PPF: Scary Prayer

 "Give as freely as you have received." Matthew 10:8

When I think about my life, and how immensely blessed I am and have been, there really is no reason to think that God won't continue to take care of me, my family and our business in the future. Sometimes I can be too careful about giving, about being generous with what I have. There is so much need around me, so much I can do if I am willing to let go and trust God more. We are made in the image and likeness of God, and the heart of God is love. Sacrificial love.

 Lord, may I be more radical in my love for others. May I learn to be generous, and kind, encouraging, and faithful to Your call to love You, and to love my neighbor. To give as freely as I have received. To bless as I have been blessed. Lord, I see my selfishness. Work in me. Nothing is impossible with You Lord! 

What a scary prayer I just made! But I want to belong in heaven, and I need to learn to love as Jesus loves to be at home there!

 "Now to Him who is able to do exceeding, infinitely, immeasurably, abundantly above and beyond all that we can even dare to ask or think, according to His power that works in us...." Ephesians 3:20

This is one of those verses that we need to read again and again in order to get its full impact, and we don't, not even then. I am reminded of Hermione's bag in Harry Potter, where as she unpacks it, you find that it can hold so much more than its size warrants. There's even a tent and all its contents inside!

 We cannot even begin to imagine what God can do for us, what His power in us, and for us, can allow us to accomplish. He put His resurrection power within us. We need only to believe that because it is true.

"Nevertheless once the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead lives within you He will, by that same Spirit, bring to your whole being new strength and vitality." Romans 8:11

Unfortunately many of us do not realize this and go through life defeated and tired. We need to read God's Word, let it sink in, let it take hold of our mind and imagination, until we believe. Then nothing will be impossible for us!

 "Your father and I have been searching for you in sorrow." Luke 2:48

There are very few stories about Jesus' childhood, and one of them is about how His parents lost him in the crowd during Passover. He was 12 years old at that time. Too young to be completely independent, but old enough that you don't hold his hand all the time while walking back home to Nazareth. Usually, a family travels with a party of relatives and friends, and Mary and Joseph assumed Jesus was traveling along with them. When they did not find Him during the evening meal, they got distressed, went back all the way to Jerusalem to continue the search there. I can imagine how Mary felt. Fathers are more sanguine and relaxed when their sons are missing. But mothers! The furrows in their foreheads says it all! I am sure Mary was continuously praying, while her eyes frantically looked everywhere.

After three days, three days!!! they finally found Him in the temple. He was calmly sitting among religious teachers, listening and asking questions. Apparently Jesus was also answering questions, because verse 47 says, "All who heard Him were amazed at His intelligence, His understanding, and His answers."

Sometimes we too lose Jesus. We forget to pray and read the Bible. There is just so much to be done in a day! We forget to pray one day, two days, three days... and then we find out He is missing in our life! And we start searching for Him. Many people try different religions, read all sorts of books, try different kinds of meditation and positions. But Jesus, where is He? "You should have known that I would be in my Father's house," He told Joseph and Mary. We do not need to go searching all over the place. We will find Jesus in the Temple, the temple of our hearts. We just need to be quiet and be still. We will find Jesus when we read the Word, the Bible. He can answer all our questions, even the deep ones that bother our soul. God's promise to us is we will find Him when we seek Him.

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened." Matthew 7:7-8

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