The Leper's prayer

Recently I began to evaluate my personal prayer pattern.My prayers were long, emotional and sometimes even teary eyed. But somehow I didn't feel connected to the heart of my Master.

I was trying to figure out what was wrong. My prayers, my talks with God were of high priority now ,I needed Him to guide me, strengthen me and encourage me. It was not the 'making-a-melody' prayer neither was I narrating mundane events to Him. I was desperately needing God so much. But...

No sign of the Master's voice.

So I put my dead prayers in the post-mortem table.And I began to see the different stages of my prayer.

*.......the first stage of setting the stage and the person of focus.

"God I need this, I want this, I'd love to do this, You know what my desire is. You know what I long for. You placed a calling in my life. "

*......and the second stage of victorious declarations.

"God you are All Powerful, you are able to do more than what I can ask or imagine, you give me only the best, I can do all things through you, I am more than a conqueror because of you, You love me with an everlasting love, Oh God! you alone are able to do wonders in my life"

*.....and the final closing remarks.

"I surrender to your will God "

*.....Amen

Okay!! What you just saw was not just my prayer pattern, but my attitude.

My!! things come first.

I use God's power to endorse it...

And because I have no choice, and because my prayer has to sound 'spiritual' I say, "I surrender to your will God" as a concluding remark.

It was then that a leper from the Bible taught me a valuable lesson.

Luke 5:12 (Amplified Bible)

While He was in one of the towns, there came a man full of (covered with) leprosy; and when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and implored Him, saying, Lord, if You are willing, You are able to cure me and make me clean.

Let me make myself clear, I am not trying to create a prayer formula here. I am just sharing a little attitude check that the Holy Spirit made in my life in the last few days.

What struck me, was this guy's way of asking Jesus to cure him, " Lord, if You are willing, You are able to cure me and make me clean."

In spite of the physical pain,distress and humiliation that he was going through, he gave priority to the will of Jesus . What he wanted, and his desire to be healed came last. The will of Jesus was his primary concern.

I usually used to think of God's will as His plan, His agenda, His flowchart and what He wants to do. And our life takes shape according to the course of actions that He's planned before hand. But there is something more to God's will that I failed to look at.

The Greek word for "willing" used in the above Scripture is, "thelo". "Thelo" actually means desire, fond of doing, delight, pleasure. The nearest word in English for this is 'will'.

What we usually attribute 'will' to is just a strict strategy of God,and nothing more. But God's will is not just His agenda but something that He is fond of doing, something that He delights in, and something that His heart longs after.

When I surrender to the 'will' of God. I'm not just executing His plan, but I am constantly doing that which He delights and pleasures in.

Isn't that a privilege that God should choose me to do what He is fond of doing?

The Greek word for "able to do" used in the above Scripture is, "dunamai", which means capable, strong, powerful.

Whatever God delights to do, He is capable and powerful enough to accomplish it. So I when I surrender to do His pleasure; By His might He will enable me to succeed in it.

What God wills to do, He is able to do, but, what I desire to do I am not able to do.

The Holy Spirit made me realize that my attitude towards God's will was not right.

I thought I was sacrificing my own dreams and desires to surrender to God's will. But I was terribly wrong. Living for my dreams would only mean suicide because I don't have the capacity to fulfill them. But living for God's vision and plan is rewarding and complete, because He has the strength and power to fulfill His dream through my life.

I won't deny that sometimes its hard to accept God's will for our life. Even Jesus found it terribly agonizing.

"And going a little farther, He threw Himself upon the ground on His face and prayed saying, My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will [not what I desire], but as You will and desire." Matthew 26:39

Jesus surrendered to the perfect will of our Father. Because He knew that what His Father desired to do, He is able to complete. And just the same way, our Father enabled Jesus to a glorious ressurection, the defeat of the grave and the victory over death.

Today you and I enjoy access to the Father because of God's pleasure to invite us and the Son's obedience to submit to the Father's perfect pleasing will.

I am getting back to my Master's heart.

"Master, not that I desire but as You will and desire."

I can already feel His sweet embrace.....