"...pray about your needs according to God's will with
in your life - in every single area of your life.
So go ahead: Pray. Pray imaginatively. Pray unstoppably.
And expect a miracle." (p.165)
We all go through it: the doubting and wondering whether God hears our prayers. Or worse, we don't pray them at all because we just know that our little issue is not nearly important enough for God to take notice of, much less do anything about.
Fortunately we have permission from the Father himself to bring our concerns before him.
So let us keep on coming boldly to the throne of grace, so that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 4:16.
OBTAINING MERCY. FINDING GRACE
A merciful God might hear a prayer and say "no" - he might say "wait a while". But a merciful God would never punish or denigrate us for asking. He knows our hearts. He knows every weakness we have. In other words he knows we are human with all the accompanying flaws and failures. In spite of and because of that he tells us to come before him with our requests.
That doesn't mean we should come flippantly or with disrespect, but it does mean that whatever is on our hearts is of interest to him. Maybe that's because he knows that when we seek him out and bring requests to him we are open to hearing from him.
God is all about relationship. When you love someone you care about the things that are important to them. If we as flawed, imperfect humans can care, how much more does God care. He loves perfectly without condition, without judgment, without exception. He even loves without reciprocation from us.
HE LOVES. HE IS LOVE.
If you believe that then you can, without fear, without reservation, bring your requests to him and expect that while his answer may not be what you expect, it WILL be what you need.
How can you tell if you're doing this? Take a moment and make a list of the things that occupy your thoughts doing the day. List everything and try to rank them in order of importance (or time spent on each). Now, go through your list and if you have actually spent time praying about that issue place a check next to it.
Do you have a lot of checks? Do you have any? If not, or if you only have one or two, you may have some praying to do. Look at your list. What is keeping you from praying about those things? God is interested. He's interested in you and the things that occupy your mind, heart and your time. What would happen if you took this list before God today? Why don't you try it and see?
How can you tell if you're doing this? Take a moment and make a list of the things that occupy your thoughts doing the day. List everything and try to rank them in order of importance (or time spent on each). Now, go through your list and if you have actually spent time praying about that issue place a check next to it.
Do you have a lot of checks? Do you have any? If not, or if you only have one or two, you may have some praying to do. Look at your list. What is keeping you from praying about those things? God is interested. He's interested in you and the things that occupy your mind, heart and your time. What would happen if you took this list before God today? Why don't you try it and see?
It's your turn: Today be especially aware of how you are praying. Are you saying what you think God wants to hear or are you praying what's on your heart? Take a chance and tell him what you need, tell him the desires of your heart. See what he does. Audacious isn't it?
The book is SUN STAND STILL: What happens when you dare to ask God for the impossible, by Steven Furtick.
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