“For all the animals of the forest are mine, and I own the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird on the mountains and all the animals of the field are mine.”  Psalm 50.10-11

When I pray, do I pray as if my God owns the cattle on a thousand hills?  Or more like He has a few coins in his pocket He can give me?  Do I really believe my God is resource rich or hopelessly poor?

If you were to hear my prayers you might think the latter.

I find myself praying hesitantly, crossing my fingers and hoping that God will answer.  I don’t ask for too much and I rarely step out in faith believing He will answer.  It isn’t really that I don’t believe God can do what I’m asking but more will He do it?  But, is this just an excuse so that I don’t look like a fool when God doesn’t come through for me?  I wonder . . .

How does God wish I would pray?  What is His heart’s desire?

I confess my tendency to put God in a box.  I want Him Small. Convenient. Controllable.  I want Him to wipe away my tears, love me unconditionally and soften the jagged edges of my life.  I don’t want Him to ask me to do something that makes me uncomfortable, or to go someplace I have no desire to go or put me out on a limb that might very well break!

But is that really what I want?  A God who is safe, mediocre and blasé?

I wonder . . . Would that God have even bothered to send His only Son to die for me so that I could have eternal life, true life?

It’s time to let God out of the box!

God is bigger than I will ever understand.  Greater than I can ever imagine and more powerful than a locomotive!  He’s my true Superhero!  So what is keeping me from praying Superhero prayers?

When I believe little, my prayers are little and God answers little.  When I believe BIG, my prayers are BIG and my God answers BIG.

My God owns the cattle on a thousand hills.  He knows every hair on my head.  He hung the stars in space and calls them each by name.  He formed the dry land with a word.  He tells the wind where to blow.  He never slumbers or sleeps.  He dresses the flowers and knows every bird.  He is intimately acquainted with all my ways.

God is out of my box!

Lord, I’m sorry for making you small.  You are so much more! . . . I want to spend the rest of my life discovering Your greatness.  Today, I’m letting You out of the box that I placed You in.  I want to believe Big because You are Big.  Teach me. I’m Yours. Amen.

by Kristi Huseby
Used by permission

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The Lord can take an impossible situation—no matter what it is—and move in ways mightier than you can imagine.

Discouragement can rob peace, joy, and contentment. But I have great news if you feel disheartened: You’re not stuck!

I’ve known people who appeared to be in an impossible situation. A few years later, however, they were in a terrific place, either in terms of their circumstances or their emotions. The reason? They never gave up. Instead of sulking in self-pity, they chose to believe God, step out in faith, and climb out of the emotional pit.

Nehemiah is a good example. He had every reason to feel defeated, because his people were in trouble. After receiving news that the city wall had been destroyed, this man of God acknowledged profound disappointment and grieved. Though pain flooded his soul, he didn’t allow himself to stay in that low place. Instead, Nehemiah cried out to God, seeking direction.

Sadness in the presence of royalty was punishable by death. But the Lord answered Nehemiah’s prayer with amazing power, prompting the king to notice his servant’s sad countenance and then to ask what he could do to help. This miracle led to the rebuilding of the wall and the redemption of God’s people.

The Lord can take an impossible situation—no matter what it is—and move in ways mightier than you can imagine.

Do you live in eager expectation of what the Lord will do? Or have you chosen to linger in the depths of despair? Like Nehemiah, turn your disappointment into a petition for God’s help. He can restore your hope and prevent negative emotions from gaining a stranglehold on your life.

Nehemiah 2:1-8 – And it came to pass in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, that I took the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had never been sad in his presence before.  Therefore the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, since you are not sick? This is nothing but sorrow of heart.”
So I became dreadfully afraid, and said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should my face not be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire?”  Then the king said to me, “What do you request?” So I prayed to the God of heaven.  And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild it.”  Then the king said to me (the queen also sitting beside him), “How long will your journey be? And when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time.  Furthermore I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given to me for the governors of the region beyond ^]the River, that they must permit me to pass through till I come to Judah,  and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, that he must give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel which pertains to the temple, for the city wall, and for the house that I will occupy.” And the king granted them to me according to the good hand of my God upon me.

By Dr. Charles Stanley
|Used by permission
https://www.intouch.org/

Further Reading

•  How Big is God?

•  God is Bigger than all my Problems

•  Salvation Explained

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The post Peace, Joy, and Contentment appeared first on Thoughts About God.