I used to think that I only needed to turn to God when I was completely lost of hurt or desperate. I not only thought that those were the only times I needed to turn to him,but, and I do not admit this eagerly, I used to think those were the only times when he had his attention on me. I couldn't worry God with little matters like a big test, a bill that needed to be paid, or a small ailment of the body. I couldn't bother him with things that weren't life-threatening, heart-breaking, or eternally important. Even though one of my favorite verses in the Bible (1 Peter 5:7) says to cast ALL your anxieities on Him for He cares for you, I always thought that meant big anxietities, you know the important stuff.
However, I saw that verse out into practice in a different way by the women in my Bible study group. At the end of each Bible study, these women would offer up prayer requests. Some would ask for healing for a very ill friend, reconciliation in a marriage, or wisdom in a new business deal. Their voices were filled with concern and need and I understood why they needed prayer. However, other women would ask for a fun time at the beach, healing for a bruised foot, or Christian friends for their kids. At first I thought, well I hope God heals the person with the life-threatening illness before he worries about a bruised foot. Now, as I write this, I realize how horrible of a thing that is to say. By imagining God as if he is like a human physician with a waiting room and only time for the major cases, I put a limit on God's ability. Any prayer I made for that woman's bruised foot would have been compromised since I basically said God couldn't do it because he was too busy with the big stuff. I see that that isn't the correct idea about how God works.
Joel Osteen told a story about his father once praying that the trunk of his car open after it got stuck right before a conference. His father needed sound equipment that was inside the trunk and when he couldn't open it himself, he said a prayer over it. The people with him thought he was crazy to pray for a trunk to open. They probably thought as I did: it isn't important enough to bother God with. I can just imagine Jesus saying to us, "Oh ye of little faith." But, after the prayer, the trunk opened.
The Bible says God cares about all parts of out lives. He wants us to use faith in everything we do. In John 15:5, Jesus says, "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit, a part from me you can do nothing." If we do all things - pray, celebrate, travel, eat, etc. - in Jesus we are living a life of faith. No thing is unseen by God. Romans 14:23 describes eating without faith. It reads, "But the man who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not with faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin." Big statement.
So now I realize, yes of course we should pray to God when we are desperate or hurt or lost. But we should also use our faith in dealing with all worries and when we try to accomplish every goal. Joyce Meyer states that "there is no part of your life God is not concerned about, and He wants to be involved in everything we want, need, or do. So let him in."
Oh me of little faith.
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