“I’ve looked at prayers like Amazon Prime deliveries. I want what’s delivered to look like what I expected and to arrive in record time. . . . Then my prayers become orders I place, the answers as cheap as products, and the sender nothing more that a far-removed entity I give little thought to until I need something else.”- Lysa TerKeurst
“Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.”- 1 Corinthians 13:12 (NLT)
In Chapter 11 (“Forgiving God”) of Forgiving What We Can’t Forget, Lysa TerKeurst acknowledges it’s hard getting hurt by people. And it often feels unbearable when we get hurt by what God allows. However, Lysa underscores, she titled Chapter 11 ‘Forgiving God’ not because God needs our forgiveness. Rather, sometimes in the midst of deep hurt, our hearts start wrongly to believe God’s at fault.
Because, as Lysa confesses, it’s hard to trust God when you don’t understand what He’s doing. As a result, we cannot see with our eyes or rationalize with our brains what God’s allowing. But, Lysa strongly suggests, maybe that’s the point. Maybe this denotes the place where we start rebuilding trust with God. Above all, Lysa cautions, even the slightest skepticism quickly turns into full-blown suspicions that leak into all relationships. Including your relationship with God.
Inconclusion, Lysa talks about the role of effective prayer in our trust with God. The author writes:
“Since trust in relationships is built in part with good communication, then more effectively praying has to play a role in my trust with God. . . . But I’ve rarely had the thought to look around at my life and see today, this moment in this season, as answered prayer. When I think about prayer requests, I think of what I ‘hope’ God will do . . . not ‘what has been done’ today.”
Today’s question: When do you look at prayers as Amazon Prime deliveries? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Crystal clear – God sees it all”
