When Did You Stop Believing?

We know you.  You’re pretty good at praying.  You’ll pray for your family, you’ll bow your head for a friend, and you’ll intercede for a co-worker.  Yep, you’re pretty good at praying…for others.

But you’re not fooling us.  You don’t really have faith. 

Praying for Billy Bob, TBN, Sue Ellen Mischke or the missionaries in Gabookistan doesn’t mean you believe, it just means you’re generous. 

Hey, will you pray for [fill in the blank]?  Of course I will!  (See how nice you are.)

But you don’t actually believe.  You stopped believing a long time ago.

We know this to be true because somewhere along the way you stopped praying for yourself.  You stopped hoping for something better, reaching for something higher, dreaming for something bigger.  You’re solely a third-party person of prayer now.  And that’s the first sign of dead faith. 

Faith is easy to spot.  Even children have it.  We think it’s about quoting our pastor, our grandma, our Bible or all three, but it’s not that.  Faith has a proof of life.  It's seen when you pray for yourself.  That shows us you still believe. 

But you don’t pray that way anymore.  Somewhere along the way, it became too tiresome.  Hope faded.  Dreams died.  Disappointment became the burden that you no longer wished to bear. 

Things are different now.  Now you only pray for others.  As if sending an RSVP, you cordially agree to petition for someone else.  You’re polite but uninspired.  Guess what?  We see your comatose faith.  Your eyes are lifeless, and your lips are blue.  You’re not fooling us.  We know who you are - you’re the doctor who prescribes the same treatment that he himself refuses.

I want to say this as simply as I possibly can:  If you won’t dare to dream for yourself, stop claiming to dream for others. 

Token prayers are fraudulent prayers.  Your friends don’t need you to pity them; they need you to believe with them.  They don’t need you to be generous; they need you to be great.

Isn’t it time?  Aren’t you ready? 

Pray again.  Travail again.  Believe again.

I know you.  Your faith isn’t dead.  It’s calling.  Can’t you hear it?  It whispers, believe again.  Believe that He loves you.  Believe that He hears you.  Believe that He’s making a way for you. 

So do me a favor, don’t just pray for me, dream for me.  But only if you can dream for yourself first. 

We’ll dream together.

Comments

[Sacha]

Loved it!!!!Great post, Brian!

[Bryan]

Thanks, Sacha. Blessings!