Isn’t it amazing that we live in a time where more books about how to build a healthy marriage have been written than at any other time in history (maybe more than all other times of history combined) and yet we see families crumbling at as high a rate as ever? And, why is it that with all the books written on parenting strategies, spending quality time with your children, how to discipline, speaking your child’s love language, etc. that there are more problems than ever with rebellion, teenage pregnancies, drug use, violence, eating disorders and anti-social behavior? What is going on? How can it be that there are at least 20 different Bible translations packaged in every form of genre’ imaginable (teen bibles, couples devotional bibles, sports bibles, bibles in the form of magazines, study bibles, parallel version bibles, etc.), but bible illiteracy and Scripture ignorance are at an all-time high? Has a nation ever had available to it the amount of self-help materials and copies of Scripture that we are “blessed” with? At what point will we stop to question what is missing between having these resources available and life-changing behavior?
The lie we seem to have fallen into is that we can solve our problems by thinking through things and coming up with more creative and thought-provoking ideas. Where is our dependence upon God? Imagine if half the time spent writing, publishing and even reading these resources was spent on prayer to our Father who sits on the throne and has all power to create goodness out of chaos. How much better would family and community be? We seem to have reached the point that we give vocal recognition to “the power of prayer”, but don’t really trust it to do anything.
Do you remember the story of Abram facing the famine in Genesis 12:10-20? He considered the problem and came up with a solution that seemed wise for the situation—“Please say you are my sister so that it may go well with me because of you, and that I may live on account of you.” Why not talk to the ONE who created the heavens and the earth and see if He has a solution? As you may remember, Abram’s plan did not go so well for him. Sarai was taken from him and would have been taken as another man’s bride except that the GOD of HEAVEN stepped in to protect Sarai. That is the power they had available to them all along! Who knows, He may have taken them to a brook and fed them with ravens so they didn’t even have to go down to Egypt, but they never called upon Him!
How many of our problems are the result of our lack of trust in the power of our God? We have been given numerous promises throughout the Scriptures of what God will do if we will call out to Him! Do we believe them? James says, “You do not have because you do not ask” (4:2). Matthew writes, “Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you” (7:7). It is in calling upon the Lord that we have REAL POWER!!! So, why do we settle for our own ingenuity and wisdom when the Maker of All wants to guide us to the Promised Land and a life of abundance? Will we call upon Him with confidence that He will hear us and lead us? Or, is this just another vocal recognition that we do not really trust? (CONTINUED NEXT WEEK)
Click to listen to this week's sermon.
-Scott
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1 comment:
Scott,
Thanks for challenging me with this article. I confess that I too often rely on my own abilities and knowledge rather than on the power of God through prayer. When I consider that God has entrusted me with the task of caring for the souls of Susan and Nash and called me to ministry in His church, it is clear that I have too much at stake not to turn from my own abilities and lean on the Lord for His wisdom and power in my life and the lives of those I love.
Lord, may I become less so that you might become more.
-John
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