Do you expect miracles, or do you pray for practicals?
It is easy to become consumed with the news. For someone addicted to information like me, I have to be very deliberate about what and how much information I consume.
If I do not practice this kind of discernment, I lose my own perspective and intuitive knowing and trade it for that of a fearful world.
The news doesn’t want you to expect miracles. It wants you scared and clicking.
The Drug of Certainty
In times of uncertainty, perhaps the drug of choice is anything which makes us feel certain.
And that is a dangerous thing because plenty of false data will temporarily lend us that certainty.
When I can feel myself needing certainty more than I long for truth, then I know it is time to shut down the news and go into prayer.
I’ve noticed this pattern in myself. The more uncertain I feel, the more I want to consume information. But the information rarely helps. It just feeds the anxiety and makes me more desperate for answers that the world can’t provide.
Practical Versus Possible
If I have consumed too much news, it ends up limiting my prayers. I pray for things that feel practical rather than what could be possible.
God is not practical. God is deliberate.
In my prayers I ask to be shown how the things which frighten me are actually serving me very well.
This shift in perspective changes everything. Instead of praying for the fear to go away, I pray to understand what it’s teaching me. Instead of asking for easy answers, I ask for the wisdom to see what’s really happening.
What Fear Reveals
Perhaps fear shows me something about myself, or gives me the opportunity to release energy which no longer serves me so that I can step forward with greater confidence and clarity.
Perhaps my fear showcases where I am still addicted to control or have attachments limiting my ability to receive and transform quickly.
I ask God to show me the truth of the situation and how I might show up in a way which serves the highest and best good.
Fear is a teacher if you let it be. It points directly at where you’re still holding on too tight.
Expect Miracles
And then I concede to God that I do not know what to do, not really. I can convince myself that my data is the best data, but I do not really know that.
But God does know. And when I ask, God will put His truth on my heart.
And often that truth feels hopeful. It reminds me that all the data in the world cannot predict anomaly, and anomaly is the primary currency of God.
When you expect miracles, you open yourself to what data cannot predict.
The analysts will tell you what’s likely. God deals in what’s possible. Those are two very different things.
I’ve seen too many impossible things happen to believe that probability is the final word on anything. Life has a way of surprising you when you stay open to it.
So I keep my prayers big. I expect miracles. Not because I’m naive, but because I’ve seen them happen.
This is the Bible Mystic way.
If you’re ready to explore a different relationship with God, visit the Bible Mystic series.