Devotional:

What do you feel when you pray? Is it comforting for you? Do you feel a sense of peace coming to Jesus in prayer knowing that He’s ultimately your only hope? Or do you feel anxious or maybe even skeptical? Here you are, desperately praying for something.

Praying for clarity from the Lord about a direction or decision for your life. You then decide, or “guess” knowing that the Holy Spirit is leading you because you prayed about it. And then you go and do whatever it is He placed on your heart based on that “guess”. That’s the peaceful prayer.

Or do you pray but instead of listening and waiting, you go do what you want instead of what God is telling you to do? That’s the anxious or skeptical prayer. Or maybe you just go and do without praying at all, and realize later that you probably should’ve prayed about it?

I’m sure you’ve heard it before from Joby on stage. “Pray, guess, go!” Typically, he is referring to mission trips and how we have three years to go on one or find another church. But that’s really what we do when we pray for something, right? I mean, that’s always how I feel when I pray for something or for God to lead me in the right direction.

All prayers are received and answered according to God’s will, even when we don’t see it or understand it. It is the “guess” part of that statement that is really the answer to the prayer. Or at least it is the part that brings on the answer to the prayer. Your guess leads to your go, and that action carries out the will of God in your life. So, is your “guess” from you? Or is your “guess” the Holy Spirit? That’s the part of our prayer that you can control. Are you listening or are you only seeking your own will?

When you pray with insincerity or a self-seeking agenda, it robs God of His glory and robs us of our joy.

“We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him.” — John 9:31

Every day we run into hundreds of opportunities to be insincere: with our families, coworkers and even in our prayers. How many times have you been in your car and remembered Susie’s medical condition and you said you would pray for her? Now you’re on your way to bring her dinner that you signed up to bring and you remember you never actually prayed for her.

So, here it goes “Dear God, I pray for Susie’s healing and comfort in her time of need. Amen” Now, all good, check done, you prayed for Susie. Or maybe you ran into a difficult situation at work that could have really gotten you into a lot of trouble and you say a quick “help me” prayer to God in the moment?

We expect these little soft balls up to God to cover the bill, but the reality is, we are not praying because God is big and can do mighty things. We are praying out of our own selfishness and guilt because we feel rotten about telling Susie we’d pray for her and didn’t, or we screwed up at work and we need help.

 Is your prayer life like your day-to-day life? Is it your quick fix tool you use to scrape by when you drop the ball? Or is it your last resort when everything else you tried on your own failed? Or is prayer just another thing on your to-do list of progressive sanctification? Are your prayers for God’s glory, or your own?

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” — 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

“I cried to him with my mouth, and high praise was on my tongue If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. But truly God has listened; he has attended to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me!” — Psalm 66:17-20

“When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood.” — Isaiah 1:15

When you choose to put your own wants and desires ahead of your prayers, you leave the door open for Satan to walk right in and take control.

If I can be completely honest, Joby and I did not pray and seek God on a very important decision we made only nine months into our marriage. That decision was made based on comfort, adventure, and the love of a family that was dear to us.

The church Joby served at as youth pastor in Virginia was special to us. It was his first church out of seminary. It was where we got married and it was full of people we loved and cherished. Mainly Pastor Bill, his wife, Penny and their two children, Shea and Will. Pastor Bill did Joby’s ordination service. They were like our family, and we spent lots of time doing life together.

When we got the news that he had taken a job in Athens, Georgia, our hearts sank until Bill said, “They also need a Youth Pastor. Would you come with us?” We didn’t even think about it. We didn’t take time to pray about it. We just said “Yes!” And we went.

Married nine months, selling a house we had just bought nine months prior, leaving my full-time job, I turned to Joby and said, “where you go, I go…” and it was settled. Of course, my natural state of fear and anxiety kicked in, but I knew that we would be ok because we were following Bill and Penny. And we trusted them with our lives.

Our almost three years in Athens were some of our most fond times in our marriage and some of the most challenging times. Athens was amazing. I was only 24 years old and decided to go back to school (in hindsight it was for all the student perks we could get). So, life was fun!

Joby was involved in several of the UGA college ministries and we lead a college bible study at our house every week. We obviously became obsessed with the Georgia Bulldogs and went to every gym meet, football, basketball and baseball game we could. But shortly after serving in the church, we noticed the challenges within it, and that affected our relationship.

Joby felt oppressed and I believed some self-doubt and depression was kicking in. We quickly realized that we had walked into a church of watered-down, superficial religion. Many in the church (with deep pockets) were more concerned with making secular academia work within the church and embracing the worldly view of religion vs. the “narrow-minded” view of Christians.

