Monday’s Blog: Ask and You Shall Receive!
Since I talked about prayer last week, and started a “Praying the Word Wednesdays†on my Facebook page, I wanted to share this post on prayer I wrote when I started my blog two years ago. I pray it inspires us to seek God in everything!
Ask and You Shall Receive!
I was talking to a woman once. She said she was shopping one day and having a hard time finding something in the grocery store. She thought about asking God to help her, but quickly changed her mind and thought, “Why would I bother God for that when I can find it myself?â€
It’s funny how we think we’re bothering God when we have a request. Do we think God is too busy to take the time to help us find something in the grocery store? Do we think God is inconvenienced by us when we have a need? On the contrary, God wants us to seek Him and depend on Him for everything!
Why struggle doing things ourselves when we can have God helping us? He knows everything. So why not seek Him first in everything? Asking for God’s help and guidance doesn’t mean we’re lazy and shifting our responsibilities off on Him. It means we’re relying on Him to help us do what we need to do.
If I lose something and ask God to help me find it, I don’t just sit there and wait for it to appear out of nowhere. I still look for it. But I rely on God to direct me to the right spot. God created us to be dependent on Him. We still have our responsibilities, but we depend on Him to help and guide us in those responsibilities.
A man told me recently that he started asking God for wisdom in his job. He has a job where he has to troubleshoot and come up with new ideas. He said it’s often difficult and stressful for him. As he started asking God for direction and wisdom, he noticed a dramatic change in his ability. He was coming up with great ideas and solutions to help his company. He said he knows that wisdom is coming from God and is not his own. This man still has to think and do the work, but God supernaturally supplies the ideas.
Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.
Proverbs 16:3
God’s wisdom is so far beyond our own that we should gladly accept it over our own wisdom. Even the areas we think we’re smart in and don’t need any help, God is smarter and His ways are greater.
As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Isaiah 55:9
When I first started walking with God I knew I could come to Him with everything. However, I had a hard time putting my trust in Him because I struggled with patience. I needed to see it happen right away. Otherwise, I’d lose faith and try to handle it on my own. This led me to make many wrong decisions.
One example was with my finances. Every time my husband and I were hit with something, I’d stress out trying to figure out how to come up with enough money to make ends meet. I would ask God first, but I wouldn’t even wait for the answer. I would immediately search for my own solution. Most of the time, my solution would be extreme and something I would end up regretting. At one point, I was seriously considering selling everything in our house to pay our bills.
But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.
James 1:6-8
God kept nudging me to receive His help. He kept encouraging me to give my worries over to Him in exchange for His wisdom, His guidance, and His help. God showed me that my way wasn’t getting us anywhere except deeper in debt and leaving me stressed out.
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
Matthew 11:28-29
Once I handed our finances over to God, and trusted Him without doubt, my faith grew to see His provisions. By seeing that God provides, it helped me become more dependent on Him. I look back to all the days I wasted trying to figure everything out on my own, only to find myself frustrated and burdened greatly. Now I enjoy giving everything over to God and seeking His help. I enjoy the peace He gives me in exchange for my worries. I also enjoy seeing how He works everything out. It becomes exciting depending on God. You never know when and how God will show up.
For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
Matthew 7:8
This doesn’t mean God gives us whatever we want, whenever we want. It obviously has to be in His will and timing. But as God works in us, our desires start to change into His desires. Then, we start asking for things that He puts in our hearts, which line up with His will. Once we become dependent on God, His desires will become a reality in our lives.
Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.
Isaiah 40:28
Heavenly Father,
We praise You that we can come to You for everything we need. You are never tired or too busy for us. Help us to seek You in everything we do. Help us to put our trust in You and look expectantly to You. We praise You that You will out do our expectations when all our expectations are in You.
In Jesus’ Name, Amen!
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*I have started “Praying the Word Wednesdays†on my Facebook page. Every Wednesday, post your prayer request on my Facebook wall. I’ll post a relevant verse and pray the Word of God over your request. There is great power in believing God and His Word!
“‘If you can’?†said Jesus. “Everything is possible for him who believes.â€
Mark 9:23
“So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.â€
Isaiah 55:11, KJV
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Posted in Monday's Blogs, Prayer and tagged God, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Prayer by Amanda Beth with
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Monday’s Blog: Stop, Drop, and Pray!
