Risky Business and Bold Prayer
Yikes.
That seems to be the word of this season, but it's getting real around these parts.
Praying Boldly
Last week as I mentioned I made a bold statement in prayer and this week I went even further.
This week in prayer, I put it all on the line. I told God, "If I don't take this risk, then it's not faith. I'm willing to risk it all right now. Talking around it and offering a way out is NOT faith. Let's go...I believe that you ARE going to do this and this is going to glorify you. I have faith the size of a mustard seed, but that's more than what I had before. Before I didn't believe ANYTHING was going to happen. Now I'm saying it's GOING to happen, and YOU ARE GOING TO DO IT BY YOUR SPIRIT"
This quote in the article sealed the deal for me:
If you don't take the risk, then you forfeit the miracle
And it's about time for a miracle
Expecting Trouble
Just yesterday I was listening to a podcast and the good Bishop said:
When God promises you something, expect trouble.
I was expecting something to happen that would throw me off. I called it: I said There's about to be some MESS. The devil was going to try and get into my head to start me doubting again after I was so big and bad with my prayers this week. He knew exactly what I was thinking was going to happen, but I was ready for it. Sure enough....The devil is so predictable.
I was in the pits for about 10 minutes and then repented and moved forward.
I would like to point out this was a vast improvement over my usual 48 hours that I spend in the pits. Only 10 minutes today.
The good Bishop's topic was Don't Drown in Shallow Waters and this point stuck with me. He said:
It's when you're closest to shore that you're ready to collapse and give up. When you're almost there, that's when you want to give up.
I admit those thoughts cross my mind, but now I'm getting to the point where I just keep repeating: Roll with it.
Again the Bishop said it right: When we're in the middle of these faith walks, we can't see and we're not supposed to. The scripture makes it plain we aren't walking by what we see, we're walking by FAITH.
Unbelief
In my Read the Bible Program, we're in the book of Acts. When I was younger, I used to think: "Well those people had it easy to believe. They saw all those signs and miracles." But you find in the gospels and the book of Acts, that even though the people saw all those signs and wonders many argued against Jesus and the Apostles and still didn't believe.
God can confirm things to us and then we start trying to argue and reason ourselves out of it. We don't know what he's doing.
Of course we cannot forget my favorite story about the children of Israel. All those miracles God performed and the second things didn't go their way or got tough, they started to complain. That pretty much sums me up.
God will do something amazing and the second things don't go according to the script in my head, then I start to complain and doubt. But as I said, I've made tremendous progress in this area. I've gone from being in the pits for months, to weeks, to days, and now I'm down to 10 minutes.
It is always tempting to try and intellectualize and explain things away, but on this sacred journey I can't do that. I have to just roll with it. The second I start trying to reason and figure things out, it's all over.
God's word this week- Galatians 5:16
The other cool thing about being in the book of Acts is that you really get a good handle on the Holy Spirit and His power. I'm a big believer in a LIVING AND MOVING HOLY SPIRIT. I firmly believe the Holy Spirit guides and moves us along.
I advise you to obey only the Holy Spirit’s instructions. He will tell you where to go and what to do, and then you won’t always be doing the wrong things your evil nature wants you to
My evil nature wants to doubt, complain, grumble, and not believe God about anything (amongst other things)
But for right now, the Holy Spirit is truly guiding this Sacred Journey and I'm rolling with it!
To God be the Glory
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