For the past few weeks, my Sunday Inspirations, I have been writing messages inspired by Mark Batterson in his book Wild Goose Chase. And today and next week I will continue doing so. In his chapter titled “Goose Bumps” Mark writes:

If you’ve never identified your God-ordained passions, let me give you some simple advice. Start praying. Prayer makes us spiritually fertile. And the more we pray, the more passionate we become . Our convictions grow stronger, and our dreams grow bigger.

Nehemiah prayed like it depended on God. And that is half of pursuing your passions. The other half is working like it depends on you. Or maybe I should say it this way: you need to start praying… and then you need to quit praying and start doing something about it.

There are some things you don’t need to pray about. You don’t need to pray about whether you should love your neighbor. You don’t need to pray about whether you should give generously or serve sacrificially. You don’t need to pray about whether you should bless someone when it’s within your power to do so. What you need to do is quit praying and start acting.

I’ve been challenged by the action-oriented approach to Scripture proposed by Peter Marshall, former chaplain of the US Senate.

“I wonder what would happen if we all agreed to read one of the Gospels until we came to a place that told us to do something, then went out to do it, and only after we had done it, began reading again? There are aspects of the Gospel that are puzzling and difficult to understand. But our problems are not centered around the things we don’t understand, but rather in the things we do understand, the things we could not possibly misunderstand. Our problem is not so much that we don’t know what we should do. We know perfectly well, but we don’t want to do it.”

Please don’t misinterpret what I’m trying to say. Pray about everything. Then pray some more. But at some point, you need to quit praying and start acting. One of the great mistakes we make is asking God to do for us what God wants us to do for Him.

When Christianity turns into a noun, it becomes a turnoff. Christianity was always intended to be a verb. And, more specifically, an action verb. The title of the book of Acts says it all, doesn’t it.

Prayer Power
Heavenly Father, thank You for this precious gift of another day of life. Thank You for the gifts of hearing and sight both in the natural and the spiritual. Help us to notice what You are doing today and to partner with You in that. Help us to Listen, Trust, and Obey to turn our faith into an action very to manifest Your love and Your power in the lives of those you connect us. Help us to be salt and light to the hurting in this world. In Jesus name, we pray. Amen and hallelujah!

I throw out two precautions here. First, it’s important to intentionally stay connected to God moment by moment with a continual attitude of prayer and inquiring of Him. However, we can do that while in action.

Second, busyness is a great enemy of relationships and a close walk with God. I observe many Christians busy most of the time doing things for God instead of flowing with Him and having ample time to recharge their batteries.

More blessings

1) This past week I read “The Traveler’s Gift: Seven Decisions that Determine Personal Success” by Andy Andrews. That is life changer. I ordered the book for my Kindle after a friend who is very successful in the marketplace told me that is his favorite book. The most important lesson I gleaned is this:

“One decision that you make can literally change the world.”

2) In the next 3 weeks, I am hosting 3 life-changing webinars. On Wed Feb 13 at 8 pm EST, Wende Jones will be sharing a powerful message titled

2013 – A Year of Fulfilled Expectations – Are You Ready For Acceleration?

If you want advanced notice about these and other upcoming webinars, please enter your name and email in the form at webinars777.com. Thank you.

3) “Elijah Fasting From Action by Arthur Burk” on YouTube (8 min video)

 
Blessings to pray and then “quit praying” when the Wild Goose prompts you to act!