About five years ago I was going through my normal process of evaluation, recalibration, and goal setting for the coming year, when it dawned on me…what if I am not getting it right? What if I am not seeing things as God sees them, and what if I am setting goals and following through with things that are not of Him? Is that possible?
Over the next several months I began praying the following prayer:
- Lord give me eyes to see things as you see them.
- Give me wisdom to navigate from where I am to where I need to be.
- Give me boldness and grace to do the right things in the right way.
- Provide for my needs—in and according to your will.
- May you receive all glory, honor, and praise in everything, and may I be hidden in the cross of Christ.
I have been praying this prayer for almost five years now. I feel the passion for these things growing with a greater longing to see God answer in clear and unmistakable ways – ways that are so far beyond human imagination or strength.
As I look back over life and ministry, I have found that God’s greatest work has most often followed long seasons of desperate prayer—as if God must take me through another valley of crying out in helplessness before I see an answer. Most of the time I have focused on the need for a change in circumstances, but there is always another, more important work going on; God is changing me. I am starting to realize that this process will not be done until I stand before him.
Over the next few weeks I would like to talk about the importance of this particular prayer and how it continues to shape my life in the will of God.