I do it anyway

Sometimes, I just flat out don’t want to! Sometimes I don’t see the point. Sometimes I am only doing it out of obedience. Sometimes I am completely speechless without words to speak…but I do it anyway.

God is great
But sometimes life ain't good
And when I pray
It doesn't always turn out like I think it should
But I do it anyway
I do it anyway

(Anyway-Martina McBride)

God has put it on my heart to pray some pretty difficult prayers through my years here on this earth, but I will NEVER forget the one prayer He very specifically put on my heart for me to pray, and I will confess here and now, it is a prayer I mostly pray out of obedience, and I believe God is okay with that, because…

a. He knows my heart so there’s no use trying to hide, and b. because obedience trumps everything.

Prayer is a funny thing. People often wonder why believers pray. Who on earth are we praying to? What is the point of praying to someone or something we cannot see? What is the point of prayer when we don’t always get the answers we want, or any answers for that matter? We might even feel as though our prayers are not even heard.

These are all valid questions, not only for non-believers, but questions we believers might even ask ourselves from time to time. I know I certainly have, but while I might have moments of questioning, I have years of evidence of God’s faithfulness in answering my prayers.

A key in a consistent prayer life, is knowing and accepting that it will not always turn out or look like we what think it should. It’s difficult to accept that God’s ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts, and His vision extends so far past what our small minds can see, that sometimes what we pray for and believe is the best answer to our prayers, God can see well beyond and knows better.

Photo Credit: Sixteen Miles Out @sixteenmilesout

God put the song, Anyway, by Martina McBride in my head early last week, practically right after I hit send on last Monday’s Jump Start and blog post. All throughout the week the song has played over and over and over in my head.

Everywhere I looked last week, blog posts, podcasts, email devotionals, and social media posts, one after another kept affirming there was a “prayer message” I needed to convey from this song.

It finally came to me today, Sunday afternoon. Each verse, as well as the chorus to this song speaks to a lesson I have learned, and a message related to prayer that God has put on my heart to share. As I have been working this all out through the writing process, I can connect the threads to see the tapestry they weave, and that the knot holding them all together is prayer.

Below are five themes I see in the verses of the song, Anyway-Martina McBride, that relate to life, all sharing a common thread, that thread being, the necessity and power of prayer.

I. Foundation matters.

You can spend your whole life building
Something from nothin'
One storm can come and blow it all away
Build it anyway

Living life, building something from nothing are all a part of our journey, part of the threads that weave the tapestries of our lives. God created us to trust Him and faithfully step into our journeys, to weave our own individual designs that represent us and our lives, but it all begins with a solid foundation, that knot that holds us tight to a secure foundation.

I spent the better part of my young adult years trying to build a home and keep a family together, trying to build something from nothing only to have it ripped apart and blown all away…BUT… I still have my three sons. I am a stronger, wiser, and a better person from the experience.

How is it that I can see this destruction and loss as good, and a risk I am still glad I took?

My foundation is built on solid ground. The main knot of my tapestry is tied securely to my cornerstone, my faith in God. When my self-worth and value is in earthly things, when storms come and winds blow, I will crumble, but when I am grounded, securely tied to Christ, I will weather the storms and trials.

Build away but begin with a firm foundation.

“Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” (Matthew 7:24-29)

The word “foundation” occurs 80 times in the Bible. Clearly a solid foundation is key to weathering the storms of this life, of keeping your tapestry from falling apart.

So, how does prayer play into this?

“Immediately [Jesus] made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray.” (Mark 6:45-46)

Jesus strengthened his foundation and surrendered His will through prayer with His Father. If Jesus prayed to gain strength and to overcome Satan, how much more must we need this daily practice to remain grounded.

Storms may come and blow everything away that I have today, but with Christ as my foundation I will build it anyway, knowing my knot is securely tied and held by my rock, Jesus Christ.

Jesus prayed. He is our example.

II. The source of your dreams matters.

You can chase a dream
That seems so out of reach
And you know it might not never come your way
Dream it anyway

I love dreaming and imagining. No surprise, right? I am a creative type. Dreaming is a good thing IF you don’t get stuck in the dreaming, IF you are sure your dreams align with God’s word, remember, the enemy is the ultimate deceiver and can send us on some destinations far outside of God’s will, and once you are certain they align with God’s word, you follow them up with action.

“The Lord still uses our dreams to speak truth into our lives. However, this is a topic that requires great discernment. Not every dream is a vision from God, and we risk chasing after the principalities of darkness when we start trying to seek the symbolism of every errant thought or dream that we have. We should take care when deciding if a vision or dream is from the Lord, as the enemy of our souls is a liar and an imitator.”

“Equally as troublesome is when we refuse to listen to God in our dreams. Often, God is using our dreams to speak with us because we have refused to spend quiet time in our days listening to his voice. If you have a dream that you think is from God, your first step should be to pray for understanding.”

“Only after you have prayed for wisdom and understanding should you attempt to interpret the dream. Let God give you the understanding He wants you to have. The second source of knowledge for dreams is the Word. God cannot separate Himself from the truth of His Word, so no vision from the Father will ever contradict the Word.”

(Quotes from, Does God Still Speak to Us in Our Dreams?)

Dream away. God gave us dreams to give us hope, to encourage us, and to spark creativity. When chasing a dream, just be sure to pray over it, and seek its truth.

When the enemy wants to twist God’s plans for me, and distort my dreams, I dream them anyway, knowing I can trust God’s word to reveal truth.

Pray for wisdom and understanding, that your dreams are actually God’s will for your life and not some empty lie from our enemy.

