WHEN GOD WOOS YOUR HEART

Jesus said, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them”(John 6:44 NIV).

Friend to Friend

The entire Bible from Genesis 3 to Revelation 22:21 is a record of God’s passionate pursuit of the human heart. Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Samuel, a string of kings, both good and bad, intermingled with prophets wooing and warning God’s people. We end the last chapter of the Old Testament with silence. And then 400 years later, God breaks the holy hush with the cry of a babe in a manger as the story picks back up in Bethlehem.

From God’s first question, “Where are you?” until Jesus’ final words, “It is finished,” we see God drawing mankind with cords of kindness that sometimes appear anything but kind—drawing people back to Himself with ties of love (Hosea 11:4). We’ve wiggled and wrangled trying to break free of those cords, but He continues to lasso us with love and draw us in again.

Passionate pursuit. He’s pulled out all the stops. Moved heaven and earth—literally—to win us back, to reestablish the glory that was lost in the Garden. As Tozer said, “The whole work of God in redemption is to undo the tragic effects of that foul revolt, and to bring us back again into right and eternal relationship with Himself.”

Most of us feel that we have to pursue God continually, as if He is hard to find. And as long as we believe that, our faith journey will be difficult. It will be arduous.

But didn’t Jesus say, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30)? And yet, easy and light are not words that come quickly to mind when women explain their faith journey to me.          

Make no mistake about it. God always makes the first move. Where do you think this glory ache comes from? God put it there! He is wooing you, stirring you, awakening a longing for Him in your soul.

Jesus said, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, (John 6:44). He tunes the violin and pulls the bow across the strings of your heart and waits for you to recognize the melody wooing you into relationship with Him.

 

ARE YOU COMFORT-ABLE

 

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God” (2 Corinthians 1:3-5 NIV).


A storeowner was tacking a sign in his store window, which read PUPPIES FOR SALE, when a little boy appeared.

“How much are you selling the puppies for?” he asked.

The man told the lad he didn’t expect to let any of them go for less than $50.

The boy reached in his pocket, pulled out some change, looked up at the storeowner and said, “I have two dollars and thirty-seven cents. Can I look at them?”

The storeowner smiled and whistled. From the kennel, a dog named Lady came running down the aisle, followed by five tiny balls of fur. One puppy lagged behind. Immediately, the little boy asked about the limping puppy.

“What’s wrong with that doggie?”

“The veterinarian told us the dog is missing a hip socket,” said the storeowner. “He’ll always limp like that.”

“That’s the one I want to buy,” the lad said quickly.

The storeowner replied, “No, you don’t want to buy that dog. If you really want him, I’ll just give him to you.”

The boy came close to the storeowner’s face and said angrily, “I don’t want you to just give him to me. That doggie is worth just as much as all the other puppies and I’ll pay the full price. In fact, I’ll give you $2.37 now and .50 a month until I have him paid for!”

The storeowner replied, “No, no, no. You don’t want that dog. He’s never going to be able to run and jump and play like the other dogs.”          

In response, the little boy pulled up his pant leg to reveal a badly twisted left leg, supported by two steel braces.

“Well, sir,” he said, “I don’t run so well myself and that puppy will need someone who understands.” (Story from Puppies for Sale and Other Inspirational Tales by Dan Clark)

In 2 Corinthians, Paul wrote: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God” (2 Corinthians 1:3-5 NIV).

God does not comfort us simply to make us comfortable. God comforts us to make us comfort-able…able to comfort other people.

WHEN YOU DON"T SEE JESUS

“I will never fail you. I will never abandon you,” (Hebrews 13:5 NLT).

A crisis of belief occurs for most of us during difficult situations. We know that God is all-powerful and could rescue, heal, or save us at any time. So we tend to feel abandoned or duped when He doesn’t.

And you can bet your bottom dollar, Satan is going to be waiting in the wings to whisper doubts in your ear. He prowls around like a roaring lion looking for just the right moment to discourage the wounded believer (1 Peter 5:8). He looks for the opportune time to trip you up and bring you down (Luke 4:13).

But even if you don’t feel Jesus’ presence in your life, He is still there.

The same day that Peter and John discovered the empty tomb, two of the disciples were walking to the village of Emmaus, seven miles from Jerusalem. As the sacred city lay behind them, so did their hopes and dreams. While discussing the tragic events of the past weekend, another man appeared and began to walk alongside them.

“What are you talking about?” the man asked.

