Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Faith in the face of adversity

It is easy to praise GOD when things are going great. But it's not so easy when things are not so good or even worse when life sucks. At the first of the year I had experienced a very nerve racking, angering problem with my insurance company. Time after time, I talked to and was put on hold by about 20 different people trying to resolve a very simple issue. I was told more than once that "We are sorry that person gave you incorrect information" as I was told more than once my issue was resolved and then found out it wasn't resolved. I prayed and prayed with faith and continued praying that my issue would be resolved while praising GOD still in the midst of this adversity. But time after time it wasnt getting resolved, and at one point I stopped praising GOD, I began cursing at him, I went as far as to tell GOD that I was angry with him and I told him that he sucked, once the anger began to subside, I asked him "Father why have you forsaken me? Why have you failed to help me?" And so I questioned what good my faith was, and what good is praising GOD if my prayers werent being answered. As the situation with the insurance company was trying my patience, I knew not to pray for patience, I learned a long time ago not to pray for patience because then GOD will really put you to the test to learn patience. so..................................... I went on, bordering on impatience and worry to the point that I felt physically ill and exhausted. But my wife began to speak to me, telling me that praying in faith is not like having a magic Geenie, I then became distracted while examining my faith and trying to figure out what faith really was, if it was not what I thought it was, what was it? And I began to realize that I thought that having faith and praising GOD in the midst of adversity meant that GOD would help me just how I wanted him to if I belived enough. (Which is partly due to the fact that usually when I pray, things happen.)
So as the grim situation with the insurance was coming along, and I was getting promised that the issue would be resolved, I examined what faith really meant: and to me I discovered Faith is the belief that GOD is there, He cares, and He Is In Control. I learned that Faith can move mountains, but it will be moved in GOD's way, and in GOD's time, not ours. And I learned that praising GOD during tough times was not a guarantee of things going my way, I learned that praising GOD through adversity is about aknowledging that He is Righteous and Faithful. I have a feeling this is not my last lesson from GOD that includes adversity, but I'm willing to go through the hard times in order to learn more about GOD and grow in faith.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

First of all, what in the world is a Prayer Warrior?

I pray alot! I almost pray ceaselessly. I like to communicate with God, and although I tell him that I love him and thank him for the blessings he has bestowed upon me and others often, most of the time I am asking him for help with this or that for example: I usually pray for the safety and health of my friends and family and even people I have met that I probably wont ever see again, sometimes people I havent seen in so long that I have to rename them. But God knows who I am talking about whether or not I have their name right. I also usually pray for others asking God to give them peace, comfort, joy and understanding among other things. I have always prayed to God like a person to person phone call. My prayers are from the heart, and usually in my own words. Although I often pray the Lord's Prayer. (The prayer that Jesus taught us to pray.) I readily admit to God that I dont have a clue what the best outcome of a situation would be and I surrender to him trusting him even though I know his will could be something just awful, I pray for his will anyway because for everything there is a season. I do this because I know that God is in control. And that everything happens in his perfect timing. To be a prayer warrior you dont have to have the right words, you just have to have the right heart, a heart full of Love.