God's Will be Done

21 Days of Prayer and Fasting

Today's prayer focus is God's will. This can be a difficult one. We want what we want and we want it now...hehehe The night Jesus was arrested, He cried out to God asking that if it were possible that He not need go through with the torture and death He was going to endure the next day, that God would spare Him. He knew how bad it was going to be. But then He said a few phrase that stand out. ...not as I will, but as You will and ...Your will be done.

Other passages support the idea that God wants us to ask Him whatever we want from Him. It even often says that God will give us what we want. It's hard to imagine and understand why we don't always get what we want...hehehe But context, as always, is important. The spirit of those passages isn't that if we ask for money or fame, or even healing, that it will just magically happen as if God were a genie in a bottle. I've long seen prayer as a means of communication with God so that our hearts would align with His. Not the other way around.

God already has a heart that wants what is best for us. He wants us to want what is best for us as well. By praying for His will to be done in our prayers, we can begin to focus on attuning our hearts to what He wants for us. Then we begin to pray for things that are good and He will pour out the good in our lives. At least, that is how I have been seeing it lately. And the good doesn't always come in ways I expect. Even in the bad, good comes from it.

This truly is a difficult one. In my simple writing, I may make it sound easy. It most certainly is not. It's hard to see people suffer as I ask for healing. But as I pray for God's will to be done, He shows me that sometimes we must endure because the good comes after the struggle. I've seen this in my own life. And now I can see that there is good in the struggle. That's because God is always there going along with me in the struggle.

If Jesus can pray for God's will to be done and not His, I should have a heart posture of the same nature. God's will and ways are perfect. If I'm ever to be perfect as He is perfect, I must pray for His will and not my own. On this side of heaven, I'll never be perfect in that way. But focusing on His will is the path to get to heaven, where He makes all things perfect. May Your Kingdom come, and Your WILL be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Father God, thank You that I may come to You in prayer. I have a lot on my heart that I ask for in my prayers. I used to ask for things that weren't good for me. I sometimes want what I want and I want it now...LOL But You know what is best and what is actually good for me. So, as I ask for what I want, I also ask that it is Your will that is ultimately done. Align and attune my heart to pray for Your good and perfect will today, and everyday.

I also pray for the church that I'll be attending soon. Just like we as individuals often ask for things, the church also asks for some good and some bad things. The church isn't perfect because it is managed by imperfect people like me. So, I pray for Your will to be done in my future church. Change the hearts, minds, and souls of the people of the church to see and do Your perfect will for the church and community it lives in. Align and attune all our hearts to pray for Your good and perfect will today, and everyday.

Lord, please be with the pastor. I pray that his ear is listening to Your voice. I pray that his eyes are fixed on You. Please bless him and his family today. Just as for myself and the church, I ask that you align and attune his heart to pray for Your good and perfect will today, and everyday.

It is with gratitude and thanksgiving, and in Your Name I pray. AMEN!

For the Bible reading, I read John 4. Noticing a pattern?!? LOL I'm reading through the book of John as it is 21 chapters long...hehehe The plan I did with theChapel had us go through the book of James for the 21 days. I thought I'd change it up this year.

The main narrative in this chapter is the one about the Samaritan woman at the well. In The Chosen series, the first season ends with this scene. At least in the show, this is where Jesus publicly announces He is the Messiah for the first time. I'm not sure if that was true or not. But the main point is many came to believe in Him in Samaria without all the miracles and such. They believed simply by hearing His Words. It was all about the message...the Good News!

The chapter does conclude with a miracle, though. Just not in Samaria. He and the disciples headed back to Cana where He performed His first miracle. And this time, He healed an officer's son.

This is day 4 of this year's prayer and fasting season.

My Day

I accomplished so much at work. Things are finally picking up again...LOL I worked on 3 projects; which is a lot for what I do. One of the projects was one I inherited today...LOL My boss called me up this morning and asked how I felt about taking it on. I agreed. Then in the afternoon, I got the rundown on it. I had to do some work on it already. I'm waiting on someone else for part of it. So I'll go back to it tomorrow probably.

On another project, the work on it that I started in October or November concluded today. It might be a few weeks yet until all is confirmed as working. It involves another business entity as it is a business to business system. But my part is finished.

And the other project is something I've been waiting on others for months...LOL They finally finished Monday. So, my real work begins now. I should be finished with my part by Tuesday so I can confirm that testing with it is complete. Only having a week seems tight. But I work well under that kind of pressure. This project is actually several rolled into one. They are different applications that are getting stood up with the new company. After the official go-live in May, I'll have other real work on the separate projects as needed.

My morning devotional, mid-day Bible in a Year reading and recap, and my after-dinner Bible study experiences were all amazing once again. I'm not a huge fan of having so many things in the oven at once. But I'm finding satisfaction with all of this at the moment. A theme from this week's Bible study lesson...hehehe

I was back to fried rice for dinner tonight. I've gotten into the routine of making rice on Wednesdays. I make 4 portions and have it from 4 dinners typically. And lately, I've been using soy-free tofu as the main protein. I've loved how these dishes have been turning out. And, of course, I love crowning the pile of fried rice with the ever so amazing kraut...HAHAHA

I changed up breakfast today. I only had 2 pieces of toast instead of 4. And I had some tomatoes with sugar snap peas. It provided me plenty of energy to get me to lunch. By the way, I get the smaller size bread. So the toast is small. If it were the larger size bread, I'd only have 1 with the veggies or 2 if just toast...hehehe

Something else I changed up this week is that I now do all 3 of my one mile walks before I have a meal. I've been eating my breakfast, lunch, and dinner within 30 or so minutes after my walk. It has been working well so far!

Photo of the Day

I had 15 photos to choose from today. I loved them all...hehehe But I picked the one I actually thought I'd pick when I took the video it came from. It looked like a fingerprint in the sky. It inspired the thought about how God has the whole world in His hands. So the fingerprint in the sky was His...hehe

On Instagram, I included the song Fingerprints of God by Steven Curtis Chapman. He dedicated the song to his daughter, Emily, who was 13 at the time. For my use of it on this photo, I was imagining all of creation and those who feel no self-worth. My self-worth was in the negative side of the scale for quite sometime. My heart breaks for those who suffer this way.

Wrapping Up

I was reminded of something today about God's Will. On occasion, I've said something like God told me or the Spirit led me or something similar. I want to be very careful with such phrases. The reality is I don't actually know that I'm doing something God wants me to do until after it happens. If something happens, of course it is His Will. Although we have free will to make our choices, we are still living out everything exactly as He expects it to go. He is sovereign over the entire universe. Nothing can happen without Him allowing it.

But back to my point. I plan to stop saying things like the Spirit led me. A don't recall ever saying something like God told me to tell you or some such thing. But those other phrases aren't any better. I'm often inspired by what I read in the Bible. And let's not forget that there really is the Holy Spirit living in those of us who chose to follow Jesus. But unless my heart and mind are aligned and attuned with His, I'm most likely acting on my own will.

So, in order for me to know and do His Will, I'll remain in the Word daily, I'll commune with Him constantly, and I'll seek His Kingdom first and His righteousness. I need to be in right standing with God. By the way, today's prayer focus aligns quite nicely with this week's Bible study lesson...hehehe