Have you ever prayed and felt like you have a right and you have the authority to request something within a certain timeframe? Of course! I have too and I believe that we can. I believe we can be bold about our prayers and make our requests known BUT I also know God sees all, He knows all, He is aware of what we need and exactly when we need it. He actually knows more than us. Crazy, right? When I think I have an urgent need and I need something by noon tomorrow, God might know, I actually have until next week. Honestly, I might even know that but I think it's more of a security thing. I want it by noon tomorrow, so I know we are ok, I'll have peace, I won't have to worry and the list goes on. However, everything I said there as a reason why I need it by that time, is basically saying I only follow the word when I have what I need. The word says "do not fret or worry" yet I just told you I'll have peace of mind, I'll know we're going to be ok "if" I have it.
This word I want to share all came from my son. Isaiah just turned 8 and he has been a prayer warrior since he learned how to talk. Anytime he hears a need or I say I have a headache or stomach ache or I'm dizzy, anything at all, Isaiah will come over and put his hand on me and begin praying. Every single time he prays for healing or for a need, he says please heal her tonight or later or in the morning or tomorrow or whenever". I've actually corrected him many times and I've even chuckled and there were times I whined and said I want to be healed now. And he will say "or now Lord". He's been doing this for so long and it wasn't until he did this the other night while praying for my headache, that God really spoke to me through it.
Isaiah KNOWS God will answer the prayer and he trust that He will answer it in His timing. Isaiah understands that God knows best. We have always chuckled and say, you give God a lot of options and he says yep. He knew even when I corrected him, he wasn't doing wrong. He has so much faith and is confident that the prayer WILL be answered.
So going back to what I was saying in the beginning, we put time limits on God. We say I need this and man, I have prayed some desperate prayers and I do know from experience some of those do have a crucial time limit on them, but when I look back at all we have gone through over the past few months, all of the desperate prayers I prayed. Some of them, were very urgent and some, God knew best. My point is, do you know how much stressing I could have saved out on if I just saw it like Isaiah does? If I followed the word exactly how it tells us to, I could have had a little bit more peace and a lot less stress. Yes, God wants us to bring our burdens to Him, yes we need to be bold in our praying and yes, sometimes our prayers do need to sound desperate. He wants us to cry out to Him but I am also learning that when the word says do not fret or worry, He means it. He's got us. Just as I shared in my last blog when I can't, He can. The same goes for you, when you can't, He can.
We've all heard those words, it's in God's timing and sometimes they are so hard to hear because we want it, when we want it but He knows best. Let's all work towards having childlike faith. The kind of faith that KNOWS He will answer but ultimately trust in His timing.
Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.
Philipians 4:6-7 MSG