Here’s an example: Joby got a call one evening from a church member who had a daughter in youth. He literally asked Joby to stop talking about Jesus so much because he was offending her Jewish friend that she would bring to church with her now and then.

Another example: Joby and I were taking a tour of the church soon after arriving in Athens and we walked into a Sunday School classroom. There was a banner in the front that said, and I can’t remember word for word but, “One mountain top, many roads, One God, many names…” I remember distinctly us reading that and then looking at each other with a look of “Oh no, what have we gotten ourselves into?”

Those three years, like I said, were the best of times and the worst of times. Joby almost left the ministry altogether. He had two job offers that would’ve paid six figures. And when you’re bringing in the lower end of five figures, 20 years ago, for us, that was pretty tempting.

As our marriage struggled and we fell deeper into a dark hole, we eventually sat down and talked. I told him that we could never raise a child in this church, and he agreed. After almost four years of marriage, it was time to think about expanding our family at some point. So, I asked him, “Hey, would it be ok if I put your resume out there?” He agreed and updated his resume. I sent it to every church that was hiring. That is when Beach UMC called and well, here we are now!

I tell you that long story not to say going to Athens was a mistake. Quite the opposite. I truly believe that we were there for a reason. And, looking back and seeing all that God has done in our lives throughout our 22 years of marriage, I think He called us there even though we didn’t seek Him first in our decision.

I think He would’ve answered our prayer the same way and we would’ve gone to Athens. But I do believe that the challenges we faced in our marriage, in the ministry of the church and in Joby questioning his calling may not have wiggled its way in if we knew God sent us there for a reason. I truly believe that when we made the decision to go, leaving out the prayer, it gave Satan a foothold to mess with our own faith and marriage. The enemy was telling us we screwed up, we didn’t have what it took to be there and it was all a mistake.

But it wasn’t a mistake. God used us there. Many beautiful, God-fearing, faithful families were in that church that desired Jesus just as we desired Jesus in the church and the youth ministry. So many lives were changed in our student ministry from middle school all the way through college. That is how I know we went to Athens for a reason. God still chose to use us there, despite us leaving out the most important part of the decision. Prayer.

God can use any situation for good and still uses us even when we get it out of order and chase after our own selfish desires. But do not leave yourself open to the enemy taking advantage of those moments of weakness, impulsiveness, self-doubt or selfishness. His answer to your prayer could in fact be what you would’ve chosen all along. Maybe not. But in all things seek Him first because He never fails us.

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” — Matthew 6:33

When you pray with a humble and earnest heart, God will answer and the right doors will open.

“His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the legs of a man, but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love.” — Psalm 147:10-11

God delights in the prayers of His people. He listens to our prayers! Every single one of them. Our prayers reflect the condition of our hearts and the condition of the relationship with our Heavenly Father.

Is your personal relationship with Jesus full of faith, trust, humility, brokenness and fear and trembling at the magnitude of who He is and all that He has done and will do in your life?

Do you pray with the knowledge that you are nothing without Him?

“If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” — John 15:7

God promises to hear the prayers of the righteous.

“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” — James 5:16

“…the prayer of the upright is acceptable to Him.” — Proverbs 15:8

“The Lord is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous.” — Proverbs 15:29

The answers you receive may not be what you thought they would be or desired them to be, but the will of God is done when you come to him with complete surrender and trust! When we do that, the Holy Spirit is there to guide us in the direction God is leading. It’s ok to “guess” what to do next when your heart has cried out to God, and you completely give it over to Him. I call that “guess” the Holy Spirit.

You may not always feel like you’re guessing, though. God can reveal Himself as clearly as the burning bush. The “guess” is when you allow the Holy Spirit to guide you and drive every decision, every action, every thought and every purpose in your life. I just call it a guess because, well that’s what it feels like a lot of times!

“And when they bring you to trial and deliver you over, do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.” — Mark 13:11

The Trinity: Father, Spirit, Son. Pray, guess, go. We pray earnestly and sincerely to Almighty God. We listen to the Holy Spirit speak to us and guide our “guess.” And we go with the full knowledge that Jesus Christ is with us and He spent 33 years on this earth doing God’s will. He paved the way for us to do the same. He gave His life for us so that we could be free from sin and live according to His purpose and plan.

Even the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray! Our prayers can be just that! “Lord, teach me how to pray!” The first step to sincere prayer life is realizing you don’t have all the answers. God just wants you to be present, eyes fixed on Him and His glory alone.

I would love for you to read Psalm 119 as your prayer today. It’s long, in fact, it’s the longest chapter in the Bible. So, find time for this. I want you to fully fix your heart, soul and mind on the words of David, pouring out such a beautiful expression of love for his Heavenly Father.