DISTURB US
The prayer was first prayed by Sir Francis Drake, who sailed around the world for England in 1577. The prayer goes like this:
Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves, when our dreams have come true because we have dreamed too little, when we arrive safely because we have sailed too close to the shore.
Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of things we possess, we have lost our thirst for the waters of life; having fallen in love with life, we have ceased to dream of eternity; and in our efforts to build a new earth, we have allowed our vision of the new Heaven to dim.
Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture on wider seas where storms will show your mastery; where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars. We ask you to push back the horizons of our hopes; and to push into the future in strength, courage, hope, and love.
Now you see why I cautioned you about this prayer. It's dangerous! As I travel and talk with many people, however, it is a prayer that many desperately need to pray. Maybe you are one of those people.
SHRINKING BACK
I have been looking at a passage in Hebrews 10:35-39 that address the issues raised in the prayer:
So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For in just a very little while, 'He who is coming will come and not delay. But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.' But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.
I have found that many will say they are living by faith, but that is because they are living so small. Their goals are timid, their fears overwhelming and their vision limiting. They are not doing anything big, so of course it appears that they are living a full life. Instead, they are living woefully below what God has for them. They have shrunk back to their comfort zone but describe it as only a place of respite and peace. In actuality, it is a place of refuge from which they have little intention of venturing out.
I hope you aren't among those whom I describe in the previous paragraph. If you are, however, and you know it, now is the time to do something about it. It's time to set some goals and live by faith once again. With that in mind, think about the days ahead and what faith projects you will launch or resume. The beauty of doing this is that you don't need to have any idea how you will do those things; that's where the faith comes in. If you've decided, however, that faith is just too demanding or stressful, then you may be guilty of shrinking back and incurring God's displeasure.
So the choice is clear: have faith and please God, or shrink back and displease God. The choice is yours and I do hope you will choose wisely. Have a great week as you join me in praying for God to disturb our worlds!
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KENYA UPDATE: I met with the folks going to Kenya with me next February and also announced my new fundraising goal for that trip. You can read an update from Pastor Peter and about the new goal of $30,000 by going here.
RADIO: Don't forget to tune into Wake Up to Purpose next Saturday at 8 AM Eastern time on 730 WPIT AM or on their website via live streaming. You can also download the 730 WPIT AM mobile app and listen on your phone. I am still working on how to upload each episode for you to download at your convenience once the show is done.
Great topic
Posted by: Jimwangi | September 24, 2012 at 09:24 AM