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Choosing to trust God is a choice
we all make over and over every day.
As mentors we can recall times when
we felt angry with God or we've wondered
why He doesn't answer as we think He
should or rescue us as we beg Him to?
Many
of us have worked through these heart
wrenching questions. Sometimes we have
stopped praying or quit expecting anything
from God. Trust in His goodness can
melt away in the heat of our struggles
and God’s silence. Even as mentors
we need to ask ourselves if we are truly
trusting God TODAY where we walk.
Countless
Christians have experienced their prayers
erode to a trickle of empty words of
habit or panic button prayers. Some
lose faith when life’s hard circumstances
make no sense and God fails to intervene
as they think He should. Others simply
get too busy to bother. Many experience
feeling let down and disappointed by
the church or other Christians and paint
God with the same brush.
It’s
easy to begin depending on our own best
thinking when we lose heart in expecting
God to answer our prayers. Trusting
God, when our path in life grows muddy,
is not an easy task. The mud of weariness,
busyness and hurt can cause us to trip
and even fall. We wonder how we will
ever get up again. Faith can feel like
a thread that threatens to break.
Trusting
God with your life, even when it makes
no sense to you, is to choose to grab
hold of the pearl of wisdom. As Christian
women we know the vital connection prayer
is to our God, yet we can let it slip
away from fingers muddy from falling.
We must be deliberate in choosing to
cling to it. There is great wisdom and
reward in depending on our God even
in the silence.
Maintaining
that vital connection to God in prayer
is a choice. Step by step, through the
fog on our pathway, we can choose to
trust that God has our best interest
at heart and lean on His strength to
get us through our day… or …
we choose to shrug Him off with little
expectation and lean wearily on our
own understanding.
When
we live our lives with prayer on the
fringe we are really telling God that
we don’t trust Him. Often with
our lips we declare trust but with our
lives we show that we really don’t
believe He will see us through. Ask
yourself the hard questions…
Do
I really trust God to have my best interest
at heart?
Do I really believe He will strengthen
me today to walk where I need to walk…even
in the dark and the silence?
Choose
to increase your trust in God and to
bring prayer into focus from the fringe
of your life. These steps will help
you firmly grasp that treasured pearl…and
you will discover the wisdom of depending
on God. Choose to TRUST.
T
Thank God for the things He has
done in your past. Go back as far as
you need to.
Begin
to chart His track record in your life.
Ask Him to remind you of times past
when He was there for you. Then find
something in your life today to be grateful
for. Living thankfully is God’s
will for your life.
“Give
thanks in all circumstances, for this
is God’s will for you in Christ
Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:18).
R
Repent…say you are sorry to
God for intentionally allowing things
in your heart and your life that you
know would disappoint Him. Having a
rebellious heart toward God’s ways
in one area of your life can cause your
prayers to hit the ceiling in other
areas. Take an inward look and ask for
God’s help in changing attitudes,
thoughts, motives and actions that need
a correction.
“If
I had cherished sin in my heart, the
Lord would not have listened: but God
has surely listened and heard my voice
in prayer” (Psalm 66:18 & 19).
U
Unify broken relationships. Whether
you have offended someone or have been
offended, God leaves the ball in your
park to seek restoration. If restoration
isn’t possible give God the broken
pieces and ask Him to root resentment
out of your heart. Bringing peace to
fractured relationships brings blessing.
“Blessed
are the peacemakers for they shall be
called the children of God” (Matthew
5:9).
S
Share the journey. When times are
tough and trust wears thin, find a friend
to pray with you and for you. Tell someone
your struggle and ask her to walk with
you awhile on the road of life. Getting
help in our weakness leads to healing
and to power in praying.
“Confess
your sins to each other and pray for
each other so that you may be healed.
The prayer of a righteous person is
powerful and effective” (James
5:16).
T
Take time to spend with God. If
your heart is dry set aside some time
to listen to praise music and use the
words of the songs as prayers from your
heart. Till up the ground that has become
hard from the worries of life. Learn
to spend time in the presence of the
Lord and find refreshing beyond what
you can imagine.
“He
who dwells in the shelter of the Most
High will rest in the shadow of the
Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He
is my refuge and my fortress, my God,
in whom I trust”” (Psalm 91:1
& 2).
Depend
on God in new ways today. Trust Him…
even in the silence and in the dark.
The wisdom of depending on God will
bring results in your life that will
surprise you. “My God, in whom
I trust”… with expectation!
~
Gail
Rodgers has a passion for discovering
and sharing how the Scriptures apply
in very practical ways where we live
and walk each day. She is a wife, mother
of three, businesswoman and a pastor
to women. She resides in Alberta, Canada
with her family. Visit Gail's website
at www.gailrodgers.ca.
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