“Are you the only visitor in Jerusalem who doesn’t know about what happened over the past few days?”

“What things?” the man asked.

Then the two disciples gave the traveler a blow-by-blow account of Jesus’ arrest, crucifixion, burial, and disappearance from the tomb. Their eyes were blinded by despair and they didn’t realize that hope was walking right alongside them. All they saw was the tragedy, but they missed seeing Jesus walking on the dusty road with them.

Perhaps you’ve traveled down your own dusty road to Emmaus with circumstances leaving you confused, troubled, and depressed. Perhaps you been discouraged and wondered: Where in the world is Jesus anyway?

If so, remember this my friend, just because we cannot see Jesus or sense His presence, does not mean that He is absent. Just because we can’t see Him working does not mean that He isn’t.

He is walking the path with you (Matthew 28:20).  

He is praying for you (Hebrews 7:25).

He is working on your behalf (John 5:17).

Jesus assures us with these words: “And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20 NLT).

He gave His word. He gave His life.

Don't Give UP

So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up (Galatians 6:9).

The story is told of a great pianist who was scheduled to perform for a small country town. Everyone in the town was excited since they rarely had the opportunity to hear a famous musician. A young mother was especially excited. Her son had been taking piano lessons and showed great promise …but he hated to practice. His mother was hoping that if her son saw the great pianist perform, he would be motivated to take his music more seriously.

The night of the concert finally arrived, and it seemed as if everyone in town had come. As the young mother settled her son in his seat, her attention turned to the crowd pouring in. Everyone was dressed in their finest, and a buzz of excitement filled the concert hall. No one noticed the little boy as he slipped out of his seat and made his way down the aisle toward the stage. No one noticed the little boy as he walked onto the stage, climbed up on the piano stool, and began to play “Chopsticks.”

The concert hall fell silent as every eye turned toward the stage. People began to yell, “Where is that child’s mother? How did he get on stage? Somebody get him down immediately! This is so embarrassing for our town!” The guest artist was standing in the wings, getting ready to make his entrance when he heard the shouts and saw and heard the little boy. Grabbing his jacket, the great pianist ran onto the stage, came up behind the little boy and placed his masterful hands on the keyboard beside the hands of the small child. The little boy was startled but did not move as the man whispered in the boy’s ear, “Don’t stop. Don’t quit. Keep going.” As the little boy began to play again, the great pianist began to play as well, composing a beautiful counter melody to “Chopsticks.”

I know some of you are ready to give up and quit. Some mountain is standing between you and the dream you thought was sure to become a reality. You think God has lost track of where you are and what you are going through. He hasn’t. That is a lie from the pit and smells like smoke. Don’t buy it!

I know you don’t understand why a loving God would allow so much pain to saturate this broken world and perpetuate such loss and hurt. I don’t either. But God’s ways are so much higher than my ways, and His thoughts are for my eternal good – not my temporary comfort. I am banking on eternity. I am counting on the character of God and His heart of unconditional, unmerited, and undeserved love.

God’s grace, mercy, and forgiveness give me the strength to get out of bed each morning, and His peace is my comfort in the dark, lonely night. Like you, I sometimes ask God why He has allowed a circumstance to exist. I have questioned His favor and allowed fear and worry to make me doubt His plan. And I have to tell you that I can now look back and see so many of the question marks yanked into exclamation points in my life. I am so thankful that He said “no” to so many of the prayers I desperately wanted Him to answer with “yes.” He is God. He is able and He is more than enough.

Don’t stop! No matter where you are today, know He is with you and that His heart is for you.

Don’t quit. He is not angry with you. You are His daughter, the apple of His eye and His cherished child.

Don’t give up. Right now, surrender all of your pain to Him. Shed your tears, knowing He will collect them all and one day pour them back into your life as a refreshing rain of restoration and healing.

Keep going. Ask your questions, knowing Heaven is not in a panic and that your God really is who He says He is and will do what He has promised to do. He simply waits for you to trust Him.

 

What Does It Mean To Walk By Faith ?

For we live by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7).

