wave of the sea

'But let him ask in faith,

with no doubting,

for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.

For that person must not suppose that he will 

receive anything from the Lord; 

he is a double minded man, unstable in all he does.'

James 1:6-8

Blame. 

It's the trademark of humanity. 

Within days of being in existence, Adam was blaming Eve for persuading him to do what he knew was wrong. 

With blame comes resentment, entitlement, pride, self righteousness and bitterness. 

Unanswered prayer. 

I am not sure there is such a thing. 

When our prayers go unanswered and requests go unfulfilled, 

our hearts are inclined to blame and believe that the problem is with God.

When in reality, the problem lies within us. 

All prayer is answered.

The issue is whether or not we have the eyes to see how God has answered the prayer.

He is present in all things and so intimately acquainted with our lives that even His hand can be experienced in the small details of life. 

When we begin to believe not only that God can do great things, but that He will do great things, 

and our lives are lived in faith, 

we will begin to see our prayers answered in unbelievable ways.

However, this may be in ways that we are not requesting. 

It is written, 

'My thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are my ways your ways, declares the Lord.'

Isaiah 55:8

I will explain.

A good friend of mine found out that her pregnancy was terminal.

Her baby was going to die. 

Upon sharing her grief with another,

it was said that if she prayed enough her baby would live. 

God would surely hear her prayers and heal her baby.

Her baby died. 

She had prayed fervently, faithfully, and without doubt.

She had surrendered her heart before the throne of an Almighty God.

In His faithfulness, He answered her prayer and fulfilled her request

more beautifully and magnificently that she or her husband imagined. 

Did her baby still die? 

Yes.

But in His goodness, unthinkable good and blessing resulted from this child's short life. 

When we are committed to prayerfully seeking God's way for every aspect of our lives,

out of a heart that is surrendered to His will

and at rest in His protection over us and all that we love, 

He will fulfill the requests written on our hearts. 

When we pray by faith, we are finding complete peace not that He will do as we have asked, 

but that He will do what is the best and most God glorifying. 

When we pray by faith and present our requests before Him as He has asked, 

we are acknowledging, by faith, that His ways are not our ways

and we are okay with that.

That, I believe, is what James is referring to here. 

Our ideas of what is best will always be changing, 

just like the shadows of the day or the waves of the sea. 

When our hearts cling to our own ideas more strongly than they cling to the heart of God,

we will find ourselves unfulfilled, fearful of the unknown and unstable in all we do. 

It is not until we find that place of complete faith and surrender

that we will find the rest our souls are craving and discover that God has been answering our prayers all along. 

I will close with this: 

As you look at the desperate prayer of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, we see a beautiful picture of humanity surrendered to the perfect will of God. 

Christ does not want to drink of the cup before Him. 

Within the cup exists the pain, desperation, oppression and abandonment of earth. 

He is asking that it be removed from Him, 

but closes His prayer by surrendering, knowing completely that His Father

who is altogether, perfectly good, 

will bring the most beautiful treasure from the pain, desperation, oppression and abandonment. 

That is complete faith. 

Oh the blessing and redemption that would have been missed had Christ

not walked in obedience by faith

out of a heart completely surrendered to His loving Father! 

We are not called to deny our pain,

pretend as though we are not afraid,

or approach God with this fake sense of happiness. 

It is OK to confess these things before Him. 

It is not in confessing them that He is unpleased, 

it is in holding tightly to them and their predicted outcome

that we miss God's blessing for us and deprive ourselves of receiving anything from God. 

If we want the blessing of a life filled with God, 

we must be willing to lay aside all that comes between us, 

and believe that He will be all that He says He will be. 

God is waiting to be gracious to us (Nehemiah 9:17),

but we must have the faith to accept His graciousness.

Holy Jesus,

I am a double minded woman.

It is easy to cling to that which I know and believe to be good.

Without wanting to or understanding why I do, it is easy to put you in a box and say,

"if you are loving and good then you will _______ " 

Father, forgive me for that. 

Grant me grace that I may see your beautiful presence in all things,

rest in your complete love and perfect plan for me

and know that all you do is altogether, completely good.

May I grow in the knowledge and understanding of you and as a result,

may my faith increase exponentially.

As I grow in faith, may my spirit rest completely in you and your faithfulness. 

May I continue to walk by conviction,

doing the hard things even when those around me turn away. 

Thank you for your love.

Thank you for your protection.

Thank you for your presence in my life even when I am unaware or unappreciative.

Thank you for your faithfulness even when I am unfaithful. 

I love you sweet Jesus. 

Amen. 

<><tce