What I've Learned About Trials

 

 

 

 

 

The Lord's Prayer?

            “Our Father in Heaven, (if You really are listening and care at all about what’s happening here on earth),
            hallowed be Your name (even though I carelessly say “Oh my G**" and “G** D*** it” and “J**** C*****” all the time),
            Your kingdom come (just so long as it doesn’t interfere with my kingdom),
            Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven (as long as You don’t ask me to do anything that I don’t want to do and You do everything that I ask You to do).
            Give us today our daily bread.  (And to ease my fears that I might not have enough, why don’t You also give me tomorrow’s, next week’s, and next month’s daily bread right now?  Or at least give me more than my neighbor.  It’s not fair that they have so much more than I do.) 
            Forgive me my trespasses,
            which are not nearly as bad as the trespasses of others against me.  (So I don’t think I can really forgive them or that I should have to.  In fact, make sure You bring down on their smug, little heads all the pain that they have caused me.  Make them pay!)
            And lead me not into temptation (for I spend enough time looking for it myself),
            but deliver me from the evil one. (Even though I sometimes invite him into my life with my choices and make all sorts of compromises with him.  And I’m not even really sure if there is an “evil one.”  It’s too mystical-sounding.  So it probably doesn’t even matter how I live my life because I am a Christian and You love me and You wouldn’t let anything bad happen to me.)
            For Yours is the kingdom, but let me have the power and the glory for now, and I’ll worry about “forever” when I get there.  Amen

            Something just doesn’t sound right, does it?  But is there any part of this prayer that’s convicting?  Read it again!  Is there any part that honestly fits with how you are living?  Do you really think about the words that you are saying when you pray?  Do you let them deep into your heart?  Do you remember that you are talking to the God of the Universe?  The God who desperately wants a genuine, life-changing relationship with you?  Or have your prayers become repetitive, mindless words that you say so that you can check it off of your To Do list?  Do you live like prayer matters?

My Everday Prayer

            I want to share with you a prayer that I wrote, my personal version of The Lord’s Prayer with verses that mean something to me and reminders that I need.  And then I will explain this prayer after I share it.  I call it My Everyday Prayer.  It’s the one I go to in the morning, especially when I can’t think of where else to start.  (I don’t manage to do it every day, but I try to say it often.  The other “go to” prayer:  The Lord’s Prayer.  I’ll say that when I don’t have any words of my own.)  And then I just continue to talk to God spontaneously the rest of the day.  But I like to say this one first because every line means something to me and is there for a reason.  So here it is, My Everyday Prayer: 

Heavenly, Holy, Gracious Father,

            Thank You for another day.  And for loving me enough to send Jesus to die for me.  May my life be a Thanks Offering for that beautiful, priceless gift.  And I truly, deeply thank You for the wonderful blessings of a good marriage, good children, and our good health.  Life is sweet!  You have been so good to me to grant me these things.  Anything else is just bonus.  Please protect them!  Protect my marriage, my children, and our health.  With these, I am rich beyond belief! 

            Guide me today according to Your Will and for Your glory.  Fill me anew with Your Holy Spirit.  Help me discern Your leading and grant me the strength to obey.  Help me walk in wisdom and gracefulness. 

            Give me eyes to see and ears to hear what You want for me and from me.  And help me to notice and be thankful for the blessings and gifts You have given me.  (*Thank Him now for specific things or after the prayer.)  Help me also to notice how I can be a blessing and a help to others.

            Search my heart and reveal any sins or obstacles between us.  (*Pause and listen now or after the prayer.)  Forgive my sins as I forgive others.  Create in me a pure heart and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

            Provide all we need for today.  And help me to be content with it, for You have decided that it is enough.  You are enough!  Help me to glorify You with what You provide today, with what You give or take away.

            Pour out on us Your love, grace, and mercy, for we are bankrupt without these.  Protect us from evil and surround us with Your Heavenly angels, for we are desperate for Your care and protection.  We cannot fight this battle without You!

            Help me to follow and not lead - to surf and not ski - as I humble myself under Your mighty hand, trusting that You will lift me up in due time.  And help me have enough faith to never “shorten Your arm,” but help me rest in Your wisdom, power, and timing.

