Praying to Move On with the Lord

“I’m still on shaky ground,” I said to myself as I drove to church one Sunday morning nearly a year after coming to know the Lord. Even though my life was much improved, I still had this uneasy feeling that at any moment I could lose the stability I’d gained. I feared that my glimpses of hope for the future would all come to nothing.

It was obvious that I had made some progress since that day in October with Terry and Pastor Jack. After all, in the beginning of my relationship with the Lord, I wasn’t even able to get myself to church. For months Terry and her husband woke me on Sunday mornings with a phone call and then drove out of their way to pick me up, knowing I wasn’t strong enough in my mind, body, or spirit to get there on my own. After they stopped taking me, my attendance was sporadic for a time until I resolved to get myself to church regularly without their assistance. Now as I was driving myself there for the fifth consecutive Sunday morning, I thought about what I had been learning.

I’d heard Pastor Jack preach every week about “moving on with the Lord,” and it was finally starting to register. Each time he mentioned it, he waved his arm slowly across the congregation, like a shepherd trying to move his sheep in a certain direction. One morning as he waved his arm over the congregation, I realized that you don’t just stay in one place after you receive the Lord. You have to start growing.

I thought that after you received Jesus into your life, that was it. You’d made it. No more problems. But I was finding that wasn’t the case. The truth is, I had made it into eternity by securing life after death. However, my life here on earth still needed work. I had to do certain things daily to sustain life and become spiritually and emotionally healthy. What a revelation! Having pursued physical fitness and the concept of proper body care for many years, I quickly related to this discipline — doing something good for yourself, no matter how much you didn’t feel like doing it, so that you would be able to enjoy good health and well-being.

I began to understand that just as the physical body needs to be fed, exercised, and cleansed, so the spirit and soul need replenishing.

That morning in church I thought, My foundation isn’t as strong as it should be. That must be why I have times of doubt and feel like I’m on shaky ground. God, show me how to strengthen my relationship with You so that my foundation becomes solid.

Over the next few months I learned about five key elements — spiritual building blocks — that will strengthen our relationship with God:

1. The Word of God
2. Prayer
3. Praise
4. Confession
5. Ongoing forgiveness

By neglecting even one of them, we end up with cracks in our foundation. When we have cracks in our foundation, we never end up where we are supposed to be and we can never fully know God’s will.

Some people do “get by,” never doing any of these things, but I wasn’t interested in getting by. I’d been doing that for years. I wanted true spiritual well-being and a sense of purpose and direction. I wanted God’s will for my life.

PRAYER

Lord, help me remember the importance of Your Word, prayer, praise, confession, and ongoing forgiveness in my daily walk. Help me not neglect any one of them. Open my mind and heart to walk even deeper with You in each of these areas.

TOOLS OF TRUTH

When the whirlwind passes by, the wicked is no more, But the righteous has an everlasting foundation. — Proverbs 10:25

Whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock. — Matthew 7:24

Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.” — 2 Timothy 2:19

Excerpted with permission from Praying God’s Will for Your Life by Stormie Omartian, copyright Stormie Omartian.

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Your Turn

Are you feeling static in your relationship with the Lord? Do you want to move on? Let’s pray today that we focus intently on the importance of God’s Word, prayer, praise, confession, and ongoing forgiveness. Come share your thoughts with us on our blog. We want to hear from you!