Those words seem simple enough.
However, I am learning that fleshing out those words, that simple concept, can be a much tougher assignment. It requires tremendous courage and strength. You must be willing to be misunderstood and even abandoned. You must be willing to give up any semblance of control of your life that you thought you might have. You must be willing to look like a complete fool.
But it is a journey of tremendous blessing and reward. It is a journey that is exciting, life-altering, and mind-boggling. It is a journey that will allow you to see and experience God as he was meant to be: in all his fullness and grace.
Walking by faith and not by sight requires you to go to a place you do not know, one that God will reveal as you walk in obedience. Just look to Abraham as an example (Genesis 12:1).
Walking by faith means that you continue to cling to the dreams God has planted in your heart, even when you’ve been thrown away, taken to prison for crimes you didn’t commit. Just look at all Joseph endured (Genesis 37-50).
Walking by faith requires a strong determination to follow God’s plan regardless what life throws your way. Look to Daniel to discover how to have the resolve not to sin (Daniel 1:8).
Walking by faith means you have the courage to stand up for the hurting, broken, and down-trodden, to face death yourself for the good of others. Look at Esther and how she risked the death penalty to save the Jews (Esther).
You just may have to play the part of a fool. Think about Noah building an ark for a flood when it had never even rained on earth. Think about Abraham clinging to the promise that he would be the father of many nations even though he was childless at the age of 100. Think about Moses standing before the Israelites in the wilderness telling them they would eat meat until it disgusted them but having no idea where that meat would come from. Think about Joshua marching around the walls of Jericho as God had told him to and wondering what good it was going to do.
If you choose this path, you must be willing to get out of your comfort zone, to run from the Americanized brand of Christianity that so many of us have known our entire lives. You must be willing to let God take your world and turn it upside down, shake it up, and start all over again. You must be willing to let God out of the neat little box that you have put him in, to let him show up as he sees fit.
Maybe it will be a calling to do something you never dreamed before: foster or adopt children, leave your job and become a missionary, trade in the worldly comforts for heavenly treasures.
Maybe it won’t be that clean and neat and socially acceptable. Maybe, like me, your world will be turned upside down by the pain of adultery and divorce. Or maybe you will be faced with infertility or addiction. Maybe you will have a prodigal child that completely changes the direction of your life. Or, maybe you’ve experienced the loss of a child—a hurt like no other.
I don’t know what your shake up might look like, but I know that if you will give it to God—throw up your arms in surrender and ask him to use it to change your life—he will honor your request. He will take you on a journey, teach you to walk by faith, entrust you with some of life’s most treasured moments.He will build a faith in you—faith that moves mountains and moves God’s hands. He will teach you to live this life with abandonment, giving you a freedom to walk in all his fullness and grace. He will prepare you to be used mightily in this life for his glory.
Perhaps you’ve already experienced your life being turned upside down, toppled without any control. Perhaps, like me, you’ve found yourself wandering in the wilderness, watching his fire direct your every step by night, a cloud lead you by day. Perhaps you sense you are on the edge of the Promised Land, just waiting for him to give the command to take possession.
And yet, you are tired and weary. You’ve lost friends who don’t understand how you can continue to cling to a promise that is so obviously dead and gone. You are so close and yet feel so far away. You are struggling with temptations to just settle, even though you know it is less than God’s best. You simply don’t know how much longer you can stand.
You are not alone. I see God raising up a remnant of believers, those he knows will be obedient. He is looking for those with clean hands and a pure heart, those who will choose obedience even if it costs them everything this world has to offer. He is looking for those who will throw caution to the wind, believe that he has an abundant life (John 10:10) waiting if we will follow his ways. He is looking for those whose hearts have been purified, whose faith has been strengthened by the trials of this life (James 1:2). He is looking for those who will cling to his promises even when it seems there is no hope.
Be strong and courageous, my friends!
God has specifically chosen you to be a part of this remnant, those who will allow him to take their lives and mold them into what he wants. He has chosen you to have your faith tested and tried, and he promises that the fire will only purify you—not burn you. He has promised that he will be with you every single step, walking with you, carrying you, supporting you. He promises that he is still in control even when life seems to be spiraling wildly out of control.
He is teaching you to trust him so he can do something bigger and better than you ever dreamed possible (Ephesians 3:20-21). He is teaching you to let go and trust him with your heart, your soul, your life (Proverbs 3:5-6). He is teaching you to walk every single day in the spirit so that he can do even greater works in you and through you (John 14:12). He is preparing you to be a beacon of light and hope to a world which desperately needs to see Jesus.
I don’t know where you are on this journey of walking by faith, but I encourage you—beg you, plead with you—to wave the white flag of surrender. Let God take your life, your pain, your loss and use it for his glory. Ask him to do an amazing work in you so he can do an amazing work through you.
Get out of that boat and step onto the water…and never take your eyes off him. It is a decision you will never regret!

