Lessons in Prayer: Part 3

July 19, 2020

Lessons in Prayer: Part 3

Caring about the Details

Sometimes I forget that the God of the Universe, our majestic Creator, also cares about the details.  Psalm 139 tells us that God created our innermost being and knit every part of us together.  Luke 12:7 reminds us that "the very hairs of your head are all numbered."  Our Lord knows every single part of us and cares about each intricate part of our lives.

The Surrender™ Cross

Years ago, my husband, Rick, created the Surrender™ Cross as a physical way to nail your burdens to the cross and give them to the Lord to carry. When he first made them, I took ours and hung it on our wall and I loved the visual reminder of Christ's love.  Over time, what I noticed was that I tended to only give "my big problems" over to God, holding on to all the small things that were slowly weighing me down and depleting me of my joy.

Planner Mode vs Prayer Mode

One morning, I woke up and our refrigerator was not working.  I immediately went into "planner mode". I started thinking about how I could save all the food in the fridge and who I needed to call to make sure that we could fix it.  I called my mother-in-law to see if I could borrow some coolers to preserve the food, and she asked me a simple question, "Have you put it on your Surrender™ Cross?"

 

What I quickly noticed was that my first instinct was not to give it over to God, but instead to carry it on my own.  Rick and I had just made some extra money, and I had already began to overanalyze and think about how that extra money was now going to have to go the refrigerator payment. Fear had crept in, and I went into striving mode.

Unfortunately, this is one instance of many when I forget the importance of prayer mode and seeking the Lord in each and every step. What I have come to realize is that by going into planner mode instead of prayer mode, I am allowing satan to steal my joy. 

Seeing God's Faithfulness

After my mother-in-law challenged me to seek the Lord with my fridge problem, I went to the other room, grabbed a small piece of paper, and wrote it down. After nailing it to the cross, I immediately felt lighter and was reminded that the Lord is truly in control.  Shortly after that, the Lord led me to reach out to a couple of friends, and after that, one of them put me in touch with someone who helped me quickly do a reset that fixed the fridge.

Although the fridge was now working and that seemed like a quick miracle, the bigger change had happened in my heart.  Instead of a Monday morning annoyance of a broken fridge, I saw how God had stepped in. He led me to the right people who could help, and He filled me with an incredible joy as I saw how He had provided for us.  

I brought my girls downstairs and we had a little praise party with Jesus as we took that prayer off our cross and put it in the Faithfulness Jar, thanking God for how He showed His provision and faithfulness to our family.  There was true JOY in the prayer mode, as we sought the Lord in our "small things" and then saw Him provide.

Seeking God in the Small

 One of the other things that I have noticed is that when we seek God in all the small things and not just the bigger things, we will see A LOT more prayers being answered, which actually grows our trust in Him.

1 Peter 5:7 says that we should, "cast ALL your anxieties on Him because He cares for you." God isn’t so busy running the universe that He doesn’t have time for our simple problems.  He cares about each and every aspect of our lives!

Challenge for All of Us

Even as I write this blog, I am reminded that I fail in this area daily.  Right now, I am holding on to so many things that the Lord wants to take from me.   As I challenge myself, I challenge you as well.  Let us follow 1 Thessalonians 5:16-17 and  "Rejoice always and pray continually."  Once we discern a problem, let's write down a verse that we can meditate on.  Whether you have a Surrender™ Cross or not, let's physically write down our burdens and bring our trials to the light!  

*If you missed the other other blogs in this series, you can read Part 1 and Part 2.



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