III. Keeping the faith matters.

Photo Credit: Keenan Constance @keenangrams

This world's gone crazy
It's hard to believe
That tomorrow will be better than today
Believe it anyway

I cannot lie, keeping the faith is a HUGE struggle for me the past few years, particularly the past 18 months, but it’s more so in keeping the faith in people.

My faith in God is stronger than ever, but I believe we are called to keep the faith in our fellow man to some degree as well, but I have never seen so much ugliness, bitterness, self-righteousness, judgementalism, deception, manipulation, and complete and utter evil as I have during this time.

The current division over masks, or no masks, vaccinations, or no vaccinations, defund the police, human trafficking on the rise, pornography, the border crisis…this world has truly gone crazy!

Bad times are when faith is most important. It can be a life raft in a storm. And faith can always be restored if we are willing to seek it out. The Bible is a great place to fill your faith reserves.

"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." (Hebrews 11:1)

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths." (Proverbs 3:5-6)

"Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." (Matthew 17:20)

The Bible tells us to love our brothers and sisters. How can we love God whom we have not seen -- if we cannot love our brother whom we have seen? God will reveal Himself to us through His people, His love, through His son, His Word, and by the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ.

When I am challenged to believe in the goodness of God and of His creation, I pray over my doubts and fears, and then I choose to believe it anyway.

Cultivate your faith by giving Him the opportunity to reveal Himself to you through prayer, through devotions, and through your fellow man.

IV. Love matters.

You can love someone with all your heart
For all the right reasons
In a moment they can choose to walk away
Love 'em anyway

My son has chosen to walk away. He chooses to live his life apart from me in every way. I love him with all my heart, always have, always will, but I cannot make him feel the same, and I do not regret one single ounce of energy I have poured into him. I would welcome him with open arms tomorrow, but he is not interested.

I can take comfort in knowing that Jesus also knows the pain of this kind of rejection. Because he came to earth in human form, he experienced all kinds of rejection. Scripture tells us that, “not even his brothers believed in Him.” (John 7:5)

Jesus faced rejection from people who once claimed to love him.

Christ, in his God-ness, predicted both Judas’ betrayal and Peter’s denial. He saw it coming. But his humanness still experienced the hurt. Jesus was “troubled in his spirit” as he foretold of Judas (John 13:21). Think about it. He had just washed the guy’s feet a few verses earlier, symbolizing the laying down of his very life for him. Peter, who professed his love and commitment to Jesus more ardently than any other, would reject even an association with him in a matter of hours. Sudden, total, heartbreaking rejection…yes, Jesus felt that.

Jesus faced rejection from his Father.

As he hung on the cross dying, Jesus cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). It’s interesting that he didn’t ask, “Why I am I in such pain?” or “Why do I have to endure this?” He asked, “Why have you forsaken me?”

Sometimes, in our thoughts of Christ’s death and what it did for us, we overlook what it did to him. His Father, with whom he was in a constant communion of love from before time began, was suddenly forced to withdraw that love, and turn his back because of our sin that covered Jesus as he died. Do you think Jesus had ever needed or desired his Father’s love more than in that moment?

(Paraphrased from: dealing-with-rejection-through-the-gospel)

We cannot know when we give our hearts to someone, give our love to someone, or reach out to connect with someone, who will stay and who will walk away. Love’em anyway.

Seek God’s Word and pray vigorously about all sorts of rejections. Don’t take your ball and go home.

Rejection is one of the devil’s favorite tools to use against people. I pray fearlessly and boldly for our kids and don’t think for a second that Satan wants a one of them to know God’s love for them or His plans for their life. Rejection is not from flesh and blood (my son), it’s the enemy’s attempt to make me give up, to lose hope and stop praying.

Jesus knew rejection and yet He still loved.

V. Prayer matters.

Photo credit: Tehzeeb Kazmi @tehzeebkazmi

God is great
But sometimes life ain't good
And when I pray
It doesn't always turn out like I think it should
But I do it anyway
I do it anyway

I don’t have a scorecard of how often my prayers have or have not been answered. I cannot tell you exact numbers of days or years I have prayed for things that I know He answered, or those He didn’t answer.

I can attest to the fact that there are many prayers I am so thankful God did not answer, or at least not as I had prayed for Him to, and I can say with confidence that I have seen God’s answer to many prayers throughout my life.

There are many reasons scripture tells us to pray, but to me, the first and most important reason is because Jesus prayed. Personally, I don’t need much more of a reason than that.

There is however, one more powerful reason, and I personally know it to be true.

“Before prayer changes others, it first changes us.” ~Billy Graham

God has asked me to pray some pretty difficult prayers over the years. I’ll NEVER forget Him putting it on my heart to pray for my ex-husband, in the midst of all my pain and brokenness. God asked me to lift up him, the source of all my pain! Really God?

As if that wasn’t a tall enough challenge, He trumped it by adding the women he had affairs with to the list as well.

I will confess here and now, those prayers were only prayed out of obedience, period. Not heartfelt.

But, in reality, obedience and trust is what God was asking for, not perfection, and in my obedience, I am made stronger, and my wounds are healed.

In obedience, my prayers became more heartfelt and sincere.

My prayers don’t always turn out like I think they should…but I do it anyway.

Jesus was The Son of God.

Jesus was God, and He still prayed.

“‘My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,’ says the LORD. ‘And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.’" (Isaiah 55:8-9)

Something to consider: Anyone can talk to God. Is there something on your heart today that you need to take to God? It doesn’t have to be pretty and all tidy. Just talk to Him.

Suggested reading: Prayer in the Life of Jesus