Given some personal circumstance, it has challenged me in what I believe. I need to have a stance which will reflect a strategy in the spirit for the days ahead. It is a question I have mulled over for quite some time. I've swung the pendulum far in both directions on this one - from God will do what He wants predestination fatalism to all-night prayer marathons in order to change God's mind. Neither are right. And I don't even know that those are the only 2 sides...
Recently the Lord pointed me to this scripture:
Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’ And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’”
Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said. And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:1-8)
This was reassuring - we have a righteous judge who will come speedily. But, what happens when it feels like He isn't coming quickly? We're in a situation where something is dragging on and on - how do I pray? I used to pray for what I wanted, or what seemed 'godly', and prayed until it came to pass. And if it didn't? That lead to being quite deflated, or worse. Often times I found myself offended with God. So now what?
I have been reading a book by Wayne Jacobsen called 'Naked Church.' Taken from the chapter entitled 'Clothed with Power', he addresses this very issue which really spoke to me:
God's power is released by his activity, not his ability. God can do anything. His power over creation is total and complete...Faith doesn't rest on what God can do but on what he is doing. Abraham was commended for his faith, not for the son he wanted, but for the son God had promised... (See Romans 4:21)
That's why intimacy is the link to God's power. Until we see what God is doing in a given situation, we have no basis to be confident about its outcome. Jesus himself lived that way: "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does" (John 5:19). God wants us as well to know what he's doing, so we can cooperate with him.
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As long as you're convinced of God's desire, stay with the need...To learn perseverance, we must stop seeing our prayers as requisition forms laid on the desk of a supervisor...True prayer is the vehicle by which God brings his power into our circumstances...How long should you persevere? Until you are convinced that the outcome matches God's desire.
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Perseverance also means standing with peope if the hoped-for miracle doesn't arrive...
Perseverance is key. How long? As long as it takes. How long is that? Only the Father knows and will tell us through relationship and intimacy with Him. That's the part that's tough for me. Prayer must continue until His will is carried out - but first I must be in tune enough to know His will! And then doing this alongside others? That's an even higher level of perseverance! How often do we not see God's will come to fruition because we don't persevere? How often do we miss it because of offense?
Back to the grind...
