I was listening to a sermon the other day by Andy Stanley. He asked a rhetorical question that struck me very deeply sitting alone in my office. He asked:

If all your prayers from last year were answered, would anyone besides you, your family, and a few sick people be better off?

I didn’t have to stop and think too long about it. It was obvious that a majority of my prayers center around me, my family, my desires, my situation. Convicting to say the least.

The point is not to persuade you from praying for your circumstances or your family. The point is, there are a lot of other things that deserve our attention in prayer and God greatly desires our pleas.

> There are 27 million slaves in the world that deserve our prayers.

> There are a billion people without access to clean water that deserve our prayers.

> There are billions of people who have never heard the gospel that deserve our prayers.

> There are orphans in your city that deserve our prayers.

> There are single parents barely keeping their heads above water that deserve your prayers.

> There are kids that only ate a handful of rice today that deserve your prayers.

> The list could go on forever.

The challenge is not to stop praying about what you’re praying for currently, but to add bold prayers for those in need. It will take a mighty move of God to end slavery, end the water crisis, and bring the Gospel to those that are lost. A mighty move of God requires bold prayers. This will take additional prayer time for those that are serious. But it will be worth it. I want to see a mighty move of God in my midst. I want to see these prayers answered.

I’ve decided this is the year for bold prayers. Will you join me?

Waiting.

I’m not very good at it. I hate waiting.

I try to pick the fastest checkout line at the grocery store.

I try and choose the quickest teller at the bank.

If there’s traffic slowing down on my commute, I take an alternate route.

I have Amazon Prime so I can have 2 day shipping instead of 5-7 day.

And I don’t think I’m the only one who struggles with waiting.

Our entire culture wants to hurry up and get it now. If you have to wait…well, that’s a problem.

I hate waiting. And its scary to see that bleed over into my relationship with God.

I don’t like waiting for answers to prayer. I don’t like waiting for doors to open.

I don’t like waiting in silence, begging to hear his voice. I don’t like waiting. I want the answers now. I want the doors open now. I want to hear his voice now. I don’t like waiting.

In the silence, I’m learning that just because God is not answering now, that does not mean he is not answering. God being silent does not mean God is not working.

In the waiting, we learn to trust. To get tomorrow’s daily bread, we’ll just have to wait.

God I’m waiting and believing you will answer in powerful and incredible ways.

When you try and time the market, the odds of success are low. Trying to pick the diamond in the ruff is nearly impossible. Investing your money like this is similar to throwing darts. You’ll most likely hit the board, but there’s low probability you’ll hit a winner.

I’ve noticed this is similar when people try and follow God’s leading when he gives an idea. They’ll wait on it and then through something out there hoping it becomes a winner. And that rarely works either. The best investors are the one’s that consistently invest whether there’s a short-term gains or losses.

Pursuing a dream is like that. You have to invest every day, every week, every month in the hopes of a long-term pay off. I talk with a lot of people that want to write a book. Most people think its easy until they sit down and try to write one. When there emotions are high, they’ll write a little bit. When their emotions are low, they push it to the side. They only invest when the “market” is just right. These people rarely ever write a book.

If you want to be great at something, you have to invest consistently.

 

• Want to be a great husband or wife? Watching TV every night will not make it happen. Invest in the relationship consistently, even when you don’t feel like it.
• Want to be a great parent? Cut off the phone, the computer, the iPad, the Playstation, the TV, the distractions and go read a book with them, or through the ball in the back yard. Take them to get ice cream or heaven forbid, dad’s take your daughter to the mall. I know you’re tired. We all are. But the deserve it.
• Want to have a great walk with Christ? Spend time daily in the Word and in prayer. Find quiet time away from work and even family. If you only pray when things are really bad or really good, you’re leaving a lot on the table. Spend time investing in that relationship.
• Want to write a book? Write. (I’ve written on this plenty)
  
• Want to get in shape? You have to eat healthy foods consistently. You have to work out at least 3 times a week. And unless you are one of those weird people, you’ll never feel like working out. But you make the investment or you’ll miss the payoff.
• You want to __________? It will take consistent investment to make it happen.

What is it that you want to do?

Sometimes it doesn’t make sense when God says no. Everything adds up on paper, but for some reason, it doesn’t work out.

• Your profile matches up perfectly with her’s, but you don’t get the date.
• Your resume fits the job description perfectly, but you don’t get the job.
• Your SAT and GPA are great, but you don’t get in the school.

I’ve had my fair share of opportunities like this and here’s a few lessons I’ve learned.

