Friday, August 9, 2013

Pray for the Courage to Pray - Thy Will Be Done


Now to him who is able to do far more
abundantly than all that we ask or think,
according to the power at work within us, to
him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus
throughout all generations, forever and ever.
Amen.                        Ephesians 3:20-21 

     As I write these words, my baby sister is fourteen hundred miles away undergoing a scope biopsy, and I find myself praying for the courage to pray Thy will be done. Like most Christians, I know and believe that “God is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think...” Yet the lack of courage to pray for God’s will creeps into the deepest recesses of my heart with the fear that His answer may be different than my desired response.

     Like many of you with a loved one, or yourself, in the midst of desperately complicated health problems, my desire for my sister is total complete absolute physical healing. I know God is able. I do. I believe God, and I tell myself that I trust God. I have a feeling you do to. Why then is it so difficult to pray in total surrender to the will of our Father?

     I feel like the old-time cartoon which portrays the devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other—each trying to convince the cartoon character that he should follow the instructions being given. The devil tells me that God can but He won’t. The angel simply says trust God.

     This morning I am reminded of the forty days Jesus spent in the wilderness and of the devil’s temptations to Jesus to prove He is God. Jesus answered each confrontation with the Word of God. I am reminded that as Jesus taught His disciples about how to pray that He included the words, “your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” I am reminded of the prayer Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane as the plot to take His life was set in motion…”Father, not my will but yours be done.”

     I know that as I prayed for the courage to pray Father your will be done, Jesus interceded on my behalf. I am encouraged by His words in the Garden as He spoke with His disciples, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” I read where He fell on his face and prayed, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless not as I will, but as you will.”  (Matthew 26:39)

    So today, like Jesus, I will use the Word of God against my enemy who is bombarding my heart and mind with fear. I will, like King David, encourage myself in the LORD my God. (1 Samuel 30:6 KJV) I will continue to pray like Jesus, “if it be possible…nevertheless…as You will.”

     And, I will continue to pray for you as you too battle with the enemy. I will continue to call on the LORD. After all, “The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe.”

     Go in courage today as you trust in the name of the LORD and pray “Thy will be done!”

©JP 2013

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