Category Archives: prayer
Do’s and Don’ts of Deciphering the Will of God
DO remember that God is far more concerned with our character than our addresses or job titles. His purposes for you are likely to focus more on who you are to be rather than what you are to do.
DO investigate what the Bible says about the topic. If God’s Word offers clear direction, follow it!
DON’T test God with a “fleecing” when He has already made His Will known in Scripture. If He has already made it clear, asking for a miraculous confirmation is not only delayed obedience, it is doubt and disobedience. His will for you will never contradict Scripture.
DO seek wise counsel from trusted, mature believers. Talking to your closest friends is great, but if they’re still “baby” Christians, they may lack the wisdom to help you see God’s plans for you.
DON’T seek advice only from people you know will agree with you. This isn’t guidance, but flattery.
DO pray about it. Lots. And LISTEN to what God may say to you.
DON’T believe that the mere act of praying about something justifies whatever action you want to take. “Oh, I prayed about it, so it must be what God wants.” This type of thinking is very, very dangerous. If praying about something instantly guarantees the right decision, then, in theory, we can easily pray about everything and never make wrong decisions. That belief alleviates us of personal responsibility and gives a get-out-of-jail-free card to every bad choice. It’s immature. It’s bad doctrine.
DO think. We should pray AND think! Sometimes God expects us to do crazy things that defy human logic (as in Gideon’s case). Often, though, the wisdom He gives is compatible with logic. Look around you. Do you have other believers confirming your direction? Or are they all wondering what in the world you’re doing? Does the course of action you are considering align with other common threads in your life or does it take a u-turn from where God has already led you? Pros and cons lists can be very helpful. God does give us wisdom; wisdom frequently involves logic. Use the wisdom He gives by thinking through your situation and your options carefully.
DO SOMETHING. A lack of specific, audible instruction from God does not warrant a lack of action. Yes, we should wait upon the Lord, but you can still do something while you wait.
Scripture to Discover:
The entire book of Ephesians is a great place to start learning about the will of God. As I tried to pinpoint specific passages that would speak on this topic, I found that I couldn’t prune down the list to a few simple verses. So I strongly encourage you to read the whole book. Specifically, take note of Ephesians 4:22–24 and 5:6–17.
Also, take a moment to look up 1 Thessalonians 4:3 and Romans 12:2.
More Resources
- 10 Dumb Things Smart Christians Believe by Larry Osbourne: Multnomah Books, 2009.
- God’s Guidance: Finding His Will for Your Life by Elisabeth Elliot: Revel, 2006 (2nd ed.).
Big Birthday Wishes
My baby turned six last night. I still have very mixed feelings about this. When Ellie turned seven earlier this year, I had some major issues to face, stuff worthy of a separate post. This one, though, was different. I now have two big kids in my house. Two big kids and no little ones.
Ellie proved how big she is by decorating her first cake — all by herself! That’s right, my girl designed her brother’s cake and she did a wonderful job with it. She even made the frosting from scratch. Here is her beautiful creation.
She made the chocolate dinosaur molds and lined up all the “dinosaur eggs” around the bottom. She even did the first part of the lettering. I’m so proud of her!
Zach blew out his candles and made one big wish.
Surprising us all, that wish came true today.
I can now see two skinny legs. One is a couple inches shorter and still — even after a rather long bath with watermelon bath bubbles — a touch stinkier than the other, but, oh, it’s such a beautiful sight!
I want to tell you more, to share all the details, but it has been an exhausting, emotional, unexpected day. We’re all wiped. God answered our prayers! I wish my faith were so that I expected those answers just as they came, that my trust prevented surprise at God’s goodness. But my faith too often waivers. Pessimism guards my heart against shattered hopes and then miracles find me utterly unprepared.
Details will follow. I’m off to praise and delight in miracles given me.
How to be Outstanding
“Dear brothers and sisters, be firm. Do not be moved! Always be outstanding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
… to the extent that God has blessed you.
… because a door of great opportunity stands wide open for me, but there are many opponents.
Stay alert, stand firm in the faith show courage, be strong. Everything you do should be done in love.”
Last week I finished reading 1 Corinthians. The quotes above come from 15:58, 16:2, 9, 13-14, all quoted in the NET.
Before I go any further, please understand that I’ve not quoted the verses in their entirety, not even entirely in context. (Click here to read the full chapters.) In order to fully study and understand Scripture, we MUST read it in context, both literary and cultural.
Sometimes, though, God seems to highlight sections of Scripture. He makes them brighter for individuals for specific reasons. The parts I quoted above are the portions that jumped off the page at me last week.
Zach’s care (since his accident) has completely consumed me. I’m not complaining. Please understand that. But I have been overwhelmed, overwhelmed to the point that I sometimes just go through the motions knowing that I have so much to do and I don’t keep moving I won’t get it all done. Believing — or perhaps fearing — that if I take time to process our situation or my feelings about it or the toll it is taking on us, I’ll miss something. The balls I’ve so carefully arranged into moving suspension will tumble to the ground. Read the rest of this entry
Seeking Consistency
A while back Dori shared her testimony about our Read with Me Challenge. One thing that resonated with me, and I know some of you, was her desire for consistency. She didn’t want to just get the job done, but to maintain an even, faithful pace.
