Tag Archives: unbelief

Forty Days of Praying the Word of God: Day 38

“ Do not be yoked together with those who do not believe. For what partnership is there between righteousness and lawlessness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness? What agreement does Christ have with Belial? For what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?” 

2 Corinthians 6:14-15

Lord, I pray for an increase in our obedience to Your whole word, including in the area of our alliances, partnerships, and marriages.

I pray that we will stop seeking common ground, and yoking ourselves with unbelievers. May we stop trying to partner righteousness with unrighteousness. I pray that we will be a people who set themselves apart, not as better than, but as different from. May every relationship we have with those in the world be redemptive, and gospel driven.

I pray we will be in the world, but not of it. That we will not allow ourselves to become conformed to the systems and ideologies of this world, but will continually seek transformation through the renewing of our minds by Your word. (Romans 12)

I pray that we will not compromise in order to keep from being hated by this world, but that we will rejoice in being identified with our Savior, who was hated first. May the love of God being poured out through us have priority over the approval of man being poured out on us. (Matthew 5; John 15)

I pray that nothing the world offers us will entice us, but that we will find all we need in You. May we find life and joy in You alone. (Psalm 16; John 10)

I pray that more and more, You will have a set apart people for Your own, a holy people that You have called out of the world, rescued from the dominion of darkness and brought into the Kingdom of Your Son. A people who love You and who love the people of this world as You do, but who have come out from among them. And from that love, may we go back out into the world to give them the good news of Your love and redemption.

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

Forty Days of Praying the Word of God: Day 26

“Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?”

Genesis 3:1

Father, Your word is true and Your heart is good! I pray this will be the foundation for our lives with You. I pray that in every believer’s home where Your Word is being challenged by the lies of the enemy, Your Holy Spirit would fall with power.

I pray for those who are feeling their doubts, who believe but need You to help their unbelief, the ones who want to run their race but cannot seem to untangle themselves from the lies that hold them back. Father, would You show Yourself to them? Would You enable them to put their doubt to rest and separate the lies from Your truth? Help their unbelief, Lord.

I pray for the ones who have wandered from Your truth, who have heard the voice of the enemy with his “did God really say?”, and fallen for his lie. Bring them back, Father. Go after them with Your loving and merciful truth, open their blinded eyes, and turn them back. I pray that You will bring them again to sound doctrine, to the freedom found only in Your truth.

In this way, Father, strengthen Your Church. Surround her with Your Spirit, and bring strength to her weak places, hope to her discouragement, and healing to her wounds. For Your enemy is roaming, Lord, looking for those he can devour. I pray that You will guard Your Bride against his desire to consume her.

Today, Jesus, would we hear Your voice again. Today, would Your truth rise bigger than our doubts. Today, would You come into our wilderness and lead us out.

In Your Name I pray. Amen.

uncovering our unbelief

“So He was not able to do any miracles there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. And He was amazed at their unbelief.” – Mark 6:5

And I marvel at the power of unbelief, to be able to hinder the miracles of God. To my knowledge, scripture mentions nothing else that causes God to be “not able”.Continue reading “uncovering our unbelief”

i will not die in this place

desert-campingI had a vague sense of what God was calling me to this year, but it was just that. Vague. Wispy. Fragile.

But I knew He was calling. I could hear His voice. Ever have that? You know He’s speaking, but you can’t make out the words? Like the wind picks them up and carries them off before they can reach your heart.

Until you draw closer. Until you get up from your wilderness spot where you’ve set up camp and head toward the sound of the voice that makes the hunger in you start to gnaw.

Until you get close enough to realize He’s saying the last thing you expected to hear.

“So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.” 

Third chapter of Hebrews hit me like a brick in the back of the head. Those people who seem so far removed from me wandered in their wilderness until they died because they did not believe God.

I had stopped believing (cue Journey song. In your head. All day. You’re welcome).

And from the book of Hebrews His voice rose to meet my weary hunger. “Wilderness wandering is not your destiny. It is not what I had for them, and it is not what I have for you. 

Do you believe Me?”

20140105_072642So I went to the place where my belief was safely tucked away. Fifteen or so journals filled with the cries of a heart that believed God.

20140105_072543

I read and remembered and cried because I don’t know what happened.

I read and remembered that my life is proof that God hears and God moves.

I read and remembered that all things are possible with God.

I read and remembered what I believe.

And I don’t know if I came out of the wilderness, or if He tired of calling me and came in after me. 

All I know is His voice is clear, His call for me this year is certain, no longer vague and wispy, lost in the hot wind of my wilderness.

