Matthew 21:22
If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.
Are you a mind traveler? You travel to the past, venture to the future but can’t stay planted today in the moment. You seek to be anywhere but here. Is the present too painful for you? You keep hoping for a better tomorrow, so you put a lot of energy into creating, in your head, what your life should look like. What pain are you avoiding? What truths are you running from? The only way past the pain is to deal with it. Deal with your stuff.
When a crisis hits, and life comes to a screeching halt, your stuff that you haven’t dealt with, falls on you. It falls all around you. It is right in front of your face asking to be dealt with. You have two choices. One deal with it. Look inward and be honest with yourself. Or two, look outward and blame another person or a bunch of people. Life is constantly trying to get you to own and deal with your stuff. No matter how much you try to bury everything it comes to the surface. It shows up in broken relationships, difficult children, passionless jobs, deaths, a disappointing health prognosis, aging parents, depressed spouse, and angry neighbors The list could go on and on. That stuff shows up because it is at the foundation of how you deal with everything. Until you clean it up, it will drive who you are and all you do.
What is your stuff? Pride? Stubbornness? Jealousy? Hate? Ungratefulness? Being mean? Judgement? Control? What is the root of it? Where did it start? It won’t go away until you deal with it. Push it down, ignore it, try your best to wish it away and pray it away, it is still there. Time after time you face your stuff and decide to deal with it or shove down. Does God not hear you? Oh, He does. He hears your prayers for help. He just isn’t answering those prayers the way you want . He doesn’t just take the problem away He breaks them a part and has You deal with it in stages. These things take time, sometimes years. You pray and God answers. He starts working. His answers may not look like you expected.
Lord help me to enjoy life, may look like Him shining a light on all the ways you don’t enjoy life. It may look like releasing you from a job that caused you anxiety and stress.
Lord help me not to blame, may look like Him helping you understand what it feels like to be blamed. He may show you yourself in another person.
Lord help me to forgive, may look like Him showing you a lesson in compassion. He may show you what it is like to walk in someone else’s shoes.
Lord help me to not be so negative, may look like him showing you how blessed you are.
Lord help me to believe, may look like Him being there when you hit rock bottom, on your knees and have no choice but to look up.
Lord help me be more gracious, humble, grateful stop gossiping. Whatever you pray for, God delivers. Slowly, meticulously He works to answer your prayer. Gently He guides you to unravel a story, see a truth and accept what you need to work on. He continues to call you to be more, become softer, and sit in the calm of His presence. God doesn’t do all the heavy lifting. He stands beside you as you work. He surrounds you with His unfailing love. You need to be part of the change for it to be effective and for you to be an example to others.
Your best growth may come in your most painful moments. Release the grip. Let God’s work flow. Don’t fight it. His work flows through the love He has for you. His love is like a raging river, the power of the wind, and the ocean tide. All have a determined direction you can’t divert. The more you try to fight the ocean tide the more distress you get in and the further you get from your destination. You fight, exhaustion sets in and the result is the need to be rescued. Embrace the power of God’s love and find the good and enjoyment in the process of growing into wholeness. Let go. Let it be.
The enemy doesn’t want you to enjoy life. He doesn’t want you to see any purpose in trying.
He whispers, “don’t enjoy life you will just be disappointed. Why bother? People will just let you down. God will let you down. You will let yourself down. Just stay down.” You recognize this view. It is familiar. It is safe. Live in the past. Dream of the future. Be the enemy’s prisoner. Fight the current, go the opposite way of the river. If life gets easy something bad is going to happen. The bottom will drop out.
God wants you to deal with your stuff and enjoy life. Face your fears of self-destruction. Question your thoughts. Don’t wait for everything to be worked out or a planned moment to enjoy life. God’s beauty and goodness is all around you. Stop take it in. Appreciate it. Praise God. Be proud of your God. Be thankful. Enjoy life through the moments of change and difficulties. Find ways to enjoy each day. Don’t appreciate what you have once it is in the past. Show up today, work on your stuff and let God be, to do His work in you.
Father God,
Thank you for hearing my prayers and answering them. Thank you for showing me my stuff and helping me to own it and deal with it. Forgive me for questioning your ways. Forgive me for not having patience with the process. You are the maker of the stars. You hold my heart. You call me to stay in the present and enjoy the gift that is today. Help me not to be a mind traveler. Help me to continually face what I need to deal with. May I run toward the truth with a calm, faithful and humble heart.
In Jesus name,
Amen
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