The Wisdom of Depending on God
Have you lost all heart in expecting God to answer your prayers? Talk to someone who will listen.
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Frustration and even anger can play at the edge of our hearts when it seems that God does not hear us nor rescue us in situations as we think He should.
We begin to pray less. We find our hearts have quit expecting anything from God. Trust in His goodness can melt away in the heat of our struggle and God’s silence.
Countless Christians have experienced their prayers erode to a trickle of empty words of habit or panic button prayers. Some lose faith when life’s hard circumstances make no sense and God fails to intervene as they think He should. Others simply get too busy to bother. Many experience feeling let down and disappointed by the church or other Christians and paint God with the same brush.
It’s easy to begin depending on our own best thinking when we lose heart in expecting God to answer our prayers. Trusting God, when our path in life grows muddy, is not an easy task. The mud of weariness, busyness and hurt can cause us to trip and even fall. We wonder how we will ever get up again. Faith can feel like a thread that threatens to break.
Trusting God with your life, even when it makes no sense to you, is to choose to grab hold of the pearl of wisdom. As Christian women we know the vital connection prayer is to our God, yet we can let it slip away from fingers muddy from falling. We must be deliberate in choosing to cling to it. There is great wisdom and reward in depending on our God even in the silence.
Maintaining that vital connection to God in prayer is a choice. Step by step, through the fog on our pathway, we can choose to trust that God has our best interest at heart and lean on His strength to get us through our day… or … we choose to shrug Him off with little expectation and lean wearily on our own understanding.
When we live our lives with prayer on the fringe we are really telling God that we don’t trust Him. Often with our lips we declare trust but with our lives we show that we really don’t believe He will see us through. Ask yourself the hard questions…
* Do I really trust God to have my best interest at heart?
* Do I really believe He will strengthen me today to walk where I need to walk…even in the dark and the silence?
Choose to increase your trust in God and to bring prayer into focus from the fringe of your life. These steps will help you firmly grasp that treasured pearl…and you will discover the wisdom of depending on God. Choose to TRUST.
* T – Thanks
Thank God for the things He has done in your past. Go back as far as you need to.
Begin to chart His track record in your life. Ask Him to remind you of times past when He was there for you. Then find something in your life today to be grateful for. Living thankfully is God’s will for your life.
“Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus”(1 Thessalonians 5:18).
* R – Repent
Say you are sorry to God for intentionally allowing things in your heart and your life that you know would disappoint Him. Having a rebellious heart toward God’s ways in one area of your life can cause your prayers to hit the ceiling in other areas. Take an inward look and ask for God’s help in changing attitudes, thoughts, motives and actions that need a correction.
“If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened: but God has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer” (Psalm 66:18 & 19).
* U – Unify
Unify broken relationships. Whether you have offended someone or have been offended, God leaves the ball in your park to seek restoration. If restoration isn’t possible give God the broken pieces and ask Him to root resentment out of your heart. Bringing peace to fractured relationships brings blessing.
“Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God” (Matthew 5:9).
* S – Share
Share the journey. When times are tough and trust wears thin, find a friend to pray with you and for you. Tell someone your struggle and ask her to walk with you awhile on the road of life. Getting help in our weakness leads to healing and to power in praying.
“Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective” (James 5:16).
* T – Take time
Take time to spend with God. If your heart is dry set aside some time to listen to praise music and use the words of the songs as prayers from your heart. Till up the ground that has become hard from the worries of life. Learn to spend time in the presence of the Lord and find refreshing beyond what you can imagine.
“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust” (Psalm 91:1 & 2).
Depend on God in new ways today. Trust Him… even in the silence and in the dark. The wisdom of depending on God will bring results in your life that will surprise you.
“My God, in whom I trust”… with expectation!
Questions: Do you really trust God to have your best interest at heart? Do you need to give God the broken pieces and ask Him to root resentment out of your heart? What can you do to refresh your soul?
About the Author Gail Rodgers
Daily audio podcast: A second daily devotional, The Grandest Subject, today on the Men’s Devotional Blog
[...] The Wisdom of Depending on God [...]
by the way, He has done a work, I just pray He continues to help us get past these things.
thank you.. esp. the part about unifying. much of my pain in the past years have been broken relationships thru a testing time, and despite my efforts to reach-out, they were lost. I got discouraged & it was tempting to stay bitter. I pray God continues to help those of us who struggle with this area, that He may truly rescue us from this, that we would be free & love others. Thank you.
thank you for this wonderful devotional it came at a good time for me.
Gail, I too, thank the Lord for people such as yourself who provide ”extra” inspiration. The consensus of response that I am seeing here tells me that I am not alone. The Lord does work in mysterious ways and I feel it is His timing that is touching each and every heart today.
