SONSHINE: NUGGETS OF PRECIOUS GOLD; a "Let Go, Let God" prayer

"If anything about my salvation or right standing with God depends on my faithfulness, I'm toast, damned to hell." Gavazoni

As of late I have been writing and contemplating the "matter of man" and it was a few days ago, that Joian sent to me, an amazing prayer. This prayer, quoted below, expresses that which I believe I am making a strong case for with my "matter of man" messages. That objective is , that man is purposed as utterly futile, in the face of God's almighty power and all knowing wisdom. Although not by the same words, I have prayed this very prayer. I would describe this below, as a creed of complete surrender or better yet, and with more of a catch, a "LET GO, LET GOD" prayer.
Be blessed dear reader.

A Personal Prayer of Faith

Over the years of Christian publishing it has been popular to issue collections of prayers. I will share a prayer with you that you’ll probably not find in one of these collections.

God works to bring us to a place of weakness, so that we might be totally abandoned to Christ alone as our life. On many such occasions the Father has so moved in my life as to pray a faith-emboldened prayer similar to what I will now share with you. I do so for the encouragement of our many dear readers who have experienced this same working of Dad in their hearts and lives as well.

The following prayer is based on Philippians 2:13:

For it is God Who works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.

Father,

I seem so lost most of the time. My life and heart appear to be such a big mess. I have no idea what I am doing or where I am going, let alone what I should be doing, or where I should be going, or even who I really am. My heart aches and is so heavy. I give up!

After all, it’s not about me anyway, right? I can’t live the Christian life. I never could. I never will. It’s You or nothing – but, the mess of my life is You working in me. You said so! You said that I was Your workmanship; You started me, You will complete and finish me. I am the workmanship, You are the worker. I am the clay, You are the potter. That’s all there is to it.

I know that You know what You are doing, and Your Word is true. So, if You want to make a complete mess out of my life – have at it. I am Yours, and I am Your work. So I quit. If anything is going to get done then You’ll have to be the one Who does it. After all, that’s what YOU said, right? So, You must want this mess. Therefore by faith I will quit and let You do whatever You want with me.

You said that You work in me to “will” and to “do.” So, I don’t “want-to” anymore. So, I quit. All I know to “do” anyway is what I have been taught all my life to “do” from the religious system; and if I know anything, that is all empty and vain, and it doesn’t even work. Yet it is all I have known. So, I quit – and since You work in me to “will,” I am not going to “do” anything else with my spiritual life unless I “want” to, and right now I don’t “want” to do anything.

My heart is so heavy, it is so empty, and You are responsible. After all, You are God, not me. You are the Potter, not me. You are the Father, not me; and God, the Potter, and the Father are all responsible agents!

So, if You do give me a “will” to do what You want, You also are just as responsible to “do” it in me. You said so! Then even if You work the “will” in me, I will make a mess out of everything, because even if I have the “want-to” I can’t “do” it either. I don’t even know how. So, You’ll have to do both parts, just like You said you would do. Therefore if I don’t “want” to do anything, and nothing gets “done” then it will just be Your fault, because I am just a creature – You’re the One Who is the Creator. So there, I quit. Now it’s all up to You. I am just going to trust You; You are all that I have, and I am going to rest in You. My quitting is going to be, for me, an act of faith. I am going to rest in this quitting, because my quitting is trusting You. I am NOT trusting You to help me; I just quit. I am trusting You to do it all Yourself. After all, You are God, and You’re responsible.

If by chance You don’t follow through with what You said, I am going to hold You responsible on the Day of Jesus Christ. When I stand before You, You’ll see what You made, and if You don’t like it – well, I’m Your workmanship, I’m Your creation, so you can’t blame me. If my life is just a big mess, it will be Your big mess, because I am just Your creature, and You made me weak and subject to vanity. I didn’t even ask to be here; I am a product of Your Own making. It all happened on Your watch. If You expected anything different out of me – in the weakness of who I am without You – then You were supposed to provide the “will” and the “do.” You said so!

Clyde L. Pilkington, Jr.
http://godsforgottengift.wordpress.com/

Joian Ruth Schroff

God is good. And Joian, more than any of us, knows this. Our sister, and my best friend, rests in the Father's bosom, today. Dear Joian's sojourn, on earth, ended early last winter, after a period of illness.

Together, Joian and myself began "SONSHINE" in "07". Last June, we took our rest from the blog.

Great battles, were waged this last year, by both Joian and myself. One was taken and one was left. Neither, the taking, nor the leaving, lacks in His perfect providence, afforded each. I can't explain, nor fully understand, how each can be perfect. Never the less, I do know, Joian understands it perfectly.

Today, Joian, more than any, knows God is good.

Jack

PS. Thoughts of your joyful rest relieve my tears, tonight. I miss you, my friend. I'll see you soon.

Great Quotes

Those who believe they believe in God but without passion in the heart, without anguish of mind, without uncertainty, without doubt, and even at times without despair, believe only in the idea of God, and not in God, Himself. Madeleine L' Engle
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"If anything about my salvation or right standing with God depends on my faithfulness, I'm toast, damned to hell." Gavazzoni
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Any infinite Being who feels it is their duty to torture me for eternity, should switch to decaf. Joe
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Everyday people are straying away from the church and going back to God. -- Lennie Bruce
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"He took responsibility for all the evils that have befallen man that day He gave His life. This has never been adequately appreciated by religion. It needs to be appreciated." (Roy)
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"Isn't that what man always wants- a divine force he can control? That's actually the definition of witchcraft." (Florian)
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"Christianity is not about polyester and pot roast. It's about Christ and what He's doing in you and me at the moment." (Holly)
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"It's his life for ours. We die, he lives, and then the mystery is that we live again." (Joian)
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"God's Spirit, is a pure motive" (Cardinal)
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"I would rather train twenty men to pray, than a thousand to preach. A minister's highest mission ought to be to teach his people to pray." (H. MacGregor)
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Pretty soon, everybody will get what they deserve, which is Salvation, Reconciliation, Restitution, Restoration, Immortality and Incorruption - now ain't that the coolest thing! (Keith)
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The bible is not an owners manual and trying to apply it to our lives reeks of salvation by works. (Cam)
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I live all the daytime
In faith and in might
And in holy rapture
I die every night (Novalis)
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Where shall we find an abandonment that is as comprehensive as the will of God. (Fenelon)
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He wanted no one but God to witness what he did, just as the only reward he expected was God Himself.(description of Bro. Lawrence)
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The humility of the cross became more desirable to him than all the glory the world had to offer. (description of Bro. Lawrence)
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Prayer is helplessness casting itself upon power; it is misery seeking peace; it is unholiness embracing purity; it is hatred desiring love. Prayer is corruption panting for immortality; it is the eagle soaring heavenward; it is the dove returning home; it is the prisoner pleading for release; it is the mariner steering for the haven amid the dangerous storm; it is the soul, oppressed by the world, escaping to the empyrean, and bathing its ruffled plumes in the ethereal and the divine.(unknown)