"...your Father knows what you need before you ask him." (Matthew 6:8)

I did a word study on prayer once and discovered that one of the original Greek words for 'pray' comes from two root words, one of them meaning 'to wish' and the other meaning 'to forward'.  I forward my wishes to God often!  In fact, I often word my prayers for others this way.  I wish for her healing...I wish her more of Jesus...I wish her love...I wish her peace...I wish her joy.  I like making wishes :)

I've seen Jesus answer a lot of those wishes immediately!  Other times I've had to be more patient.  It can be easy to ask 'why?'  Why aren't You answering that prayer the way I wish You would?  Why is she still suffering?  Why did that have to happen on top of everything else?  Why?  Don't You care?

My 'why' questions are often comforted by the truth: You do care.  You know what is best.  You love her even more than I do.  And I am often freed by this prayer: Your will be done...I wish her Your will not mine.  My will is shortsighted.  Your will is perfect.  It's not always easy to believe that, but my unbelief doesn't make it any less true.

This morning I was reading what Jesus has to say about prayer in Matthew 6.  I like how He doesn't describe prayer as a ritual, or an obligation, or give specific instructions beyond, "Make it personal.  Just between you and God.  Not for show.  Not for duty.  Not to get God's attention...He already knows...your Father knows what you need before you ask him." (Matt. 6:8)  The more I spend time praying, the more I'm convinced it's not about getting God's attention but God getting mine.

When Jesus does give specific words for us to pray in Matthew 6:9-13, I see an overall theme emerge from the heart of the Father. First of all, He is our loving Father, and He wants us to remember that and come to Him with our needs.  But how often do we really know what our true needs are?  What we think we need and what we actually need can be very different.  What Jesus describes here is a need for God's mercy.  A need for help, and He wants to help us.

Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven...God has a specific way of life in mind for me.  Not the life I think I need, or what society tells me I need, but His perfect will.  He has a specific plan, purpose, and ways to bring that about.  He hasn't left me on my own.  He wants to come and fulfill it.  He wants perfection for me in an imperfect world.  How awesome is that?

Give us today our daily bread...I have basic daily needs, and God, in His mercy, will provide for me.  But how often do I worry that He won't?  Do I think He's going to forget?  Do I think He doesn't care about me?  Or do I worry I don't deserve it because of things I've done or because I lack faith?  God doesn't give to us based on what we deserve, but on what we need.

Forgive us our debts...We need forgiveness, and Jesus invites us to freely ask for it.  Do you ever find yourself trying to please God, like you're trying to make up for something—like you owe Him something?  He doesn't want you to feel this way.  He doesn't want you to feel guilty.  He doesn't want you to feel obligated.  He wants you to be free.  Free from guilt.  Free from shame.  Free from heavy burdens of duty.  Ask for forgiveness, and then live free.

...as we have forgiven our debtors...we need to be forgiving people.   To forgive others.  To show mercy.  To let go.  We need that.  Our hearts were not meant to hold grudges and be filled with bitterness.  We die a slow death that way.  Choose to live instead.  Move on.  If you don't think you can, ask for God's help.  This is His desire for you, and He will make a way.

And lead us not into temptation...I love that God wants to guide me in His perfect ways.  Temptations are like side-roads in my walk with God.  He's leading me on the right path—the path of good,  the path of blessing, the path of what I really need.  And then there's that tempting diversion.  But the right road is still in front of me to take.  I always have that choice.

But deliver us from evil...God is my rescuer.  I need to be rescued, but how often do I try and rescue myself?  To be strong.  To work out all the details.  To grasp for things I think will help or satisfy me, but they don't.  Jesus says, 'Don't do that.  Go to God for deliverance.  He knows you need it.  He will protect you.  He will guide you in paths of righteousness.  He will rescue you from the pit you have fallen into.  He will rescue you from that difficult person or circumstance.'

