Influencers Weekly Devotional 9/6/2013

Pray with Trust

By

Bryan Craig

“If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, Who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.  But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.  That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord.”  James 1:5-7

  In Rocky’s book, “Journey to the Inner Chamber,” a striking phrase hits the spirit of many a man.  It is the words that are etched above the doorway to The Inner Chamber.  The room beckons one to come in, to meet with the King of Kings and share in the ultimate feast of our soul’s delight.  But as we move that direction, we read the inscription, “He who enters this Chamber must do so by Personal Abandonment and Absolute Trust.”  This is the crossroads, the crucible of our faith.  I’ve been with many men who have been through The Journey, and many are still not sure they have crossed that threshold. Do we really trust the Lord?  That question is answered in a real way if we examine our prayer life.  All of us believers pray, in some way, at some time or another, in our life.  For Journey brothers, they know the value of prayer, and we even write out our prayers in our Journals.  We know we are talking to our Heavenly Father.  We know He wants to hear from us.  Many times, we have a deep need for which we solicit heavenly help.  Other times, we are asking God to help others.  We can ask God for ANYTHING!  In John 14:14, Jesus says, “You may ask Me for anything in My name, and I will do it.” However, James instructs us in the scripture at the top of the page that when we ask God for something, we must believe and not doubt, or we should expect nothing from the Lord.  So, there is a bit of a caveat.  There’s more to this matter of praying than just asking.  No matter what we are asking of the Lord, we must pray with Trust that God hears our prayers and that He will answer. In Acts 12, there is a great story about Peter.  King Herod was on a tirade to kill Christians.  He had just put James, the brother of John, to death, and Peter was next in line.  He had four squads of soldiers guarding him.  His future looked very dark.  In response to this threat, Peter’s “Journey Group” gathered and was praying in earnest for God to rescue him.  Well, guess what?  God sent an angel into prison and miraculously unchained him and guided him invisibly past all the guards, out into safety.  Peter was in shock, but he was praising God.  He couldn’t wait to go tell his brothers what God did for him.  When he went to the house where he believed he could find them, a servant girl heard Peter’s voice behind the locked door and ran to tell the others, “Peter is at the door!”  The “believers”, in a demonstration of not so much belief, said, “You’re out of your mind.  It must be his angel.” They must have been thinking that God would answer their prayer in a different way.  Perhaps, they thought, the trial would go well for Peter, and he would be released.  Or maybe there would be an earthquake which would open the prison gates.  Or from their response about him being an angel, they must have thought his death imminent.  Keep in mind, these people walked with Jesus, so they were accustomed to seeing miracles.  God had even used them to do miracles.  They never expected the answer to be a simple knock at the door.  They were praying, but were they trusting? I think we can certainly relate to these early believers.  Many times, God answers our prayers, but because He answers us in a way were are not expecting, we miss it.  You’ve heard it said that God ALWAYS answers prayers with one of three responses, “Yes”, “No”, or “Wait”.  I believe it.  I believe God hears our prayers, and it doesn’t matter how selfish or seemingly trivial, but God delights in us drawing near to Him with a request.  Revelation 8:3-5 gives a great picture of the Throne Room of God, where it says the prayers of the saints go up before God.  And not only that, we know that Jesus intercedes on our behalf before the Father.  I believe God reaches down from Heaven or commands His angels or uses His Spirit EVERY DAY to answer prayers. Our job as believers is to first, Pray.  Second, we must Trust that God is going to do something to intervene into our situations.  Without Faith and Trust, it is impossible to please God.  And as James says, we shouldn’t expect to receive anything from the Lord.  Lastly, we must Expect some sort of an answer.  Don’t be surprised if the answer comes in an unexpected way.  God knows what is best for us.  He knows when we need a little discipline or pruning.  He knows when He is refining us.  But all the while, He loves us.  He cares about the things we care about.  Just because we don’t feel like He’s listening or answering, add a second prayer, “Lord, show me what you are doing in this situation, and I’ll surrender myself to Your solution.  I trust You.”  Once we are satisfied with WHATEVER God wants to do with us, we have just crossed the threshold into the territory of Personal Abandonment and Absolute Trust.  This is the place of peace.  This is the place where we are IN Jesus and where the real breakthroughs begin. Let’s be men of prayer, for that is how we will move mountains!  Bless you this day, my brothers!