I’m Not Getting Anywhere!
Five mornings a week I go to the gym and exercise. One of the things I do is ride a recumbent bicycle. Following my knee surgery, that was my surgeon’s recommendation to keep the joints moving. I climb up on that thing and pedal as hard as I can for a pretty long period of time…but I don’t get anywhere!! Miles go by on the screen, but I’m still sitting in the same place. My only consolation is that my knee is making progress and the joint is feeling better.
Do you ever feel like you aren’t getting anywhere in other areas of your life? Maybe it’s your family life, or your prayer life, or even your Bible study. Maybe you set aside time to study your Bible, but before long that has been left in the dust. Maybe you decide you really need to try to bring your family closer together, but all kinds of outside activities pull at each of you and family time goes by the wayside. And time for prayer just seemed to vanish with all of the other stuff.
When I began to think about those areas of my life, the one I really zeroed in on was my prayer life. It just didn’t seem to me that I was devoting my all to it. Maybe I wasn’t getting anywhere because I just hadn’t taken the time and focused my mind on being able to talk to the Creator of the Universe.
I’ve had some serious things to pray about lately, and maybe you have, too. If nothing else, we should be praying for the leaders of our nation and for peace to prevail in our world. And yet, I hadn’t fully opened my heart and focused my mind on the blessings God had already given me and the problems with which I needed help. No wonder I wasn’t getting anywhere!
Sometimes I have prayed by telling God what I wanted Him to do. I didn’t mean it in a harsh or unloving way, but “self” took over and I felt like I knew what would be best.
Sometimes I have prayed with a half-hearted effort. I’ve justified it by telling myself that He knows what I need without me having to tell Him.
Sometimes I have prayed as an afterthought. After I have tried everything I know to do to solve my problem, then I have turned to God and ask Him to fix it.
Sometimes I have simply asked, and asked, and asked, but never praised and thanked and recognized God as my Father and sustainer of my life.
No wonder I’m not getting anywhere.
I have something that is troubling me and weighing me down in life. I’m going to open my heart to God in prayer. I’m going to praise Him for His majesty. I’m going to thank Him for allowing me to be His child, and for all of my blessings in life. I’m going to pour out my pain before His throne in detail, and plead with Him to help all of those involved.
And then I’m going to leave it in His capable hands. Then I’ll be getting somewhere.
“…do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 4:6-7)
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AUTHOR: Donna Faughn
