I Stand In The Gap

Standing in Prayer, Serving The World

Menu
  • Welcome
  • About Us
    • Purpose
    • Who We Are
    • What We Believe
  • Reflections
    • Kathy’s Reflections
    • Steve’s Reflections
  • Prayer Alerts
  • Prayer Updates
  • Request Prayer
    • Prayer List
  • Resources
    • Prayer Closet
    • The Gospel
    • References
    • Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us
    • Subscribe to Our Mailing List
    • Support Steve and Kathy
Menu

Do You Recognize It?

Posted on 01/12/1107/31/18 by Kathy

RecognitionIt’s all too easy for us to think that God isn’t listening, or doesn’t respond to our prayers, when the answer is right in front of us.  Unfortunately – for our expectations anyway – it doesn’t look like what we expected it to, or wanted it to, so we don’t even see it.

I know I, all too often, have very specific ideas of what I want from God, and if I don’t get exactly that, I tend to think He didn’t answer my prayer. Now, specificity is a good thing, and God wants us to be specific rather than vague when we place our concerns before Him. The problem isn’t with being specific, but rather with limiting our expectations to only one possible answer. If we don’t get that answer, we got no answer at all – or so we tend to think. It’s very hard for us, either because we want control or simply our American instant-gratification mind set, to accept that sometimes the answer might be “no”. Or perhaps its “wait a while”. We, or at least I, find it very easy to interpret “wait a while” as “no”, even though it isn’t. Or maybe the better, more beneficial or fulfilling answer looks a little different from the specific version we asked for. Rather like wanting a specific shade of bag or shoe only to realize that a different shade actually matches or contrasts more attractively with the outfit, but we hadn’t seen that beforehand.

God sees the big picture, while we only see what is right in front of us, and even then sometimes our focus is a bit fuzzy. One of my favorite images of how different our perspective is from God’s is that of a weaving or  piece of needlework.  We see the back side, and we might see a bit of the pattern, but we often see more knots and tangles and confusing patches of color, but God sees the front, and even more, He knows the pattern even before it is woven or stitched.

Father God, forgive me for being so focused on my own expectations that I miss the evidence of Your activity all around me.  Help me to see with Your eyes, and recognize Your many acts of grace, mercy, and generosity that impact my life constantly.  Especially when an answer to prayer isn’t exactly what I was expecting or hoping for, help me to see it as the answer I needed.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Kathy

Share Button
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Reflections

  • 03/31/20   How important are the Gentiles to God’s purposes?
  • 03/20/20   Thoughts on Psalm 91
  • 03/12/20   Risky Business

Recent Prayer Alerts

  • 10/07/20   Prayer Alert: USA – Elections and Unity
  • 08/18/20   Prayer Alert: Idukki Landslide Death Toll Climbs to 49

Recent Prayer Updates

  • 10/07/20 14:16   September Prayer Update – Delight
  • 09/05/20 14:18   August Prayer Update: Words, Part 2
  • 08/05/20 15:32   July Prayer Update: Words
  • 07/01/20 17:55   June Prayer Update: Seasons – A Time for Everything
The Gospel
Facebook
Support Steve and Kathy
Subscribe to Our Mailing List

Translate

en English
af Afrikaanssq Shqipam አማርኛar العربيةhy Հայերենaz Azərbaycan dilieu Euskarabe Беларуская моваbn বাংলাbs Bosanskibg Българскиca Catalàceb Cebuanony Chichewazh-CN 简体中文zh-TW 繁體中文co Corsuhr Hrvatskics Čeština‎da Dansknl Nederlandsen Englisheo Esperantoet Eestitl Filipinofi Suomifr Françaisfy Fryskgl Galegoka ქართულიde Deutschel Ελληνικάgu ગુજરાતીht Kreyol ayisyenha Harshen Hausahaw Ōlelo Hawaiʻiiw עִבְרִיתhi हिन्दीhmn Hmonghu Magyaris Íslenskaig Igboid Bahasa Indonesiaga Gaeligeit Italianoja 日本語jw Basa Jawakn ಕನ್ನಡkk Қазақ тіліkm ភាសាខ្មែរko 한국어ku كوردی‎ky Кыргызчаlo ພາສາລາວla Latinlv Latviešu valodalt Lietuvių kalbalb Lëtzebuergeschmk Македонски јазикmg Malagasyms Bahasa Melayuml മലയാളംmt Maltesemi Te Reo Māorimr मराठीmn Монголmy ဗမာစာne नेपालीno Norsk bokmålps پښتوfa فارسیpl Polskipt Portuguêspa ਪੰਜਾਬੀro Românăru Русскийsm Samoangd Gàidhligsr Српски језикst Sesothosn Shonasd سنڌيsi සිංහලsk Slovenčinasl Slovenščinaso Afsoomaalies Españolsu Basa Sundasw Kiswahilisv Svenskatg Тоҷикӣta தமிழ்te తెలుగుth ไทยtr Türkçeuk Українськаur اردوuz O‘zbekchavi Tiếng Việtcy Cymraegxh isiXhosayi יידישyo Yorùbázu Zulu
References & Copyrights | Send Prayer Request
Any material may be copied & distributed subject to inclusion of this copyright notice and our World Wide Web URL http://istandinthegap.org
Privacy Policy
© 2021 I Stand In The Gap | Powered by Minimalist Blog WordPress Theme