Thursday, February 28

((guest post)) Diana Palka


Hey y'all! I'm so excited to introduce to you one of my new friends, Diana! 



We met through a the Influence Network recently, and it's been so great sharing our hearts with each other. I love how God ordains friendships!

We're switchin' spots today and guest posting on each other's blog! I so look forward to hearing what you think about what she's sharing today. Leave a comment below and let us know what you learn from it!

Also, check out my post on her blog here!

Take it away, Diana!

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I'm just going to shoot it straight with y'all: Prayer is hard. Specifically the honest kind.

The type of prayer where you lay the desires of your heart before the Lord is hard. The type of prayer where you honestly disclose your desires to the Lord and relinquish control in full trust that He will fulfill the promises you leave at His feet is hard.

And giving up control is scary. Even if we're handing the reins over to God.

For me, a lot of times this fear of letting go translates to embarrassingly shallow and easy prayers. Prayers like, "God, Your will be done," become common when I am too scared to voice the desires in my heart to the One who put them there. And yes - saying, "Your will be done," is brave - but it's only brave after we pray for those God-planted desires. Praying, "Your will be done," is only an exercise of courage after we've gone to God with confidence in our dreams. And sometimes - and oftentimes - the desires of our hearts line up the desires of God's heart. So we need to pray them. 

Lately, I've been convicted of my shallow prayers. Lately, I've felt like my prayers maybe insult God.

Why? Because they're not brave. Because they don't proclaim the confidence I have in His deliverance to promises He's made. Because they aren't bold. Because they don't open me up to His miracles - the ones that radically give Him glory. Because, honestly, I'm too scared that He won't deliver. 

We need to believe - really believe - in the promises and desires God has stitched into our hearts. And then we need to pray them - over and over and over again. We need to trust that the same God who put the desires in our hearts will also bring them to fruition (no matter how long it takes!).

And sometimes, we need to flat out ASK for Him to.

God wants us to trust Him, right? He wants us to go to Him with the desires of our hearts and He so desperately wants to bless us. We can only do this when we trust God as completely as humanly possible because it's only then that we have the courage to go to Him with requests bolder than our own courage. 

We need to go to Him even when it's crazy and even when our hope is gone and even when we're discouraged. We need to pray bold prayers about the boldly awesome desires God has put into our hearts. Because I promise you - and HE promises You - He will deliver.

Would you join me in praying BOLDLY for the desires of your heart? What can I be praying BOLDLY for you?




Don't forget to check out her blog and my guest post here! I'm talking about getting through seasonal transitions in life!

lindsay

3 comments:

  1. Sometime in the last year I heard or read that the reason we don't see God working miraculously today is not because He doesn't, but because we don't ask for Him to move. We ask for the small things. And in doing so, we inadvertently sell Him and His omnipotence short. We definitely need to start praying bold prayers!

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    1. Did you read The Circle Maker? Sounds like something Mark Batterson has said before. :) Whoever said it, it's so right! I struggle with that all the time. It's hard for us humans to even begin to wrap our minds around all the big things God could do if we'd just ask him! What a challenge!

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