Second Guessing God ~ Chap 8

When is the last time you had a gut-wrenching circumstance?

What has been your response to the hurt and pain life brings?

Brian says the obvious, but it's not as easy as stating the obvious...is it?

The idea of prayer sometimes comes to our minds, or at least to my mind, as a second thought, not as a first option.

The pain comes...the bill doesn't get paid...the problem persists and I find myself "praying" about it.

But, Brian has challenged me, and maybe you, to think about how we pray. How we talk to God.

Before this chapter, had you ever had anyone tell you that you could talk to God the way Brian Jones describes?

What comes to your mind when you think of your prayer life taking on this dynamic?

I can tell you what I thought...at first, I was worried that God would kill me if I acted this way.

That he would punish me for being irreverent.

And, most of all, I wasn't sure God wanted to hear my griping and complaining.

But...

I had taught on this idea in another setting...

Doubt...

And I realized the same principle is at work here...

The story is found in the Gospel of Mark's recording of Jesus' life here on earth...These words were spoken by a desperate father whose son had some serious issues... "I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24 NLT)

Do you hear the solution, the answer to our dilemma of prayer?

Maybe if I help you understand with a little math lesson...

Imagine this... You want a faith that is at 100%, but you know that you REALLY CAN'T have a complete doubt-free existence.

So what do you do?

Follow the father...of the demonic boy...

Here's his math...

"I do believe..." there's the first part of the equation. He assures Jesus he has faith and wants good to come of his request.

"...help me overcome my unbelief!" There's part 2 of the equation.

"What I can believe" + "What I can't believe" = All the faith you have.

Or let me put it this way...

For the sake of illustration (and a bit of honesty as well), let's say I think my faith is at 30%, I can believe that God can meet this need 30% of the time. I know, you're wondering about me right now aren't you!

Nor, for the sake of that same illustration, my doubt is the remainder of my faith quotient or 70%.

Let's do the math... 30% (faith) = 70% (doubt) = 100% (giving God my faith and my doubt together.)

NOW...YOU HAVE GIVEN GOD 100%!

Isn't that what you wanted to begin with?

Isn't that what God wants?

Then, let's get Brian's attitude towards prayer in the equation and what you have is...

Psalms of Lament...

And the ingredients are, in my words, as follows...

1. Be "honest to God", anger and all! (40%, our number may/will be different)

2. Tell him WHO / WHAT the problem that is affecting your faith is. (25%, again, your personal amount may/will be different)

3. Let that path of honesty and struggle lead you to a place where you see God for who is He is and praise him for being who He is. (35%, I hope I did the math right!)

40% + 25% + 35% = 100%

Sounds simple huh?

Well, we all know better...

But, I pray, we will continue the journey until the day we no longer are in the battle...

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Till next week...

Don't forget to comment or text me with your thoughts and/or questions...