“I can’t find my keys.”
“Have you seen my shirt?”
“I can’t find my phone.”
Sound familiar? The big one for me is….”Have y’all seen my glasses?” Yep, I once prided myself on NOT LOSING things, but not anymore. I seem to lose my glasses daily, if not hourly at times. Humbling. I am working at paying more attention…since our kids will not allow me to “sport” one of those “strings around your neck that hold your readers when you aren’t using them!”
Seven years ago…I was CHALLENGED and encouraged to take everything before the LORD….big and small. It was a daunting task to train myself to pray over the simplest of things, the most minor, and the big things. It was a true exercise in disciplined training. It was harder for me than working out physically has ever been. I had to be very intentional and committed to this process!
To this day….percentage wise, I would say a good day of filtering most everything through God first….I am at 75%. That is actually a GREAT day for me. I want to get to 100%. I really enjoy those great days of 75% because it is when I actually see and feel God this most! I see HIM ….show up and show out in the big and small things. It is really “ignorant on my part” if I don’t keep seeking to do this…after all that HE HAS done and shown me when I do! I want to “pray continually” as I Thessalonians 5:17 tells us to do.
Just recently…this week in fact…I answered my cell when I was driving down the road. The friend on the other end had been looking for her wallet for 5 days. She was so frustrated. We all know what losing your wallet can mean…….lost cash…canceling credit cards (agonizing process). Going to the DMV, (everyone’s favorite place…… a BIG ….NOT! ) to get a new driver’s license. smile emoticon The list could go on and on but you get the picture.
Her stress level could be felt over the phone. Not to mention she has two kids who I could hear in the background and they were not happy! For a minute…I was telling her how to retrace her steps…then God spoke to me…in the way I am most familiar with…a heavy pressing on my chest…which made me pay attention to the thoughts He placed in my spirit…a redirection of self to HIM. I immediately tuned in to what I had been in “training for”. I said, “You know what? God knows. HE knows where your wallet is. So let’s pray!”
We prayed and I told her to put legs to her prayers. I encouraged her to go home and retrace her steps. I reminded her to not be anxious and to trust God. I told her that I believed God would help her find her wallet. From my experience over the last seven years, I can say…I felt confident she would find it. YEP, she did…just an hour later…I got the call….:)))))))
Let me just be CRYSTAL CLEAR HERE. It was not me, nor magic, nor coincidence….it was God. It was the strength of the “prayer muscle” that God has been building in my life and the experience I have enjoyed through the process of “strict training” in “filtering all things through my Father!” Taking Philippians 4:6 to heart. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”
I want to encourage anyone reading this…I cannot put into words adequately what it has meant to “discipline myself” to pray about everything…BIG and SMALL. To literally pray about everything and expect God’s answer. To seek HIM and LOOK for Him with the expectation that HE WILL answer. HE will 100% of the time …a guarantee. Just discipline yourself to accept HIS ANSWER and HIS TIMING OF THE ANSWER….I can 100% guarantee…that you will…LOVE the EXPERIENCE AND THE OUTCOMES. GOD DOES KNOW BEST!!!
Psalm 17:6, “I call on you, my God, for you will answer me; turn your ear to me and hear my prayer.”