I noticed that when the time rolled around each week for prayer requests I would inevitably hear things like, "I really wanna make the cheer squad" or, "Well I have a really low grade in this class...." and I started to get frustrated after hearing this over and over. On some level, I realize that these are just 6-8th grade kids, but still...anyway, I was discussing this recently with one of our campus ministers. She said something along the lines of, "Yeah, but don't you see the same thing around here? In your small groups and whatnot?"
It's so true. So many times, our prayers requests are things like the stress level of school, or how many tests we have, or money or what have you. This frustrates me to no end. I'm not perfect, I'm sure I've made my share of silly prayer requests...but there's a point.
There's a point where you've got to get up off your praying knees and get to work. Harsh? Oh well.
If you're stressed about school maybe you need to study more and work harder...sure, tell God about it, he wants to hear about everything in our lives. But don't expect test answers to magically fall from Heaven or your stress level to lessen if you aren't going to make some changes.
If money is your problem, maybe you need to manage yours better or work more. You can't just sit there and pray for financial blessing and think you're good. God's not going to make it rain hundreds just because you whine about your student loan debt.
I wholeheartedly believe that we are God's hands in this world, and if the hands don't get to work nothing will ever get accomplished.
My small group is currently walking through the book of Ruth and in doing my Bible study today, I found something that related perfectly...basically the author of our study was pointing out that Ruth went to work in the fields and just so happened to end up in Boaz's field. Moral of that story? If Ruth hadn't been willing to go to work and get things done, her story wouldn't have been the same.
I think I can somewhat relate to this in my own life at the moment...at the end of this summer I decided that my next summer will be doing something big, something that matters. I'm still not sure what that'll be though, there is so much I want to do/ could possibly do. I've prayed about it, I've told God that I'm open to wherever He calls me. Have I had a divine revelation about where I'm supposed to go? Nope. But you know I did last week? I applied to work at camp next summer.
Would I love to be there? Absolutely!
Do I think God is calling me there? Eh...I dunno.
I am, however, certain that if that's not where I'm meant to be, that door will be closed. Sometimes, when we're not sure which way God wants us to go, we have to do our best to follow His will as we know it, then take action. If we're in the wrong place, I'm quite certain God will make it known to us in big ways and we can go from there. I think that if we're truly focused on doing God's will and making things happen for the Kingdom, God will direct our steps and use us in big ways, even if they aren't what we expected.
So basically, I hope that all of us will remember 2 things:
- God is not our cosmic genie, there to grant our wishes.
- Sometimes, we have to be people of action, willing to take that first step out in faith to make things happen.
So hit your knees and talk to God. But then get up and get to work for the Kingdom.
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