faithfully and genuinely trust Him for outcomes, He will work even when I have misinterpreted His message. There may be some bumps in the road… challenges and hurdles I didn’t anticipate – much less want… but God will show me how to correct my course and get back on track.
The KEY is to communicate with God about everything, to faithfully work to follow His will… and then to trust Him for the outcomes. The one thing we must not do is “worry our prayers” and second-guess them. If we have humbly and earnestly sought God’s will in prayer, we cannot play the “woulda-shoulda-coulda” game afterward.
This is not easy. But God never promised us easy. I heard Pastor Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Life, say that he once asked a man how he was doing. The man replied, “I’m doing very well… under the circumstances.” Pastor Warren’s reply was, “What are you doing under them? Being under your circumstances is like being under a mattress… you’ll smother! Get on top of them!” God wants us to come to him with all of our questions, problems, and concerns… and to trust Him to show us how to sit on top of them. He wants us to trust Him for the right answers… and the outcomes.
My question to all of us today is this… “Where are we sitting? Are we under the “mattress” of our circumstances? Have we deemed our questions/situations to be too dumb for God to handle? Do we fully trust His ability to answer us? Do we trust our ability to hear from Him… and are we following through on His answers with confidence? Have we stopped “worrying our prayers” and started trusting God to guide us in all situations? Isn’t it time we did?
©2013 Debbie Robus