This year, I will pray again with boldness and passion. I will ask Him for impossibles because I believe all things become possible in His hand.

I will pray for those I love who do not walk with Him to have knock down encounters with the living God. Encounters that leave no room for doubt that Jesus Christ is both Lord and Savior and that the danger to their soul does not pass with magic words but with knees that bow and necks that bend.

I will pray for marriages to be restored and not just restored but made brand new.

I will pray that depression and despair pack their bags and depart from the Beloved and that the door hits them firm on their way out.

I will pray for the broken to be healed, the chained to be set free and the lukewarm to be set on fire.

prodigal-son

I will pray for prodigals to come to their senses and come running home to a Father that is waiting to kiss their neck.

woman warrior

I will pray for power from on high to come upon the Bride of Christ and make her into the formidable foe to darkness that she is meant to be.

I will pray because I believe God moves and the spiritual realm shifts to attention when the people of God cry out from the faith He has given them.

I will not pray from a place of desperation or resignation. I will not utter words from my lips while my heart remains silent in unbelief.

I will not pray for what is possible for man, but for what is only possible for an all powerful God who sits on the throne of heaven with His feet on the footstool of earth.

This year, I will pray because I believe God.

This year, I will not die in the wilderness.

 

uncomfortable goodness

The goodness of God makes me uncomfortable. Suddenly, the desires of my heart are being met and I discover a new fear hiding within me. Every few days it crawls out of the deep place in my heart and stops me mid-dance, whispering that God’s goodness is not free. Not for me. Convincing me that there must be a catch. There must be a hard lesson coming.

God is good. His word proclaims it, and my life proves it. So what is this fear that kicks at my feet while I’m dancing for joy? Why am I waiting for the door to slam? Why would God be this good to me? There. That’s the real question slamming against the sides of my brain. Why, God?

Maybe I had prayed enough, repented enough, been kind enough to strangers. Maybe I really was good enough to earn the favor of God. Or maybe my pride is quickly sucking up all the oxygen in the room. Stupid theory #1 was quickly abandoned.

So here I sit in God’s goodness and I’m squirming with a sort of weird discomfort. Because I can’t find the reason. And I can’t find the reason that I need a reason. It’s all quite maddening. And this exposure of my heart is like a fly that continually dive bombs a really good nap. I’m trying to enjoy this goodness (before it disappears?), but my heart is naked again and I want to yell at God to stop doing this to me.

Because I’ve been here before – heart exposed to the One who formed it. Light goes deep and I remember long ago mouthing the words uttered by King David,  “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.” This exposure is what I had asked of my ever faithful God, because my own heart was as much as mystery to me as His. And cleansing doesn’t happen to hidden things.

In my discomfort I asked “Why are You being so good to me?”.

In His cleansing He asked His own question. “To whom are you comparing Me?” Light comes far too swiftly for dark to get out of the way.

I live in a world where, just like love, goodness needs a reason. It is a cynical, un-trusting world, and while I am in it but not of it, sometimes I view God through it. Which is a blame-the-world way to say that I am often cynical and untrusting toward God.

The fear, the questions, the wondering…all of the discomfort once again comes back to one thing. What do I really believe about God?

Somewhere from the back of my mind I hear a familiar refrain: “If something seems to be too good to be true, it probably isn’t true.”

And so I return to my place of refuge. In this place, He will speak truth and the lies will bow down. My exposed heart will be comforted and cleansed.

“Then Moses said, ‘Now show me your glory.’ And the Lord said, ‘I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you…'” (Exodus 33:18-19)

Moses wanted to see My glory. I answered by showing Him My goodness. Goodness is not something I do, it is who I am.

“They will tell of the power of your awesome works, and I will proclaim your great deeds. They will celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness.” (Psalm 145:6-7)

My goodness is not meager. Not doled out in drips.  It is abundant, poured out, celebration worthy goodness.

“You are good, and what you do is good.” (Psalm 119:68)

I am good and I do not change, and my goodness extends to everything I do. It is not tied to circumstance. I will not be good today, and not good tomorrow. Your circumstances may change. Storms will invade your life. Trials will come. Difficulties will arise. You dwell in a fallen world, but I am not a fallen God. No matter what happens, I will still be good. To you.

“I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me.” (Proverbs 8:17)

“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13)

My goodness is not trickery, nor is it fickle. It is a part of the promise. When you seek Me, you find Me. When you find Me, you find My goodness. 

In utter desperation I have sought God…and found the only thing that is not too good to be true. Abundant goodness. Worth celebrating. Worth proclaiming.

“I will sing to the Lord,
for He has been good to me.”

To me. Because He is God. Because He is good.