As we WAIT on certain things to happen in our life or someone to come into our life, the journey is never always smooth and comfortable. We get excited at first, then impatient as we go on, we tend to lose hope, get up again, then doubt, then up again, and so on. Waiting is not a phase but a season that would come and go in our life. And it is a season that helps us also to be better.
Waiting taught me to always be hopeful for the best, knowing that God will always provide what is only good for me. And as I hope, it taught me to be more prayerful. The only weapon I have when I start to get impatient on things. Prayer makes me lift up everything to God constantly. It keeps me close to God. And as I pray, I am reminded also to remain faithful. Waiting also takes a leap of faith. When God tells me to move or act, I need to trust God by obeying Him. When He asks me to pause, I need to do the same. When God would ask me to stop waiting, I have to trust Him also. I need to do my own part in faith. It’s never easy. It’s easier said than done sometimes. But that’s what’s amazing about waiting also. God will carry us through it.
How about you? What have you learned in your seasons of waiting?
You, O Lord, will not withhold Your compassion from me; Your loving-kindness and Your truth will continually preserve me. For evils beyond number have surrounded me; My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to see; They are more numerous than the hairs of my head, And my heart has failed me.
Reflection:
Failures, mistakes, wrong choices, bad decisions – all of us are not excused from all of these. But we don’t have to continue living a life full of these. Not that life will be perfect and we will never make mistakes, but it will be a life with less.
God has promised forgiveness once we have received Jesus in our life. “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more”. (Hebrews 10:17) And aside from the gift of salvation and eternal life, God has given us a Helper, a Counselor – the Holy Spirit. Once you start having a serious walk with the Lord, your life will never remain the same. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17)The role of the Holy Spirit is to help us each day to choose and obey God as our response of our love for Him, that we may become a new person. “For Christ’s love compels us…” (2 Corinthians 5:14). The love of God is just irresistible not to love Him back.
God’s love and compassion is unconditional and endless. He is patient with you as you desire to become better. You just have to depend on the Holy Spirit and listen as He convicts your heart when you are about to make wrong decisions. And as we desire a deeper relationship with Jesus, we also have to do our part to get to know Him more.
Here are the things that we need to start including in our day to day walk with the Lord.
1. Pray – This is our way of communicating to God. Our prayers need not be memorized or repetitive. You just have to pour out what’s in your heart to God. A format you can follow is the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13). Or, you can also do this simple format as you are just starting to learn how to pray (ACTS). Eventually, you can speak from your heart whatever the Holy Spirit is leading you.
Adoration – acknowledging who God is and giving Him praise (loving, kind, forgiving, etc.)
Contrition – confessing to God your sins and asking Him for forgiveness and to help you repent
Thanksgiving – giving thanks to God for everything that He has done for you
Petition – asking God for your daily need, protection and for other people
Every end of the prayer, we always say, “This we ask (or pray) in Jesus’ Name.” As Jesus said in the Bible, “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” (John 14:12-14)
For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people. (1 Timothy 2:5)
2. Read the Bible – If we talk to God through prayer, God talks to us through His Word – the Bible. As you start your day in prayer, it would also be nice to start your day hearing what God has to say to you for that day. You can read the Book of Psalms for your morning quiet time and you can start with the Book of John as you learn more about Jesus. Just like in any battle, the Word of God is our weapon for any temptation that would come along our way for that day. It would also be nice if you have a journal notebook where you can write what God has been speaking to you for that day.
3. Be part of a community. God created us not to be alone. We are made for relationships. It is important that we also become a part of a community that shares the same belief. One way of being a part of is to be a part of a small group or a Bible study group. This way, you can also learn from others, pray for each other and be an encouragement for one another. You will realize that you are not alone in the journey that you are going through. “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” (Hebrews 10:24)
Are you excited with this journey with the Lord? You can pray like this as you start on with this journey.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father,
You are so loving and full of compassion. Thank you for the gift of forgiveness that you will remember my sins no more because of Jesus. Thank you for giving me another chance to become better as a person. Help me to become more dependent on the Holy Spirit as He leads me to do the right things. I am excited as I desire to know and love Jesus more. I ask that you would strengthen me each day, that I will always have time for prayer and reading of the Bible. I ask also Lord that you would bring me to a group of people who shares the same love for You. From this day on, I entrust my spiritual journey with you. This I pray in Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Howblessed is the man who has made theLordhis trust,
And has not turned to the proud, nor to those who lapse into falsehood.
Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders which You have done,
And Your thoughts toward us;
There is none to compare with You.
If I would declare and speak of them,
They would be too numerous to count.
Reflection:
Knowing God
God blesses the man who trusts in Him and who does not turn to the proud and those who lapse into falsehood
Many are God’s wonderful works and thoughts toward us, too numerous to count
God is incomparable
When you have trials in life, to whom do you first turn to?
Before I had a deep relationship with God, I always turn to my friends first whenever I have problems. I don’t even go to my family. And when I remember God, that’s only when I pray. However, this has changed when I realized that God is the only one who could sustain me in the midst of my problems.
Now, I always turn to God first and just pour out unto Him all my concerns. When we start trusting God, knowing that He is in control of everything, we will have peace, stillness and joy that we can’t explain. These are the blessings we can receive from God even if we are flooded with problems.
