Accepting GOD’s Answer—Regardless!

How often do you find yourself grappling in prayer for an answer from GOD? How often would you say that GOD has answered already but you didn’t agree with His decision? You continue to “pray through” for an answer when the answer has already been given?  

Pray through? To what? Pray until you can change God’s mind? Pray through until you get what you want regardless of God’s divine wisdom and foresight? I recall many times in my ministry where people spent days and even weeks “praying through” for something that they knew GOD had already answered but it wasn’t what they wanted.

Consider how Jesus “prayed through” for a moment. He found Himself at the end of His earthly road. He knew the pain and struggle that the following day held for Him. But, He left it all in God’s hands. Think about this: “Then Jesus left them a second time and prayed, ‘My Father! If this cup cannot be taken away unless I drink it, your will be done.’ When he returned to them again, he found them sleeping, for they couldn’t keep their eyes open. So he went to pray a third time, saying the same things again” (Matthew 26:42-44 NLT).

Now think back for a moment to how Jesus directed us to pray. His prayer was simple: “May your will be done” (Matthew 6:10 NLT). Just before that, He had established the principle by saying: “don’t babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!” (vv. 7-8).

Frances Knight in her book, “Christianity Alive! With Prayer Power,” addresses this when she quotes the late Watchman Nee with this powerful saying we can all learn from: “Seldom are there those who pray aright. Many think of what they…wish to have, few pay attention to what GOD wants.” The principle is simple: learn to accept GOD’s answer regardless.

In the garden, Jesus prayed for another way but realized quickly the path He had to follow was the only way and He accepted GOD’s will. You and I would do well to simply trust GOD and His answer when it comes rather than trying to change the mind and heart of GOD.

Scripture Reading: “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be” (Matthew 6:19-21 NLT).

Prayer: Father, help me to learn to trust in You and Your answer regardless of what my wants or desires may be. Help me to accept You as my Divine Guide in all ways and to fully trust in all You lead me to do and the paths You lead me to follow. I love You!…in Jesus’name…AMEN!

Running Away from God Never Solves Anything!

How often do you find yourself running away from what you know you should be doing? Your life is spent searching for paths of fulfillment; yet, you seem to never find exactly what you’re looking for. Each new path of hope you travel down only ends in further discouragement and discontentment.

I certainly spent a great deal of time running away from the Lord’s direction for my life. I was under the impression that His path would be boring—something you do after you’ve enjoyed all life has to offer. Yet, it didn’t take long to discover the mistakes I’d made and the cover-ups required to continue fooling myself into thinking I was doing the right thing.

One of the best examples found in Scripture is Jonah. The Scripture says: “The LORD gave this message to Jonah son of Amittai: ‘Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are.’ But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the LORD” (Jonah 1:1-3 NLT). God had mapped out a plan for Jonah’s life. But Jonah wasn’t happy with it and very quickly headed off in the other direction.

You feel God trying to lead you but you’re not happy with the direction He has chosen—the possible outcome is not what you really had in mind for yourself. Your mind begins whirling; you think about all you’re going to miss out on and before you know it you’ve high-tailed it off in your own direction—doing your own thing.

Maybe your life is in a mess today because of bad decisions, bad choices, and a bad sense of direction? Jonah found himself in the belly of fish. In the midst of this terrible situation, he said: “I cried out to the LORD in my great trouble, and he answered me. I called to you from the land of the dead, and LORD, you heard me!” (Jonah 2:2 NLT). God hadn’t given up on him. God didn’t write him off as a loss! God heard his plea for help and came to his rescue.

The same goes for you today! God has not written you off. He loves you and desires to have you back following His leading and the path that He has mapped out for you. Jonah was not only saved from his own personal destruction but God went on and used him in a mighty way for the saving of many souls.

Running away from God never solves anything! Turn your life around today. Seek God and His way and He will free you from the path of destruction you have gotten yourself onto.

Scripture Reading: “Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins. Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin” (Psalm 51:1-2 NLT).

Prayer: Father in heaven, I have struggled against You and Your will for a long time. I know You love me; I know You have a path for me that leads to victory, peace, joy and eternal happiness. I know You have my best at heart. Please forgive my wandering. Forgive my rebellion against You. Purify my heart and life and help me to re-focus upon Your direction. I thank You that You never gave up on me but continue to tug at my heart and life through Your Holy Spirit! Again, thank You, Lord! I love You!…in Jesus’ name…AMEN!

