Unpacking Baggage

I was thinking about baggage today and wondering why we allow ourselves to drag it around. Baggage seems to follow us and put a damper on the enjoyment that we should feel on this journey. We pick up baggage through shame, fear, and insecurities. The Bible tells us to cast our cares on our Father for He will not let His children fall. But for some reason we have a hard time unpacking our bags, we seem to want to hold on to it.

“Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.” (Psalm 55:22)

“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7)

To unpack all our baggage we must pray. We have to look at prayer as a gift for both us and God. The prayer itself or how it’s said doesn’t matter the only thing that matters is Who is listening to you. If all we have to do is pray to relieve us of our baggage why don’t we do it? The common excuses are being too busy, too tired, or too distracted.  

God offers such a lighter load for us to carry around. To pray effectively we must increase our strength for prayer. Christ modeled for us how we should live our lives through its joys and challenges. When Jesus was asked how to pray he gave us Matthew 6:9-3:

“‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” (Matthew 6:9-13)

In Christ’s prayer, we start the day by asking for bread. We acknowledge that whether in good or bad everything comes from God. We ask strength and courage for what we will face that day. Then we ask for forgiveness and protection from evil.

Our enemy would love to keep us distracted and to see us fall. He tries to make us focus on things (family, work, friends, and school) that might rob us of the joy of God. We must never forget what really matters: our relationship with our Father. It’s up to us to come to our Father for He already loves us, we need to take prayer off the to-do list and put it on the to-live list.

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

Why Is Prayer So Important

To discover why prayer is so important and to understand why we want the Lord to make us truly grateful I am going reference the book of Job. For Job’s story shows that by submitting to the mercy and grace of God you may truly be changed.

“In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.” (Job 1) Job was very wealthy and had everything including sheep, donkeys, camels, a large house, ten children. In the course of one day though Job lost everything. In response to this tragedy Job ripped off his robe, shaved his head, and fell to the ground in grief saying: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” (Job 1:21) Job’s wife on the other hand didn’t handle the situation in the exact manner and she expressed that she felt as though God was done with them. Job was not convinced and he never blamed God, but he did recognize the great evil occurring in his life. I am not saying that Job was happy in any way he felt pain and agony and was at times very bitter but he trusted that God was still there. What Job didn’t know was that Satan told God Job was only loyal because his life was so good and claimed that if God took everything away Job would curse God. Instead of dismissing Satan God allowed his to attack Job. Job’s response to the attack came with great pain and instead of being desperate to regain control of his life he admitted to what is true. What Satan didn’t realize is that God is always there and when evil attacks we come to know Him even better.

This verse sums up the whole point of Job’s story, who was a man struck with tragedy and admitted that he has room to grow. Job went from being a good man to an even better man.  

“I  know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted. You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you,
and you shall answer me.’ My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.” Job 42:3-6

Testing Him and questioning His will is to acknowledge His presence and accept what is going on. Use the scriptures below to always remind you to be aware of God and to know that when we fall He is beside us to pick us up and will give us strength.

“The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” (Psalms 118:6)

“The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalms 27:1)

“But now, this is what the Lord says-- he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead. Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give men in exchange for you, and people in exchange for your life.” (Isaiah 43:1-4)
 

Introduction and Chapter I

As a twenty year old woman I love exploring the Bible. I enjoy reading spiritual books. But I am challenged in my prayer life, sometimes I just feel as if I am downright bad at praying or that I’d better get it right for God to listen to me.

          I have a clear confidence and realization that God is always in control and more importantly from His perspective He gladly receives our words. To God a prayer is like a precious gift, for we are talking to Him. When you give a gift it’s usually a sign of love and a desire to make that special someone feel great. Giving is more than going to a shop; a real gift is giving a token of love for anyone who is attached to your life. Gifts involve affection and sentiments from both the giver and the receiver.  So to give God that special gift we must believe God is with us every moment, and that no gift is ever bad, so how could I be bad at praying? 

Don’t be scared to talk to God when feeling angry or numb for He can handle our questions, doubt, and anger. God receives all our prayers, from the thankful ones to the not so thankful ones. He is always listening because our prayers acknowledge that we believe that He is in control. When we cry and express emotions it declares that we trust Him with everything and we yearn for a real/intimate relationship.

The Bible tells us that to pray we must have a clean heart, we need to believe, that we pray in Christ’s name, and that the prayer is according to the Fathers will.

Clean heart:

“If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and has heard my prayer.” (Psalms 66:18-19)

A pure heart is so essential when praying. God knows what we need before we ask. When we desire to be clean, He sees that, but He also tells us that He hears our honest petitions.

Believing:

“If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”  (Matthew 21:22)

We must believe that our Father is the King of kings and we should all then live like royalty on this earth. But before misinterpretation it’s not about self indulgence but about a longing for God to intervene. To believe is to know that God loves you and that today is all that matters.  

In Jesus’ Name:

“And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” (John 14:13)

At the end of every prayer we tend to conclude with, “In Jesus’ name,” with that we are expressing that we mean official business, but also remember that the requests are keeping with the character of Christ.

According to the Father’s will:

“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.”

There has to be an understanding that our lives are only a speck of time in God’s plan, we will never understand everything and its purpose.


Prayer is not easy and no, we don’t always get what we want. God is not here to torture His beloved people; He calls to us and waits with arms ready to embrace you and an open heart.

Introduction to Get off Your Knees & Pray

Welcome! My first official Bible study blog post will be on Tuesday, July 19^th. I will be blogging about prayer and using prayer to cultivate our relationship with God. For this study, that should last approximately five weeks, I will be referencing Sheila Walsh’s book, Get off Your Knees and Pray. I highly recommend you to get the book to be fully engaged in the study.

I am very excited about this blog as a new way to spread His word. Please join my blog and I would love to hear your input.  

-Much love and prayers