Moving Forward

       First, let me report that my prayer journey has resumed with a credible amount of faithfulness and that God is breathing life back into this journey.. PRAISE HIM!!! But in so doing, I think I've drawn Satan's attention, he seems to be watching to see just how serious I am and is becoming a little suspicious. He's been throwing some rather odd obstacles into my prayers to see what would happen and it really wasn't until tonight as I was praying that I recognized what he was doing.
     Once I recommitted this prayer to God and began to honestly lift it up again, I wasn't sure just exactly what I could pray for, what I was still allowed to ask for. The Bible is full of stories where people were given a second chance, but there was always some consequence...Samson died, Moses was denied entrance to the Promised Land, Peter temporarily lost his relationship with Jesus, David had to run for his life and eventually lost a son. Yes, God had given them all second chances, but there was a loss as well. Satan got me to focus on that...what would be the consequences, what could I ask for, what had I lost, did I even still have a right to ask God for this? I became so wrapped up in dancing around those issues, I'd all but stopped fully asking God to still honor this request. Tonight, as I was dancing around the issue of what I could ask Him for, God finally broke through. He pointed out I was the one looking back at what had happened, He wasn't. Yes, Samson blew it, yes Samson paid a price with his life, but Samson still fulfilled God's purpose...to defeat the Philistines. Yes, Peter denied Christ and suffered broken fellowship, but God used Peter to lay the foundation of the church as He said He would. There may be things God can no longer do, but there are still things He can do, there are still plenty of things He wants to do... and those are the things I need to focus on in my prayers.
     We're told to come boldly before the throne and make our requests known. It's time to put the mistake in the past, where it happened and stop being so timid and unsure in my prayers and letting Satan use that as a deterrent. It is time to move forward and see what it is God will still accomplish in this prayer.