Don’t Just Think About it, Pray About It.

If I’m being honest: far too often prayer tends to be my last thought whenever I’m overwhelmed or stressed. My first inclination is to think through how I can solve the problem. Keyword: I. For many of you reading this, this is likely your thought as well, but God desires for us to rely on His strength and not our own.

Something that I love about God is the fact that He is limitless. He doesn’t need a church building to speak to us. Over the last few months, the place that I have heard God’s voice the most and clearest is in the shower. I love it! -Side story, the other day I was showering and God gave me peace about possibly being a middle school pastor. HAVEN’T SHOWERED SINCE THEN. Just kidding, it was a very surprising discovery though!- Last week I was talking to myself in my head and just thinking through my life with Madalyn, the church, my friends and really didn’t realize it, but I was stressing. I continued talking and said something to effects of, “Man, I think about my future every day,” and by think I mean that it is constantly in my thoughts and taking up way too much time in my mind. God quickly said, “You think about it every day, but how often do you pray about it?”

My instant reaction was:

You mean that I could pray about it?!

I was blown away by this thought. Isn’t it amazing how quickly we forget that we have a Father who desires and hopes that we will depend on Him? I look back in the Bible and see how quickly the disciples would forget that they have the best thing that could ever happen to them right beside them. Doing life together, praying for them and teaching them. Then I look at my life and see that I am very similar to the disciples. As I begin pressing into this not so newly found revelation, God began to share with me that a poor prayer life is one of the biggest indicators that I’m relying on myself more than I am on God.

Man. How true is that? Each week I desire to honor God and to trust Him, but whenever I am allowing my thoughts to run wild and never stop and take the time to intentionally hand God my struggles, I wear myself out. His word calls for us to continually align our thought with His will.

^“We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10:5

Captive means kept in confinement or restraint. The way that we restrain our thoughts isn’t to be enamored by all of the things that we need to do that day, but to trust that God is enough to calm your mind. As broken, anxious, and sinful people the way that we confine and restrain our thoughts are to continually know that we’re not capable, but our God is.  Not only is He sufficient, but He is willing! He wants to provide peace for us!

In conclusion: Don’t just think about it, pray about it. God is bigger than your worries, finances, circumstances, shortcomings, past, failures, mistakes, and future. Which means that He is more reliable than what we can offer our worries or anxious thoughts. 

Remind yourself today that you don’t have to do it by yourself. God is strong where we are weak.