I've stopped trying to help God. This week I spoke about lots of the silly religion that is in us. It comes out of us like garlic after a meal - especially when we talk to God. That is a good indicator. When most of us pray we spend a lot of time asking God for what He says he has already supplied through the work of Jesus. It's rooted in fear and a lack of trust. We don't truly believe that we can simply relax and trust that if we believe right first then our new nature will produce the fruit that we want to see actually come out in our lives. So we try to help Him.
We think if we do not bring it up with Him, then He most like will forget about the issue or will not act in goodness towards us because we did not keep banging on about it. Ever prayed for protection over people as the travel? Does Jesus not look after us if we do not pray?
So I was asked on a number of occasions this week about how I pray. What about my kids? How do I pray for them? Do i simply not mention them with God? Here is how it works for me. I'm not saying I have it all right but it certainly helps to lift me out of fear, works and dread that if I forget then Jesus will forget too, into a place of increasing peace that I can trust myself, my wife, my family, my life to a God who is absolutely trustworthy and committed to my very best.
Simply I NEVER ask God to do what He says He has already done. I thank Him instead that He has done it and that through faith (trust, belief) that I will see it (Hebrews 11 vs 1)
I make faith declarations that reinforce the truth that God is for me. I may not see it all the time but I use my words to remind me that Jesus' work is finished and complete. Nothing missing at all. If it was about me then I would be in trouble. But it's not. It's about Jesus and what He has done.
So over my kids I thank God that He is their protector and shield. I thank Him that they have a fantastic future. I thank Him for supplying good friends, for favour in school with teachers. I thank Him for healthy bodies, sharp minds, a heart for the Kingdom. I thank Him for future wives, husbands, family. For creative, fruitful minds. For paths of peace and prosperity. I speak believing that what it says in Romans 4 v 17 is true
the God who gives life to the dead and speaks of things that don’t yet exist as if they are real.
A few posts back I posted declarations that I speak out every day. They do me good! You can read them here
http://exchangechurchbelfast.com/blog/speaklife
So stop trying to help God look after you - He'll always do a much better job. He loves you & yours more than you will ever know. Get back to that place of simple trust and you will see grace flow.