Unfailing is Your Love, O Lord!

A quick look back at our lives and we see a rather consistent pattern of failure toward GOD. We fail Him by our unbelief, our daily sins and shortcomings, and our disobedient ways—if we seriously step back and consider our lives, we can easily recognize an established pattern of failure. If a close friend consistently failed me in the same way I fail GOD, I would be wondering if the friendship were really worth continuing. What about you?  

GOD had intervened in the issues of the Israelites for centuries. He was always there to get them out of the trouble they had created by walking away from Him. He sent His special messengers, the prophets, to warn and attempt to redirect their lives; yet, their response was to ridicule, persecute and even kill these special emissaries from GOD. Finally, he sent Jeremiah to give them a final warning concerning the impending Babylonian invasion that would destroy their homeland. He sounded the warning but to no avail!

In the midst of their ongoing, flagrant rebellion, the LORD expressed His unceasing love by saying: “I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself” (Jeremiah 31:3 NLT). In the very midst of your outright rebellious ways, GOD continued to love them and desire for them to return to Him.

Today, you may be struggling against the Spirit of GOD? You might be rebelling against His direction, choosing to follow after your own path? As you continue your venture, you discover dead-ends, GOD’s way of redirecting you, but you choose to go around the warning signs taking your life into your own hands—continuing to follow a path of eventual destruction.

It’s time to turn around before it’s too late! It’s time to turn your life back to GOD and allow Him to lead and direct your steps. He loves you! He will forgive all your past sins and shortcomings. He will trade them all in on His free gift of eternal life! By His unfailing love, He continues to draw you unto Himself.

Scripture Reading: “Your unfailing love is better than life itself; how I praise you!” (Psalm 63:3 NLT).

Prayer: Father in heaven, in the midst of my rebellion, You continue to love me and gently pull me back to You! Please forgive me for even thinking I could do life without You. Please forgive my rebelliousness and help me to get on Your path and remain there. I love You and thank You that You have never given up on me nor will You ever. Your unfailing love reaches out to me always…in Jesus’ name…AMEN!

Today, You Are Loved!

When you find yourself truly in love with another individual, it is amazing how the imperfections disappear. You become so caught up in the beauty of love; you don’t recognize anything that might be wrong with the person’s image, personality, attitude or actions. Your world is that person!

When I see two people deeply entrenched in love, I can begin to get a picture in my mind of how GOD feels about us. He looks beyond the imperfections, the faults and the shortcomings. He looks beyond our daily failures preferring to gaze at the beauty and perfection He designed and created with His own hands.

In the Song of Solomon, we see a picture in words of God’s thoughts about us. Solomon wrote: “You have captured my heart, my treasure, my bride. You hold it hostage with one glance of your eyes, with a single jewel of your necklace. Your love delights me, my treasure, my bride. Your love is better than wine, your perfume more fragrant than spices” (SoS 4:9-10 NLT).

You are not simply a face in the crowd today. You are more than just a number. You are important to GOD. He enjoys watching you. He enjoys beholding the beauty that others fail to see. GOD is deeply in love with you and cherishes you as none other has ever done nor ever will. Today, you are loved more than you will ever know!

His intense desire is to have an eternal relationship with you. He made that possible by giving the ultimate gift for you—the life of His Son, Jesus Christ! Rather than write you off, He sent Jesus. Jesus paid for your sins and shortcomings, failures and disappointments with His own life blood so that GOD the Father could have that desired relationship with you.

God’s love for you cannot be changed by anything you say or do. He will love you if you turn and walk away, desiring only that you recognize your departure and return to the Father who waits with open arms. His arms are always open for you because He loves you today!

Scripture Reading: “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39 NLT).

Prayer: Father in heaven, Your intense love for me is beyond my ability to fully comprehend. Why You love and desire me, I don’t understand as I look at my life, as I look at the mess I have made of my life, as I look at how I so often walk away from Your perfect will and way for me, trying my own path, only to discover how wrong I have been. Yet, You do love me with a greater intensity than I will ever understand. Please, help me to love You, to long for You as You do me. Thank you for the forgiveness of my sins through Jesus and for not giving up on me…in Jesus’ name…AMEN!

What Will You Do with Today?

