Sign at La Fuente del Peregino, a pilgrim hostel on the Camino de Santiago run by Cru in Spain. It reads, “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. (Jesus).”
Category: Bible (Page 408 of 420)
Students praying in Ivory Coast
I enjoyed these recent thoughts from Steve Douglass, the president of Cru. His words sparked a thought leading to a question which developed into a moment of conviction – do I tend to pray about problems on the front end, or only after exhausting other options? Here’s Steve’s thoughts on the subject:
In the early 1970s I was given responsibility to manage the finances of the ministry. Up until that point I was somewhat aware that we faced financial challenges from time to time. Not many days had passed in my new assignment before I realized that we were up against a rather serious financial challenge. We had sponsored two very large training conferences and were aggressively seeking to follow them up. But we didn’t really have the money to do that.
As I briefed Bill Bright on our situation, he didn’t have any great financial ideas to fix our problem. Instead he said that God had taken care of us to this point, and he didn’t think He intended to stop taking care of us now. Bill bowed his head and invited me to pray with him that God would solve the problem.
Well, God did take care of us, and within a year we had paid back the sizable debt we owed as a result of our training conferences. God used that to teach me a huge lesson. Although I needed to do whatever I could to help solve a problem, the most important thing for me to do was to pray and trust God for the solution. I will never forget that lesson.
Since that time, I have had many opportunities to trust God — not just for financial problems. And I have learned that my first step needs to be to pray, and then to keep praying as different details arise.
What does the Bible say about this? A lot, but let me focus on one verse … Philippians 4:6: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (NIV).
The word “everything” is comprehensive, isn’t it? What “thing” that we face is excluded? Nothing! So, if the ministry owed a bank a lot of money in the early 1970s, Bill Bright knew that was a “thing” to pray for, presenting his request to God. If relational problems arise — and sad to say, they do — they are “things” to pray for, rather than to be anxious about. If a challenge arises in trying to raise a child properly, that also is a “thing” to thank God for and to petition Him for His supernatural solution.
Praying is an important part of what it means to walk with God in faith. We all know it. Yet somehow as our day unfolds, we seem able to forget about it. So I find it is good to have a simple habit. Throughout the day I ask, “Have I prayed about this?”
If I haven’t, but am carrying on in my own wisdom and strength, I stop to pray and ask God to intervene with His supernatural wisdom and power. “Have I prayed about this?” is a very simple question. But its impact is profound.
Why don’t you try it? Put up some kind of reminder where you can see it throughout the day. Whenever you see the reminder, ask yourself about whatever you are doing, “Have I prayed about this?” I hope that asking “have I prayed about this?” will be as life changing for you as it has been for me.
This is a great reminder for us all. “Have I prayed about this?” makes for a strong habit to form as we live out our faith in the world.
On the afternoon of June 18 dark clouds gathered and proceeded to drop buckets of rain and hail on our neighborhood. Our house caught a good share, rattling windows and damaging plants, with the roof feeling the brunt of the storm. Notice the size of the hail in the pics. The hail caused so much damage that we need to replace our roof. Fortunately our insurance company came through with the necessary payment, so we’ll have a tight, new, element-withstanding roof very soon.
Which got me thinking about storms and Jesus. Hail hammered our house and badly damaged our roof. But despite the storm, the foundation stood firm. There was never any concern that the foundation might have sustained damage. Our house is solid because the foundation is solid. The roof can be damaged more easily and fixed more easily. Damage to the foundation would be a much more difficult proposition.
Jesus tells us in Matthew 7:24-27 to build our house upon the Rock: “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
The words found in the Bible, including the words of Jesus, are the only solid foundation for life and the storms that inevitably arrive. Build upon it. No single regret of my life has ever come from following scripture. Your roof is important, but your foundation is critical. Choose the right one to build upon.
Some days are wonderful. Other days are a slog. On those sloggish days we must choose to cling to the Lord despite our circumstances. That’s when I turn to one of my favorite passages in the Bible. Facing disaster for himself and his nation, Habakkuk penned these words several thousand years ago:
Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines,
Though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food,
Though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls,
Yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.
The Sovereign Lord is my strength;
He makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
He enables me to tread on the heights.
(Habakkuk 3:17-19)
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