Lately, I’ve become consciously aware of a major hindrance in my life, though it’s been poking and prodding my subconscious for a while. It’s a mindset that reduces my effectiveness in various ways, not the least of which is in prayer. Just writing this article emphasized the problem, as I had to write it (not just edit) three times before it became uncomplicated. I’m referring to letting my mind make a task (prayer, grocery shopping, making a tough phone call, studying, doing household chores, etc.) a bigger deal than it is. I even managed to make writing about it a big deal!
The Lord has reactivated some previous prayer assignments for me. It excited me initially, until my thoughts pushed me back into that big deal mindset, trying to figure out when and how and how long and how frequently, etc., these prayer times would be. The early excitement about these special times of prayer soon morphed into a much more daunting task than Daddy intended. From His mindset, He and I will simply be yoked together in prayer concerning specific issues or people until the assignment is finished. Since He created time, He understands human time constraints, while knowing how to work His whole timeless plan within them. When time or personal efforts are my focus, prayer quickly turns into another task that becomes a big deal.
Matthew 11:28-30 AMP 28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I will tease and relieve and refresh your souls.] 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle (meek) and humble (lowly) in heart, and you will find rest (relief and ease and refreshment and recreation and blessed quiet) for your souls. 30 For My yoke is wholesome (useful, good — not harsh, hard, sharp, or pressing, but comfortable, gracious, and pleasant), and My burden is light and easy to be borne.
If I would really heed what Jesus said in this passage, I would find such blessing in these times with the Lord as He shares with me what is on His heart. Instead, I have considered it as something more to fit into my schedule. Even when I’ve worked to stay attentive to His Spirit as I prayed, big deal mindset has run constantly in the background, reminding me of other things that need doing, and how much time this is taking. Is doing laundry, cleaning the house, or even writing a monthly article really that important? What more might We have affected in prayer, had I let the important thing be the big deal!
Romans 7:24-8:3 NIV 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God — through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. 8:1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering.
Thank God for His mercy, forgiveness, and patience! Our God, the One Who knows all of my weaknesses, continues to work with me to bring His kingdom to this earth. Those other big deals of the natural mind – the ones that overwhelm – fade in comparison to His reality and perspective. It’s not about me and all the tasks I think I am supposed to do for God. It’s about Him and what He wants to bring forth all over the world – through me, one of His heirs in Jesus Christ! That’s the really big deal!
