Praying to Flourish

– June 23, 2017 – 

God is not only the navigator of our life, but He has been called the master sculptor as well. There is a parable that says He is the potter, we are the clay. I love that thought. He is also the gardener of our lives. Just like the Japanese Banzai gardeners who sculpt and prune and fertilize their trees, God molds us, shapes us, and encourages us to be something great in His eyes.

God prunes the negativity from our lives if we let Him. But we have to let Him do His work in us and through us. God knows what we need in our lives, He knows what we can handle in our lives, He also knows the desires of our heart. God wants us to need Him so that He can prune us and use the negativity of our lives to become the fertilizer of our future. He wants us to become the “salt and light of the earth.” Jesus is the “Light of the world.”(John 8:12) Salt in Jesus’s time was used as fertilizer. So we as Christians, through grace, are to fertilize and bring His light to the world. Many times, we bring His light through prayer.

Praying for others intentionally, and for ourselves specifically, not only increases our relationship with God, but it also reveals to God what we think and who we think needs His help. I love this thought of how to pray from Anne Cetas entitled “Five-Finger Prayers,” hold your hands together and think of your fingers:

“Let your thumbs represent those closest to you,

Let your index pointer finger represent those who teach and preach,

Let your middle finger which is tallest, represent those who have authority over you, your boss and government,

Let your next finger which is weakest represent those who are troubled and suffering,

Then let your little finger represent you.” (Anne Cetas, “Five-Finger Prayer” Our Daily Bread 6/27/2017)

The world is bigger than us, God doesn’t want to do for us, what He can do through and with us.

(Photos of Our Daily Bread daily devotionals)