A Dangerous Prayer…

The news has been full of senseless acts of violence that will forever impact the lives of many. It’s particularly horrendous when appalling tragedies happen around holiday celebrations. Even so, we can’t quite comprehend the full force and ugliness of sin and Satan’s grip unless we are somehow connected and involved. An accident, an addiction, an unfulfilled dream, a death? What will it take for us to take our eyes off of ourselves and our pettiness and return to God?

It’s thrilling to be on the mountaintop of life looking out at the paramount view. It’s freeing to rejoice with those who have overcome tremendous obstacles and celebrate jointly. However, would we truly value the blessings without the dreadful days? Isn’t it the broken times in life that are ripe for growth? No matter how unjust and deep the pain, there’s something innately attractive about a person who exudes brokenness in the midst of terrible suffering. We are more easily drawn to give and have compassion on the broken lives, the helpless and the desperate.

In the brokenness is where true beauty begins. I’ve seen it in people when I attend a funeral or a wake, when the pregnancy abruptly ends, when money is tight, and when relationships bite us. The weary tears of the brokenhearted produce genuine humility and place human frailty on display; they are precious in God’s sight because souls are laid bare and empty facades are left behind. When we are broken we are RIGHT where God wants us. Even the famous apostle Paul, writer of the majority of the New Testament, said pride could have overcome him. He wrote, “Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong’” (2 Corinthians 12:7-10). Always remember whose kingdom you belong to: Jesus’. His is the upside-down kingdom in which the last are put first, the weak are made strong, the poor are made rich, the lost are FOUND, and the broken are truly FREE (Matthew 5 and more)!

I have been listening to a sermon series by John MacArthur on the trials of life and a few takeaways are as follows:

1. The only way out of a trial is through it (no side exits)!
2. Where “we turn” during a trial will clue us into our own faith in God or lack of it. The trial becomes a mirror into the reality or illusion of our claim to follow Jesus.
3. We truly NEED trials in order to be refined in our character, specifically in developing perseverance.

Let’s consider the words of Paul in 1 Peter 1:6-7: “In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”

When I write a note to a friend for a birthday or holiday, I never say, “I pray for blessings and trials in your life this year!” Nope, I leave the trials part out and usually say, “May God bless you and your family!” Nevertheless, truth be told is the blessings are largely going to come as a result of trials! Without them we would not grow into the full likeness of Our God so the world can behold His glory and difference in us. Though I may never write it out like that on a card, I should be praying for God to bless me and others through the breaking of ourselves. Take a look:

The Lord is near to the brokenhearted
And saves those who are crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18

A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise. Psalm 51:17

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Psalm 147:3

I dare not pray it or it may come true, but I must:

This fleeting life is meant for more than just stuff or happy times. God, BREAK ME. Break my spirit, that it may no longer be satisfied with the things of this world. Break my heart, that it may see those around me before myself. Break my will, that it may surrender to Yours, for the BEST plan is always Yours and not my own. Break my tongue, that it may no longer speak useless utterings and critiques but rather be tamed by Your Spirit to carefully share love, truth, and hope. Break my futile habits, that I may consecrate my time to godly influences and not worldly ones. Break me so I may be poured out as a vessel more worthy for Your use, oh God. Jesus, it’s still early in the year and I know each day comes with its own set of troubles and joys. Help me to live well in the moment, in the season you have placed me in. The second I think I don’t need you is when I am in danger of wandering from Your ways. Keep me in a spiritually broken state that I may embrace FREEDOM from self in the ashes of life and consequently give YOU ALL the GLORY!

Have you prayed the dangerous prayer today or sometime before? Repeat it afresh and take time to listen to one or both of the songs below. God be with each of you, dear ones, in the process of being made broken which He uses to make us WHOLE! Let us not waste another day or moment without Jesus. Amen.