Personal Power
This is the most personal post I have written. It deals with something I have struggled the most with, relying on someone else's faith. I am very blessed
to have an amazing and Godly upbringing. My childhood was filled with church,
prayer, God and miracles. I was saved, believed in the power of God, prayed and
read my bible regularly. I relied on the teachings of my parents and grandparents
to guide me and help me make decisions. I highly depended on their faith as my
own. As a child this isn’t a bad thing. We need constant guidance and
teaching to mold us into the people God has called us to be. But, there comes a time when we have to branch away from our reliance on the faith of our
mentors and become who we are in Christ.
2Timothy 3:14-17 But as for you, continue in what you
have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you
learned it, 15 and how from infancy you have known the Holy
Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through
faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is
useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so
that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
That "time" was clearly defined for me about 3 weeks ago
when a member of my family was rushed to the hospital with chest pains. I immediately
picked up the phone to call my mother who, for all my life, has been a strong
prayer warrior. I have heavily relied on her prayers and answers from God my whole
life. As soon as I picked up my phone to call my mother, I audibly heard God say,
“YOU need
to pray.” I thought to myself. “ME? God,
you must be mistaken, I really need to call mom right now she’s better at this
than I am.” It was at that moment I was enlighten by God that I can do it too!
Deuteronomy 10:17 For the LORD your God is God of gods and
Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and
accepts no bribes.
You see God isn’t a respecter of persons. He doesn’t divvy out
some power to one person and none to the other. We are all saved and called of
the Lord and we all possess the same Holy Spirit. So, I prayed right then and
there and took back what the devil was trying to steal. After I was confident
that I had prayed what I needed to pray, I called my mom so she could also pray.
She called several other people to join in agreement. Several minutes passed and my mother called me
back to tell me about the dream she had early that morning. She dreamed that I was in a hospital room
standing over a patient and I was hooking up all the equipment needed to save a
heart attack victim. She said I was running around like crazy, saving this
patient all by myself. At the time, I took this as confirmation that my family member
was indeed having a heart attack and God healed them. There was a second meaning
to the dream that wasn’t revealed to me until weeks later while I was sitting
in a connect group. I do believe that God can continue to minister to us through
situations, long after the situation has been resolved. You see, God used my
mom’s dream to also confirm to me that I can be used by him and I don’t have
to rely on anyone else’s faith to do it for me. I was the only one in the room during
the dream and I was being used to save a life. I will always ask for my mother's guidance but I don't have to rely on it. I can rely on God's guidance that he speaks to me personally and I use God's power that he gifts through me.
Acts
10:34-35 Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does
not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him
and does what is right.”
Later that day, I found out that the subject of my prayers
received a clean bill of health from the doctor and was sent home without any
signs of sickness or disease! God used a miracle in someone else’s life to teach
me about mine. To tell me it is time to stop hiding in the shadows of someone else's God given power and gift. It is time to step into the light and become who God made me to
be.
thank you for sharing this with us. I felt a very similar issue a few years ago and I felt like I had to take the place of my mother to pray.
ReplyDeleteMy goodness. This is so good! So so true. You can’t have the kind of personal relationship with Jesus that’s he wants if you continually rely on someone else’s faith.
ReplyDelete