ReThink-ReSet Coaching: Pray and Give it to God - Then What?

0:00You know, I always hesitate to do stuff around the Bible because I am such a hypocrite. But we all have our own journey. We all have our times where we're closer with God and then we have times where we struggle, right? And a lot of the times when we're struggling, we feel where is God gone? Most of the time in my life, I've realized it's not God that's gone anywhere, it's me. My attention, my focus, my time, my effort, my habits, my discipline has all gone to somewhere else. It's me that's moved and not him. But one of the things that I kind of have been reading about lately and listening to the little things over here, but all in my brain, again, I'm not recreating the will or I've not discovered fire. But I don't know of a time in the Bible or in my life. And there are people who are well more versed in this than I am, so I'm sure they can message me and show me plenty of times I'm wrong. But I don't know of a time in my life where God has not asked me of something or given me something or provided me with something.

1:01And again, referring to the Bible or my life where he's not asked me to do the first small thing. Even salvation has to be accepted. The gift is only a gift if we unwrap it. And what I'm being very clumsy in my opening but be patient with me, I'm going to move fast through here, right? Because I think it's important for us to think that prayer is good, but prayer without action. Even if the action is something simple as mentally putting a habit in place of praying every day, right? Read in the Bible every day, even if that's the action. Sometimes it's physical action. Sometimes it's a habit. Sometimes it's a mindset. But I'm just going to see if this makes sense to you. And I'm going to, this where I'll start moving a little faster. He, Exodus 14, 16, he told Moses to raise your rod. God asked Moses to lift his rod before he parted the sea. Moses, he told Moses, take off your sandals, Exodus 3.5. Noah, Genesis 6.14, build the ark. Abraham, Genesis 12.1, leave your country.

2:05Now that's what God called Abraham to step away from his comfort zone before revealing the full destination. Now the Lord had said into Abram, go thee out of the country and from thy kindred and from thy father's house and to a land that I will show thee. I'm not going to read every verse, but that's an example. And Abraham, go sacrifice your son Isaac, right? Genesis 22, too. Joshua marched around the city. Joshua 6.3, David had to face the Goliath. He had to, he had to find the stone. He had to step forward. First Samuel 17, 45. The widow of Zerafath, make me a cake first. In other words, she was starving. She's a widow. She basically told, basically said, I only have enough food for one more meal. The meal of my son will just die. And the command came down in 1 Kings 17, 13. Hey, fear not, go do that. Go make it. Go make your meal. But before you do, make me a cake. Bring me a cake first. And then after she was obedient, there was the miracle.

3:05I'll make it this wrong, but naming, wash in the Jordan. And 2 Kings 5, 10, go and wash in the Jordan seven times. And thy flesh will become, shall come again. Peter, launch into the deep waters. Now, really, this is a fisherman. And Luke 5, 4, Peter in the fisherman, drop your nets. And follow me, Matthew 4, 19 through 20. Matthew, follow me. He said that again, Matthew 9, 9, woman at the well. Go call your husband, John 4, 16. Man without a with a withered hand, stretch out your hand. Matthew 12, 13, the paralyzed man. And John 5, 8, pick up your mat and walk. The blind man, John 9, 7, go wash in the pool. He had to splash water on his eyes. He had to do something, Lazarus. John 11, 43, come out, the accusing crowd. You cast the first stone, John 8, 7, to the rich young ruler. Go sell what you have.

4:06Go do the one thing. Give up the one thing that is your identity. And that's a Matthew 19, 21. The servants of Cana, fill your jars with water. Ordinary obedience became part of the miracle, which was fill the water pots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And you can go read that in John 27. And then of course the disciples, feed the 5,000. Matthew 14, 16. The reason I wanted to bring that up, because it hit me again today, a lot of times I pray. And then I sit and I'll wait. Okay, God, it's a magic genie. I've rubbed the bottle, come out. I need my three wishes. Flip the coin. I do all this thing. I call it karma. I'm sitting and I'm waiting. And sometimes I got to be honest with you. Waiting is what we're called to do. I'm not going to say it's not. There's plenty of times in the Bible where waiting was part of it, but usually waiting was associated with either fasting or praying or something else that was required by the person. However, in my life, I tend to pray and then put it on the shelf.

5:07Instead of, okay, God, I'm praying for this. Now show me, with discernment, show me with a conviction. Is there something little that I should do, the small thing that will lead to the big change? Or the small thing that will lead to the big miracle? I forget that almost every single time in my life, even salvation has to be accepted. And sometimes I fall on the trap of simply praying, air, quote, handing it off to God. Let him worry about it. But that's usually, I forget my part, where I've got to leave the pig pin, right? The prodigal son, I've got to, I've got to cast my nets or drop my nets and follow him, throw my nets onto this side. I have got to stretch out my withered hand. I've got to be the one that struggles to come out of the grave like Lazarus. I've got to do the small thing that seems normal, like fill up the water pots or go splash water in your eyes. Something that is mundane that seems to have no meaning,

6:08but it's required of me. And I might dismiss it because it seems like it's not that important, but I'm defining everything by my terms. Sometimes, every time in my life, at least, when there's something that is going to happen and it involves God, he is going to ask me to be part of that thing. Maybe you too, something to consider. How often do we get stuck with simply praying and then waiting with no expectations that we have a part in the change and the miracle that we are wanting to happen? Have a great day, everybody.