Pray Big and Believe Even Bigger

How often have we heard that we should pray big? Our prayers are to a God who can do anything, who loves us unconditionally and who expects us to turn to Him for the biggest and the smallest of needs. Nehemiah understood this and He took God up on it. He prayed for something only a mighty God could provide, and God heard his prayers.

Nehemiah 1:8-9 (NIV) 
8 "Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, 'If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, 9 but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.'

The people Nehemiah is referring to are the last of the exiles to return from captivity. They are the third wave of Israelites to come home only to find their home in ruins. When Nehemiah heard of their fate he turned to God and prayed. He prayed big prayers, filled with faith and expectation. He praised God, begged for forgiveness after confessing his sins, thanked God for all He had done for him. Then he laid out his specific requests and waited.

Is this what we do when faced with an impossible task? It is so difficult to remember to turn to God when our world is in shambles, when our home is in ruins, our hearts are breaking, and we can't catch our breath. But this is the exact time when we should seek out God's favor. Our prayers must be filled with faith and an expectation that God hears and acts. And so we wait...

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Nehemiah 1:1-11

Trust Me...

Where do trust issues come from? This is a question I asked for a long time. I have struggled for most of my life with trust. Our scripture passage today is Psalm 62: 5-12 and it talks about trusting God “at all times.” That is hard.

Verses 7 and 8 say,

“7 My salvation and my honor depend on God;
he is my mighty rock, my refuge.
8 Trust in him at all times, you people;
pour out your hearts to him,
for God is our refuge.”

While trusting others is tough, I find that trusting God to be a challenge as well. Why? If God is good and God is love, shouldn’t we trust him “at all times” like the Psalmist says? I think our struggle with trust comes when,

Our expectations ≠ Our reality

We have expectations for how we believe we should be treated. Our passage today uses the word “honor”. If we receive less than we expect our trust is shaken. This can even happen with our relationship with God. If we think we deserve different treatment from him, our trust in him falters. It’s hard to say and mean, “Thy will be done.”

How do we remedy our trust issues with God? I believe the only way is to get to know him. Please don’t think this a cliché “church” answer. God is very real and if we spend time talking to him, he will help our heart see and believe that he is both love and good.

If we spend time in the word, we will learn who he is and how he works, allowing us to not have misplaced expectations. God won’t fail us, but his provision is not always what we desire.

Finally, if you really struggle with trust maybe get a good book on the topic. I have read, Transforming Grace, by Jerry Bridges and it opened my eyes to my misplaced expectations.

The neat thing about mending our trust issues with God… it will also mend any problems we have trusting others because we will only go to God for our honor.

Read the entire passage here Psalms 62:5-12

What are Your Expectations?

“Seated in authority with Jesus”

Matthew 20:20-28

 

There was a recent Columbus Dispatch article about all of the Ohio State football players that are expected to be drafted in the National Football League. There are a total of fourteen Buckeyes, with six of them expected to go in the first round, which would tie a record. Those are pretty lofty expectations.

 

When I asked Jesus into my life in the summer of 1970, I expected that life would be a spiritual mountaintop experience from then on. In the fall of 1974 when I got married, I expected to have the perfect marriage. We all have expectations of our spouse, our children, our work and our life. And in reality, those expectations are what we expect from Jesus.

 

James and John also had lofty expectations. They wanted to sit by Jesus in his kingdom on his left and on his right. After all, they had given up the family fishing business when they responded to Jesus’ call to follow him. No doubt this was a huge economic, social and relationship sacrifice.

 

As a result, they expected something in return. I scratch your back, you scratch mine... Expectations. What’s even more amazing is that they asked for this “favor” shortly after Jesus had announced his death and resurrection for the third time. Could Jesus’ closest followers actually be this dull, this ignorant?

 

“Listen to me carefully. We are on our way up to Jerusalem. When we get there, the Son of Man will be betrayed to the religious leaders and scholars. They will sentence him to death. They will then hand him over to the Romans for mockery and torture and crucifixion. On the third day he will be raised up alive.”      MSG

 

This statement seems pretty clear to me. The disciples heard what they wanted to hear; what they hoped to hear; what they expected to hear. Expectations and hope go hand in hand.

 

What are your expectations of Jesus? What do you hope to get from him? A job, a spouse or children without issues? A life without tragedies or without struggles? What can you realistically expect?

 

The Bible tells us that what you can expect from Jesus is that he will be faithful. He

will be with you always, and never leave you no matter what you do or what is happening in your life. He will always love you and be at work in your life to draw you closer to him, and to use you in the lives of others.

 

That’s an expectation that you can count on.

 

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matthew%2020%3A20-28&version=NIV;MSG
https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/mclean/niv/Matt.20.20-Matt.20.28