Lingerdog's World

My blog focusing mostly on my creative writing endeavors, but also with updates on my life and how I am serving God.

Prayer, do we really believe in the power of it? I know a lot of times we say we do, but do we really accept it's power, or do we take it for granted when we pray? I imagine we would all say we believe in prayer, especially those that have seen answered prayer in their lives but take my personal experience. Two and a half years ago, I was saved but out of church, not serving like I should, neglecting my Bible, neglecting God in my life. I still said my prayers at night though, and one in particular I prayed every night, that I be made a better Christian. Now I didn't know what that entailed, I knew I needed to go to church somewhere, I figured that would make me a better Christian, but even though I wanted to get up and go, I couldn't find my get up and go. So I guess I thought praying that prayer, God would put it on my mind more, impress upon me the need to do better. I learned God's ways aren't our ways. I lost my wife, my marriage over, I didn't know where to turn so I turned to God. I got back in church, I started serving.

So God answered that prayer, not in the way I thought He would, but He did answer it, and yes it was excruciating at first, but God helped me make it through.

So I was studying and thought I understood Proverbs 3:5, I interpreted it to trust God, don't try to figure it out. No matter what happened in my life, trust God and don't try to figure it out. I didn't know how personal that verse would become to me, and how I would be tested in following through in what I was hearing from that scripture.
But think about that, don't try to think your way out of a situation, trust that God is using it for His good, and guess what His good is going to be good for you even if you don't get it at first. Don't question what happened just trust that God is in control. And verse 6 reminds us to acknowledge Him in all ways and He will direct our paths. If we trust Him and acknowledge He's in control of our life, He's going to lead us, He's going to show us the way. He's going to place us on the path He wants us to be in. Do you get that part of it, He's going to direct you to go where He wants you, it's part of acknowledging Him, it's giving Him control over your life.
When you give Him that control, He's saying don't question what's going on, don't be a back seat driver, trust that He has His hands on the wheel and eyes on the road. He knows the best road to take, even when to us it looks like a hard road. See to God it isn't a hard road, it's just a road and He knows if He wants us to get down that road as long as we trust Him we will make it because He strengthens us, He does it for us through His strength. He carries us when we're too weak, He helps us until we can walk the walk on our own.
The Lord is that good shepherd that leads us beside still waters. He leads me in the paths of righteousness. When I am in the shadow of the valley of death, He is there with me.
Are you letting Him lead your life? Do you want to lead or do you want to follow? Do you want control, or would you rather God direct your path?
Lead or follow?

I prayed another prayer too. This one.

Lord, fill me with your spirit this week. In scripture we see the spirit come in different ways so I would ask that you send your spirit as rain to refresh me, send your spirit to open rivers in me that I might become an overflowing tributary of your spirit's fullness to others, as wind to breathe new life in me, as a fresh anointing of oil to give me practical wisdom for life, fill me with holy wine that I not be filled with the things of this world, come as fire to refine me into what you would have me be to inflame me with a passion for your work and send your spirit as a dove to rest upon me and grant me peace.

I took for granted that God would answer it, I thought He'll send His spirit and It will do these things in me and I'll be lifted and I'll be somehow better for it maybe. But God's ways are not our ways. See I missed something big.

For the Spirit to refresh me as rain, I need to be a dry and thirsty land, I needed to be parched.

To become an overflowing tributary of the Spirit's fullness, to be filled with that river I would need to be emptied of myself.

If the Spirit was going to breathe new life in me, then I have an old life I have to let go of.

If I wanted to be anointed with His wisdom, I had to let go of my own.

To be filled with the wine of the Spirit, I had to be emptied not just of myself, but of the things of this world that live in me.

If I wanted to be refined by His fire, I would have to accept, there are things in me that need to be burned away.

And if I was to receive peace, I would have to experience turmoil.

See God answers prayers, it's true, but His ways are not ours and He will use our prayers to make us look more like His son, to conform to the image of Christ. We pray for what we want, the Spirit in us communicates what we need. And though we don't always understand it right away, it's what we need, it's necessary for us to be what we were called to be. Because sometimes we let stuff, people, ourselves get between us and God, and He has to move those things so we can get closer to Him.

Like the preacher said Sunday night, if you love anyone, or anything more than God, then that person is in danger because God will move the things that keep you from Him. That's how much He loves us. That's grace, not that I would find Him, but that He came for me. Not that I was looking for Christ but that when I was running as fast and far away as I could on a slope getting steeper and steeper on a path straight down into hell, that when I was running from God, He outran me! That is grace that He would come for us, who ran from Him.

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Lingerdog's World

A Blog Dedicated to the ins and outs of my life, with occasional trips into creative writing.

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I love writing and am rediscovering that passion. I love my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and want to tell as many people as I can about him and what he has done for me.