Praying Through to God’s Plan

“We’re often so anxious to get out of difficult, painful, or challenging situations that we fail to grow through them. We fail to learn the lessons God is trying to teach us or cultivate the character God is trying to grow in us. We’re so focused on God changing our circumstances that we never allow God to change us! So instead of ten or twenty years of experience, we have one year of experience repeated ten or twenty times.  …If we’re being completely honest, most of our prayers have as their chief objective our own personal comfort rather than God’s glory. We want to pray away every problem, but those shortsighted prayers would short-circuit God’s perfect plan.”                         The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson

I’m guilty.  Are you?

Often God does want to change circumstances if we’ll just ask, but it takes a willingness to go through them, to wait for His timing and His perfect will in order to discern the difference.

God promises victory regardless.  And most of the time we’re not facing a ‘life or death’ situation. But even then…

“Just as it is written, ‘For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’  But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.”  Romans 8:36-37

“Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”  James 1:2-4

Let’s pray in full assurance that God is working His perfect plan.