We need what God has to offer us.  The prayer Jesus gave as an example is a prayer of acknowledging that God wants to give us what we need.  When we pray in this way, we are declaring who He is...Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.  He is merciful.  He is loving.  He is gracious.  He knows my needs.

Why do we try to live life on our own so much?  Why do we strive when He says, 'Be still and know that I am God.' ?

My thoughts are a bit scattered today.  It's been a busy week.  Some people live busy lives every week, but I try not to.  I take my time with life.  I don't have more on my plate than I can reasonably manage.  This week was busier than usual because it was my daughter's birthday on Thursday, and we had activities related to that on Friday and Saturday also.  I didn't mind.  The older my kids get, the more I want to cherish the special times, so having a three-day celebration of my "baby's" 12th birthday was fine with me.


But some other things came up too, and I'm feeling the drain of it all hitting me on Saturday night.  I'd like to go to bed and sleep, but I know I can't.  There's too much on my mind, so I'm sitting here writing and telling you about it!  Seriously though, I do have something I want to share.  In my daily reading of Jesus' words this week, I was reminded that He says to be "salt and light" to the world.  I hope that's what I do with my writing; and I hope I do that with my life.  Most things are easier said than done, but when the truth is believed and followed we are blessed, and so are those around us.  




In Psalm 23 David says, The Lord is My Shepherd, I have everything that I need.  He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside still waters.  He restores my soul...


A follower of Jesus is content.


A follower of Jesus is at peace.


A follower of Jesus accepts refreshment and restoration.


...He leads me in paths of righteousness for His Name sake...


A follower of Jesus follows.  A follower of Jesus is obedient.  A follower of Jesus believes and trusts.


...Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me.  Your rod and your staff, they comfort me...


A follower of Jesus does not fear the darkness.  A follower of Jesus is never alone in her disappointment, shame, failure, sickness, pain, and suffering.   She doesn't shut God out.  She welcomes His discipline, His guidance, His peace, and His love.


...You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.  You anoint my head with oil.  My cup overflows...


A follower of Jesus doesn't fight her own battles.  She takes refuge in her rescuer.  She receives grace, protection, blessings, and honor.  She doesn't live in defeat and shame and emptiness.  She lives as His beloved child.


...Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.


A follower of Jesus believes in His goodness and love.  She believes that everything is for her good.  The glory of eternity outshines the trials of life. 




It's been a busy week.  It's had its ups and downs.  Its success and failure.  Its joy and sorrow.  Its clarity and confusion.  And next week will bring...


Whatever...I'm following Jesus.  He will lead me to those places of contentment, rest, refreshment, right choices, trust, rescue, goodness, love, and hope.  And that's all I need.  Just Him.  Just His grace.  That's enough.




May the God of hope fill you with joy and peace as you trust in Him, that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.  (Romans 15:13)

Failure Is An Option

Failure.  It's a fact of life.  Everyone fails. The young, the old, the rich, the poor.  Smart people and fools.  The famous and the not so famous.  It's like death and taxes; It's inevitable.  If you are a human being you will experience failure at some point in your life, and most of us will experience it many, many times.


Sometimes my failure is a result of not trying. Laziness, procrastination, lack of ambition.  I either set myself up to fail from the beginning, or I try for awhile, but I can't keep up with what is necessary to complete the task, so I give up.


Other times my failure comes because the task is more than I can legitimately accomplish.  I lack the skills, time, resources, brainpower, opportunity, or giftedness necessary.  Maybe I bit off more than I can chew, or maybe others place heavy burdens on me.  I give it my best effort, but my best simply isn't good enough, and failure is the result.


And then there's my favorite: Failure comes because others let me down or don't cooperate with my plans.  I'm doing everything right.  I've got my end of the bargain covered.  I've sacrificed.  I've gone the extra mile.  I've done everything I can possibly do.  But others aren't doing their part.  A failed project that needed to be a group effort.  A relationship that became one-sided.  A difficult person that is impossible to please or guide or nurture or convince.  The skeptic.  The betrayer.  The fool.  The lazy person.  The one I am trying so hard not to be!  But my efforts alone aren't enough.  It takes two, or ten, or many more to make things work, and it's not happening.


