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Posts Tagged ‘God’

Stop Giving God Directions

Posted in Christ, tagged , , , , on May 15, 2026| Leave a Comment »

We’ve all been there: staring at a massive problem and handing God a step-by-step project plan on how to fix it. We pray for the promotion by Friday, the healing via this specific doctor, or the relationship to mend with these exact words.

The problem? When God doesn’t follow our “how,” we don’t just get confused—we get discouraged. We think He isn’t listening because He didn’t follow the GPS coordinates we gave Him.

The Mix-Up
God absolutely calls us to pray. He is deeply invested in the “what” of your life. He wants to hear about the anxiety, the empty bank account, and the broken heart. But somewhere along the line, we started confusing submitting a request with managing a consultant.

Why the “How” is Hurting You
When you pray for a specific outcome through a specific method, you create a narrow window for “success.”

Expectation: “God, fix my career stress by making my boss move to a different department.”

Reality: Your boss stays exactly where they are.

Result: You feel abandoned by God, even though He might be trying to build resilience in you or opening a door for a better job elsewhere.

Leave the Strategy to Him
Try this shift: Tell Him the “what,” but leave Him the “how.”

“Then the LORD called Samuel. Samuel answered, ‘Here I am.'” — 1 Samuel 3:4

Samuel didn’t tell God how to speak or what the message should be; he simply made himself available. He was ready for the “what” without micromanaging the delivery.

The Challenge:
Next time you’re stressed, bring the raw problem to Him.

The What: “God, I’m overwhelmed by this debt.”

The What: “Lord, I feel completely lost in my career.”

Then, stop. Don’t attach a list of instructions. Trust that the Creator of the universe has a better “how” than you could ever script. When you stop trying to be the director, you finally get to enjoy the breakthrough.

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The “Ghost in the Machine”: Why You Still Feel the Tug

Posted in Faith, Obedience, Freedom, Encouragement, Action, Why, Failure, Doubt, Renewal, tagged , , , , on May 10, 2026| Leave a Comment »

You’ve made the commitment. You believe that your “old self” was crucified with Christ. So why, on a random Tuesday, do you still feel that intense, magnetic pull toward the very things you’re trying to leave behind?

The Residual Echo

In Romans 7, Paul describes a technical reality: even though your “spirit” is made new, sin is still “lodged” in the physical members of your body—the flesh.

“But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.” (Romans 7:23)

Think of it like a habit-loop burned into your nervous system. Your spirit has been liberated, but your body still carries the “muscle memory” of your old life. The “tug” isn’t the real you; it’s a ghost in the machine.

The Strategy: Reckon and Walk

To defeat the draw, you have to stop fighting the feeling and start changing your accounting.

  1. Reckon (The Math): Romans 6 tells you to “reckon” yourself dead to sin. This isn’t “faking it until you make it.” It’s a legal fact. When the urge hits, you don’t say, “I’m trying not to do this.” You say, “That impulse is talking to a dead man. I don’t owe it a response.”
  2. Starve the Flesh: Romans 8:13 says to “mortify” (deaden) the deeds of the body through the Spirit. You don’t negotiate with the tug; you starve it by shifting your focus to the Spirit’s power within you.

“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” (Romans 8:1)

You aren’t a bad person for feeling the tug; you’re a soldier in a body that’s still catching up to your soul. Stop identifying with the impulse, and start identifying with the Victory.

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