God is all powerful. Yet, God is not a television witch or genie who just magically makes our commands come instantly true.
Growing up at a time when reruns of I Dream of Jeannie and Bewitched were often on TV, my four-year-old self really believed that if I asked God that he would clean up my room for me, somehow making my toys magically float from the floor into the toybox while I sat on my bed and prayed for Him to do it.
I was sorely disappointed when nothing was flying through the air nor cleaned up. I was confused. I prayed. God can do anything. I believed. Nothing happened. I didn't understand.
Yet, God cannot be anything but good. He is perfect. Would it be good of God as a loving Heavenly Father to teach a child that she is able to be lazy and expect others to do what it is her responsibility to do? Of course, not.
He can't be contrary to who He is. He knows what is best for us. It was best for my four-year-old self to learn to either not make messes with toys or that I needed to put my things back when I was done using them. That is a lesson not only in housekeeping but in respect for what I've been entrusted with, taking responsibility for my actions, taking care of my environment, and cultivating self-discipline. These traits never go out of style.
God wants us to have faith, yes, but He hasn't called us to sit around praying when there is work to be done. He has called us to both pray and act, act and pray, pray as we take action, take action while we pray....enough said?
God hears the prayers of His children. He answers them according to His being and His will. He will not be our slave nor our genie in a bottle. His wish is our command, not the other way around, so to speak.
How do we know His desires? How can we know we are pleasing Him?
- Read His Word - and Don't be just readers or hearers, but as James 1:22-25 says, "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.
- Praying Daily - Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” - Isaiah 30:21 ("Walk" is Verb = Action).
- Trust that He Knows Best - Trust in the LORD with all your heart,and lean not on your own understanding...-Proverbs 3:5 (For more encouragement, read more of chapter 3).
If you didn't catch this week's podcast episode, you can listen here.
