15/01/2025
𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝟕: 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐁𝐄 𝐃𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐎𝐍 𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐇 𝐀𝐒 𝐈𝐓 𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐍 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐍
𝑯𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑴𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓
We all have plans, long-term plans and daily plans. In prayer we usually seek God’s help and blessing for our plans instead of seeking God’s plans. God says, “I know the plans I have for you” (Jer. 29:11, NIV). To have God’s blessings and resources, you must follow His plan.
In prayer we tell God what to do as if we were the master and He the servant.
Remember, He is God, He is the Master. He should tell us what to do. “Each morning consecrate yourself to God for that day. Surrender all your plans to Him, to be carried out or given up as His providence shall indicate. Thus day by day you may be giving your life into the hands of God” (Steps to Christ, p. 70).
Remember this phrase in the Lord’s prayer: “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” In heaven angels serve God. He gives them an assignment, and they do it. Their answer is, “Yes, Lord,” and they are gone. None of them tell Him what to do; none negotiate or say, “I am busy” or “I will do it later.” None argue by saying, “I don’t have the resources” or “I have a better idea.” When He tells an angel to do something, they act, knowing He makes all the necessary resources available.
One day my wife and I were on an eleven-hour drive. As usual, we had sought God’s plan for that day and asked Him to show us opportunities to serve. About five hours into the trip, a good pastor friend called. “Pray for me,” he said. “I am supposed to go to Cuba for evangelism, but my car broke down, and the bus didn’t come.”
I knew he lived in the area we were driving through right at that moment, so I said, “Where exactly do you live?” He gave me the exit number. Just as he was telling me, we approached that exact exit. “We are at your exit!” I exclaimed. “How could that be?” he responded. “You live five hours north of me!” We took the exit, went to his place, picked him up, and drove him to airport. He caught the plane and went to Cuba!
Too often we stress continually and fail in our endeavors because we act on our own plans. Yet, we don’t know the big picture. We don’t know the future. God does, and He loves us.
“Too many, in planning for a brilliant future, make an utter failure. Let God plan for you. . . . God never leads His children otherwise than they would choose to be led, if they could see the end from the beginning and discern the glory of the purpose which they are fulfilling as co-workers with Him” (The Ministry of Healing, p. 479).
To do God’s will you must know it, so you should also listen in prayer. What He says to you is a lot more important than what you say to Him. We “need to have a personal experience in obtaining a knowledge of the will of God. We must individually hear Him speaking to the heart. When every other voice is hushed, and in quietness we wait before Him, the silence of the soul makes more distinct the voice of God” (The Ministry of Healing, p. 58).
Through prayer we speak to God, and through the Word He speaks to us. Prayer and study of the Word go always together; they should never be separated. “The Bible is God’s voice speaking to us, just as surely as though we could hear it with our ears” (Testimonies for the Church, vol. 6, p. 393).
We can certainly tell Him our needs. We are told to cast all our needs upon Him (1 Peter 5:7). There is nothing wrong in asking Him for help. However, you’re not informing God of something He doesn’t already know; rather, you’re giving Him your consent to help. God gave us freedom of choice, and He respects our choice. He will never intervene by imposing His will on us. He waits for us to ask, to choose His help, and then He can intervene.
Pray, study the Word, think on it. Present your needs and plans, and ask for God’s leading and guidance. Make God’s plans your priority. Seek God first, then trust that He will take care of all your needs as He promised (Matt. 6:33). Make yourself available to serve Him and follow His will. Say, “Here I am Lord. Use me today. May Your will be done in my life today.”
Let’s pray together.
God, our earthly plans will crumble and come to nothing, but Your plans stretch into eternity. Thank You that our failures are not permanent. Give us faith to glimpse Your kingdom today. Live out Your life in us. Amen.
