This is the challenge Pastor presented as part of his sermon Sunday. He was challenging us to devote daily time to prayer. And that we should be doing. For how can we develop a relationship with God if we are not praying? How can we develop a relationship with God if we keep ourselves occupied with desirable activities? How can we develop a relationship with God if we are not spending time studying His Word? How can we develop a relationship with God if we are too busy for Him because we are determined to live our lives the way we want.
I do not like the sound of that last sentence. I am not that selfish. I give my time to church work and good causes. I do nice things for others. I help with meals at church. I put money into the offering plate when it is passed. Doesn’t that count?
The answer is no. Those are all works under my own power. Nowhere in that litany is there a mention of God. God may call me to do those things, but I am to do ONLY those things he calls me to do. God has never called his servants to do it all. From the time God formed us in our mother’s wombs, he had special tasks for us, and he gave us the attributes and talents to do those tasks perfectly. If I try to do it all, I am assuming a job which was meant for someone else that God has specially designed to accomplish it well.
“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.” Psalm 139:13 NIV
This is one of the lessons God has been teaching me this year. I tend to take on more than I am to do. I see something that needs to be done and jump right into the work. I am a “doer” then I pray for God’s blessing on what I have already started. But I should be a praying first then be a “doer” if it is God’s will for me to do. God has taken me out of almost all of my previous religious activities. He has made it clear that the only reason I am still in the current spiritual activities is because of his provision. God has made it obvious and continues to make it obvious that if it were not for his miraculous intervention, I would not have these ministries in my life. God is abundantly blessing me through these ministries—much more than when I was working at everything that came along which needed doing. Another thing I have noticed is that now that I have stepped back, others are doing and being blessed. Praise the Lord.
“’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.’” Jeremiah 29:11-13 NIV
"Such twentieth-century pressures produce the exhausted society of which we are part--a society too tired to pray. Ask God to show you how to simplify your life all you can by setting your priorities and putting him first...We do not need to cram our lives so full of activity. We can relax, be still and hear him guide us more in what is best for us to do. We allow God to protect us emotionally and physically." The Love Exchange by Margaret Therkelsen page99
So what am I waiting on? I am waiting on instruction from God. I am studying His Word. I am spending time in extended prayer. I am waiting on God’s timing and his direction for He is my Wonderful Counselor.
“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6 NIV
Lord, through the power of the Holy Spirit, keep me in your will.
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