God is Waiting for an Invitation
Have you ever earnestly prayed for something, only to have your prayer seemingly go unnoticed?
Paul tells us in Ephesians 3:20 “Now glory be to God! By his mighty power at work within us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope.”
Have you given God the opportunity to accomplish infinitely more than you would ever dare to ask or hope for in your life?
We try to be self-sufficient and get so busy that we don’t invite God to get involved with our needs, dreams, desires, and hopes. God is waiting for us to ask for His involvement in our daily routines and the future. I wonder if He doesn’t get frustrated with us because He wants to give us so much but we don’t ask Him for it. Our prayerlessness denies Him the opportunity to show us His awesome power.
The next time you come into a situation that is too big for you to solve, or seems hopeless, invite God to get involved. He is waiting for an invitation. In The Prayer of Jabez devotional book, Bruce Wilkinson writes, “It doesn’t matter whether you are short of money, people, energy, or time. What God invites you to do will always be greater than the resources you start with.” When the hand of God is upon you He may ask you to do things you don’t think you are capable of doing. However, that is when He can show His awesome power as we stretch and grow in our spiritual lives.
If we do not “ask or imagine” what limit does God have to exceed? Our finite minds simply cannot grasp what God has in store for us as His beloved children. We have no idea how many times we have prayed and God has answered our prayers but is waiting for the proper time to give the answer.
Do you notice when God answers your prayers? Ask God to adjust your spiritual vision so you will recognize when He is working in your life. Pray about the little concerns in your life then stand back and watch God answer, you will be amazed.
Father God, Please help me to thank You for the answers to my prayers. At the end of the day remind me to recall the many answers you have given, even the little ones throughout the day. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to see Your power at work in my life.
Bruce Wilkinson, The Prayer of Jabez devotional, (Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers, Inc., 2001), p 68.
Questions: Have you given God the opportunity to accomplish infinitely more than you would ever dare to ask or hope for in your life? Is God involved in your daily routines and the future?
About the Author Lillian Penner
Daily audio podcast: A second daily devotional, Dealing with Fear: A Lesson from a Two-Year Old, today on the Men’s Devotional Blog
Praying with and for you, dear sister, Lillian . . .
Precious Lord and Savior, we praise You for the awesome privilege of prayer! Thank You that, because of Your redeeming work on the cross for us, we have access to the Father’s throneroom, where our praises and petitions are laid at His feet! Thank You, most loving Father, for stooping to hear Your childrens’ burdens, and dispensing Your grace to us according to Your pleasure! Thank You that we needn’t worry that Your ‘lines are busy,’ or there’s ‘no answer.’ It is beyond our understanding that You, Creator of all, would avail Yourself to us without limit or qualification. Today, Lord, we lift up our sister, Lillian, to You, asking for Your direction and grace in her preparation for her workshop on ‘prayer.’ Grant her spiritual insight and understanding as she ponders her lesson plans, and speak to her, Lord, that she would be Your mouthpiece. May the intimacy she enjoys with You be reflected in her teaching, and may those who attend her workshop come away with a renewed commitment to their prayer life! We ask these things in Your most holy Name, Jesus, Amen!
lillian, thank you. all i can say is that I’v been truly blessed with renewed outlook, renewed health, a renewed focus and a renewed desire to give back. it’s awesome to know that God can use us, any one, any age, if one is willing. so, in turn, to answer your questions: to the first one, ”yes”. to the second question, ”yes”, and to the third question: ”He is my routine, He is my future”.
”I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.” as it reads in Psalm 34:4
Thank you for your responses. I am so happy that the devotioinal has ministered to you as it did to me. I am being challenged to do a workshop for the first time on “Prayer” and I would appreciate your prayers for this new journey.
Life can be an adventure when we invite God to take us on new paths.
Blessings to all of you,
amen, I am challenged by these entries, and am reminded of God’s unlimited resources. I think sometimes I also get influenced by the walks of others around me, or how long we’ve been believing certain things to be a certain way, that it’s so easy to ‘get used to’ things & forget that God can do anything whenever He wants to. I pray we can keep-up with that.
Amen, Jules, life IS exciting with God! I have a new friend, a disabled 40-year-old woman, whom I have been mentoring since last summer, and she never had experienced God beyond a religious ceremony on Sunday morning! Thinking that “God is boring,” she spent the first half of her life not knowing that she could have a vital, intimate relationship with an exciting God, Who loves her passionately, and longs to escort her on an amazing journey of faith and purpose! How precious it is to me, that God has called me to share this spiritual adventure with her, and I praise Him for each new experience He has brought her that redefined Him for her, and showed Him to be the awesome, exciting, personal God He is!! I have come to realize that the only limits God has, are the ones we put on Him. He has unlimited resources, and it is only our limited minds, and/or unwilling hearts, that keep us from experiencing His best for us! When we are focused only on our own limitations, our own skills. or lack thereof, then we risk missing the glorious opportunity of experiencing God’s divine partnership in ministry! As we humble ourselves, aware of our own inefficiencies, God brings His unlimited capabilities to join us in accomplishing His plan! What an awesome God we serve!
Thanks for the inspiring devotional. I’m struck by these powerful questions;
Have you given God the opportunity to accomplish infinitely more than you would ever dare to ask or hope for in your life?
If we do not “ask or imagine” What limit does God have to exceed?
I’m believing God for something big right now, and these questions just fueled up my faith to believe more and be excited about HIs amazing answer. Life is so exciting with God!
when i am fellinf sorry for myself i remind myself of all of the prayers God has answered and there are many of them and i fell blessed
Thank you for this entry. This is what I am going through right now, I feel God keeps challenging me in the last few years to do things/ go places I feel I can’t. I am humbled continuously, as He shows me I cannot do it on my own, yet I must rely & call on Him to help me. I pray He continues to give me the courage to do those things. God bless you.