Have you really tried God?

It’s Monday and somebody woke up this morning fighting just to live. Maybe you tossed and turned all last night. Maybe the enemy wants you to think you aren’t the miracle you are. Maybe sickness is overbearing, grief is beating on the walls of your heart or hurt is all that’s spilling from your mouth. Maybe, you got more bills than money, more sickness than health insurance, more problems than solutions, more tiredness than sleep, more folk asking than what you got to give or more faults than faith.

Maybe you’re just tired of trying to figure things out.

Well, have you tried God? No, I mean, have you really tried Him? Have you fasted to fill up your faith? Have you prayed to put the pieces back together? Have you trusted that He’ll give you what you’re thirsting for? Have you been obedient to what He’s said to do? Have you sowed what He told you to sow or severed what He told you to cut off? Or are you fearful of what God could possibly do? Because you know good and well, if you fast and pray, God will do. You know, if you try Him, He may pull you out of what you’re comfortable in. You know if you test Him, He’ll prove His worth. You know if you call out, He’ll show His strength. You know, if you seek Him, you’ll find Him, and He may have to sever some stuff that feels good, but ain’t good for you.

Yeah, you may be tired of fighting the enemy, but you keep straddling the fence on whether to give God all of you because you like the perks of the world. How’s that working for you? You can’t keep playing with this thang. Stop giving the enemy power over you. Try God. No, really try God and see if He won’t do what His word promises. Bible says in Jeremiah 33:2-3, “Thus says the LORD who made the earth, the LORD who formed it to establish it, the LORD is His name, ‘Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’”

Daily Devotional – 12/20/17 “I wish, no I pray!”

Sometimes you can wish for things that can cripple you, causing you to be held hostage in a place you wouldn’t give to your worst enemy. And the reality of it all, you will not recognize it, until you’ve given years of your life you can’t get back. Yeah, you will experience things that will teach you, make some mistakes that will cost you and even lose some stuff that will strengthen you but only if you knew then what you know now. This is why you have to stop wishing and start praying because there is a difference. See, wishing is like signing an agreement without reading the fine print but praying is running a background check. Wishing is buying the car without a diagnostic check but praying is getting the car fax report and a twice over by a skilled mechanic. Wishing is like taking a chance on meat that’s pass the expiration date and praying is selecting fresh from the meat counter. Wishing is your stamp of approval but praying comes with God’s. This is why Jesus says in John 15:7, “If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you.”

Wishing is desiring, prayer is asking. Wishing is a spoken plea, praying is a silent request. Wishing gets you but praying releases you. This is why you have to know the difference because sometimes your wish can be granted and it not be what you thought. Stop wishing for stuff God hasn’t ordained for your life. Stop blowing out the candles and wishing for the man of your dreams, pray and let God shape him and then send him. Stop closing your eyes and wishing on a star but pray to the one who created the stars. Stop wishing for the lottery and pray to the God who holds the lot in His hands. Beloved, wishing can cause heartache that it takes years to heal when praying can give you a new heart. Wishing can cause some sleepless night but praying can give you peace that you cannot even begin to understand. Wishing can mess you up but praying can clean you up. You might not like it and may not even agree with me but you know, as well as I do, you are only wishing for what you know God has blocked.