“Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1 NKJV
Recently, I was struggling with a prayer concern which I could not seem to release and leave it with the Lord. My husband shared a devotion out of Streams in the Desert by L.B. Cowman, which really spoke to me. To quote, “Genuine faith puts its letter in the mailbox and lets go. Distrust, however, holds on to a corner of the envelope and then wonders why the answer never arrives.” This caused me to examine my heart and see if this was the case with me. I had to admit that yes, it was. I was hanging onto the envelope rather than mailing it.
Zillions of words have addressed every aspect of prayer and I do not have a firm grip on releasing as opposed to the often taught, knock and keep on knocking. I did ask the Lord’s forgiveness, prayed the prayer I was concerned over and in my mind’s eye I mailed it to the Lord and let go of the envelope. Now when it comes to the forefront of my thinking I just thank the Lord He has heard me and is working on my request.
We are told to “Cast all your anxiety on the Lord.” I Peter 5:7 and “Do not be anxious about anything.” Phil. 4:6.
I read a story about a man on a train in a foreign country who held his heavy suitcase on his lap for the entire long train trip. As he was getting off the train the conductor asked, “Why didn’t you put that heavy suitcase down?” The man replied, “I didn’t know there was a place to put it.”
We, as followers of Jesus, know we have a place to leave our heavy burdens. We do not have to carry them. We just have to disciple ourselves to put them in the place provided for us. That is at the feet of Jesus.
Pray with me: Lord, help me to learn this valuable lesson of putting my burdens over onto You and leaving them there remembering to praise You for working in the situation.
© Peggy Park
