CONCERT OF PRAYER                                                                                

Pray Week 979

 “Search me”

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. (Psalm 139:23,24 NIV)

 Every one of us has experienced the adrenaline rush of doing something we knew to be wrong. We knew there would be a punishment to endure if we were caught. As children, we were perhaps snooping in forbidden areas, or sneaking a cigarette. As adults, many of us gamble on avoiding the police as we nudge the cruise control setting past the posted limits.

While we may be able to get away with breaking the laws of parents and society and think nothing of it, God will not allow us to escape so easily. The love of God is such that He will pursue us when we wander away from Him. Like the good shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine sheep to go after the lost one, God will continue to call out to us. He knows that if left to wander we will stray too far and become easy prey for the enemy of our soul.

And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. (John 6:39)

We know God is calling out to us when we feel troubled in our spirit. We feel uneasy and unable to enjoy peace and rest. We feel distant from God and have a deep longing to return to Him. This is the conviction of God and it is at this critical junction where a most important choice needs to be made. It is at this point that can we say as the Psalmist did: ‘Search me… test me… lead me….’ The alternative choice would be to run away from God as Jonah did only to find himself in the belly of a whale.

Sometimes feelings of anxiety are not God’s conviction but rather an attack from the enemy to steal our joy and peace. Regardless, the remedy for anxious feelings is the same: Seek the face of the Lord and call on the Name of Jesus in worship and praise. If your anxiousness is from the enemy, he will flee and you will rest in the peace of God. If your anxiousness is conviction from the Lord, be earnest to hear from Him and repent when the Holy Spirit reveals to you the error of your ways.

Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. (Rev 3:19 NIV)

There is no need for the child of God to lack peace, rest, and joy in all circumstances and trials of this life. We live a life of constant anxiety and unrest only when we choose to continue to go our own way in stubborn pride and rebellion to God.

May you seek the Lord’s peace and pursue it. May you pray in earnest for the Lord to search, test, and lead you – then may you follow Him wholeheartedly.