Last year, my church produced a series called “Here I Am.” It was such a powerful message that it’s become the spiritual theme of the year for me. It’s amazing to consider the significance of those three tiny words. Here. I. Am. But if you do a quick search through the Bible, you’ll see this phrase play a critical role in some huge interactions.
I was at a church service recently where the preacher said that God had told him to remind “the person who feels they are alone” that they aren’t because God is there and He loves you more than you could ever know.
In an audience of several hundred, I’m sure “that person” could be almost anyone.
It reminded me of a day earlier that week when I had come home from a long day at work with no agenda for the evening. I recently moved to the coast in Florida so I made a quick run to the beach before coming home for dinner. With more time to kill, I started thinking of more options.
“I could really go for a beer,” I thought. “I know, I’ll have a beer on the back porch. With Jesus. You know, quasi-prayer, shoot the breeze style beer with Jesus. That’s normal, right?”
It was awkward. And kind of pathetic. And it didn’t last very long.
Has faith or prayer even been risky for you? Have you ever believed something would happen and risked being let down if it didn’t? Or you prayed for something ideal knowing it could hurt you as much as help you.
Last month I got to write a guest post for my friend Chris Hendrix’s faith-based blog exploring just that topic. I took some reflections on faith, doubt, old prayers, and tied it in with the game of Monopoly. Let’s face it, when you pray for God’s best, it’s like drawing a Chance card in Monopoly. It could help or it could hurt. But you’ll never know unless you play.
© 2024 — The Christian Layman