There is one theme that has been woven throughout my life as of late, and Generation has been a huge part of it. That theme is that God is faithful and answers prayer, and He answers in very specific ways according to His will and our needs– not what we “think” we need, but what we truly need. It has not been by way of anything that we might consider wildly supernatural or miraculous, although each answered prayer or gem of God-given wisdom is a miracle of our generous, loving, and gracious God. However,
for the past month or so, I have been finding the messages at Generation to be extraordinarily timely and also, God’s direct answer to many specific prayers and very much in line with things I have been thinking about recently.
First, for the past month and a half or so, I have been praying a lot about knowing God’s will for my life. As a recent college graduate pursuing my Christian music ministry that I feel God has given me, I’m also looking for a job right now as well. I have been praying for God to show me how to discern His will for my life. I have also been praying that He would help me to always submit to His good and perfect will. Then, that very week I had been praying a lot about it, the message was about knowing God’s Will for our lives. I found this message to be exactly what I needed to hear!
A couple weeks later, I found that I was struggling a lot with a certain sinful pattern. I felt awful because I knew that I was claiming to walk in the light and wanted to be true to that claim, but yet, I was walking in darkness. I know that we all struggle with sin, but it was a constant struggle, and the more I tried to stop this sin pattern, the more I seemed to fall. That Thursday, I was praying and praying for God to break me about this sin. I felt as though my heart was still so hard. I wanted desperately for God to convict and break me. Then, I came to Generation that night, and the message hit me hard– right between the eyes, which I needed. The pastor preached from 1st John as well as Matthew 5, the part of Jesus’ sermon on the mount where He tells the people to let their light shine before men for God’s glory. I speak specifically about the passage in 1st John. The passage is as follows:
“This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”– 1 John 1: 5-7, nkjv
The specific verse that spoke to me was verse 6:
“If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.”
This verse spoke to me because of my struggle with this particular sin, which is still a struggle. However, God is working in me to rid myself of sinful behaviors and patterns in my life.
Then, there was the next week. During worship, I had been thinking about how I seem to come to Generation, and church in general, and absorb all that worship and the message has to offer each week. I was thinking how I tend to take much much more than I give, and the message spoke to that, at least, in part. It was challenging to me.
Finally, that brings us to last week when the pastor spoke about the Law vs. grace– something that has been on my mind for a while now. He suggested reading through the book of Romans, which I had been doing anyway after feeling God’s leading to do so. Because of my reading in Romans, the Law and grace idea was already on my mind. He also spoke about seeking first the Kingdom of God to meet His standard of righteousness through Christ. Basically, seek God, and the rest will follow– something else that was on my mind through our discipleship meeting last week and Generation.
So, God answers prayer, and He answers very, very specifically. God has also answered a deeper prayer, a prayer to increase my faith. He has increased my faith through His answering of these prayers so very specifically! I encourage you that if you do not feel like God is listening, continue to seek Him. He promises that He will lead you if you seek Him with all your heart. He also promises that if we ask for wisdom, He will give generously. He is an intimate and personal God, a just and loving Heavenly Father who is faithful to His children.
I praise God for His specific blessings to each one of us as we are in need and as we seek to follow Him with all that we are. Thank You, Lord, for Your blessings!
