“Some people pray just to pray and some people pray to know God.” Andrew Murray

Someone asked me, “Will you agree with me that I need a new car; and then, pray with me to get it because the Bible says where two agree it will be done (Matt. 18:19)?”

This is not only bad hermeneutics, but it also lacks an understanding of faith.

Do we trust our Savior with our lives? Careful how you answer that question. Ok, when it comes to heaven, yes. But in the here and now, is it still a, yes?

Faith is not about getting from God. It’s about becoming more like the One you say you love – Jesus.

It takes faith to hear from Jesus, which is a choice to either listen to ourselves or to Him. It also takes faith to follow Jesus, which is a choice to do or to ignore what He says.

Twice Paul wanted to go to Asia to share about Jesus. Isn’t that a good thing? Yup. Both times, however, the Spirit said, “Nope!”

Why? Because the Lord can see tomorrow! The Spirit wanted Paul in southern Greece, where a certain man working in the jails was ready to put his faith in Jesus along with his family.

Paul had the faith not only to listen, but the faith to follow as well, which made him more like Jesus. Think about it. Jesus went where He was told, earth, because the Father saw and wanted to save you.

Paul was changed into the image of Jesus, though, by a process that meant the Father saying “no” to one thing, so He could say “yes” to something else.

Do you trust the Father to open the doors needed for you to become more like Jesus and to close other doors also needed for you to become more Jesus?

Faith…is not in the getting, but in the becoming.

Answered prayer could just be a step of obedience away.

Joshua went on a mission the LORD gave him (Joshua 10:12-14). In so doing, Joshua needed more time, so he asked the Lord to stop the sun dead in its tracks.

I love how the LORD responded to this request. He not only did it, but wrote, “There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the LORD listened to a man.”

The author of Journeys wrote, “God never downloads the whole plan at once; we must discover it along the way. This is because the greater goal is not that we accomplish something but that we grow more intimate with our Lord. Those who listen well to God will find that God listens well to them, and they will accomplish a lot more.”

It was in the midst of his obedience, which came after listening, Joshua could ask for something he couldn’t have known prior to his obedience. He listened well and God listened well in return.

If heaven is silent, ask yourself, “Am I doing what He already told me to do?” If not, it’s time to listen well by acting upon your listening.

God is the mixer, not added to the mix.

The pastor asked an older farmer to pray before the meal, “Lord, I hate buttermilk.” Without skipping a beat, he added, “Lord, I don’t much like lard either.”

The pastor’s eyebrows raised at that point. He looked around the room to see others were starting to get uncomfortable with where this prayer might be going as well.

Yet the farmer kept on praying, “And Lord, you know I don’t care much for raw white flour either.” Now everyone’s eyebrows were raised!

Finally, the farmer ended with, “But Lord, when you mix them all together and bake them, I sure do love warm fresh biscuits. So, Lord, when things come up that I don’t like, when life gets hard, when I don’t understand what is going on, help me to relax and wait until You’re done mixing. It will probably be much better than biscuits. Amen.”

We don’t always get to choose the circumstances in which we find ourselves. And we certainly don’t always understand the “why” at the moment either. Job sure didn’t!

Yet, our Father does. He takes all the sounds produced by the musicians and mixes them into a sweet-sounding song that will bless your socks off.

He can even take the sounds you wouldn’t necessarily buy the record and mix them into a work of art – being more like Jesus. (Romans 8:28) A record, you will literally cherish for eternity!

So, when you don’t understand what in the world is going on in your life, slow your jets. Be still and know your God. The Mixer is still working on the work of art – you.

Your Father has all your tomorrows in the palm of His hand; so, choose His presence today.

Want to know what robs today of its peace? Tomorrow.

Jesus touched on this when He said, “Don’t be anxious about tomorrow” (Matt. 6:34). This kind of anxiety will rob you of your peace today.

The word for anxious means to divide your thoughts. In other words, we become anxious when our minds go back and forth on the choice I can make right now while thinking about tomorrow’s decisions, divided thoughts.

Know this, tomorrow’s circumstances will change! The parameters of our decision will then change as well; thus, our divided thoughts today and its accompanying anxiety were for nothing!

Sure, we make plans for tomorrow or even the rest of our day. But, if we focus on the next moment’s decision rather than the current moment, our peace can go right out the window.

Jesus knew He was going to the cross; and yet, He chose to stay in the present and presence of His Father.

What if Jesus had focused, though, on the cross every day of His life prior to Gethsemane?  Do you think He could have slept on a boating sailing on a storming Galilean Sea if He had?  

While at Gethsemane, He was under so much pressure caused by divided thinking that He sweat blood and became depressed. He was told to go to the cross, yet He asked His Father, “You sure there isn’t another way?”

Can you imagine that kind of pain every day of your life rather than just for the moment it was meant to be experienced?

His peace, though, was restored the moment He focused on the one thought, “Your will be done. I will go to the cross.”

Tomorrow’s challenges are for tomorrow. Strive to stay in God’s presence today where there is peace through choosing to follow Him in the present. He’ll walk you through your tomorrow when it becomes your today.

Worship is the perfect response to difficult times.

The lyrics to Hard Fought Hallelujah resonated with me today.

“I don’t always feel it. But that’s when I need it the most. So, I’ma keep on singing ’til my soul catches up with my song. There’s days when a praise comes out easy, days when it takes all the strength I got.”

When is the perfect time to praise God? When you don’t feel like it, especially if you are in the midst of a battle for your soul, a changed life. Your enemy wants you to stay the same at worst or regress at best.

There are many times in Scripture, however, when Israel was losing a battle that the leadership started praising God. In fact, did you know that the military leaders actually helped King David organize the singers? The singers gathered intel from God through prophesy and thanked and praised God through using harps. (1 Chron. 25:1,3)

Why? One, it focused the warriors on Who was responsible for their victory – the Lord. Seeing the size of the enemy could be discouraging. Yet, being focused on God and what He promised to do brought hope and strength to fight.

And second, praise is an act of faith. When you praise Him, even when you don’t feel like it, and then act on what you are saying about God, victory will be found. Not before.

Feelings can lead to a defeatist attitude. Focused faith, though, can lead to a victorious mindset. Praise is all about what the Lord, not us, can and will do when we trust Him.

Feeling just plain worn out? It’s the perfect time to start praising God for who He is and what He promises to do. Strength is on its way when you do.