Skip to main content

Think Bigger


You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. (James 4:2-3)

          Sunday morning, Pastor Scott challenged us with the idea of listing ten “Big God Prayers” for the coming year. Those prayers are the sort that we can’t answer. They are also the sort of prayers that a lesser god, like the ones we tend to want to serve, can’t handle. They demand an omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, true and living God, and they demand trust and obedience from us. They’re the sort of prayer that I am afraid to pray. It’s not that God can’t do more than all I ask, but that my asking will mean that God has to say “No” because anything I ask is the wrong thing, my motives are wrong – I want it to glorify me, not God.
         Looking back at the four passages that have haunted my life, I think I see a few Big God Prayer possibilities.
          Abraham followed God based on the promise of a land, a seed, and a blessing. Those sound like Big God Prayers. I’m not sure how they’ll translate to my life, but they’re a good place to start. A part of that translation is always that God will give Himself. That is often in my prayers: to sense His presence, to hear His voice, to feel the touch of His hand….
         Jesus prayed, “Not my will, but Thine be done, O Lord.” To me, that feels like a huge God prayer. Not so much huge in His power to give something to me, but Huge in comparison to me and my wants. 
         Paul wrote that “my God shall supply all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus,” and “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” These are the two that feel biggest. Yesterday, I used “need” as my word of the day. The etymology ties the word to one meaning “danger.” It’s not a want. Without it, I’m in trouble.
         I need to take care of Dad for as long as he lives in a way that honors God and him. That’s my most immediate need. To do that, I need health, sanity, wisdom, and a good attitude. I may have other needs that I don’t recognize, but God knows, and they are His to provide.
          I also need hope, the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), and the armor of God. (Ephesians 6:10-18)
         What I may not need, but think I do, is to finish my book and have it become a best seller. If I put it more broadly, however, I think it fits the qualifications of needs: to be creative and/or productive and earn a living. Along with that, I need to contribute to society, to have a purpose, to be of value. 
         If I keep it in terms of my haunting passages, that’s only four Big God Prayers. I need to think bigger!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The List

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen!

  While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” (Matthew 17:5)            Do you like roller coasters? I don't. You spend forever climbing a hill. You get to the top and have half a second, then you race down to a low point. Sometimes the racing down involves tying your insides into knots. At the bottom, you either have to be dragged up another hill or you get off the ride. Peter's life was a roller coaster from the time he met Jesus. There would be miracles, and then Jesus would teach things that didn't always make sense, and then they'd go out and perform miracles, and return to be taught. Peter was praised for giving the right answer to "Who do you say that I am?" Jesus said that said answer came from God. Peter was at the top of the hill.            ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Prayer Lists

                 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. (I Peter 2:2-3)   In connection with what I wrote yesterday about the possibility that I’m wrong, I’m feeling the need to go back to basics - craving spiritual milk because somehow, I missed something. It’s a little embarrassing, craving milk like a newborn, but the truth probably is that we are newborns many times in many ways in our lives. From God’s perspective, we may never be anything more than newborns, forever needing that milk. On the other hand, being a newborn can also be exciting because so much is new. My mind is playing pinball - ricocheting from one idea to the next and through six more before it happens to hit the third again. The main topic is prayer. I have at least seven organizing structures all somewhat influenced by the movie War Room , which I’v...
Post a Comment
Read more