Living on a Prayer ... Giving Up the Playbook

Living on a Prayer...Giving Up the Playbook

Who do you know that's living on a prayer? How did they get to the point where prayer is their life? Their hope? Or should I say.....it's all they can count on?

Why is having control of everyone and everything so important to us? What is it about control that we'll fight to keep it, no matter what?

When you consider control from the world's standpoint, if you don't take it, have it, and guard it with your life, you simply won't make it in this world.......And not only do you need to maintain control, you need to worry about keeping it.

Fortunately for Christians, there is another way. Living on a prayer means freedom. It means I can't take care of anything and everything in my life that's not perfect, but God can. So I don't have to keep trying to make everything happen, I can let God do what He wants to do, and as long as I do what HE tells me to do, I'm covered.

Because God is a gentleman, He won't get involved in things as long as we insist on doing it all our own way. It isn't until we've done everything we can possibly do before we throw up our hands and say, "All I can do is pray". Is that statement crazy or what?

A few years ago I was doing exactly what I just described. I had my plan and I worked it for a long time, doing it my own way, using my own ideas. I felt like the mouse on the treadmill running to nowhere.

But it wasn't until I exhausted myself physically, mentally, and emotionally that I finally stopped long enough for God to show me how backwards my plan was. I made all these plans and simply expected God to bless my efforts. But I was missing the whole point. Blessings come when you pray first, and then plan, and oh yes.......you execute the plan doing it God's way. God isn't inclined to get involved in plans that aren't His. What a concept.

Living on a prayer....so how do you start?

Start by telling God you want HIM to be in control of your life.....ALL of your life. As long as you limit God to just certain areas in your life, you'll never get good at hearing from Him.

Tell God you want to start living on a prayer. You want to do what He tells you to do...when He tells you to do it. Ask Him to show you how to know it's Him. And of course, in my case....I prefer billboards, they're easier to read......

Make a commitment to touch base with God every single day. Prayer is a good way to do that. There are lots of ways to pray. Just start talking to God as if He were sitting in the room with you. I used to think if I told God what I was truly thinking and feeling, that I would somehow offend Him and He'd run screaming out of the conversation. But the truth is...God isn't surprised by us. He knew what He was getting when He created us, so He is more than able to handle anything we say.

Confess God's Word OUT LOUD over your situation. The Word says that "Words are containers for power". When you pray using God's word, it releases your faith so God can work in your situation. I use The Secret Power of Speaking God's Word. by Joyce Meyer as a resource tool. It lists all kinds of emotions, situations, etc. and gives me direct references on what to say.

Living on a prayer means giving up the thing that's been dragging you down.....the need to control everything. It's great to be free......what a concept.

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