romans10seventeen

Matthew 7:7-8

Keep Asking, Seeking, Knocking7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

A few years ago I came to really know Jesus.  I grew up knowing about Him but I didn’t have a relationship with Him until He found me and changed my heart.  Submission is an act of our will.  When I chose to surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, He changed my life!  I have experienced “dying to self”; the things I used to think were important faded away and Jesus became my focus.  My prayer life has evolved.  I began praying differently.  Once I chose to believe the Creator of the universe was madly in love with me and wanted His best for me, I realized my life was no longer my own.  I belonged to God and because He loved me, I could be confident that when I align my prayers with Him, I could have what I asked.  Instead of trying to get God to agree with what I felt I wanted or needed, my prayers started to sound more like this,”Lord, I don’t care what it takes, I just want to be closer to you!”  Now who knows THAT is a prayer God will answer? Once I realized that what He wants for me is better than anything I could ever imagine, (Ephesians 3:20) it was my prayer, to want what He wants!  These 2 simple prayers began to really change my life.

The most recent change is how the Lord led me to Maggie’s Place, a home for single pregnant women…(maggiesplace.org). As a single mom myself, I have always wanted to help other women in similar circumstances.  My heart is so drawn to these precious women and their babies even more so now because I’m seeking Jesus!  Jesus only asks us to be willing…His heart is to pour out so much love to them…He only asks me to be willing to be a vessel He can use to show them love.  He wants them to know the depths of His love (Ephesians 3:18).  I know I’m not the only person who didn’t understand this.  So,  because I do now, He can use me!  You can’t share what you don’t know, but once you’ve been given that revelation and He fills your heart with love, you are meant to share it!

So one day, I had a great experience sharing God’s love with one of the moms.  She was struggling with a difficult relationship.  Her boyfriend is also homeless and battling addiction and she sensed that he was on the verge of giving in to his addiction…she was worried about him and had called his brother-in-law to ask him to check in on him.

I offered to pray with her, and as we sat together in her room I just started speaking to her about how much God loves her and loves seeing the positive changes she’s making in her own life.  How He has given her wisdom to make wise decisions and when she agrees with Him by making a wise decision to stay clean and sober He blesses those decisions.  He loves her and how she is taking care of herself and her baby.  That is His will for her. He calls her “beautiful princess” and says when she is weak He will be strong.  He says she is able to do whatever He calls her to do.  Then I prayed for her friend…I asked the Lord to send people into his life who would lead him in the right direction.  We prayed a hedge of protection around him and claimed the promise of Isaiah 54:17, No weapon formed against him shall prosper.  We asked the Lord to send his angels to guard, guide and protect him.  We both cried together and proclaimed the goodness of God and decided to believe that He hears our prayers and because He loves us and we love Him and are praying in accordance with His will, we can be assured that He will work all things together for good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).  It felt good to pray with her and remind her that when we let go of our burdens and lay them at the foot of His cross, He can begin to work.

A few hours later I returned home to find her smiling and anxious to tell me how she had talked to her friend again and how he was feeling much better…she heard “hope” in his voice.  He had received a phone call from his brother-in-law who was willing to offer him a job.  He was going to work the next day!  God had already been moving on this situation because of His great love for us…He knew her heart’s desire and it was in accord with His will that her friend be clean and sober also.  We gave thanks to God for answering our prayers and she said,” That’s right!  We just prayed about that and He answered already!”  When we come into agreement with Him He will use us!  He had used this precious woman to move in her friend’s life and when we came together to pray for him it sealed the deal!

God uses us daily when we open our eyes to see, open our ears to hear and open our hearts to be receptive to His call.

One thing has become more clear to me now in this season: The Lord will use a surrendered servant…a willing vessel but He will never force Himself upon us.

I challenge you today to pray for the ability to surrender to His will and see your life change!  Then pray for others to come to know Christ in this way also.