PRAY IT! Not the God I Thought - The Good Company of Habakkuk

PoC - are you still leaning in to your prayer-conversation with God?  Don't exit the conversation - persevere! 

As we continue on our Habakkuk adventure, we see that the righteous live by faith.  Habakkuk 2:4-19 paints a picture of what the opposite of that looks like... a whole lotta woe!  No thank you.

So as we "pray it" this week, we don't look to ourselves.  We don't look to our stuff.  We don't look to others or others' stuff.  We don't look to idols.  We look to Jesus.  We live by faith.

Hebrews 10:38 echoes Habakkuk:  "And, but my righteous one will live by faith.  And I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back." 

Let's lean in.  "But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved."  (Hebrews 10:39).

Great examples are present in Hebrews 11. 

"And what more shall I say?  I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign enemies.  Women received back their dead, raised to life again." (Hebrews 11:32-35).

Contrast this with Habakkuk 2:18-19.  "Of what value is an idol carved by a craftsman?  Or an image that teaches lies?  For the one who makes it trusts his own creation; he make idols that cannot speak.  Woe to him who says to wood, 'Come to life!' Or to a lifeless stone, 'Wake up!' Can it give guidance?  It is covered with gold and silver; there is no breath in it."

A component of living by faith is praying by faith.  When the answer comes... but seems to take its sweet time... When the answer comes... and we don't like it.  When the circumstance is here to stay... though we beg for rescue.  When the diagnosis is terminal... though we ask for healing... Live and pray by faith.  Lean in and cling tenaciously to the One who has proven trustworthy time and time again.  Who turns weakness into strength... who listens... who cares... who gives guidance... This is our God who we are praying to... this is our God who wants to have a relationship with us.  This is our God.

Dear God,
As I continue my prayer-conversation with you this week, please help me continue to lean in to you rather than attempt to cast my cares on anyone or anything else who cannot save, who cannot do anything about it... Help me live by faith. 
Amen.

PoC|Coverage is tonight at 6pm.  Come hear the charge from Pastor Todd, we'll pray together, in unity, and then we'll break into various prayer and care activities.

Blessings,
Pastor Celia