Such is the prayer of my life.
Somehow in my rebellion against routine, I’ve acquired an absence of consistency. One day I’m passionate about something and the next week I’m bored with the pursuit. One moment I can get enough and the next I can’t get far enough away.
Perhaps I’m exaggerating. I hope I am. I’d like to believe I’m slightly less eratic, emotional, unstable and a little more … well, the opposite of all those things.
I have lofty plans, but struggle to follow through. I desire to be more studious, more aware, more compassionate, more active. But then I spend another evening pouring over cookbooks, making grocery lists and listening for the delightful tune of a laundry load finished. The necessities of life swallow my ambitions. Or perhaps fear encourages me to hide in the mundane details, convincing me it’s safer there, that I belong there.
The only consistent part of my life is that it’s always the same.
That sounds entirely like a quote from Yogi Berra. Keep watch: it may end up on a Geiko commercial before you know it.
My point is that changes come slowly and in the meantime inconsistency reigns. If I’m growing, I can’t see it. I feel like stretching, but fear the risk. Or what others might say. And what will I do then?
Lord God, help me to look to you and you alone. Help me to remember that your love and redemption of me are independent of my actions. I am not in danger of losing either, no matter what I do, because you have sealed me in your Book of Life. Your grace is greater than all my inconsistent strivings and all my consistent failures. I love you and long to love you more. Help me to yield entirely to the will you have for me. Help me to trust in your strength and power to make me who you want me to be in your perfect timing. Amen and amen.
Psalm 141: Desperate Prayers
“O LORD, I cry out to you. Come quickly to me!
Pay attention to me when I cry out to you!
May you accept my prayer like incense,
my uplifted hands like the evening offering!”
With a start like that, this psalm sounds as if David’s enemies were in hot pursuit. He probably wrote it while hiding in a cave, starving and clinging to his last hope for salvation, right? Consider the urgency of his plea and all those exclamation marks! But look what comes next:
“O LORD, place a guard on my mouth!
Protect the opening of my lips!
Do not let me have evil desires,
or participate in sinful activities
with men who behave wickedly.
I will not eat their delicacies.
May the godly strike me in love and correct me.”
Psalm 141 isn’t about deliverance from armies of enemies. It’s not about being saved from starvation or physical death. No, it’s a desperate plea for sanctification.
A friend once confided in me about her sin. She said she wanted help to grieve over her sin; she didn’t know how. Instead of mourning her sinful acts or repenting of unrighteous choices, she would simply try harder. She would determine to do better next time. But she felt deep in her heart that she should be more upset.
Don’t we often fall into similar ruts? We become so comfortable with grace and forgiveness that we forget how things really are: we deserve death yet the Son of God took on flesh and died a horrible death to save us from those sins we so easily dismiss … gossip, pride, even little “white” lies we tell our children.
I want to pray like David did. I want to take my sin seriously. I want to be desperate for God. I want to cry out to Him in urgency, ardently seeking the transformation only He can produce in my life.
I choose steak.
It’s only Tuesday and already this week I’ve been bombarded with the same message again and again. I think God’s trying to tell me something. Here are a few hammers that have hit me this week.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.
– Hebrews 12:1-2One of the great uses of Twitter and Facebook will be to prove at the Last Day that prayerlessness was not for a lack of time.
– John PiperIt occurs to me that it is not so much the aim of the devil to lure me with evil as it is to preoccupy me with the meaningless.
– Donald MillerWe need to stop living selfish lives, forgetful of our God. … In the movie of life, nothing matters except our King and God. don’t let yourself forget. Soak it in and keep remembering that it is true. HE IS EVERYTHING.
– Francis Chan
Anyone notice a theme here?
While teaching Bible studies and speaking to women’s groups I have often emphasized the difference between GOOD things and GREAT things. So many of our distractions are actually good things. The problem is that they’re distracting us from that which is so much greater. I’m not going to bash twitter or facebook or the internet. These can be very useful tools. But they can also be colossal time-wasters. As can TV and novels and hobbies and shopping and technology and phones and fashion and … and … and …
I don’t want to guilt anyone into fasting from these distractions. Rather I want to encourage us — you, me, all of us — to remember what is most important and to refuse to allow ourselves to miss out on the great for that which is only good. There is no way I would ever choose taco meat over a steak. And yet I find myself doing it with my time on a daily basis.
I enjoy a good taco, but if I can have steak? It’s a no-brainer!
Unfortunately, the way I spend my time has also become a no-brainer — as in I’m not using my brain. I want to be intentional. I want to be purposeful. I want to choose that which is great instead of wasting my time on things that are less, even if they are good.
I choose steak.
A favorite lonely place
Welcome to our new house! For weeks, maybe months, I’ve promised to post pictures. Today I finally get to it.