Chair Time

And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms with Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:6).


We live crowded lives. It is easy to forget what is really important. We tend to relinquish control of our lives to unworthy demands dictated by a world that operates in “urgent” gear. The important rarely barges in while the urgent is always an offensive intruder. The important waits patiently while the urgent demands its own way, creating bedlam and imbalance. Certainly, there are times when the important is also urgent – but we must learn to discern between the two. We wrongly conclude that a busy life is automatically a productive life and think that a full schedule will surely produce a full heart. It won’t.

It’s easy to relegate our spirituality to religious activity when all God really wants is to spend time with us. When the tears fall, He wants to wipe them away, collecting each one so that He can pour them back into our lives as a refreshing rain of restoration. God longs for us to forever run into His arms, sharing every hurt and rejoicing in every victory. The Father yearns to wrap His strong arms around us, bringing the peace and balance we so desperately need. We just need to stop … be still … and listen for His voice.

We need to embrace and understand the truth that Jesus is seated at the right hand of God … and so are we! My husband recently wrote an E-Book that beautifully explains the powerful truth in Ephesians 2:6 that says, “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms with Christ Jesus.”

Who is the “us” in this verse? The “us” in Ephesians 2:6 refers to all believers. All who have bowed the knee in surrender to Christ. All who are Christ followers. Past, present and future – everyone that has ever and will ever follow Jesus is included.

What does the verse say we (all the believers) are doing? We are sitting. Sitting! What do you have to possess to be sitting? A chair! You got it! Every believer has a chair.

Now let’s get practical. Where are all these believers? The verse says that we are seated with Christ in heaven. Hmmm, if I am still here on earth, serving Jesus on this side of heaven, how can I also be seated with Christ in heaven?

Now it gets fun. Picture this. Picture heaven as having an enormous throne. Picture that throne as 100 miles wide by 100 miles deep by 100 miles high. God the Father sits on that throne, and He faces out in every direction from that throne. Jesus the Son stands beside the throne, praying and interceding for us. Got the picture? Stop reading for a moment, close your eyes, and try to picture this enormous throne in the center of heaven.

Now add an element to the picture. Around that huge throne, start adding a row of chairs. There is one row around that throne. Then add a row above it and below it – but still just one row deep around the throne. Now step back and picture that throne with all of those chairs from a short distance away. Wow! What a picture - this huge throne of God, with a front row chair for every believer that has ever lived.

Now let’s get personal. Center your focus on one chair. Zoom in to that one chair. Notice anything? Look on the back of the chair. Yep – you got it! Your name is on that chair. There is a chair in heaven in the front row at the throne of God. It is your chair. It has your name on it. It fits you. No one can sit in that chair except you. And you can go to that chair any time you want.

Why would you go to that chair? To talk to God? No! I may not know much, but I can guarantee you this. When you are seated in the front row before the throne of God, you will not be talking! You may fall on your knees! You may gasp in amazement! You may raise your hands in worship! But you won’t be talking! You will be listening to what God has to say to you.

Is your mind running ahead of me? Are you getting the picture? Does that phrase “chair time” now make sense?

The premise is simple. The God of this universe wants to talk with you so much that He has reserved a front row seat for you at His throne in Heaven. You can go there anytime you want. You can sit at His feet, feel His embrace, and hear His voice any time you want. All you need to do is sit in the chair. Wow!

I have great news ! He loves who you are more than He loves what you do. Seek Him today. Make room for Him. He is waiting.

 

THRIVING OR SURVIVING

God will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy (Job 8:21, NCV).



One Saturday morning a little boy and his father took a long awaited trip to the local pet store in search of a new puppy. The dad had been promising the trip for weeks, and the day had finally come. The little boy had read several books about dogs, surveying the pets of his friends, asking countless questions, and waiting for this day, ready to make his choice.

When father and son walked into the pet store, the dad immediately realized that this task was going to be much harder than he thought it would be. There were so many adorable puppies from which to choose. But with determination in his heart and confidence in his step, the little boy began his search. He suddenly stopped in his tracks, eyes and heart locked on the perfect dog. Staring at the little boy from the wired confines of a small crate was an undersized and fairly unimpressive black puppy. Following his son’s gaze, the dad cringed as he realized that the first puppy he had eliminated as a possibility was the very one his son was watching.