I thought I had given God all my broken pieces but apparently not. And the direction I’v led myself into, I know I will correct it but only with the Lord’s strength, guidance, mercy and grace. I am determined, will persevere through this struggle I’m in and know that at the end of the day, the Lord will comfort me, allow me the rest so that I can start the new day fresh with Him.
thanks for this devotional.every word means so much to be.i am really in my world of worries for past few months and finding it difficult to come out of situation where my husband felt he is not proud of me compared to my neighour friend(lady) who has accomplised better things he is admiring her .i know he loves me and is is really dedicated to me.but i am finding it difficult to forget few incidents related to this.i have started praying and realised praying must be done on my choice .your message revealed certain truth to me which will help me .thanks
Thank you so much for this devotional. I am, and have been in this place for a long time. I still believe God in my mind, I still love Him; but I really don’t trust Him like I want to and like I have in the past. Life is a struggle, but God is good and He is faithful. I’ve let the realiaties get in the way of the things not seen. I’m going to keep this devotional and hope it will help me do better. why is it so hard to walk in faith when you’ve seen God in action and so easy to walk away when we can’t understand our lives.
Thank you Gail for today,As my dauhter is preparing to go to china in July with a couple of people from our Church here in Corowa Austalia.My daughter will turn 19 in May, You
see all these things happening around the world you really start to panic and trust the people to watch over her while shes there. But I know that My Heavenly Father is telling me that I will be with her always, trust in me don’t you worry. Praise God that he is a loving Father who watches all all his children . God Bless you Gail for you are such a inspiration to all of us and your devontionals are always what we need at when feel alone.
Thank you Gail for today’s devotional. Timely and just what I needed to read today.
Thank you Lord, for the way you work through your people. Thank you that your timing is perfect and everything that you do has a purpose. Thank you Lord for Gail, who so faithfully shares your truths with us…the words that are so encouraging, convicting and satisfying. Father, most of all thank you for your great sacrifice for us….The Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Thank you for your warm comments, Tina. I pray with you for God to show His victorious power to you and your friends as you wisely join together to pray. Take care.
Dear Kathy,
God hears the desire of your heart to be close to Him. He promises that when you draw near to Him, He will draw near to you.
I’d like to offer a suggestion that I have found helpful in very busy times when the load seems overwhelming. There have been times in my life too when there just didn’t seem to be an extra minute to read or sit down to pray and meditate. It is so important not to heap guilt on yourself in those times.
Rather, invite God into your day when you awaken; before your feet hit the floor. Ask Him to help you live in the moment of this day and not wander between regrets of yesterday and fears of tomorrow. Ask for His strength and wisdom as you walk through your day.
Take a verse from the Bible (possibly one of the above) and put it on your mirror and let it steep into your heart like tea steeps into water. Keep the same one there for a week or two and read it every day and ask God to make it real in your life.
Ask Him to give you a grateful heart to see the treasures of the moment. Cultivate thankfulness in your heart.
Ask Him to help you carve out a bit of quiet time somewhere in your week to just be quiet; a short walk after supper; a few minutes to breath in the fresh air of a new day while you grab a quick coffee. Put the quiet moments in where you can.
Keep your heart soft and open to the Lord. Look for Him in the little things of today. The season will eventually change and you will once again have time to sit and read your Bible and pray as you desire to. And your heart will not have grown cold through the busy season.
Be intentional, ask for His help, listen and watch for Him today and expect Him to help you find those moments to be aware of His presence. He hears the cry of your heart and He will answer and draw near.
Lord God,
Today I bring Kathy before Your throne of grace to find mercy and help in her time of need. Lift her up above the cares of her work and home and family and let her breath in a fresh breath of Your presence. Give her a thankful heart today to see and appreciate the small blessings. Give her joy in some simple way today and let her know that You are right beside her in this busy season. You will hold her steady and as she trusts in You she will not be overwhelmed. Grant her freedom from guilt when there is no time to sit and read her Bible today. Give her a verse to strengthen her and give her the assurance that You will draw near to her in this season as she draws her heart near to you.
When the season changes, You will be there to meet her warmed heart with fresh treasures.
Thank you for Your love and faithfulness today. In the strong name of Jesus I pray, amen.
Dear Gail,
I really hope God will continue to bless you with His Holy Spirit and use you in ways that only he is able to do. This devotional, as all the others that have been written by you or others are always on time. Gods perfect timing. I am going through some tough time in my career/study right now and when reading the devotional i realised that I did just what is the right thing to do. I invited some praying friends to pray for me on 3 issues i have been struggling with lately, while I will pray for them on their issues. So we will see the power of GOD at work in praying friends. We are going to use the psalm 21: 1-7, to have victory in Christ & in the things we struggle with.
thank you so much for this devotion. I have been feeling so lost and alone lately. I know that my prayer and Bible reading time have been limited, But I feel that I am the one that has limited them. I have just felt such a struggle to get everything in each day, with the cares of work, home, family etc. and I just am so loaded down. ( I know everyone is). But I know that if I would read my Bible and pray more I would feel so much better. It’s just I can’t seem to get it together like I should. Please pray for me that I will not continue on this path like this.It’s like I feel that I am in a rut and can’t get it together.. I want to be so close to God that this other stuff doesn’t matter. Thank you for your prayers