Trying to live by the world’s terms and rules is a futile way to go. We must surrender how we think we must live and turn to God in all things. It may not make sense at first, but the more we lean into God’s way the more we want to follow His ways. We should want to be God’s people and not the world’s. When we live this way our ego takes a backseat and we are free to live in His grace. The world loses its power over us and we no longer feel the pull to please anyone but God. Living as the world dictates has us hungry to appear righteous before others. At the very least we want those that surround us to have a good opinion of us. However, living life in surrender to God’s grace places our priorities in the right line with the plans He has for our lives. Leaving us concerned with only His view of who we are. We now know our life is not our own, rather we live by faith, because we know He loved us so much that He gave Himself for us.
“For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”
Galatians 2:19-21 NIV
We may not always know the path we must take; however, the moment we get tired or confused the Holy Spirit will come alongside us and help. Contrary to what the world says, it is ok if we do not know the way we need to go. We simply need to know that we don’t know and trust that He is there to help. The Holy Spirit will make prayers from our wordless sighs. Thus, we don’t even need to know exactly what to pray for. He knows us better than we know ourselves. Our trust can be like the roots of a tree, deep and long. It is in this trust that He will intercede on our behalf every time. This is why we must entrust our plans to Him. He knows what we need before we even ask a thing. So, why wouldn’t we consult Him in all we do? He cares for every detail of our lives and His love will work everything for our good.
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:26-28 NIV
Considerations for your planner:
- What opinions matter most to you? Write them down and surrender them to God.
- Do you ever feel tired trying to figure out what to do with your life? Write down the last time you consulted God about your plans.
A Story of Trust:
There is a young woman who contacted me--I knew her when she volunteered with her husband at a children's ministry at our church. She wrote and asked for prayer for her husband who was going to have open heart bypass surgery. I told her I would be praying and so I began praying for her but felt this was an urgent prayer request because I could feel her anxiety in her text.
So, I contacted a prayer group, but I didn't see the prayer go out on the group email. The date of the surgery approached and I checked on her. It became very apparent something had gone terribly wrong. Her husband (he is young--about late 30s or early 40s) had died several times on the operating table. He had the by-pass completed but they decided to put him on a heart and lung machine because his heart was too weak and he continued to die. The next 24 hours were critical and I added him to two active prayer groups. Very long story short--during the 24 hours they resuscitated him several times and there was no brain activity, but we continued to pray.
His prognosis looked grim, but there were small signs of hope. His brain began to have activity. So, I will skip to the miracle. The heart and lung machine were removed, but they thought they would need to do a heart transplant. We continued to pray and then the miracle happened. The doctors came in and told this precious young woman that her husband's condition was unexplainable. His heart was perfect, his brain was perfect, his digestion and stomach were perfect. They had never seen anything like it. This precious young lady said, "I can, it is called a miracle."
The power of prayer is POWERFUL. We kept claiming God's promise in Isaiah 53:5--"By his stripes, this young man was made whole." He will be home in a couple of weeks. It brings tears to my eyes writing this because if we have the faith of a mustard seed, we can move mountains. That's why God has us pray. If it is God's will, miracles will happen; I will never forget this miracle, and I hope this miracle will encourage you to PRAY--it is powerful.
- Anonymous
Strengthen the Christian Planner Family by sharing your experiences. We'd love to hear a story about God's work in your life. Use the form linked below to submit your story.
