Praying for Struggles
The past few days I have been listening to sermons by Francis Chan. One thing I really like about him is his challenge to look beyond the scope of "typical Christianity." You know, the "I go to church on Sunday...I give a few dollars for offering...I say thank you once in a while for the easy life I have." Now, first, I don't want to generalize and say thing is everyone, because while I know people follow this pattern, I also know there are very strong believers out there, who are legitimately just wanting to follow the LORD. I also don't want this to be just a post about the exact same things that he talks about. I want to focus on one key question that he asks, which challenged me to think beyond my typical mindset. Francis Chan asks the audience what areas of life do you need to change. The thing I really liked about it was not that he asked that, but how he phrased it. Basically, he is tells everyone to ask God what it is that needs corrected in their hearts. So that is just what I did.
I started doing this a few days ago. I began asking God, "if there is anything unpleasant or wrong in your eyes in me, please, make it known to me." This is where the challenge began.
As I continued to pray for a few days that God would challenge me, I all of the sudden became aware of some areas where I need God's help. So already, God is answering my prayers. While I am at work, I notice that when I respond to someone, I can often do it in an arrogant way. Well, now having grown up more, I can see more and more how arrogance is an easy response for me to give. It is interesting how when I was a kid, I would always say, I don't want to be like that (whatever "that" was), but now that I am older, I realize that some of the exact things I didn't want to "be" or do are some of the exact things that I struggle with.
Now, to be completely honest, I have known for quite some time that arrogance is something that I have struggled with. It wasn't until the past few days (maybe week or two) that I realized how much of an impact that it has had on my relationships/friendships. I was talking to a friend recently, and they told me about how frustrating it could be not being a supportive friend. Now my natural tendency is to play devil's advocate on everything, but I learned that sometimes it is better, to just be there, and make sure they know you care.
Now it may not seem like that was arrogance, but it really was. Guys (yes i am generalizing) typically have the tendency to "fix" things. Which can be great sometimes! But other times, it can just be another burden. The very thing you try to use to build the person up, may actually be tearing them down. The reason this was arrogance isn't because of what I said verbally, as much as it was because I was trying to fix my friend.
This was just one example of ways that I have been arrogant. Now I don't want to focus on the problem, but instead concentrate on the solution. During church, we hear a lot (probably almost every Sunday) that community is made up of the Word of God, the Spirit of God, and the People of God. Now in this one story alone, I have personally scene where each one plays a role. The people of God is the one who pointed out what I was doing wrong. The Spirit of God is the part that convicts me to change, and the Word of God is what I MUST cling to (go to) in order to have the change happen.
God can convict us in many different ways. Whether through other people, his Word, or his Spirit, I think it is vital to be open to the change that God wants us to go through. God wants us to grow closer in relationship with him. A big chunk of this growing happens when we ask God to open our hearts, and be vulnerable to learning.
Psalm 139 talks about God knowing us. He searches us and knows us better than anyone else, even ourselves. Our lives are not about accomplishing everything we can. Yes, God commands us to go and make disciples. God also commands us to love him, more than we love ourselves. He tells us to depend on him, and put all of our faith in him.
Finally, I just want to leave everyone with the same challenge I felt. Ask God, "What is it that I need to change in my life?" In what ways are you trying to take control, instead of taking it into your own hands. In what ways are your motives impure?
I write this not to discourage people, but to encourage you to understand our true dependence on God, and our need for him, in order to change.
I started doing this a few days ago. I began asking God, "if there is anything unpleasant or wrong in your eyes in me, please, make it known to me." This is where the challenge began.
As I continued to pray for a few days that God would challenge me, I all of the sudden became aware of some areas where I need God's help. So already, God is answering my prayers. While I am at work, I notice that when I respond to someone, I can often do it in an arrogant way. Well, now having grown up more, I can see more and more how arrogance is an easy response for me to give. It is interesting how when I was a kid, I would always say, I don't want to be like that (whatever "that" was), but now that I am older, I realize that some of the exact things I didn't want to "be" or do are some of the exact things that I struggle with.
Now, to be completely honest, I have known for quite some time that arrogance is something that I have struggled with. It wasn't until the past few days (maybe week or two) that I realized how much of an impact that it has had on my relationships/friendships. I was talking to a friend recently, and they told me about how frustrating it could be not being a supportive friend. Now my natural tendency is to play devil's advocate on everything, but I learned that sometimes it is better, to just be there, and make sure they know you care.
Now it may not seem like that was arrogance, but it really was. Guys (yes i am generalizing) typically have the tendency to "fix" things. Which can be great sometimes! But other times, it can just be another burden. The very thing you try to use to build the person up, may actually be tearing them down. The reason this was arrogance isn't because of what I said verbally, as much as it was because I was trying to fix my friend.
This was just one example of ways that I have been arrogant. Now I don't want to focus on the problem, but instead concentrate on the solution. During church, we hear a lot (probably almost every Sunday) that community is made up of the Word of God, the Spirit of God, and the People of God. Now in this one story alone, I have personally scene where each one plays a role. The people of God is the one who pointed out what I was doing wrong. The Spirit of God is the part that convicts me to change, and the Word of God is what I MUST cling to (go to) in order to have the change happen.
God can convict us in many different ways. Whether through other people, his Word, or his Spirit, I think it is vital to be open to the change that God wants us to go through. God wants us to grow closer in relationship with him. A big chunk of this growing happens when we ask God to open our hearts, and be vulnerable to learning.
Psalm 139 talks about God knowing us. He searches us and knows us better than anyone else, even ourselves. Our lives are not about accomplishing everything we can. Yes, God commands us to go and make disciples. God also commands us to love him, more than we love ourselves. He tells us to depend on him, and put all of our faith in him.
Finally, I just want to leave everyone with the same challenge I felt. Ask God, "What is it that I need to change in my life?" In what ways are you trying to take control, instead of taking it into your own hands. In what ways are your motives impure?
I write this not to discourage people, but to encourage you to understand our true dependence on God, and our need for him, in order to change.
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