Pray Big john 4

 

 

 

 

Hey you… weary heart that feels a bit like you ran a big race but didn’t finish, you need to hear this today.

You are of God and have already overcome because….

Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. 1 John 4:4

Once in a while I find myself tempted to sink into the circumstances edging ahead of me on this race I am running. It’s then that I get tired, friends.

Do you sometimes feel like the fight and the stamina required to take the next step are like climbing Mt Everest?

And then I remember that we will have times of trial, situations we may question, moments we are unsure,  days of doubt, and even years of difficulty.

Do we choose to give up and throw in the towel when things don’t go our way?

Some of my favorite verses in the Bible are contending words. They are the seeds of promise that urge me forward and remind me that there is always something more, something deeper, something powerful if I would just believe… if I would just take Him as His Word and say, “Yes, God.”

Isaiah 49:25- I will contend with him that contends with you.

Many times I come to His Word looking for the ammunition to fight against the battles ahead. The prayer warrior in me comes armed with a battalion of scriptures; petitions of promises girded by His Truth.

  • What if, instead, we choose to arm ourselves first from a place of resting in the Father rather than placing that battered shield of faith in front of ourselves?
  • What if we remember, that He is the one fighting our battles rather than we in our own strength pulling down the strongholds?
  • What if our choosing to rest in God led us to pray big prayers of faith?

Joshua blessed big from a place of rest; he entered into the promised land.

When Joshua was speaking to Israel in the 23rd chapter of that book which bears his name, it was after a time of resting that he brought forth a blessing.  He addressed them. He blessed them. He revealed that God was making them a great nation which no  man could stand against.  One of my favorite  verses says, “One man shall put a thousand to flight for it is the Lord your God Who fights for you, as He promised you. Be watchful… (take heed). ..of yourselves that you love the Lord you God.” (vs. 10) He goes on to remind them of the power of covenant living, of loving and serving God with their lives in a pattern that reflects a life that was committed. God gave us a paradigm in His Word. We need to find time to rest in Him, fully, in order to be adequately clothed and prepared to wrestle with world and win.

Friends, how many times do you stop and pause and allow your resting to honor God?

I can tell you, that I don’t do that well. I don’t know how to rest adequately.

And I think it is what causes me to feel like I am losing this race I am running some days.

I don’t like that feeling.

 

There is something moving deep in my heart about this contending that He does for you and I. He is the one doing the work, not we ourselves. Yes, faith in action involves motion on our part, but I am not talking about the power of faith here… I am challenging you to do big things in prayer by resting in the power of the ONE who is greater in you than the one who is in the world. 

God sanctified and blessed the seventh day because in it, he rested from working. ( Gen 2:3)

Those words, sanctified… blessed…. rest, reveal another pattern.  Sometimes we miss the blessing because we don’t see it for what it is. Sanctified and holy, set apart and a blessed, all extend from a time of meditation, they start when we find a place of rest before the Lord.

Grace reveals the permission to pause in the moment and Let God reveal the next step on the journey you are taking.

And friend, these words of rest that He is speaking to you, it is time to pause and listen close.

He is speaking to the heart of weariness, reminding you of this truth:  the rest that is assured, the refreshing that restores, it is smack dab in the middle of the prayer of faith that reroutes our paths and affirms our place  in grace’s grip.

Don’t miss the power of this truth, soldier.

 He has never once asked us to work harder to please him, or be perfect, to move forward in our journey to grace. He just asks us to come and wait upon Him. He asks us to lay aside those weights and sin-traps that trip us and make us work harder. He reminds us that grace is always His gift to give and ours to first receive.

Because the reality is that we cannot extend grace to others if we have not first received it from God. And this favor that is a result of His Spirit moving over ours causes us to stop and pause at it all. To rationalize the simplicity of what rest implies. To look to grace for what it is… a privilege and a promise.

And that is why we are weary and tired. We have been missing the heart of grace in our everyday living. We forget the power of resting in the favor of the One who redeems the broken and restores the wounded heart because we have taken our eyes off the finish line to look at  the side of the road and the rocky soil.

Yet, He doesn’t forget. He gently coaxes us with the daily reminders that we can’t measure the gift He has placed within us.  He can take all we bring to Him, He encourages us to dump out our baggage so that he can pack and organize and prepare us better for the journey ahead.

  • Sometimes it takes realizing we have been walking down a difficult road to appreciate the ease of a quiet stroll.
  • Sometimes it takes understanding that we can’t control a single fraction of our day to finally allow the day to be molded and orchestrated by His leading.
  • Sometimes it takes big risk to speak bold prayers in the midst of unbelief to change our role from soldier on the battle field to warrior in the prayer closet.
  • Sometimes it takes a season of quiet contemplation and unhurried resting to behold the splendor of His masterpiece revealed in our lives.

Friend, today I want to challenge you to consider the place of rest He is calling you to. To wait there for him, and to rest in the power of His goodness and overwhelming grace.  Would you consider coming to the throne room in prayer today without the petitions and the orders to lay out before the Lord, but instead just come with reverent hearts and mustard-seed faith and just believe that He is in your midst working things out for your good and His glory?

Do you need to write yourself a post-it note today to remember?

Note to self: Greater is the One who is in you!

  Pray big today!

 

I am praying for revelation wisdom this week, as you start it in a mode of rest and recuperation.  Start each day with the Sabbath rest in mind and let it remind you of your dependence upon grace to meet each task with humility and broken beauty.

I have created another prayer journal page and pdf for you here:  Greater is He who is in You Prayer Journal.

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Linking up with friends for the journey:

Jen @ SDG Gathering, Sybil @ MADM, Laura @ Playdates with God, Jen @ Unite, Angie @ Inspire Me Monday, Abby @RaRaLink Up,Holley @ Coffee For Your Heart, Jennifer @ #TellHisStory