When People Pray: Trusting God Enough to Kill Your OxenSample

Taking the Position of Trust

Surrender & Trust go hand-in-hand.  A life of Surrender will produce the habit of Trust, and habitual Trust will yield a life of Surrender.

Isaiah 43:2 says, “When you cross deep rivers, I will be with you, and you won’t drown. When you walk through the fire, you won’t be burned or scorched by the flames.” 

Trusting God’s plan has the power to flip the script on the enemy’s plan. What he intends to ruin you and bring you the most pain will actually become the place where you can reign with Jesus over the enemy’s plan.

Still, there are times when you experience EPIC battles with fear, doubt, anger, frustration, and disillusionment with God. But in those moments, recall Hudson Taylor’s words, “When I cannot read, when I cannot think, when I cannot even pray, I can trust.”  

The moment the prophet Elijah laid his coat on Elisha the farmer, everyone who watched knew exactly what was happening. It was Elisha’s call into an EPIC Battle. It was his opportunity… his moment in history to choose.

Isaiah 54:17 does not promise that there won’t be any weapon formed against you, or that there won’t be any call on your life too difficult or too impossible. What it does promise is that the ‘weapons’ that ARE formed against you won’t win.

•  Sometimes when people pray, things still can go from bad to worse. Sometimes, you pray and trust God, only to feel as if you’ve been let down. 

•  You pray, but your marriage still ends in divorce.

•  You pray, but your company still goes bankrupt. 

•  You pray, but your ministry still closes.

•  You pray, but your dreams still crash and burn.

•  You pray, but your twelve-year-old daughter still spends every day crying in pain.

What if prayer is less about victory and more about learning to surrender & trust in God in the midst of your process?

PRAYER IS TRANSFORMATIONAL

Paul explains this in 2 Corinthians 3:17-18, “For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.  So, all of us who have had the veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord - who is the Spirit - makes us more and more like Him as we are changed into his glorious image.”

The word translated ‘changed’ in verse 18 is the same word used to describe Jesus when He was transfigured. The power of the Spirit as you submit yourself in relationship to Him, can change the very figure of who you are.

“Prayer is less about changing people and circumstances and more about transforming you in the image of Christ.” Brian Alarid

Consider Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for (trusted for), the evidence of things not seen.”

Trust is a position that we take when we find ourselves in the line of fire AND when we are experiencing the full measure of God’s blessing. Trust is directly connected to the faith that we walk in. Prayer is rooted in TRUST. Most importantly, prayer aligns our hearts and minds with God’s heart & mind.

Having experienced the call of Elijah, Elisha’s first reaction is to go back before trusting enough to move forward.  But ultimately, he had to make the decision to Surrender & Trust… even if meant killing his oxen. Functionally, Elisha eliminated his entire connection with home by offering his livelihood as a sacrifice to God. His only choice then was TRUST and move forward.

“Prayer is not about your ability to make things happen, but your willingness to trust God to make it happen.” Brian Alarid