Monday, April 7, 2014

Spirit, Lead Me Where My Trust is Without Borders

I have been praying almost my whole life. Many of my prayers have been answered - for strength in my weakness, comfort in times of distress, hope when things seem really bleak, wisdom in my times of searching for the right answer. I learned a long time ago that my prayers will not always be answered in the ways that I hope. Even though I have faith that God hears my prayers, it is sometimes hard to accept when He does not provide the answer I want. This is especially true when what I want is something good for someone else.

For several years now, I have prayed for a friend who is paying the price for a tragic lapse of judgment. I have prayed for his well-being, his salvation and his freedom. But I have been disappointed that God has not yet transformed his life in the way that I hoped, especially because I know that God has the power to do so.

When you look up "unanswered prayers" on Google, you see a list of links to a Garth Brooks' song. Just because he may not answer, doesn't mean he don't care. Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers. In God's infinite wisdom, he knows what is best for us. He sees the big picture - we don't.
God's plans are a mystery to me. So I look to myself and question whether I am praying right when my prayers appear to be unanswered. Maybe I'm not praying often enough. Maybe I should get down on my knees instead of just talking to God wherever I am, whenever the Spirit moves me. Maybe I'm praying for the wrong things. Maybe I need to throw more praise into the mix.

The problem with this kind of thinking is that it ignores God's grace. God's grace does not depend on anything I can do. It does not require me to pray perfectly. This thinking also suggests that through my prayers, I can control what God does, when in reality, God is sovereign over all things. So as I look to God for wisdom, his word reminds me of three important things about prayer.

 1. Pray faithfully. A faithless response to seemingly unanswered prayers would be to stop praying. I have faith that God hears my prayers. The words of James remind me to pray no matter what my mood is, no matter what the circumstances are. Why? Because the prayers of the righteous are powerful and effective. Even if I don't see the effects now.
The Prayer of Faith (James 5:13-16)
Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
2. Pray that God's will be done. I have recited the Lord's Prayer so many times that the words do not always register. Yet this familiar prayer, the one that Jesus taught us to pray, has much to say about praying with God's sovereignty in mind. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

3. Wait patiently. Patience is not my strong suit. I am results-oriented - I want to see the results of my prayers immediately. However, I know that my timeline is not God's timeline. Sometimes He lets us go through trials and tribulations to teach us. When He at last lifts us out of the slimy pit of our misery, he puts a new song in our hearts. We learn to put our trust in Him.
A Psalm of David (Psalm 40:1-3)
I waited patiently for the Lord;
    he turned to me and heard my cry.
 He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
    out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
    and gave me a firm place to stand.
 He put a new song in my mouth,
    a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear the Lord
    and put their trust in him.

Jesus, I call on your name. You've never failed me. My patience has been tested - give me strength to wait longer. My faith is strong - make it stronger. May I not lean on my own understanding but trust your sovereign hand to guide me. Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders. Amen.





You call me out upon the waters
The great unknown where feet may fail
And there I find You in the mystery
In oceans deep
My faith will stand

And I will call upon Your name
And keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise
My soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours and You are mine

Your grace abounds in deepest waters
Your sovereign hand
Will be my guide
Where feet may fail and fear surrounds me
You've never failed and You won't start now

So I will call upon Your name
And keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise
My soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours and You are mine

Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders
Let me walk upon the waters
Wherever You would call me
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander
And my faith will be made stronger
In the presence of my Savior

* Hillsong United
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3 comments:

  1. UnknownApril 8, 2014 at 7:50 AM

    Luke 22:42 "Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine." (New Living Translation)

    Jesus prayed that his His Father would protect him from being tortured, nearly beaten to death, and crucified on the cross, yet his prayer wasn't answered.

    I assume every Christian fed to the loins, killed by gladiators, or martyred for their faith prayed for their own safety at one time or another, yet they all died.

    Many of the most faithful Christians have experienced physical and emotional troubles, and have lived in poverty, and have lived what most of us would have considered to be miserable lives. They are as worthy of God's mercy as you and I, yet from the outside it would appear that God has blessed us and not them.

    God gave us life. From the moment of our conception God has given us more than we can ever repay. He owes us nothing and we owe Him everything. When our prayers seem to be unanswered, God isn't taking away anything we already have, and certainly not failing to give us anything we're owed. So feeling that God has let us down, or believing that perhaps we just haven't figured out which button to push to get our way, seems to me to place to much importance on ourselves and not enough on God Himself.

    I'm a hypocrite, of course I pray like you do, for things for myself and for those I love. And that's ok, it's human nature. But when we pray, what we're doing, we're saying "God, I believe in You. I can't see You, touch You, or hear You, but I acknowledge your existence, I acknowledge your power and your importance in my life. I thank You for the many things You've done for me. I ask that your will be done. And I hope that your will includes this....."

    And of course I don't pray that well. But the mere act of prayer is an acknowledgment that we believe the One we are praying to exists. And that might be the single most important part of prayer, that yes, Father, we believe in you.

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  2. Cathy JohnsonApril 9, 2014 at 11:18 AM

    I think most of us place too much importance on ourselves. As sinners, we often see things from our own selfish point of view. When I wrote this, I did think about the fact that Jesus prayed "Thy will be done" knowing that he would die to fulfill God's plan for redeeming mankind. Examining my prayer life is part of my own soul searching. As I pray, I am trying to keep in mind God's greater purpose.

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  3. UnknownApril 9, 2014 at 2:33 PM

    I't human to pray for the things you think are good and it's a sign of caring and compassion to pray for others. But I personally think it's a mistake to expect that all prayers should be answered, or to think that because some people have good fortune and others have bad fortune that God listens to and answers the prayers of some and not the others, that God shows favoritism. For me that smacks of the Prosperity Gospel and it also feeds into nationalism (such as the idea that God loves America best). You know, Jesus was poor and he seemed to favor the poor. When he showed us how to pray what did he say, he said "Give us this day our daily bread". Not a nice house, nice clothing, just for the bare necessity of life, enough food. And the saints, guys like Saint Francis. If Saint Francis had a cloak holey cloak and saw a beggar with clothes that were more raggedy, he exchanged clothes. He often begged for his food, knowing that begging placed him at the bottom of the social strata. And he was often given decent scraps because everyone knew who he was and revered him. And if he saw a beggar with worse scraps, he would trade. He ate garbage so vile that at first he'd nearly vomit. And he forced himself to eat food that wouldn't have been fed to a pig and he did so because he knew his Savior suffered, and because Jesus was lowly, he had to sink even lower . I mean, I can't even begin to emulate Saint Francis, but I admire him tremendously. And the same for Mother Theresa and her work with the poor and lepers of India. That's who I admire, not guys like Joel Osteen and this prayer for materialism and favors from God.

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