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 what course I will take. What will be my mode of travel? How much time - how much money to buy gas or to pay for a ticket - how much food- all that will help to determine what course I take.  I have to plan and prepare all those things.

 

Praying in faith - without doubting - is a planned course of action. Faith is not action-less. Contrary to what some folks think, it is not living in la-la land, 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. We are focused on following the plan. We've filed our intent with the powers that be to follow the course laid out by the God of heaven; the course that WILL get us to our destination.

 

Have you paid attention lately to the tenor of your prayers?  No, not tenor like Pavarotti or Domingo, but tenor meaning the settled or prevailing or habitual course of a person's life. 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 worried thoughts thrown somewhere in the general direction toward heaven as prayer any more than we can throw our boots in the oven and bake and expect a biscuit when the timer goes off. 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. 

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 just like it is dangerous to be adrift on the sea - powerless and without an anchor - it is infinitely more dangerous to be adrift in the sea of life. 

Although 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 learn 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 you want to plan your 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