On Sunday, I had the opportunity to share a message with the Michigan Sheriff’s Mounted Association at their annual gathering. These men and women volunteer their time to train and serve and support their county Sheriff on horseback, providing search and rescue, disaster relief and other services when moving about on foot or in vehicles is impractical.
Here is an excerpt from my message.
Once a man bought what appeared to be a well-trained horse at a great price. The seller told him there was a catch: that he would have to say hallelujah to make him go and amen to make him stop.
One day, the man was riding his horse up in the hills. They were in an all-out run when he realized they were heading towards the edge of a cliff.
The man became so frightened that he forgot how to make his horse stop. Whoa! He yelled to no avail.
He thought this was the end of his life, and so he prayed. He finished his brief prayer with a loud, “Amen!” which, of course, brought the horse to an abrupt stop right at the edge of the cliff.
The man removed his hat, wiped the sweat from his brow and, thrilled to be alive, shouted “Hallelujah!”
And off they went over the cliff.
I think the reality for many of us is that we often go through our lives, perhaps even through our Christian lives, like this would-be cowboy. We’re not sure where we are, not confident where we’re heading, and too often we feel like we may be running for a cliff, not knowing what to say, just pulling on the reigns, shouting and yelling and sometimes praying that everything works out in the end.
But there is a better way. You can walk in this life in communion with God, strong in your faith, and confident of His plan for you.
We are reminded of each of these truths in the conclusion to Paul’s letter to the Colossians. The letter is full of wisdom and direction for the church at Colossae, but in his final lines, in Colossians 4:12, Paul says this to the individuals of the church there:
“Epaphras, a member of your own fellowship, a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you his greetings. He always prays earnestly for you, [and he asks] God to make you strong and perfect,[and he asks God to make you] fully confident that you are following [His whole will].”
God hears your earnest prayers.
I don’t know what you’re praying for this morning, what you’re struggling with, or suffering by. I don’t know who has hurt you. I don’t know what your needs are today.
But I do know this, that if you’re anything like me, sometimes you feel like life is out of control and you don’t even know what ask. You don’t know what to say to God. You don’t know how to say it. And you may at times wonder if he’s even there to hear you at all.
Friends, He is there, He is here, and He hears us.
1 John 5:14 reminds us that because of this, we can have confidence when we pray, knowing that “if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.”
But, you say, I don’t even know what to say, what to ask for, or how pray. Well, Romans 8:26 gives us more hope. It says, “The Holy Spirit helps us in [this circumstance]. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us [in ways] that cannot be expressed in words.”
I’m not much of a cowboy, mostly I pull the trailer and my kids ride. But I’ve ridden some, and I know that when you and your horse get into a rhythm, that horse will know where you want him to go without you even asking. A lean, a look, a shift in weight, and something clicks and it’s as if the horse already knows before you ask.
This is how God is. When we walk with him daily, whether we ask with words, or simply lean in to him, he hears us, and he responds.
In my next two posts, I’ll address these other truths: God is working to restore you completely, and God wants you to walk confidently in his will.