1. Rarely will a “no” from God ever make sense in the moment.

2. You can’t reason with emotions, so pray like crazy and give it some time.

3. If God says “no” now, it actually means he’s got a better “yes” in the future.

4. A “no” can give as much clarity (if not more) than a “yes”.

5. A “no” is never the end unless you quit. Don’t give up after one “no”.

6. You need people that won’t coddle you, but will encourage you to keep going.

The road to big dreams is paved by doors shutting and rejection. When I got my first turn-down letter from a publisher, my initial thought was frustration. But then my second thought was, “I’ve joined the likes of Stephen King, JK Rowling, and tons of others who were rejected, but went on to make it.”

Everyone hears “no”. It really is how you respond that matters. Thankful for great friends and an amazing wife that support me when God says “no”.

What is something that you have been told “no” to recently?

My 16 month old daughter said “no” for the first time the other day. It was terrible and frightening. That’s one of the select words  you don’t want occupying 25% of your child’s vocabulary. And then it hit me…I’m the one who taught her!

Imitation is a great form of flattery and a dangerous type of parenting. By imitating me, my daughter picked up on a word that when used improperly, shows great disrespect and defiance (all things we would rather not see in our kids!).

The affect of imitation is powerful. That’s why Paul instructed the first church to be imitators of God (Eph 5:1). As I reflect on that verse in light of the experience with my daughter, here are some thoughts on imitation:

1. You can’t imitate who you don’t spend time with.

My daughter doesn’t imitate you because she doesn’t spend time with you. She imitates me because she is with me most of her day. We can not imitate God if we are not spending time with him.

2. Imitation takes multiple contact.

You don’t start imitating someone after one small encounter. My daughter picks up habits after watching me or my wife do something over and over. It’s never a one-time event. It takes repetition, thus the importance of number 1.

3. Imitating God seems impossible.

How in the world can we imitate Almighty God? He is perfect, all-knowing, all-powerful. We can imitate him because we are created in his image. We can imitate him because with the power of the Holy Spirit working in our lives. And we can imitate him because of his grace that we have freely received.

Living the life that God has for us is one of invitation and imitation. Follow me Jesus said. Then he said, do what I do. That’s what discipleship looks like.

I’m reading a book on the craft of writing by a very accomplished novelist. With over 30 years of writing on his resume, his words carry the wight of experience and passion. He’s been down the road I’ve just started on, so my ears are wide open. When he was investigating whether he could be a writer or not, he sought the advise of a seasoned author who told him what it would take. Here’s what he said:

“If you want to be a writer, the secret is to write, write, write, and keep writing. It’s just that simple, and that terribly difficult.”

It’s that simple.

And that terribly difficult.

This is the big wall that divides most people from those that make it. This is not solely for writers either. In all the areas of our lives that we want to be successful, you have to work on it consistently for long periods of time.

Want a good marriage? Work on it everyday. It’s that simple and that terribly difficult.

Want to be in good shape? Work out multiple times a week and eat healthy.

Want to start a business? Work on it at nights every week.

It’s that simple and that terribly difficult. And it is difficult.

It’s difficult for me to keep writing because I’m busy. I have tons of responsibilities. I have a wife and two small children. There are errands to run, bills to pay, chores to do. It’s difficult.

But the reality is, its difficult for everyone. Everyone is busy. Everyone deals with similar setbacks. The key is to find time each day (week) and work at it. Set a realistic goal that will also stretch you. For me, my goal is to write every day a minimum of 500 words. I try to blow past that every day, but 500 minimum. I do that for a month and I’ve got 30-40% of a new book.

My wife is a great example. For years she wanted to start a photography business. She had the talent and skills. Finally a few years ago, she started making the time. Each day, each week, she kept working on her craft. And it is paying off. She’s one of the top life-style photographers in our city now. She has been booked solid for 4 straight months with no signs of slowing down. She realized, it’s that simple, but that terribly difficult. (Be sure to check out her stuff and hire her!)

What is it that you can start today?

I know that tomorrow will be a much better day to start that project you’ve been dreaming about. There’s too much to do today. Believe me, I know there’s too much to do today. Tomorrow always seems better. The allure of tomorrow is that it’s not too far away, so you don’t feel like you’re quitting. And its far enough away from today’s responsibilities that you don’t get too overwhelmed.

But the truth about tomorrow is that it won’t be any easier than today. If anything, tomorrow will be busier than today. You’ll wake up like I did and suddenly have two babies. You’ll blink and your workload has doubled. Tomorrow will not be easier than today.

So why not start now?