The Apostle Paul talked about failure, and he had experienced it many times.  Sometimes, by his own admission, he was the problem.  He was weak.  He was wrong.  He was arrogant.  He needed a good humbling, and God gave it to him.  Other times he was the victim of others' lack of understanding, patience, love, and belief.  Often in his letters he pleads with his readers to hear what he is saying.  To repent of their wrong thinking and wrong actions.  To remember the message they received from him at first.  To wake up and smell the coffee!  And sometimes he was downright irritated with them at their lack of belief and the behaviors they were engaged in.


Paul was honest.  He didn't hide how he really felt, and he also didn't hide the fact that his ministry was a difficult one.  He had times of joy and triumph and success.  But he also had times of failure and great hardship.  In his second letter to the Corinthian church, he writes these words: We do not want you to be uninformed about the hardships we suffered...We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life.  Indeed, in our hearts we felt the presence of death.


Failure can feel like that, can't it?  It's as inevitable as death, and sometimes it feels like death.  The life is sucked out of us to the point of utter despair, deep pain, and a lack of desire to keep going.  To give up.  To stop trying.  To throw in the towel and say, 'I'm done.'


But Paul wasn't finished.  He had more to say...Paul always had more to say...But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.  He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us.  On him we have set our hope...


Paul had realized something.  He had realized that failure was an option.  Sometimes life and ministry and people and circumstances and his own weaknesses were too much for him to handle on his own.  It was too much for his team.  It was too much for the churches he was trying to lead and encourage.  But that was okay because failure was not the final nail in their coffin.  It was simply an opportunity to be rescued.  To depend on God.  To trust Him.  To be saved once again by Jesus, the author and perfecter of their faith.


Salvation is not a one-time deal.  It's more than an escape from death and punishment.  Salvation is a daily occurrence for those who put their hope in Jesus.  We will fail.  Others will fail us.  Life is hard, and sometimes, even when we're doing everything right, failure is beating down on our door, and there is no escape.  Failure comes.  Failure threatens to swallow us up in death.  The despair is so great.  All hope seems lost.


But it's not.  Something else Paul says in his first letter to the Corinthians is this: Love never fails.  I think sometimes God deliberately puts me in a situation where it is impossible to succeed.  Why?  To teach me that it's okay to fail.  It's okay if I'm wrong.  It's okay if I don't measure up.  Jesus said, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and lift up his cross daily and follow me."  What did the cross symbolize?  Death, failure, a burden too heavy to carry.  That's why He says, 'Don't rely on yourself, don't carry that burden, lift it up...that's what it means to follow Me.'  That's what freedom in God's love looks like.  Without failure, or threats of failure, I can never experience the fullness of His grace.


And when others fail me, I can extend that same grace to them, and mercy will win.  We were not created to be perfect apart from God's righteousness, and we can't expect that from anyone else either.  Trying to be perfect is idolatry because I am worshipping myself, not His holy perfection.  Part of His holy perfection is my weakness that He puts back together with grace, love, mercy, and compassion.  I may fail, but His love will never fail me.  And our love for one another (after we have first received His unconditional love) will bring hope, healing, restoration, and joy.


I wrote last week about the words of hope Jesus had for 'the 'poor in spirit'.  I believe failure is something that can empty our hearts like nothing else.  Whether it's our own failure, or how others have failed us, we will become poor in spirit, sometimes gradually, and sometimes overnight.  Am I talking to anybody here?


If I may be so bold to extend Jesus' list of those who are blessed, I believe He would say...'Blessed are those who fail, for they will be called My beloved ones...and they will believe it.'




We do not want you to be uninformed about the hardships we suffered.  We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life.  Indeed, in our hearts we felt the presence of death.  But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.  He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us.  On him we have set our hope...(2 Corinthians 1:8-10)