Wednesday's Wisdom

Some mornings more than others it makes perfect sense to your heart understanding to heed the Spirit's directive: 'Pray continually.' [1 Thessalonians 5:17] For just as Christ modeled it for us, when you love God foremost nothing matters to you most than His perfect will and direction for your life and calling - He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” [Matthew 26:38-39] In fact, eventually your faith matures to the heart place in relationship to God and His will where all you long for is His perfecting of all things, outside of which you become consciously needless of nothing that does not compliment His will, no certain persons, no particular directions, no preferred place and not even a selective timing. Some mornings, your single sole simple prayer focus is to know: "God, are you pleased with my heart and life direction?" And however God chooses to answer, well, 'it will be well with your soul' - Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” [2 Corinthians 12:8-9]

It pays to continue to pray and especially when were not certain of God's certain will in both matters of life and ministry calling - 'Pray continually.' And practically, we continue to pray because spiritually God intends to always answer because embodied within His heart and mind are all the loving and wise responses for our daily and seasonal life direction - The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you. [Psalm 32:8] Simply, our Father and God promises to 'always' answer prayer - “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened." [Matthew 7:7-8] And for those who mature in understanding God always answers prayer, well, they're found continuously praying even when their God does not answer in the manner they anticipate - Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” For when it comes to God's faithfulness to answer prayer, He's always willing to disclose His will and His way especially at times were clueless to exactly what's on His heart concerning us. For those who continue to pray, God will never leave them in the dark concerning anything they need to know about His person, His present activity, His precise purpose He's fulfilling or His strategically unfolding plan - If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. [James 1:5] God loves to grant His wisdom to those who truly request it and that in all matters of life and ministry. In fact, there are three classes of persons who lack God's gracious gift of wisdom He promises as answered prayer: 1) the prayer less - those not truly committed to requesting God's wisdom, 2) the faithless - those who doubt God actually grants wisdom for every circumstance of life and calling, and, 3) the foolish - those who compete with or complain about God's wisdom somehow reasoning 'they know better than God' - For who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Who knows enough to give him advice? And who has given him so much that he needs to pay it back? [Romans 11:34-35]

When God is faithful to answer prayer, especially the request for His wisdom, we are heart clueless and mentally limited at knowing exactly how He will answer us according to the workings of His all-wise all-knowing mind - Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” And in fact, we only know His faithful answer to the request for wisdom when the wisdom finally comes to us. Often, we're found mistakenly thinking for God before God thinks for us, a sure sign we fit the class of persons that's either 'faithless' or 'foolish' - “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts." [Isaiah 55:8-9]

And finally, if we could ever mature to the spiritual and practical place whereby our trust grid is most certainly settled in our Father and His love for us, not only would we 'pray continually', but our anticipation level of answered prayer would be skyrocketing through heavens roof before God's throne at the heart level - We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. [1 John 4:16] Possibly the saddest heart response to the act of praying could be 'low' or 'no' true anticipation of God answering - But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. [James 1:6-7]

For imagine continuously talking to God without a true heart that trust God? Do we realize how much it offends God when we don't trust Him, who by the way is consistently worthy of our trust? - And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. [Hebrews 11:6] What benefit is there to either God's heart or ours when we pray without true anticipation of answered prayer? - But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone.

There's a certain childishness or immaturity of defective faith that specifically manifest itself in our prayers when we pray with 'low' and 'no' true anticipation of God answering. 'Low' or 'no' trust in God's love for us is intertwined with our prayers turning our anticipations of answered prayer into prescript selfish guiding points for God or desired responses that reduces Him to serving our needs instead of us completing His will - And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure. [James 4:3] Without trust in God's love, our praying can become a passionate playground of mere prayer language with no true anticipation of God answering and therefore directing our lives - “When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. When you pray, don’t babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!" [Matthew 6:5-8] We can practice a lot of praying that has little or nothing to do with our Father standing alone as Him who shapes all answers to our prayers. And this no doubt can translate into our life and serving direction being confused even more, as the lack of trust distances God from answering our prayers - But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. But most certainly when our prayers are prayed in total trust of God's love, our heart is more inviting, first of God's loving person, then of His all-wise and all-knowing answers - Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. [2 Corinthians 12:8-9]. Maturing in the love of God automatically increases our trust in God and the knowledge of His faithfulness to always answer prayer based upon what's in our best interest, whether His answers are 'yes' to a request, 'no' to a request or 'wait' in relationship to request - "The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him." [2 Chronicles 16:9]

For we never truly know 'how' God will answer our prayers, only the fact that God 'will' answer our prayers and that based upon His love for those who pray trusting Him. 'For those who pray continually?’ God actually notes the height and depth of their trust in Him at the heart level and their anticipation of His loving response no matter what His response may be. For at the heart level of His consistently brewing love within them, those who anticipate God answering prayer know that even though they may not fully know their way in life and serving matters, their loving Father and God most certainly does. Therefore, they continue to pray and pray and pray and pray.

Never never give up no matter how much junk you're handed!

Hebrews 10:35-36 (New International Version)

³⁵So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. ³⁶You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.