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“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.â€
Matthew 11:28-30
Over the summer, God kept bringing these verses to my attention. The load I carry can get heavy. I have four children. I’m potty training one. I homeschool the other three. Most of the household and family responsibilities are on me due to my husband’s work hours. I take my kids to and from all their activities. I teach at my kid’s homeschool co-op class. I lead a weekly Bible study in my home. I write blogs every week. I am writing and publishing several books. I am involved in many groups and social media outlets online. And somewhere in between I manage to get a few hours of sleep at night.
I’m learning that when I start to feel overwhelmed, I am trying to carry that load on my own. I can only carry it for so long before it weighs down on me.
The original Greek word the NIV translated as “easy†in Matthew 11:30 above is pronounced “khrase-tos,†which means: fit for use, virtuous, manageable, mild, pleasant.
Even if our loads are heavy, when we rely on Jesus to carry them for us, they will be manageable and pleasant for us to bear. When I start to not enjoy what I am doing, and it’s more of a burden than a blessing, I need to stop what I’m doing, drop my load, pray, and leave my burdens at the feet of Jesus.
A couple weeks ago, my kids were overly irritating one another. Every time one would aggravate the other, they’d come running to me yelling, “MOM! He did this! MOM! She did that!†Feeling overwhelmed, I dropped to my knees and started praying. As my kids stood above me screaming “MOM,†wondering why I wasn’t answering them, I felt a peace come over me and the overwhelming feeling went away instantly. I was then able to peacefully manage and train my children accordingly.
I ignored the screaming and fighting for a moment and ran to the feet of Jesus to drop off my burden. When I got up, my load was light because I was only carrying His peace.
And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;
Luke 18:1, KJV
In Luke 10:38-42, Martha opened her home to Jesus, but then became overwhelmed by the preparations that needed to be made. If Martha had stopped, dropped to her knees, and laid down her burdens at the feet of Jesus, as Mary did, she would’ve had the peace she needed to joyfully manage all the preparations.
Martha, Martha,†the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.â€
Luke 10:41-42
As God’s been speaking to me the last few months to lay my burdens down and learn from Jesus, I’ve been paying close attention to my prayer life. I am amazed how many decisions I make without asking God first. One of the reasons God led me to take a four month break offline was because I overloaded myself with too many commitments. God is not obligated to help us carry a load that He hasn’t laid upon us.
Since writing and being online, I’ve gotten a lot of requests. In the last year, I’ve accepted many requests without praying first. At one point, I was reading four books at a time, and posting on other people’s blogs more than my own. I realized it was not in God’s plan when it became an unpleasant burden. If I would have prayed before committing to those things, I wouldn’t have burnt myself out and neglected the work God had prepared for me to do.
For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Ephesians 2:10
I encourage you today if you are feeling overwhelmed, stop what you’re doing, drop to your knees, and pray. Leave your heavy load at the feet of Jesus. Ask God to show you what He has prepared for you to do, and lay everything else down that is not in His will. Receive Jesus’ peace and strength, so you can pleasantly manage everything God’s called you to do.
Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
1 Peter 5:6-7
Heavenly Father,
We praise You that we don’t have to carry our burdens on our own. Help us to drop to our knees each day, lay down our loads at the feet of Jesus, and joyfully manage all that you’ve called us to do. Teach us and lead us into Your will.
In Jesus’ Name, Amen!
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*Dr. Linda Travelute has a wonderful article titled “How to Give God Your Heavy Load & Grab a Lighter One Instead.†Follow this link to read it.
I have started “Praying the Word Wednesdays†on my Facebook page. Every Wednesday, post your prayer request on my Facebook wall. I’ll post a relevant verse and pray the Word of God over your request. There is great power in believing God and His Word!
 “‘If you can’?†said Jesus. “Everything is possible for him who believes.â€
Mark 9:23
“So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.â€
Isaiah 55:11, KJV
Posted in Monday's Blogs, Prayer and tagged God, Holy Spirit, Jesus, pray, Righteous living by Amanda Beth with
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