Lord, Take this Cup
Jesus, in your humanity, You prayed that the cup of suffering might be taken away. You asked for the support of trusted brothers. You earnestly prayed until blood dropped from Your pores. You longed for Your Father’s purposes to be accomplished in a different way. But You always submitted to God’s will in spite of how it affected you.
“Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done (Luke 22:42 NASB).”
Lord, there are situations in our lives which are very hard. Please teach us how to keep earnestly praying for Your love and healing touch to break through. Yet, like You demonstrated in the Garden of Gethsemane, teach us to trust Father God in spite of what’s going on around us.
Giants in the Land
Lord, there are giants in the land. And unlike Goliath, these giants don’t seem to be going away any time soon. People we love are sick. Relationships are broken. Loved ones don’t know Your love and are destined to an eternity without You. Folks are lonely, addicted, jobless and homeless. When we see these troubles we can easily become discouraged.
Yet, you tell us to expect troubles and to remain courageous.
In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world (John 16:33 NIV).”
Knowing this, and realizing Your greater purposes, we keep asking for Your light to shine in the darkness, around us and in us.
Until the Darkness Fades
My daughter is a talented musician and song writer. In the lyrics of a song she recently wrote – “until the darkness fades.”
It occurs to me that when darkness fades, light has begun. I think of the twinge of grey in a predawn sky, which brightens with the rising sun. The smallest ray of God’s loving, healing light can illuminate the darkness in a human heart and grow ever brighter.
But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, That shines brighter and brighter until the full day (Proverbs 4:18 NASB).
When I think about the continual transformation of my own heart, which began over 40 years, I recognize God’s persistent work of enlightenment. There were times when the growing light was stalled because of my own unwillingness to surrender. But God is relentless in His desire for my freedom. He wants me free from needing smooth circumstances, success, the love of others and worldly security. He won’t give up until His light fills every crevice of my hearts. I’m complete in Christ and He wants me to fully know it.
Praying for Light
But even as our hearts are being transformed, giants are still around. Do I allow them to steal my courage and zap my joy? Or, do they become the impetuous to follow Jesus’ example of earnest prayer. If these giants are keeping me praying, then they must serve some purpose.
As Graham Cooke stated in his podcast Brilliant Perspectives, “God has allowed in His wisdom, what He could have prevented in His power.”
But still. I don’t want these giants around. Like the orcs were over run by the light of Gandolf’s staff, I pray for their destruction. I pray for God’s light to reveal, to heal to penetrate the darkness with blinding power.
Praying Circles
I’m learning not to hang my welfare on my own happiness. I’m learning to draw my contentment from what Christ has already done, my hope from His return and my joy from His presence. However, I still have a part to play in the here and now, especially in respect to these giants.
I was recently introduced to the concept of praying circles from a book entitled The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson. What I like about circular praying is the visual of continual prayer and of targeting ; kind of like a bull’s eye.
Behind our barn, next to the chicken coop, is an old white cabinet with a door. It was in my grandfather’s garage when I was growing up. Today, I wrote down eighteen giants and drew circles around each one. I’ll see them every day and plan on praying for God’s light until the darkness fades in each one. When and if a giant is destroyed, I’ll paint over it. As long as giants remain, I’ll keep praying.
Challenge
Write down the giants in your land – those troubles you may have lost hope will ever leave.
Ask yourself a really hard question. If that giant doesn’t leave, will I be okay? You may need to do some heart work and offer up an idol. (Anything besides God you must have to be okay) This is really hard work.
Next. Circle it up. Determine to earnestly pray for God’s light to penetrate the darkness.
Finally. In reflection, think about a giant which has left your land. Do you wish it had never come?
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