Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the Church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21
Do you ever find yourself praying the same way because that’s what you’ve always done? Do you ever find yourself saying words, but not really meaning them? I know I have. I’ve gone through my prayer time completely distracted just as though it were another chore on my to do list.
This morning, though, this verse hit me. This is one of the verses I read most every morning in an effort to memorize it, so I’ve probably read it over a hundred times. But this morning it was different. I could hear the Holy Spirit whisper, “Do you really believe God can do exceedingly abundantly above all that you ask or think?”
BAM! It hit me right in the gut because so many times I have doubted. And maybe not always so much if He can, but if He will. I mean, after all, I’m sure not deserving.
James 1:6-8 tells us, “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man supposed that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”
My dad always says you need to be wearing your steel toed boots when you read the book of James. James doesn’t candy coat anything. He tells us that if we doubt that we shouldn’t expect to receive anything from the Lord. Wow! Help my unbelief, Lord.
There are times when life gets so overwhelming that you can only see your problems. But we have to learn to look up and trust the Lord during those times. We have to believe that He will see us through. Sometimes we have to hold tight to Scripture that declares His promises. Sometimes we have to remember His faithfulness in the past because He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. If He saw you through in the past, trust me, He will do it again.
So many times we focus so much on ourselves, or at least I do. I wonder what I’ve done wrong to cause problems in my life or I just don’t deserve God to bless me. But this is the wrong kind of thinking. Of course we don’t deserve His blessings. We’re broken sinners. Matthew West says it best in his devotional, “We May think we don’t deserve His goodness in the wake of our mistakes, but in the Kingdom of God, it’s never about us anyway. It’s always about Him. It’s never about what we deserve. It’s about who He is.”
We just have to believe and trust Him. Really believe. I choose to hold onto a His promises and His faithfulness no matter what I’m facing.
Ribbons and Lace 