“As the rain and snow
come down from heaven and do not return to it without watering the earth and
making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for
the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth. It will not return to me
empty but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I
sent it.”
Isaiah 55:10-11
I was taught early in my Christian walk to pray according to
scripture. When I was pregnant with my first child, fearful that I might not do
everything “right,” I prayed Psalm 139:13-16 and Jeremiah 1:5 over him,
trusting that God was knitting him together in my womb, that he had a great
plan and purpose for him.
When our family was going through a particularly difficult
time involving my first-born, I would ask advice from people who were godly and
who knew God’s word. I respected and trusted them all, yet each one had
different advice. I remember crying out to God, “Who do I believe?! What is
truth?!” He gently reminded me that His word is truth.
So I ran back to Psalm 139, Jeremiah 1 and other scriptures
and I began praying those scriptures fervently over my son. We would have good
days and bad, but for over 10 years, the general direction was more of a
downward spiral than what I viewed as answered prayer. I got angry with God and
said, “God, I have prayed your Word over my children their whole lives, and
look where it’s gotten us! Have you not heard my prayers? Have you ignored
them? Are you there? Can you even hear me?!”
I got very cynical and may have even taken a step back from
praying the Word over my children. Early in January of this year, I heard the
Lord say two words to me: “Get understanding.” I knew exactly what He was saying:
Get back into the Word. I wish I could say that I spent the past eight months
digging relentlessly into my Bible. But my efforts have been a little
half-hearted. I did dig out my old scripture cards that I used to carry with me
everywhere I went, and I got out my Chronological Bible that I started to read
several years ago. But I think I still carried that cynicism about God’s Word.
This past weekend, the sermon at our church was “Busting
Myths About the Bible.” My heart was stirred again as I listened our pastor
share his passion about, not only the truth of God’s word, but the life and
power it contains. I realized that I used to have that same passion, but that
it had diminished in me. That’s scary! This Word that I have based my whole
existence on was no longer the center of my prayer life. I didn’t see it as “alive
and powerful” anymore.
So I went to Hebrews 4:12 and thought back about 25 years
ago when I first read that scripture and how I felt then. That reminded me of
Isaiah 55:11,and I saw something that I hadn’t thought much about in the past.
God says His word will accomplish what HE pleases, and it
will achieve the purpose for which HE sent it! My cynicism came because I was
angry that God’s Word was not accomplishing what I wanted it to. It did not
achieve the purpose for which I sent it. Ooohhh, big difference.
I had been demanding that God conform to MY desires,
treating Him like that big Santa in the Sky. And when He didn’t, I got angry.
God forgive me. Let me never again attempt to manipulate your Word to make it
accomplish what I please. I submit to You and Your will, Your purpose, Your
desires. Thank You that Your word is “living and active. Sharper than any
double-edged sword [scalpel] it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit,
joints and marrow, it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” The
thoughts and attitudes of my heart have needed some judging. God, restore to me
my passion for your Word, my fervent desire for Your Word, for in it is My
Unswerving Hope.
