Friday, March 28, 2008

The Mustard Seed

James 1:6-7 "But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does."


Am I the only person who is not ready to be honest about everything that comes to mind when I read this verse?

How do you merge the faith that God CAN do something with the faith that he WILL? When we pray, should we always have faith that God WILL deliver, or is knowing and believing that he CAN, should he choose to act, enough?

I have friends who say that if something I desire doesn't happen, my faith wasn't big enough. I can't believe that this is always the case. If I pray with all my heart that a friend be healed of cancer (and I believe that God can heal her), and she's not, was my faith too small?

These reflections lead me to another contemplation. The study I'm reading right now claims that the "righteous" prayer is seeking God's glory alone. How do you separate your personal desires in prayer from truly praying for God's glory to be made known? I know that if my house sells quickly, it would be a great testament to God's plan for Ben and I to be in Wichita. But personally, selfishly, I want it to sell quickly for our own comfort and ease of transition.

Does anyone out there have an extra mustard seed?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have a hard time with that "your faith wasn't big enough" thing as well. Thankfully God is bigger. I love what you said about His Glory. I totally agree! I also love the new look!

Anonymous said...

I think that God ALWAYS answers our prayers but sometimes our will is not His. We can still have faith that he can and will but we need to be working towards being in line with His will and being okay with whatever His answer is. Because it is His will that will guide is the right direction in life and ultimately lead us closer to Him so he can mold us into who we need to be.