            Take the little that I can do and offer, and multiply it for Your glory and Your purposes.  Make something beautiful and useful out of my shortcomings and weaknesses.  And help me be more like Jesus!

            I once again commit my family and my path to Your gracious, wise care.  May Your Will be done in and through our lives.  And may all we do be for Your glory.  Help me remember to live for eternity, and not for the temporary.

            Guide and protect our country and call us back up to being a nation “under God.”  Have mercy on us and do not give us what we deserve.  But send Your Spirit to start a revival, for we are in desperate need of You!

            Be with my boys as they grow, and with their future wives.  Guide them all to being humble, wise, intelligent, strong, godly adults.  Keep them all safe and pure until marriage.  Help them to find each other at a young age and to commit to godly marriages.  And help them to discover what it is that You want for them and for their lives.  Bless their families.  And I ask that You bless Jason and me with many more healthy, enjoyable years.

            Is there anything right now that I need to commit to Your hands?  (*Pause, listen, and pray it over to God.)  And speak to my heart right now about anything that You want me to know, do, or pray.  (*Pause and listen.)  And I pray all of this in Jesus’ most holy name, Amen       

(And then, I try to spend some time praying for other people and just talking my thoughts, feelings, and fears over with God.  And I do this all throughout the day because I need to talk things over with Him.  I just can’t face the day, the discouragement, or the Enemy on my own.)

So now I’ll tell you why these lines are so important to me. 

If God's Making You Wait, There Is A Reason

            As I reflect back on my spiritual journey so far, I have to say that the most growth seemed to happen during the times of God’s deafening silence, the long waits.  These usually started with me praying about some request.  And then, when the answer wasn’t coming and I couldn’t even feel His presence anymore, I would end up desperate, pleading to just have any sense that He was even there, that He cared and was listening, and that He hadn’t abandoned me.  What started out as a request for something I wanted or “needed” became a search for knowing that God really cared about me.  God’s silence forced me to move from wanting my request to just wanting Him. 

            It’s ironic to me that the greatest levels of spiritual growth come out of the times when I struggle the most with doubts and fears about Him and myself and my faith.  And the greatest growth I experience in my understanding of prayer comes when I feel like I am totally failing at it.  But it takes time.  It takes commitment to walk through the pain and silence and doubt with God, instead of bailing on Him because He is “too slow” or too silent. 

            I think that there are at least five reasons why God remains silent for stretches of time: 

Waiting for Answers to Prayer

            As I grow through the times of unanswered prayers and the longs waits for answers, I’m learning to not let my faith in Him hinge on how He chooses to answer.  I’m learning to let Him be God! 
            In the name of transparency and dependence on Him, I do pray for specifics and I pour out my desires.  I believe that He can do what I am asking . . . if He chooses to.  I have no doubt that He is capable. 
            But in the name of humility, I have to allow Him to answer as He wants.  And sometimes this means waiting a long time for Him to answer or to work things out.  More often than not, God moves a lot slower than I want Him to.  And learning to let things happen “in His time and in His way” has been a really hard lesson to learn.

            So how long should we continue to hang in there and pray for something that doesn’t seem to be happening?  When it seems like God is not listening and it hurts us to have to plead again about a certain request? 

UPB #9: Summing it all up

Understanding Prayer Better #9:  Summing it all up

            Summing up all that I’ve learned so far in these posts on prayer, I’d have to say that our prayers are most effective…

UPB #7 and 8: Sin/Abiding in God

Understanding Prayer Better #7/8:  Sin/Abiding in Him

            Here’s one for husbands.  1 Peter 3:7:  “Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect . . . so that nothing will hinder your prayers.” 

            The degree to which we treat others with consideration and respect, particularly regarding a husband’s treatment of his wife in this verse, is the degree to which our prayers are unhindered.

            And here are three that scare me:

            Proverbs 21:13:  “If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered.”
            James 4:17:  “Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.” 
            Romans 14:23:  “. . . everything that does not come from faith is sin.”

            Yikes!  The first verse tells me that God does not listen to us if we ignore those in need.  And the second two broaden the definition of sin.  Sin is not just doing things that we know we shouldn’t do; it’s also sin to not do what we know we should do and to do anything that doesn’t come from faith.  And sin hinders prayer.