You Prayed For What?

We’ve all heard the old adage, be careful what you wish for. You just might get it.” I want to take you to a passage where this very thing happened in the Bible. Luke 8:26-39 tells the story of Jesus healing a demon possessed man. Now, I’m going to make a couple assumptions for argument sake. If you don’t agree, that’s totally fine.

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First off, we see Jesus and the disciples were on the move. In order to see a move of God, you have to be in motion. Doing something that will put you in a position to see God moving. That can be something as simple as making sure you are in the word of God everyday. (Which, by the way, is the easiest and most important part of our Christian journey.)

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Jesus was immediately confronted by a demon possessed man. Through this interaction, the demons immediately recognized who Jesus was and were obviously afraid. Jesus then rebuked the demons and allowed them to be cast into a herd of swine. Why they asked to be cast into a herd of swine when their main desire is for a full body, is a discussion for a different day. We will cover that at a later time.

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Here are the assumptions I make when reading this story. I assume that someone was praying to God for the soul of this individual. The Bible doesn’t say whether or not he had family, but I assume there was someone in that region praying that God would either remove the man or send someone to heal him.

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This is the part I find interesting, Luke 8:37 states “Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear. So he got into the boat and left.” The people were more afraid of the healing Jesus provided than the fact that a demon possessed man had terrified people for years. Think about that for a moment.

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Sometimes the answers we receive seem more terrifying than the situations we face.

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I would like to posit this suggestion; when our perspective is more worldly oriented than God centered, we feel personally conflicted and would much rather stay blind and in bondage than be released. When in spiritual bondage, the enemy builds in preset positions. Here is a very short list of said lies and deceptions.

-You aren’t worth anything, so you better hang on to what you have or else you’ll have nothing.

-God doesn’t associate with sinners like you.

-If everyone knew what you were REALLY like, no one could possibly love you.

-The way you see God right now is absolutely right.

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The list goes on and on. In the next devotional, we will address these lies in particular. However, for today, we will stay on topic. When God begins to answer your prayers and they seem too big, too lofty, or overwhelming, understand that God will always equip you to handle whatever comes next. He will never put you in a situation where his grace doesn’t lead to your liberation.

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2 Corinthians 12:9 states “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”

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Please understand what God is saying here. You don’t have to worry about the answers to your prayers being more than what you believe you can handle. THEY ARE!!! And that’s God’s whole point. He wants you to press so far into Him that there is no doubt that it is only God that has carried you through all the things that you have been brought through.