Do it! Put Your Head Into the Lion's Mouth!

With life being what it is, I sometimes I wonder just how good is my faith, …and that’s when I think about stuff like the following:

People who pray “great” prayers actually think God means what he says. Their prayers are PROMISE centered, not PROBLEM centered. Because God is sovereign, omniscient, always good and unable to lie, when He says He’ll do something, He will. Great prayers take the person, the program, and the promises of God seriously.

As with most believers we start praying for serious issues – a wayward child, a financial crisis, a failing marriage – with an attitude of faith. But over time, our natural tendency is to turn our prayers into a worry session in which we tell God how upsetting the situation is, how frustrated we are with His delays, and which details He needs to take care of to relieve our anxiety. We even sometimes will go as far as to remind Him of how faithful we’ve been to go to church, tithe, and read our Bible – and how punching all those spiritual buttons should keep us from experiencing the trial we’re in. – We end up completely absorbed in our problems rather than focused on His promises. (I stand guilty as charged!)

When we look at God through our problems, the problems seem to get bigger and He seems to get smaller. Have you ever noticed that? But when we look at Him through His promises, our faith grows and we begin to see Him respond to it. That doesn’t mean life suddenly becomes easy (fat chance!); He never offered us a life without suffering. In fact, His word assures us that in the world we will have tribulation (John 16:33) and that all who desire to live a godly life will be persecuted (2 Tim 3:12), or how about the promise that all this “stuff” we keep chasing after is all going to burn (1Peter 3:10-13).

I am desperately depending on God to help me “get it” because it’s seems way too easy to talk myself out of believing the truth by focusing on the size of the problem rather than on the power of His promises.

· “I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength.” – Philippians 4:13
· “And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 4:19
· “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” – 1 John 4:4
· “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” – Romans 8:37
· “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” – Romans 8:28
· "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” – John 15:5
· “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” – John 15:7-8

The Lord has called us to do something great for Him…. not for us or any man! We are kingdom builders and as we have committed ourselves to building His kingdom, it is critically essential to remain focused on Him and His promises… not the grueling processes that are only a part of the construction.

With my head completely in the lion’s mouth,
PR