You have awakened to your new day today! Realize it is the tomorrow you fretted and feared about but now you have the opportunity to stare it in the face and to conquer it. Perspective goes a long way. Your new day has the potential to be filled with new adventures, new opportunities and new blessings from the Lord or it can turn into a day of intense trials, difficulties and indecision. The answer you give to the question, What will you do with today?, begins to set into motion the outcome of your today.

As you consider these things and what you will do with today, think about the words of the Psalmist: “The LORD directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the LORD holds them by the hand. Once I was young, and now I am old. Yet I have never seen the godly abandoned or their children begging for bread” (Psalm 37:23-25 NLT).

Today, the Lord desires to guide your steps and to delight in even the smallest details of your life because He cares for you. When you run up against problems and difficulties, don’t allow them to overwhelm or overcome you as He is holding your hand because He is concerned about you. He will not abandon you; He will remain right beside you because He loves you.

The real question is simple, what will you do with today? The Psalmist says: “Turn from evil and do good, and you will live in the land forever” (Psalm 37:27). As you map out you day, begin by determining this to be the best day of the rest of your life! Determine to seek out and do good to and for those around you. Determine to make your life a blessing to others. Think before you speak; temper your words with love and compassion. Determine to make a positive impact upon every opportunity you are faced with.

See your problems as faith-building opportunities. See those determined to persecute you as individuals who need serious love and kindness shown towards them. See the hindrances and difficulties of life as times when GOD’s power is going to come through at just the right moment. When you lie down to sleep tonight, you can look back on your day with no regrets and look to you tomorrow as another day of great opportunity!

Scripture Reading: “Trust in the LORD and do good. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper. Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you your heart’s desires. Commit everything you do to the LORD. Trust him, and he will help you. He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn, and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun. Be still in the presence of the LORD, and wait patiently for him to act. Don’t worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes. Stop being angry! Turn from your rage! Do not lose your temper— it only leads to harm” (Psalm 37:3-8 NLT).

Prayer: Father in heaven, I thank You that You have given me a new day filled with new opportunities to impact my world in a positive way. I pray You would fill my words with love, kindness and compassion. Fill my heart with an intense desire to do good and see good in all that comes before me. Help me to reach out and help those who would seek to harm me so that somehow they may see Your love and Your gracious deeds fulfilled through my life. Help me to recognize that it is not about me at all; it is all about YOU!…in Jesus’ name…AMEN!

Sincere Seekers

How often do you find yourself wondering if GOD really even cares about your situation? You’ve been searching for answers. You’ve been crying out to GOD for help in your dark hour and yet it seems like your prayers aren’t getting past the ceiling?

GOD, are You really there? GOD, do You really care? It seems we all find ourselves in these situations at times. So often it seems as though GOD is holding out on us or maybe holding back on us. But, I don’t believe it’s either of these.

I believe GOD uses these pivotal moments in our life-walk to strengthen our faith—to intensify our trust in Him. He challenges our level of sincerity in order that we might learn that no matter how difficult things may get, we can and must continue to trust in Him regardless of His answer or response.

In Jeremiah 29:13, GOD tells us: “You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart” (CSB). That word “when” places an emphasis on the type of searching GOD desires from His people. Certainly, GOD could quickly respond every time we cry out to Him, but He desires a people who are sincere seekers—a people who don’t simply see Him as a genie-in-a-bottle waiting to be summoned at our every whim and want.

GOD must be recognized as the all-knowing GOD. A GOD Who knows the exact moment of our need. We must learn to place our faith and trust in His perfect timing for His intervention into our moment of need.

Jesus established a precedent for us by telling us to: “Keep asking, and it will be given to you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who searches finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened” (Luke 11:9-10 CSB). We should certainly never give up on our appeal because our continual appeal is developing and strengthening our faith. At just the right moment, GOD will come through with the answer that He knows to be the very best for us!

Scripture Reading: “Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble; He saved them from their distress. He sent His word and healed them; He rescued them from the Pit. Let them give thanks to the Lord for His faithful love and His wonderful works for the human race. Let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving and announce His works with shouts of joy” (Psalm 107:19-22 CSB).

Prayer: Father, I thank You that You always hear me. I know I get in a hurry for an answer from You too often and have even been guilty of trying to make my own answer appear. Help my unbelief! Strengthen my faith so I may be prepared for whatever trial or tribulation may come my way. Help me to seek You and Your will with all sincerity of heart and mind and to not give up but to continue seeking until You provide the needed answer—whatever it may be. I love You and thank You for all You do for me…in Jesus’ name…AMEN!