The father attempted to re-direct the interest of his son toward a more suitable dog. It was not to be. Each time the little boy returned to his first choice, the black puppy that was almost grinning at the boy, eagerly pawing at the cage door, and wagging his tail with great enthusiasm. The dad finally asked, “Son, which one do you want?” The little boy pointed at the dog with the furiously wiggling tail and announced with great certainty, “I want that one, Daddy! I want the one with the happy ending.”

We all want a life filled with happy endings, but we seem to be living lives that could well be described as “joy-less.” Every day is lived at the mercy of the world. We are like Charlie Brown who admits, “I have a new philosophy. I’m only going to dread one day at a time.”

God promises that if we know Him, we will know true joy. Joy is not merely happiness. True joy is an unshakable confidence that God is in control.

God is our one and only source of joy, and stands ready and waiting to saturate every circumstance with His presence. As His children, joy is ours to claim. Really? If that is true, then where is it? Why are so many of us facing each day with a sense of dread instead of a confident celebration?

Maybe it is because of the Joy Stealers who lurk in the shadows, waiting to crush joy wherever they find it. I have great news for you, girlfriend. Nothing and no one can take your joy without your permission. So, don’t give it!  Choose joy instead.

Choosing joy requires us to identify and eliminate the “joy stealers” in life. You may be allowing a person to take your joy. Maybe some painful experience from a shadowed yesterday is an obstacle of joy in your life today. Perhaps a fearful circumstance or a broken dream is the culprit.

I know life can be painful. I know it is often hard and unfair. I also know God is in control. So if God really is God (and He definitely is), then we can and should be people of joy. I have read the final chapter of the Book, and we win!
 

When You Feel Far From God

Jesus said: On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. (John 14:20, NIV)



Do you ever feel far away from God, or that He is far away from you? If you’re like most people, then I bet the answer is yes. So let’s take a look at those “feelings.”

You are a triune being with a body, soul, and spirit. Within your soul you have a mind, will, and emotions. That’s where those “feelings come from.” And if you are like most people, sometimes you feel closer to God than other times. But are you? Really?



But just because I feel closer to God in a particular moment doesn’t mean that I am. It is just a feeling. We know that we cannot have that giddy feeling about our spouse all the time. Then why do we think we have to have that with God?

Paul prayed for the Ephesians that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ would give them the Spirit of wisdom and revelation so that they could know him better …that they might know the hope to which he had called them…(Ephesians 1:17-19). He prayed for the Colossians that they would know the mystery of God, namely, Christ in whom are hidden all the treasure of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:2-3). He did not pray that they would feel like they were close to God or feel the love of God. He prayed that they would know it.

Specifically, Paul prayed:

“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. (How? Through faith.) And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know his love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:16-19 emphasis added).

Why do we experience times when we feel far from God? How can we feel far from God if His Holy Spirit lives in us? If you are in Christ and He is in you (John 14:20), why don’t you feel Him at all times? Can you feel distant from your liver, from your kidney or from your pancreas? Being near to God, or rather feeling near to God is not a matter of proximity, as if one of us moved closer or further away. It is not a matter of a physical position, but it is a matter of our relational acuity. It is a spiritual receptivity, a spiritual awareness, and a spiritual acknowledgement of His presence.

Charles Spurgeon once said: “It may be that there are saints who are always at their best, and are happy enough never to lose the light of their Father’s countenance. I am not sure that there are such persons…and I have not traversed that happy land. Every year of my life has had a winter as well as a summer, and every single day has its night…I confess that though the substance be in us, as in the teil-tree and the oak, yet we do lose our leaves, and the sap within us does not flow with equal vigor at all seasons.”

God has promised He will never leave us, but we can feel far from Him when we ignore Him, live independently from Him, grow dissimilar from Him, or rush about expecting Him to tag along rather than move in union with Him.

Stand on what you know. “On that day,” Jesus said, “You will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you” (John 14:20 NIV). And friend, you can’t get much closer than that.

And while your humanness falters between spiritual times of plenty and times of want, communion with God is always just a whisper away as you acknowledge His presence with you and in you.

GOT FAITH ?

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil(Psalm 23:4, NKJV).

The greenest grass is always found in the valley. Shepherds and sheep are well acquainted with the fact that both mountains and valleys are an inevitable part of life.

