One day while reading over my journal entries, I noticed I am most often motivated to write at a time when I needed to hear from God. Perhaps I was worried about circumstances going on in my life. Whenever we have a need to hear a word from the Lord we need to remember Jesus has prepared a way for us to go to the throne of God and make our request known.  More often than not we prefer to talk to everybody but God; people dispense advice without regards to prayer about the subject at hand.

 The result of different opinions is we are left more confused than when we first inquired. The answer to our dilemma can always be found in the word of God; and if we have hidden this word within our heart than we should be able to access this knowledge within our own inner spirit. Such is the case; many of us do not regularly read or study the bible, so we are left floundering for an answer to feel right to us. When we do this we trade intelligent biblical wisdom for emotional satisfaction. This begins the cycle of more confusion and more conflicting changes when our emotional state changes. I have discovered a few facts to line up my decision making process. First of all, God always has a plan for every circumstance we go through. The test or trial has come our way for a reason and it will turn out better for our good or for God’s glory to shine through. Second, God’s timing is always perfect. It may not match our personal timing, but God knows best when to step in. Third, we must remember we have nothing to fear while going through any  trying times in our life.

I was once told fear is false evidence appearing real; this means whatever is causing fear in our life is not validated by true facts. It only appears to be a threat to our life, happiness, safety, or security. This brings me to the fourth fact I have learned, we must possess a teachable spirit. We have to admit to ourselves we don’t have all the answers but God does. Many times God desires to teach us a lesson we don’t want to learn, but it is necessary to move us into the position God wants to use us in. If we go to God with a broken spirit and a contrite heart requesting understanding and guidance, we can expect God to provide the guidance of the Holy Spirit to direct our path. II Chronicles 7:14 says, If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. Jesus is always in the business of building our faith, and He prays for us also. 1Thessalonians 5:23 states, And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  We must learn to trust God in every circumstance and pray for God to teach us the lessons we need to learn in order to mature our faith.

To sum it up, we need hope. The bible says, Hope deferred makes the heart sick: but when the desire comes, it is a tree of life. (Proverbs 13:12) This means a longing for something that never comes leads us to doubt or loose faith but when our dreams come true it brings us great joy. Without hope something within the deepest core of our soul begins to die. For me, my hope is rekindled each time I write in my journal. It always reminds me there is a reason to have hope and where our hope comes from. “Hope thou in God.”(Psalms 38:15; 42:5&11; 43:5; 71:5)

Faith restores our hope and faith in the word of God which motivates and inspires us to action; working toward the manifestations of our hope through the power of God’s word. Prayer is the key by which we communicate our hopes, dreams, desires and needs to God. We know God desires to hear us call out to Him in prayer. (2 Chronicles 7:14; Mark 11:24) We know God hears us when we pray. (Psalms 64:1; 5:3; I John 5:14) We know God answers prayer. (2 Chronicles 7:14; Psalms 54:2, 66:19) The bible tells us this so now when we feel our hops and dreams are denied we must remember to pray fervently for God to answer us on the subject. Be specific because it could be your prayer has been delayed not denied.