Let Go and Let God

Standing there on the wooden platform high above the ground all harnessed up with nylon straps really had me thinking about the word trust.

In one hand was a metal contraption and the other hand was free so that I could reach high to grab hold of the wire cable then bringing the two together clamp myself to it.  Adrenaline rushing through my body as my turn came.  I was told to sit back into the harness, pick up my feet and glide through the tree tops of rain forest to the next wooden platform.  Imagine if you will looking up and seeing a cable that was not much thicker than a nickel was round and you are told to clamp onto it.  That moment when you pick up your feet, you are experiencing Trust with a capital T.

All kinds of things could cause you to fret over your situation.  Who made that cable?  Who sewed this harness?  Did the one that hung the cables get them good and secure to the trees? What if? What if? What if?

Many times when facing tough or scary situations in our lives we start to worry, asking all kinds of questions instead of trusting. What if…? What if…? What if…? Well at least that has been my default. But God has a different plan for us at those times.

Psalm 37:3 says, “Trust in the LORD, and do good; [so] shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.

The word trust in the Hebrew is ba’tach which means to attach to or secure to.

Here the psalmist is telling us than when things are tough, scary or even confusing we are to attach ourselves to the Lord.  We have to do just like when I was zip-lining through the treetops.  Reach up and secure ourselves to The One and Only then sit back into the harness of His hands and let Him be the support and security. 

A friend often tells me, “We have to let go and let God.” 

Let God carry us through a trial. 

Let God carry us through a desert. 

Let God carry us through the storm.

Let God carry us through the peace as well.

Are you facing a situation that has you baffled?  Have you attached yourself to God?  Are you letting go and letting God? What’s keeping you from lifting up your feet and soaring through the tree tops with God?

Oh the zip-line was a blast! I loved soaring through the sky giggling and smiling the entire way down.  But let me tell you it doesn’t hold a candle to attaching yourself to God.  That my friend is a lot more fun and is an adventure beyond compare!!!!

Cynthia

Prayer is...

It happens all the time, we drive up to a speaker on a board and voice our request.  Easy huh?  Just say what we want and within minutes we are pulling forward to quickly add to our possession that which we just ordered.  This is such an easy time to obtain things.  Using the verse out of context it is a… ”ask and you shall receive” time in the thoughts of many.  But that is not how our asking of God should be.

Many are so accustomed to this type of lifestyle that they think that is how prayer is supposed to be.  Things go wrong, in a tight fix, confused…just throw out the request into the speaker and you shouldn’t have to wait for more than a few minutes and here’s the answer or solution. When you don’t get immediate answers it may lead you to think that God must only snatch up the prayers that sound good to Him. 

Is this really what prayer is?  Is it just a request line like calling in to the local D.J.? A throw it out there and see if this one will be picked up?

No, Prayer is a relationship.

It is that one on one time with a God that desires your fellowship.  He is not a distant God that only allows a one sided conversation.  Rather He is a God that wants you to know Him and experience His love and presence. A God that longs for a growing relationship with you!!!

Let’s think of it this way.  Have you ever said you were close friends with someone but have never spent time with them?  I didn’t think so, how strange would that be?  To build a close relationship you spend time with someone to get to know them.  You learn what they are about, what their likes and dislikes are and even at times what they will say in certain situations.  This is exactly how our relationship with God can be.

As we communicate with Him, and He with us our relationship with God grows.  We voice our thoughts, not just our list, to Him as we share everything that is going on in our lives.  He speaks to us through the reading of His Word. 

John 15:7 states, “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given to you.”

T.W. Hunt says it so well, “A love relationship with God is the point at which effective prayer begins.”

So how do we become people who pray effective and bold prayers?

We answer His invitation to enjoy His fellowship.  Make it our passion to know Him and His Word and He promises to respond to our prayers.