Then, I turn to the people whom God uses to help me in my problems. When we turn to people, let’s make sure that they will impart to us wisdom that comes from the Lord and not from the standard of the world (Andhas notturned to the proud, nor to those wholapse into falsehood.) It’s important that we pray to God to give us people who could give us godly counsel. I realized how blessed I am to be a part of a community of believers because there are people who will not just give me counsel but will also pray for me.
Have you been trusting God not just with your problems but with your whole life? Only God can understand the very depth of your heart. He will be pleased that you run to Him first. And if you feel like you don’t have anyone to turn to, always remember that God is just waiting for you. He hears you. And He will speak to you through the Bible. In the Bible, you will see how God has heard the cry of a lot of people and how He has helped them during difficult times. He will also do the same for you as long as you trust Him.
If you haven’t called to God, maybe, it’s time you call upon Him. Let this prayer guide you.
Prayer:
Dear God,
Thank you for always thinking about me even if I fail to remember you. Today, I commit that I will always run to you first – in my victories and trials. Thank you for the promise of blessings for those who trust in you. Teach me Lord to trust you always that I may walk not in the ways of this world but in Your ways. This I pray in Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Over the weekend, I just found myself feeling really alone. The past weeks were really tiring with work but it didn’t remove the joy in my heart. I was enjoying my work. But starting this weekend, I felt I was really slowly going down. I could not understand the condition of my heart. It seems empty and full at the same time.
I tried praying so hard and pushed my self to read the Bible just to find comfort and to feel good. But, it didn’t work. I got so distracted with other things and my mind got tired of thinking what is wrong with me.
You see, I have moments like this in my life when all of a sudden I tend to get so emotional. Then, I start losing focus on God and start focusing on the desires of my heart. Instead of allowing the Holy Spirit to pull my self up from the pit, I pull myself down even more. I admit that this weekend, I let my self just go down. I know God is letting me face something but I was just so tired in dealing with it. I just want to do things my way.
But, big BUT… God is simply amazing. His patience and compassion is just endless on me. He will do everything so that I will return to Him regardless of the condition of my heart. I was reading the book entitled, “Growing Deep in God” (by Edmund Chan) and it focused on prayer. There were 2 paragraphs there which really affirmed my heart’s condition. God has been rebuking on me already about it but I just ignored. But, God loves me so much He would even use a book to rebuke me again.
Here’s what God reminded me. The ones with comments in the side.
I realized why I was so lazy reading God’s Word. Because I want to read to feel good and be comforted. And because I felt that it hasn’t been like that, I was doing my quiet time out of obligation when I should read because I love Jesus so much that I’m just thrilled to know more about Him. I now understand why my prayer life is becoming a duty rather than a delight. It’s because it has been about me when it should be about God.
My heart hasn’t been right. My mind even. My perspective shifted because of too much distractions. Slowly, I focused on myself instead of focusing on God.
God knows what’s in my heart right now. The fact that God is always committed to me despite my weaknesses gives me a reason to go back to Him. I’m just grateful for a God who is always true and faithful.
I pray that I will be more delighted in prayer and His Word because it’s always about Him.
When I moved to Manila to work, I didn’t have any immediate family with me nor friends that I can live with. I was basically on my own at the start. It wasn’t an easy move and I can still clearly remember that I wanted to go home to Bacolod during my first week of stay. I got so homesick as it was my first time to really be away from family.
Eventually, I made a lot of friends from my work, from where I used to stay and from church. As months went by, I realized how important to have people who would continue to guide you and even become accountable for you. That’s when I decided to join in a small group. And being part of it really helped me in my continuous stay here in Manila.
The small group became my spiritual family. It is composed of people who show genuine love and concern towards each other. In the group, we share our victories and trials to one another to be able to encourage each other. We pray for each other and help each other in our walk with the Lord. There is nothing so extraordinary in a small group except the common factor why we meet together – Jesus Christ.
I’m glad that I made that decision to be part of a small group. It’s not just about meeting together, talking about our lives, doing fun stuff together, a small group is more than that. It’s a privilege to be a blessing to different people. It’s a privilege of knowing God through other people who share the same passion for the Lord.
Indeed, we are all created for relationships. We are not meant to be alone. If right now, you feel like you don’t have friends, or you’re too far away from your family or you just really feel alone, and you’ve been invited to be part of something like this, give it a chance. It’s more than an invitation, it’s a privilege.
In small groups, we don’t just gain friends, we grow with friends.
“Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.” Hebrews 10:24-25
These are the different small groups I’ve been with and still with. It’s just amazing growing old with such beautiful women, some have gotten married already, one had kid, some had left the city, some had returned, some still stayed single :), but despite of the changes, the journey of encouraging, praying for each other and lifting up one another never changes.
Truth is, our lives together go beyond the small circle of group. 🙂 🙂 🙂
We’ve been praying so hard for my brother’s UK application. Even before he submitted his application, I already claimed the blessing from God for my brother. And even before the visa arrived, I know that God already answered our prayers.
I’m just thankful to my Lord who always remain true to His promises.
His answer, may it be a yes, no or not yet, it is always for our best. 🙂
God listens.
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"Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD." Psalm 27:14
