So let us come
boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and
we will find grace to help us when we need it most. Hebrews 4:16 (NLT)
The writer of Hebrews tells us in this chapter that we are invited
to rest
in God. With all there is to
worry about in the world and in this life, God bids His children to come close
and be forgiven, loved and blessed.
In fact He writes the invitation in bold letters, crimson letters
at the foot of a cross. And we are to
come just that way, covered by the blood of Christ, boldly taking God up on His
promise of forgiveness and salvation.
But, going forward, we don’t just come for salvation and then walk
away from the cross to live our lives as if to say, okay…that’s done….now I can get
back to my life. The invitation
is lifetime and ongoing; we keep coming back.
We keep coming back in prayer; the relationship never ends, and it
becomes bolder and bolder. As the old
song has it, the longer I serve Him the
sweeter he grows.[2]
In one sense, Chester, the big Golden Lab who lives with Chelsea,
Will, and our great grandson, Levi, is the praying-est dog I ever met; (he IS
a Methodist after all). But he has a flaw
in his method. Chester keeps his little
red and white stuffed toy in his mouth like a child’s pacifier. Chester also drools a lot. And, so, Chester’s little red and white
stuffed toy is a little like a sponge that has spent the night in the toilet.
But, it’s Chester’s stuffed toy, so who am I to judge. Anyway, that’s not the point of showing you
the flaw in Chester’s prayer pattern.
Here’s the problem: Chester
wants desperately for you to throw that soggy toy for him so he can run after
it (remember the last part of his breed’s name is….retriever).
The fly in this ointment is that Chester won’t let go of
that soggy, smelly stuffed toy for you to throw it. He’ll bring it to you, nudge you with it,
drop it and quickly pick it up again if you make a move to pick it up. Then he will keep nudging you with that mess,
no matter if you’re wearing Sunday clothes, or have just washed your hands for
dinner. He wants you to throw it, but he
will not let go of that stinky little toy.
That is so much like me when I pray; God, please do this, do that; so
and so needs a lift, she is drowning in bills.
God bless this one with some healing; help me with doing….
And then I go “all Chester” on God, laying out this condition or
that way God should do it. I hold onto
my prayers and the way I want things handled, so I will be pleased and know it
has been done right. I won’t release my
stale, soggy, stinky human-thinking prayers to God so He can fix, cleanse,
sanctify and do something holy with it.
Chester wants to live like a retriever; it’s what he was
born to do. But you can’t retrieve
what you hold onto like an alligator in a death roll.
And I’m no different. When I
hold-on like Chester, expecting to control God’s answers, I’m going to
live-into my purpose like a pet rock, going nowhere, growing no time, and
serving God like a broken dish. I’m
going to miss my purpose, because I won’t take my hands off and let God have
the lead.
My first prayer today, after Good morning, Lord, should be, Father…into
thy hands I commit my spirit, my prayers, my friends and family, and everything
I’ll do today.
You see, even with His dying breath on the cross Jesus was giving
us a model for living.
For You Today
What are the Chester toys in your life?
Are you ready to turn all of it loose and let God
lead?
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