We’ve been in the house for three months now, but there is still much to be done. Our summer provided ample distractions and higher priorities than slapping on some paint or hanging new curtains. But slowly we’re transforming this 90-year-old house into our own home. The picture above is already outdated. We’ve replaced the bushes, gotten rid of some excess foliage and transplanted mums. It looks a little neater now, but it’s also very wet. We’ve had rain for a week solid and I’ve not yet had the chance to take some new pics.
Speaking of pics, I’ve really debated how to show you the new house. Do I reveal it room by room as you would see it if you came in person? Or do I just give it to you as we finish our transformation? I’m still undecided (as I usually am), so I’ll just stick to the outside and entry areas. Last week a posted a few pics of our yet-unfinished backyard. Today I’m showing you our front porch.
This is what it looked like when we bought it, complete with the previous owners’ things:
And this is what it looks like now:
Okay, so all we did was clean and get furniture, but I like it. No, I love it!
The Bible tells us that Jesus often went to “lonely places” to pray. One of our favorite aspects of this house is the abundance of lonely places. There are great little hideaways where we can get off by ourselves to read or pray or just be still. It’s wonderful! These little sun-drenched spots allow us to escape the chaos of life, if only for a few moments.
My hope for this new home is that it will be a haven for us and others. My hope is that it will welcome the weary, feed the hungry, and give healing to wounded souls. This house is an enormous gift. I would be an ungrateful wretch if I didn’t share it freely. I am determined to do so.
“Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”
– Mark 6:31
Of red doors, pink dogwoods, and unspoken prayers
** This blog is currently undergoing an identity crisis — in design, not content. Feel free to comment on the look and don’t be surprised if it’s completely different tomorrow. **
I found myself bargaining with God again last night. Ellie was up hacking, her second week of this cough. It only comes at night and the doctors say it’s no big deal, but it is. She’s miserable and can’t sleep. We can’t sleep and are vicariously miserable. Worse: she’s questioning why God doesn’t answer our prayers to take her cough away.
So there I was in that familiar position, staring at my ceiling and trying to decode the right sequence of words to bring God’s power.
But that’s not the way God works. It’s not about proper formula. There isn’t a prayer recipe that moves Him to action. And I have to admit this is one of the most frustrating aspects of faith. I want to know that if I just do it the right way, then everything will work out the way I want. But the way I want isn’t always the right way. The way God wants is. I just wish I were better at deciphering His specific ways.
Sometimes God doesn’t answer the way we want or expect, but it’s not His grace that is off — it’s our perspective.
Maybe we don’t get what we ask because we expect the answers on our terms. I want her cough to stop now because I asked the right way and because I’m tired of dealing with this.
Maybe we only get what we really want when we fully surrender to what God wants. The funny thing is that when we fully surrender to God, our wants mirror His wants. Our desires change so that His will reigns supreme. What we want more than anything is what He deems best for us. It’s kinda cool, right?
I think of it like childish blinders. My kids often have tunnel vision because of their limited knowledge. They think they know what they want, but because I know them better and I know the world better, I know better what they want and need. Ultimately, they’re thrilled with what I’ve chosen for them, but until they surrender to my leadership, they can’t see the goodness I desire for them.
It’s the same with us and God. We can’t see the great things God has planned for us until we surrender to contentment with whatever that plan may be.
Almost two years ago Kellie wrote a post about her red door. She wrote about the joy of serving a living and compassionate God who answers even our unspoken prayers with grace.
We all have unspoken prayers. We may not call them “prayers.” Maybe they’re more like “wishes.” I know I don’t always say them out loud because, if I do and God doesn’t come through, well, that’s just one more foolishly spoken unanswered prayer – right? Well, it’s certainly foolish thinking because God already knows! I don’t have to say it out loud for Him to know what’s in my heart. Still, we keep those little secrets, the ones we don’t dare admit.
Then God comes through with a red door. Or a pink Dogwood.
My secret wish for our new house was a pink Dogwood. I admit we started our house hunt with lofty expectations. In short time our budget and the market forced us to be more practical, more realistic. Our “must-have” list dwindled from 4+ bedrooms to 3; from 2 baths to 1 (with potential for a second); from a big yard to any yard; from central air, a fireplace and a porch to whatever we could afford.
Our gracious God heard our prayers and lavishly answered even the unspoken wishes. I feel totally spoiled in the house He chose for us. We have 4 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths (one en suite!), a fireplace, central air and not 1, but 3 porches! I even have two pink Dogwood trees.
Let me reiterate something. Prayer is not formulaic. There isn’t a right or wrong way to pray. There is no way to guarantee results, to ensure you get what you want. But if you surrender to God — really, truly surrender to what He wants — you’ll be happy with what you get. Whatever that may be.
And I firmly believe God delights in surprising us with those red doors.
“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”
– Matthew 6:33 (NKJV)
Our God
I heard this song for the first time this weekend while visiting my brother’s church. It has been on a loop in my mind ever since, which is a very good thing. I’ve had a really rough day, a rough weekend … the entire past week has tested my faith. I need a mantra like this, one that persistently reminds me of truth.
Lord God, eradicate my unbelief and strengthen my faith!
I place my trust in YOU alone.
