Every once in awhile, a moment comes along when you hear just the right thing at just the right time, and you know, without a doubt, it was meant for you. Well, a few months ago, a friend posted a sermon snippet video on Facebook and I had one of those moments. I’m not usually one to watch the endless barrage of videos populating my news feed, but that day, I clicked the link and my entire mindset was transformed.
From the moment I committed to the World Race, I had been praying for the Lord to prepare his blessings for me. I prayed for financial blessing in raising nearly $17,000, material blessing of gear and supplies I would need for the trip, emotional and spiritual blessing to prepare my heart and mind for what the next year would bring. I prayed blessings over my family to prepare them for this next season to which I essentially volun-told them. I prayed blessings of time management, divine connections, creative inspirations, perfect conditions… At the end of the day, I suppose you could have boiled down my prayer to, “Lord, I pray for ALL the things.” Not too much to ask.
Now, it is scripturally appropriate and good to ask for things in prayer. The Lord tells us to ask him, our good Father, for blessings because he delights in caring for us. This is how I was supposed to pray, right?
Enter 7 minute Facebook video that rocked my world.
Go watch it. I’ll wait.
…
I know, right?!?!
“I’m not preparing the blessing for you, I’m preparing YOU for the blessing. The blessing is ALREADY prepared!” Preach, TD Jakes.
In typical Jesus-fashion, he turned everything I had been thinking and praying on its head. Instead of praying for the blessings, I needed to pray that I might be prepared to receive the blessings he already had waiting for me from before I even existed. Instead of praying about the fundraising, the relationships I would be making, the relationships I would be temporarily leaving, the ministry work I would be doing, the things I would learn, the places I would see, all these blessings I had been asking the Lord to prepare, I needed to pray for preparation of my heart to receive them; to bring my heart into agreement with the Lord’s work so I would be ready for all this as it came.
I needed to pray for the table.
One of my favorite Proverbs, 22:17, reads, “Listen to the words of the wise; apply your heart to my instruction.” This has always stood out to me because it seems contrary to our usual understanding. We say things like, “Those rules don’t apply to you,” or, “Now, apply that knowledge to your situation,” or, “That example applies to me.” We are alway the subject to which all other things apply, never the reverse. But, Proverbs 22:17 tells us to apply our hearts to the instruction of the wise, also known as scripture. We are the ones meant to bend to fit the Word of the Lord. We are to apply ourselves, our hearts, our thoughts, our feelings, our wishes, desires, hopes, hurts, fears, failures, dreams, gifts to the steadfast Word of God. It is the unchanging mold to which the clay of our hearts must be shaped.
Amen.
