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No Limits
Do you believe that God is poor and stingy? Do you believe that He is a hard man, reaping what He has not sown (Mt 25:26)? Do you believe that He is weak and limited? Do you think that He doesn’t care? Of course you would answer “no” to those questions, as Scripture is very clear that the opposite is true. However, does the way you pray match your beliefs about God?
In this past week, God has challenged me with this question. So often my prayers reflect that I believe the lies above instead of the truths in Scripture. I pray as though God does not want to give generously to me from the abundance of His riches. I pray as though God doesn’t really have my desires or needs in mind. I pray as though what God wants to do will fit into what makes sense in my mind. So often I pray as if God doesn’t really care about the deepest desires of my heart, as though He is distant instead of a close, personal, loving Father.
God has set out to change my heart.
In the past week, God has used at least five different sources to drive this and related ideas home in my heart. He has shown me that I have placed limits on Him by only praying according to what I think logically makes sense. Of course I know that God is omnipotent and sovereign, but in my prayers that translates into “God, I know you can do this, but I’m not sure you want to.” Why do I pray this way? God has shown me that it is because I have learned to set up a guard in my heart so I will not get hurt. Instead of risking the hurt that might come along with the possibility that God might not do what I ask, I just don’t ask. This doesn’t reflect a God who loves me enough to die for me. This doesn’t reflect a good Father who gives generously to His children. This reflects a selfish, hard-hearted child.
So what is God asking me to do? God is asking me to pray big. He is asking me to ask Him for things that seem impossible to me. Will He do them? In His perfect timing and perfect way, yes. I know that if God specifically asks me to pray for something big, He will do it, even if it is not in the way I initially think. If nothing else, He will teach me. He wants me to ask Him for anything, even as a child would ask his father (Matthew 7:7-11) He wants me to pray in faith, believing that He will do what He has promised. I do not put my faith in the strength of my faith; I put my faith in the Author of my faith. No matter what happens as a result of my prayers, God will be glorified.
This MK* Teachers poster has hung on my wall in my room or house since I was a freshman in college. After receiving this “No Limits” poster as a college graduation present, it has hung beside it. As I looked at it every day this week, I realized again what God was confirming to me: that He wants me to pray big and expect Him to answer. After all, He is the LORD, the God of all flesh. Nothing is too hard for Him (Jer 32:27). Who am I to place limits on God and on what amazing things He wants to do?!
I hope to share more in the future with you as I see God develop in me a heart of prayer, and subsequently a heart of faith, belief, and trust. I know that as I pray big, I will provide opportunities for God to show up in a big way, and then I will get to share those stories with the world. Pray for me, that I will grow in faith, that I will believe God’s promises, that I will expect and anticipate God’s work, and that I will humbly be a testimony of who our God truly is.
To Him alone be the glory,
Amanda
*MK = Missionary Kid
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