Remember – the shepherd has to figure out a way over the mountain and through the valley. If a sheep is injured, the shepherd must carry his sheep and tend to its wounds until they are healed and the sheep is ready to return to the fold. The shepherd’s whole world revolves around the safety and comfort of his sheep, even in the deepest valley.

Valleys are a certainty of life. Your job is eliminated. Your husband is having an affair, or your teenage daughter is pregnant. Financial pressure suffocates dreams, or the betrayal of a trusted friend inflicts a wound so deep and painful that you long for that valley of death. Each day is thick with fear, and your heart is filled with disbelief. The valley may suddenly be before you in a time of loneliness or in the shock of a dire medical diagnosis.

The death of a loved one can derail a life. The death of a long-held hope can plunge us into a slimy pit of despair and darkness. Dreams that have slowly died or relationships that have abruptly ended can leave us stranded and alone in our own personal valley of death.

While valleys may come in all shapes and sizes, one thing is certain—valleys will come. That being said, we must ask and answer the question, “How can we deal with the valleys in life?” We must respond with faith.

Don’t let that word – faith – frighten you. You have faith. You walk into a dark room and flip a switch, knowing that the light will come on. You sit in a chair, knowing it will support your weight. You buy a ticket and board a plane, trusting that aircraft to get you to your desired destination. Yes, you have faith. It is just a matter of where you place that faith that makes all the difference in the world. When you place your faith in God, a world of possibilities and impossibilities opens up.

Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.”

It was advertised that the devil was putting his tools up for sale. When the day of the sale came, each tool was priced and laid out for public inspection. And what a collection it was. Hatred, envy, jealousy, deceit or pride…the inventory was treacherous. Off to one side was a harmless-looking tool priced higher than all the rest, even though it was obviously more worn than any other tool the devil owned. “What’s the name of this tool?” asked one of the customers. “That,” the devil replied, “is discouragement.” The customer asked, “But why have you priced it so high?” The devil smiled and explained, “Because discouragement is more useful to me than all the others. I can pry open and get inside a man’s heart with that tool when I can’t get near him with any other. It’s badly worn because I use it on almost everyone, since so few people know it belongs to me.”

Are you discouraged…afraid…desperately trying to find enough energy to simply breathe? God knows. And He really is your shepherd. He understands that you may only be able to take one tiny, almost imperceptible step of faith. But He sees you, and just like a parent applauding their child’s first stumbling step, God will applaud will honor your choice to take it.

What if we viewed prayer as our first course of action rather than a last resort?

God said, ‘I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none,’(Ezekiel 22:30, NIV).

“Well, I guess the only thing left to do is pray about it.”

How many times have we heard those words? How many times have they slipped past our lips? But what if we looked at prayer from a different perspective… God’s perspective? What if we viewed prayer as our first course of action rather than a last resort?


Prayer is not a means to gain control over any situation in your life, but to relinquish control so that God can do what God needs to do.

The Bible tells us in Isaiah 29:16, “You turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be like the clay! Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, ‘He did not make me?’ Can the pot say of the potter, ‘He knows nothing’?”

God is the Master Potter, and He certainly doesn’t need you or me to tell Him how to shape and mold the people that we are praying for. Oh, we’d like to. That’s for sure.

But God’s ultimate goal is for each lump of clay to be fashioned according to His design and for His purposes, not ours. “We are the clay, you are the potter,” Isaiah writes, “we are all the work of your hand” (Isaiah 64:8). I am. You are. Whoever you are praying for today is.

God shapes and molds. You pray and intercede.

James warns about the danger of praying with wrong motives (James 4:3). Check your desire to control at the door of the prayer closet and don’t let it in.

God is not hoarding His blessings, waiting for us to say the right words to pry those blessings out of His stingy hand. He longs to lavish us with His goodness! (Ephesians 1:7-8) And yet He often waits for us to ask. I am not saying I understand it. Prayer is simply how He chose to engineer the flow of His power and activity from the spiritual realm into the physical realm. Prayer is the conduit through which God’s power is released and His will is brought to earth as it is in heaven.

It is not that God cannot act without the prayers of His people. He can do anything He pleases (Psalm 115:3). However, He has established prayer as the gate through which His blessings flow. James reminds us: “You do not have, because you do not ask” (James 4:2).

Ezekiel gives us a glimpse into the heart of God regarding prayer. Israel had sinned in every possible way, and her people were doomed for destruction. God said, “I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none” (Ezekiel 22:30). God looked for someone to pray, to intercede, to stand in the gap for Israel, but there was no one.