Last time we were together I spoke about how our family has been praying about a situation for the past six years. My prayers went from selfish, “get me out now” prayers to surrendering to God’s will, timing, and plan prayers. Since I wrote that, God has brought another perspective into my prayers. I want to share that perspective with you today.
While I completely believe in changing my focus from “me first, selfish” prayers to “fully surrendered to God’s plan” prayers, sometimes, I believe God calls us to pray “speak directly to the mountain” prayers.
I believe God wants us to come to Him honestly when we pray, telling Him our desires, pain, hopes, and dreams. However, after pouring out our feelings, then He wants us to surrender our will to His and watch Him work.
However, there is another piece to this that I was missing. God has been showing me in many different ways lately how much He loves me.
When we are God’s children, His plans are always for our good. Always. There are multiple verses in the Bible that talk about God’s good plans for us, one being Jeremiah 29:11: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (NIV)
Now what He considers good and what we want to be good might not always line up (think about a child asking for pop and we offer water because we know it’s healthier and won’t cause cavities), but ultimately, God’s plans for us as His children are always good.
God has been showing me lately that if that statement above is true (and it is), I don’t need to beg Him for the desires of my heart. He planted those desires in there to begin with. He wants good things for my life as much as I do, and if what I’m praying for to happen lines up with biblical truths, then no begging is required. He and I are already synched – we both want the desire to be fulfilled and for the prayer I’ve been praying to be answered.
So, what then is holding it back from being answered? It could be many things. God could want to see growth in my life first (I may have to be tested) so that when the desire is fulfilled, I have the maturity to handle the desire; or the enemy who truly does not want me walking in God’s purpose for my life could be trying to prevent it from happening, or delaying it from being answered.
Sometimes, I think God leads us to “speak to our mountain” prayers – boldly declaring out loud, using Jesus’ authority to remind our enemy that while he comes to steal, kill, and destroy, Jesus came so that we “may have life, and have it to the full,” paraphrased from John 10:10 (NIV).
When we speak Scripture back to the enemy, it weakens his power and strengthens our faith. When we believe what we’re saying, that God does love us unconditionally and desire good for our lives, desire His dreams that He planted in our hearts to come to pass, His way, it also strengthens our faith.
My question for you today is this: have you ever considered this element of prayer? Believing you don’t have to beg God for the desires of your heart, when they line up with His desires for your life but instead speaking to the mountain and reminding our enemy just how big and powerful and loving our God is.
Does that perspective strengthen your faith and encourage you while you wait for your prayers to be answered?