Panicked Prayers or Confident Prayers?
Driving down the street, out of the blue, I heard this “Praying with the wrong motive only adds to the chaos and confusion of the situation – it actually fuels the enemy’s atmosphere…and while the word of God never returns void, if you ever arrive at your destination, you will leave much hurt and turmoil in your wake!” WOW
I thought, OK Lord, You have my attention…..then I heard “It’s like a drunk driver, driving erratically. Are they driving a car? Yes. Will they get to their destination? Maybe – but if they do, who knows how many people, cars, lives they will take out in the process, how much damage will be done.”
Whoah….. I thought this is so good! As Christians, we love the Lord and people, so we pray. However, when we see things that are not right, it is easy to panic and when we do, it often leads to praying with wrong motives and praying out of fear. And know this, Both of these are fuel for our adversary.
Because I am a strong personality, I can be overly certain of things at times, especially when it comes to the Word of God. And while I do know the word, I don’t know all the ways God is moving in certain situations, and if I am not careful, my prayers can be more of a hindrance than a help. I have prayed my fair share of panicked prayers. Sigh – we all have!
Is sin black and white? YES!. But situations are not.
I used to pray (what was actually) my will, thinking it was God’s will, because I KNEW what needed to happen. I was very dogmatic about it because I could back it up with the Word of God.
Don’t get me wrong, it is RIGHT to pray the Word of God. Always. However, that is where we have to stop. Anything we add to it, even “good things’ (in our own reasoning) taints the prayer. We pray God’s will and then we must allow God to work it out and bring it to the conclusion IN HIS WAY and timing.
I was told recently to let a situation go that affects my life. I will be obedient and I wanted to obey as soon as I heard the Lord tell me that, but I struggled with how do I do that? How do I let something go, that affects me or those I love, when I know God needs to intervene?
Hint: GOD needs to intervene, not me!
Then I heard a minister share something similar. She said she was believing for a huge miracle with a family member, but she had to let them go. Not, cut them out of her life, but she could no longer carry the spiritual weight of it! She said she then found her promise in the Word of God and she let them go and held onto the promise! AHHH – I can do that!
See, when we hang onto something that is not ours to bear, it will make us angry, consume our time, our thought life, and oftentimes damage our relationship with the very person we love so much. (this is the wake I was talking about.) Let me be very transparent here: Prophet Kevin Leal told me over ten years ago. He said that I needed let the Lord soften me because I was powerful and strong; and often I was like a drunk driver getting to my destination- which takes out others and causes much harm. WOW – no one wants to hear that!
A panicked intercessor is weak….they have moved from their foundation of the word, they are not fully trusting, therefore, they will have no joy.
So, I had two choices – hear the word of the Lord to me (through Prophet Kevin) and make changes so God could use me the way He desired, or go on the same path and do exactly what Kevin said. Was I a bad person? No. I was passionate for truth and justice. However, I often allowed my passion to be aimed at outcome instead of keeping my passion on Jesus, and in doing this, it caused me to believe I knew what needed to happen and how. Boy was I wrong! See, when we think we know what needs to happen, we will go about trying to facilitate things, control situations and people to get them to the outcome we desire instead of trusting God WHO KNOWS what needs to happen. Plain truth – we meddle and get in the way!
So, I have learned, and not easily, to pray God’s will and not try to control the situation in order to get the right outcome. After all, if we control the situation and get the outcome we desire, WE will have to be the one to maintain this new outcome….and anything based on the flesh will not last. Jesus BORE it all – because we could not, we cannot! Therefore, all our trust must be placed on HIM and allow HIM to move and maneuver.
We must LET GO and LET GOD – not easy. I am in this process right now. And do you know what it comes down to? TRUST. The whole reason we get fluffed up, angry, frustrated and pray panicked prayers is because we are trusting what we see more than we are trusting the Word of God. This has led me to deeper intercession, because a powerful intercessor knows they can TRUST our faithful God! PLUS – a bonus of trusting is peace and joy. The joy of the Lord is our strength! (Neh 8:10) A panicked intercessor is weak….they have moved from their foundation of the word, they are not fully trusting, therefore they will have no joy. Dangerous! (again think erratic/drunk driver)
Doing things out of fear (not trusting) and panic, will also cause you to pray with wrong motives. We must pray the word,which is the will of God, not waiver, and let our motive be LOVE. For God so LOVED the world, that He gave Jesus.
1 Peter 4:8 says Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
So, what if we loved each other deeply, trusted God infinitely and released our faith? Would this not change the atmosphere of our prayers, removing chaos and tension the enemy loves? Would this not eliminate erratic “driving behind the wheel” and instead be a confident road to success, to answered prayer? Would this not cover a multitude of sins?
God is the GPS – and He knows the timing. We are simply to drive, follow His prompts and TRUST HIS TIMING. Regardless of the storms that come, the road signs, the detours, etc. We must trust and stay out of fear, which will keep us out of panic!
Funny how that works! Faith is the substance of things hoped for the EVIDENCE of things NOT SEEN! (Hebrews 11:1) That scripture alone is enough to stand on until the end. I don’t like what I see in many situations – but I refuse to get behind the wheel and drive like a maniac. I refuse to get into fear and pray panicked prayers and out of wrong motives. Instead, I pray God’s will to be done, give it to Him and hold onto His word.
Find your promise. Own it. Release the situation/people into the promise and LET GO. Only when you let go will you be able to confidently HOLD ON, fully trusting His plans and timing with peace, in love and the joy that brings strength! Selah!
- Date - June 27, 2019
- Author - David Chisholm
