* Catch My Drift

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
James 1:5-8 NKJV

How do I get from one place to another? Obviously, I have to know where I want to go. If I want to go from Texas to Missouri, I have to decide which course I will take. I have to plan and prepare all these things. What will be my mode of travel? How much time will it take - how much money to buy gas or to pay for a ticket - how much food will I need to purchase along the way - all factors that will help to determine what course I plan to take.  

Praying in faith - without doubting - is a planned course of action. Faith is not actionless. Contrary to what some folks think, it is not living in denial, refusing to acknowledge what's going on around us. If we have faith, we are following a plan. We're following our course. We're not moved by what we see or hear because we are focused on following the plan. We've filed our intent with the powers that be to specifically follow the course laid out by the God of heaven...the only course that WILL get us to our destination.

I believe in spontaneous prayer and/or praise, but I also think there needs to be intentional prayer and/or praise. We can NOT count as prayer the worried thoughts thrown somewhere in the general direction of the sky any more than we can throw our boots in the oven and bake them and expect a biscuit when the timer goes off.

Have you paid attention lately to the tenor of your prayers?  No, not tenor like Domingo or Pavarotti, but tenor meaning the settled or prevailing or habitual course of a person's life.  We're talking about intentional. Settled. Prevailing. Habitual. The course of a person's prayer life. Planned.

If I ask God for wisdom to live my life, and I am not intentional about believing He will give it to me according to His Word (the plan), then I would be drifting like a wave of the sea. And just like it is dangerous to be adrift on the sea, powerless, without an anchor, it is infinitely more dangerous to be adrift in the sea of life. 

Merriam-Webster defines adrift as: 
       1 : without motive power and without anchor or mooring 
            <a boat adrift on the sea>
       2 : without ties, guidance, or security
            <people morally adrift>
       3 : free from restraint or support

And while not being restrained may seem like a good thing to lots of people, no support is a bad thing (there is a way that seems right to a man, but the end of that way is death...Proverbs 14:12). Without God's motivating power, without the Cross as our anchor or mooring, without the ties, guidance or security of our relationship with Christ, His Word, His people, we are unstable in all our ways.

How do we build relationship with Christ? We talk to Him. We get to know Him. We find out about things He's done. Things He's going to do. (Prayer, praise and pursuit).

So do we just want to drift along or do we want to plan our course?

Prayer:

Father,
          According to Your Word in Psalm 141:4, Don’t let me drift toward evil or take part in acts of wickedness. Don’t let me share in the delicacies of those who do wrong.  I need Your wisdom to plot my course in life and to follow Your plan. Let everything I do and everything I say be intentionally faithful to You. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen