IT'S IN THE DETAILS
Prayers That Move Mountains
Chapter One
When we look at all of creation, we can see that our God is a god of details. As high as you want to go into the heavens, you can see it. Look at the sun and the moon and the stars. Ponder on how they all work together to give us exact times and seasons. Consider the earth and its rotation - the speed, the gravitation, the atmosphere, the distance it is from the sun, the gravitational pull of the moon. The splendor of who God is can be seen in the vastness of the universe. Look at the galaxies. When we look up, there are details that are far beyond our wildest imagination. Details. Vast details that we will never see or understand. Look at life. Two cells unite and split and then split again until a human is formed. Every detail of that body works in perfect harmony to see and hear and understand and move and act. Everywhere we look there is order. By just looking at the things created, we can see that there is an architect who pays meticulous attention to details. So why would we think that God would leave His most prized possession, His children, to chance. He doesn't. He has a plan, and we are going to come to embrace the details of that plan so that we can join Him in His great work. I don't know about you, but I am tired of fighting God. I feel like many of the prayers I have prayed in the past were in direct opposition to what God was trying to accomplish, so now I am trying to think like God thinks. I am trying to understand His ways so that I can begin to pray according to His will. I want to partner with my Father to bring many sons into glory.
There is a scripture found in Psalm that changed the way I think. Psalm 37:23-24 says,"The LORD directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the LORD holds them by the hand." Can you see this? A Father holding onto His child's hand as he learns to walk, delighting in every step he takes. Laughing. Eyes shining. Proud. But what about when bad things happen? What about the pain and the sorrow? What about his past? What about his upbringing? What about his choices? What about the choices of others? God delights in the details. ALL DETAILS. Everything that has happened and will happen will work together for good to those who love God and are the called according to His purpose. For God knew His people in advance, and He chose them to become like His Son, so that His Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And having chosen them, He called them to come to Him. And having called them, He gave them right standing with Himself. And having given them right standing, He gave them His glory. (Romans 8:28-30) This is the BIG plan, and God uses the details of our life to work it out. God has chosen people to become like His Son. He chose us before He created the heavens or the earth. He knew us long before we were ever born. That gives Him a slight advantage about knowing the outcome of every choice made, of every circumstance, of every hard thing that happens - we are being conformed to the image of His Son.
So He chose us. Then He calls us. Many of us were in extremely hard circumstances when we were called. Not many of us were well thought of. "Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world's eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And He chose things that were powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God." (1 Corinthians 1:26-29) If we think we are something, we have missed the boat. It is Christ who is something. It is God who is something. We just happen to be the recipients of their great mercy.
Then after we were called, God gave us right standing with Himself. He did this through the blood of Jesus Christ. It is not something that we can earn or work for or buy. It is a free gift that we have to receive. "God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago." (Ephesians 2:8-10) . We are His masterpiece - God's greatest creation! God has gone to great lengths to make sure that we become the Sons of God. He made a world, a temporary home where we are free to make choices, then He gave us free will. He knew we would fall, and He knew the suffering that would bring. He also knew someone had to pay the price, so He sent His Son. The suffering was enormous. He bore all our pain and our sorrow. He was wounded for our sin and transgressions. Every fear and anxiety and terror was on Him, and it bought us our peace. And every sickness was laid upon His back so that we could be healed. Everything you have ever suffered, He suffered for you. Think on that one for a while. Jesus took the punishment so that we don't have to. That means in this life as well as in the next - we just have to get there. Then God gave us His Spirit. This Holy Spirit leads us and guides us into all truth and shows us things to come. This Spirit guides us and protects us. He leads us along narrow paths that are laden with pain and sorrow, but somehow He heals us. He sets us free. He comforts us, and we begin to look like and act like God's Son. His plan from the beginning was to make us holy so that He can give us His glory. Chew on that one for a while. God wants to give us HIS GLORY! Wow!
Ephesians 1:3-14 also gives us a glimpse into God's plan. "All praise to God, the Father of our LORD Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. Even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. This is what He wanted to do, and it gave Him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace He has poured out on us who belong to His dear Son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that He purchased our freedom with the blood of His Son and forgave our sins. He has showered His kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding."
I am going to go one bite at a time to embrace this truth. God has a plan that will bring Him much praise and glory. From the beginning God loved us and chose us to be holy and without fault in His eyes. Even right now God is showering His kindness on us along with wisdom and understanding so that we can become holy and without fault in His eyes. The more we know, the more obedient we can become. This all happens in the spirit realm where God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing because we are united with Christ. Everything that He is, we are becoming. We are in Christ, and Christ is in us. We are seated at the right hand of the Father where there is power. We then begin to crush all of our enemies: pride, lust, selfish ambition, bitter envy, greed, covetousness, bitterness, anger, hatred, stubbornness, being offended, abandonment, rejection, feelings of worthlessness, darkness, worry, fear, doubt, unbelief. Then we begin to embrace the Spirts of Christ: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control, light, truth, mercy, grace, justice, wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, fear-of-the-LORD, knowledge, patient endurance. The only way this exchange of power can happen is because of what Jesus did on the cross. Now we can come to Him without excuse and say, "I am guilty of having doubt in my heart, and I am angry. Please forgive me." And He does. As far as the east is from the west, He takes our sins from us. Then we begin to ASK FOR and embrace His nature. All of this exchange of power comes about when things get hard. That's were the details of this life come in. We cannot save ourselves from hatred and rage, but He can save us. We cannot save ourselves from fear and terror, but He can. We just have to let Him. This is free will. We get to choose to let Jesus rescue us, or we choose to follow our own selfish ways. Life or death. Blessings or curses. We get to choose. With every circumstance of life, we get to choose. It is all in the details.
PRAYERS THAT MOVE MOUNTAINS:
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LORD, You know me. You know who I am and what I have done. I am a sinner. You know that. I don't want to do this anymore, but I can’t rescue myself. I need for You to save me. I open my heart wide to You, and I ask that You come into every part of who I am. I ask You to come in and heal me and set me free. I ask that You would fill me with Your Spirit. Let Him guide me toward You. I want to know You. I want You to know me. I want to bring You much glory. I ask this in the mighty name of Jesus. AMEN
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LORD, I want to thank You for choosing me. I want to thank You for sending Your kindness that leads me to repentance. I want to thank You for making me right with God. I want to thank You that all things work together for good to them who are the called and the chosen according to Your purpose. LORD, I am guilty of not embracing Your plan for my life. Please forgive me. Forgive me for complaining. Forgive me for not trusting in Your plan and Your timing. Forgive me for trying to control people and situations. Forgive me for worrying. I am so sorry. Now, LORD, I am asking for You to teach me Your ways and show me Your paths, and help me walk in them. Create in me a clean heart and an upright spirit. Send out Your light and Your truth and let them lead me, let them bring me to Your holy hill and to Your tabernacle. I ask this in the mighty name of Jesus. AMEN
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