Is Your God Big Enough???

I said something while teaching on Sunday that I can't seem to stop thinking about.  No it wasn't the remark about break-dancing monkeys or the dramatic re-enactment of Swine's routine in the SCS musical of Joseph (though the jazz hands were awesome).  It came toward the end of the lesson as I was sharing some wrapping up thoughts.  

We spent the morning working through Paul's prayer in the book of Colossians where he is praying that the church would be filled with the knowledge of God's will.  This is an sticky subject for so many Christians because the process to them can be incredibly frustrating.  Either God doesn't answer fast enough, loud enough or comfortable enough which leaves too many complaining about a Sovereign, Loving God who has incredible things in store for them.  

And that wasn't even the tough part of the prayer for me.  I especially appreciated the request that we would live lives worthy of the price that Jesus paid.  (Want to talk about a proper kick in the pants the next time you decide to yell at the lady running the checkout register at Wal-Mart.)

We got to the end of our time and arrive at a very familiar place many lessons end up.  That my friends is the subject of application.  What will we do with these words we are wrestling with?  I posed a question that has been constant in my mind since Sunday; "Do I believe that God is big enough to make these things come true?"  Because if the answer is "NO" them we aren't serving a god worth following.  But is the answer is "YES" then there should be nothing keeping us from praying God-sized prayers everyday of our lives.  

Now, I have the crazy thought that God is big enough to answer any prayer that we may ask of Him according to His will; and that He loves to give His kids good things.  Which only motivates me to praying bigger and bigger.  I think the more clearly we see God and the bigger He gets in our lives then our prayers should reflect that growth.  


Our prayers desperately need to shift from "What can You give me, God?" toward "What can I give You, God?"  What if our prayers revolved more around what God is doing in and around us for His kingdom and less about what He is doing for our kingdom?  


So if your God is big enough then search long and hard then ask Him to answer prayers than only He could answer.  If He is not then I would encourage you to spend some time in the Bible and at a church...(I know a really good one in Lake Worth where the lead pastor is wicked awesome and looks a lot like Brad Pitt or a leprechaun).


Heart and Soul,
BAG
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A Great Promise From God

Since Sunday I have had the rare occasion of teaching what I shared at Merge with two additional crowds.  On Monday I spoke to the Junior Highers at Southwest Christian School's and this morning I spoke the same message to their High Schooler's.  I love having the opportunity to speaking with teenagers because I believe there is so much potential in them and that one day the difference they will make is directly influenced by the voices that spoke into their lives.  I consider it a privilege anytime God allows me to teach His word and these past two day have been very special.  

If you were at Merge we opened up a discussion on some thoughts on prayer, specifically about a desire to spend more time focusing on prayers regarding God and His Kingdom and less about our own personal comfort and materialistic things that only seem to make like a little easier.   

To kick off our thoughts we dove into one of my favorite verses found in the book of Jeremiah.

"Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know." ---Jeremiah 33:3

1.  God calls us to pray to Him.  Why would we need a reminder to pray?  Because like most of us it is only when life starts to get tight we attempt to bring God into the conversation (as if He wasn't aware in the first place).  So He says to call unto Him because He knows better than we do what we need.

2.  God promises to answer us.  I believe this section section of verse 3 is important to note.  God tells us that when we call to Him that He will respond to us.  I am a very imperfect father but I always respond to any request He may have.  That is not to say that the answer is yes every time and it is not to say that I say no even if he is convinced that yes is the best answer.  God is a lot the same way (except He isn't as dorky and doesn't tell lame jokes). He promises to answer.

3.  When we pray and God responds our faith in Him grows.  God does not tell us "great and unsearchable things" so that we can be smarter or seem to be more spiritual than the next guy.  He reveals these things so we can be active in the adventure of the story He is writing.  

It is an incredible and humbling thought that God would even be interested in hearing our words, let alone respond to them.  Nevertheless, He does responds to us in incredible ways.  What a beautiful truth!!!


Heart and Soul,
BAG
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One Question I Have Been Wrestling With A Lot Lately...

"If my prayers actually reach God's ears then why do I consistently pray so small?"

I have been thinking a lot about prayer in preparation to teach over the subject the next few weeks at Merge.   It has been an interesting journey actually talking with God about talking with Him.  One thought that is really steering this entire season and series is my willingness to spend so much time praying for things that really have little to no eternal consequence.  That is not to belittle prayer or to say that we should only be praying deep, theological, King James sounding prayers; it merely recognizes that if our prayers are actually heard by the God of the universe then why don't we pray for greater things that have less temporal influence and more eternal possiblilties?

I am pretty sure I spend more time praying for financial blessing than opportunities to share the Gospel fearlessly.  I ask for things that would make me just a little bit more comfortable in life over Paul's prayers for the Ephesians when He is pleading that the church would understand their great inheritance in Christ.  With very little effort my prayers can become selfish, self-seeking and self-glorifying, treating God as if He were a bit player in the story of me (kind of like a side-kick, tights and all).  

I wonder what it would look like if a church really got this?  I wonder what it would look like if THE CHURCH really got this?  I wonder what this would look like if YOU got this?  My prayers lately have been that I would get this.  

Prayer is more than just a magic list of wants.  I think we all instinctively know this but few ever get any further than engaging pray in this way.  This is the exciting part of the journey for me right now, I feel God is (as Paul prayed) opening the eyes of my heart that I may know the hope to which He has called me.

So I suppose the only proper way to end this blog thought is...

TO BE CONTINUED

Heart and Soul,
BAG
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