Do You Trust That I Want To Give You A Car? (Part 2)
It’s funny how everyone wants to give you a formula for how to get what you want from God, but what I’m constantly learning is that there is no methodical formula for how God works. What worked for one person may not work for me, and what He asks of me isn’t always going to be a requirement for you. I mean, think about it – with all of the stories, lessons, and laws of the Bible, how is it possible to know exactly what God wants you to do. For some reason we want the simple ABCs of Christian Living, but at the end of the day, it all boils down to one thing: RELATIONSHIP
This was the biggest take-away from my most recent gift from my Father.
Before moving on, you’ll want to catch up with Part 1 of this blog if you aren’t already familiar with the back story
So, God suggested that I stop asking my prayer partners to pray for a car, and if God ever suggests something, I’m 100% certain that it’s in my best interest to heed His advice. I scheduled my newsletter that evening to be sent out the following morning, with an expectation that God would move, but clueless as to what direction He would move in. After all, how often do you hear stories of God prompting someone to stop praying for something?!?
A few hours after the newsletter went out the next morning, I got the following email:
“Hi Kristina, can you give me a quick call this morning if possible. Thanks”
This email came from a friend and supporter who I’d already been coordinating a brunch meet up with, so I assumed that he wanted to get more details ironed out regarding our meal plans. I called him when I had a few free minutes. After a couple minutes of pleasantries and catching up, he asked,
“Do you still need a car?”
“Yep, I sure do!”
“Oh ok, because I didn’t see it on your newsletter this month”
“Well … what had happened was … God reminded me that He’d already promised to give me a car, and I’d already prayed for it, so all that was left to do was trust that He would make good on His promise. He told me that He had a car waiting for me, and I just needed to believe it”
“Oh. Well, we have a car for you …”
::moments of silence::
I didn’t know what to say or how to respond to the news. He proceeded to tell me that he and his wife had been discussing for months about giving me this car that belonged to their daughter (i.e. God had been preparing this vehicle for me long before I knew it). When he got my newsletter, and noticed that I was no longer asking for prayer for a car, it triggered him to reach out to me and find out if I’d gotten one some other way. When I told him that I hadn’t yet gotten a car of my own and explained what I felt God sharing with me, he knew that God wanted him to give me his daughter’s old vehicle.
I couldn’t believe it! God asked me to trust him and believe that He heard my prayers. In this instance, He wasn’t requiring that I pray circles around a promise He made. I didn’t need to continue inviting others to intercede on my behalf. Those methods definitely work – they’ve worked for me in the past; but this time, He asked me to activate the faith that I proclaimed to have by accepting that He’d already worked things out. Once I did, He responded right away, and lo and behold, GOD GAVE ME A CAR!!!
Sometimes you ask the Lord for a car, He promises to give you that car, and all that you need to do next is allow Him to move!
As I’ve had some time to reflect on this blessing, the events leading up to it, and the process that it took to get me here; I realize that more important than the reward is the relationship. I’ve been recently reading Mark Batterson’s ‘The Circle Maker’ (do yourself a favor and read it if you haven’t already). I haven’t completed it yet, but it’s all about prayer and the power that lies in praying bold prayers and never letting up.
As I read it, I -naturally- began praying harder for things that the Lord promised me – one of those things being a car. Needless to say, I felt a little unsure when I felt God prompting me to not pray after I’d spent so much time reading about people who’d gotten their prayers answered because they didn’t give up on praying them. What now? Do I trust in what worked for others, or do I trust that I hear God’s voice for myself? I wondered and asked the Lord which one was right.
His answer — There is no right or wrong way to pray, the key is in having a genuine relationship. We must be in constant communication with the Lord. This is what scripture means when it says to pray without ceasing. God is too big to fit in a box. He’s got too many tricks up His sleeve to settle on being predictable. He just wants to know that you are willing to listen when He speaks, regardless of what it is He’s saying.
It could’ve been easy for me to dismiss the Lord’s voice by responding with a ‘but Mark Batterson said …’ and allow someone else to define what my relationship with the Lord should look like. It’s great to listen to others’ experiences and heed wise counsel, but there is absolutely nothing and no one that can substitute for an authentic relationship with the Ruler of Heaven.
There is no formula for getting answered prayers. I’m extremely grateful for this gift that I’ve been given, but more important than the reward is my relationship with Christ. That is what I’m most grateful for, that is what I want to continue spending time cultivating, and that is what will ultimately lead to an eternal reward.
Eventually, I decided to trust that God wanted to give me a car, but I continue to trust that He wants to give me so much more!
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