{"id":35886,"date":"2023-11-01T03:30:52","date_gmt":"2023-11-01T10:30:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/?p=35886"},"modified":"2023-10-26T20:43:35","modified_gmt":"2023-10-27T03:43:35","slug":"november-1-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/2023\/11\/01\/november-1-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"November 1, 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div><\/div><\/div>

Longings<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u00a0<\/em>\u201cLord, all my desire is before You; and my sighing is not hidden from You.\u201d<\/em> Psalm 38:9<\/p>\n

Once when I was a new believer, I remember that I had a very bad cold. I happened to be writing a letter to my aunt (long before email and internet), and was asking her to pray for my healing. I wrote, \u201cYou only need to ask Him once, not over and over. He\u2019ll hear your prayer.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the surface, it is true: God hears the prayers of the righteous. \u201cConfess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much\u201d<\/em> (James 5:16). I knew and believed this, and still do.<\/p>\n

But God hearing her prayer was not my thought when I said she only needed to pray once. My honest thought at that time was that God was very busy, so we shouldn\u2019t bug Him. \u201cTherefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him\u201d<\/em> (Matthew 6:8). He hears the first time, so don\u2019t pray a second time, since He already knows.<\/p>\n

I also felt like praying for a cold was a small thing, and God was doing big things around the world, so my insignificant cold was an unworthy prayer.<\/p>\n

It took some time before I began to understand that God wants us to bring all things to Him. Big or small, hard or easy, long-term or short-term. More to the point, He wants our heart, no matter what is in it. If I am heavily burdened, He wants to carry it. If I am afraid, He wants me to run to Him for safety. If I am tired, He wants to give me rest. If I am unloved, or discouraged, or uncertain, or have any other emotional state, He wants me to look to Him for fulfillment.<\/p>\n

The Bible is full of exhortations for us to turn to Him. All our dreams, all our longings, all our desires, our sighs and our cries, can be plainly expressed to Him. We don\u2019t need to fear His rejection. If we have a great big shiny dream, we can tell Him all about it. Yes, He already knows, but we<\/em> may not really know it like we think we do, and telling Him helps us identify it.<\/p>\n

Bring it all. He wants to hear about it. He wants to speak to that longing, that desire, that hope, that dream. Nothing is too small, too insignificant, too lowly. What\u2019s in our heart is important to Him.<\/p>\n

Father, today we express that deepest longing to You. We are not ashamed to tell You about it, because You love us. Shape our hopes and dreams into what You have prepared for us, what You have created us to be and do in Your kingdom. So be it, Father. We love You.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

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