Faith, Not Fear

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart." -Jeremiah 29:11-13

This week I continued my journey with Gari Meacham in her book "Spirit Hunger." The second part, "A Heart That Seeks" covered engaging God in our prayers--something I've always struggled with. A big fear of mine in my faith is prayer. For many years (really until recently) I have been afraid of praying "wrong." I could never pray out loud and also feared I was doing something wrong. Until reading this part of Spirit Hunger, I realized I was doing it right. There is no "perfect" way to pray. All that matters is that I'm sharing my heart, fears, concerns, praises, worries, and graces with Christ. And then after praying, accepting the outcome of those prayers!

Often times we get impatient waiting for an answer. We expect a clear vision that God will say yes or no to our prayers. But there is also a grey area. God can tell us "to be determined." We shouldn't give up on our God, our prayers, or ourselves. Things don't happen in moments, it can take years before God answers us, but he has a reason why. And when he answers those prayers, regardless of a yes, no, or coming soon, we must give all the glory to the Lord.