What does it mean to be totally and utterly dependent upon God?
Sometimes, answers come from unexpected sources. Such was the case during my devotions recently. What you read below, comes from what I was reading on this one day, all seemingly answering the same question in different ways.
What does it mean to be totally and utterly dependent upon God?
Coincidence? Maybe? But more likely, God is telling me something so important that I need to pay attention to and maybe you do too.
“God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.” – Mat. 5:3
The word translated “poor” is a word that means destitute; it describes those with no ability to provide for themselves, those who are completely dependent on others to supply their needs. Jesus could have used a less stark word, one that would mean the working poor, those who barely got by day to day. Instead, he used a word that meant utterly impoverished: a beggar. The Kingdom belonged to those who recognized that they were incapable of providing spiritually for themselves. They brought nothing with them that would give them entrance in the Kingdom. They could possess the Kingdom only by receiving everything from the hand of another. – The One Year Praying the Promises of God
Your helplessness is your best prayer. It calls from your heart to the heart of God with greater effect than all your uttered pleas. He hears it from the very moment that you are seized with helplessness and He becomes actively engaged at once in hearing and answering the prayer of your helplessness. — Ole Hallesby, Norwegian pastor and writer
What does it mean to be totally and utterly dependent upon God?
You can achieve the victorious life through living in deep dependence on Me. People usually associate victory with success: not falling or stumbling, not making mistakes. But those who are successful in their own strength tend to go their own way, forgetting about Me. It is through problems and failure, weakness and neediness that you learn to rely on me.
True dependence is not simply asking Me to bless what you have decided to do. It is coming to Me with an open mind and heart, inviting Me to plant My desires within you. I may infuse you with a dream that seems far beyond your reach. You know that in yourself you cannot achieve such a goal.
Thus begins your journey of profound reliance on Me. It is a faith-walk taken one step at a time, leaning on Me as much as you need. This is not a path of success but of multiple failures. However, each failure is followed by a growth spurt, nourished by increased reliance on Me. (All three paragraphs from Jesus Calling)
What does it mean to be totally and utterly dependent upon God?
Your next step, the answer to the question you’ve been mulling about – the direction for the next stage of your growth, where you will live next, about work, money, or that problem you’ve been struggling with – will come. If you’re fussing and straining, you may not hear it. Don’t worry about getting all your answers or your agenda for the years ahead. That is not how this process works. In order to participate in this different way of life, trust that all you need to know will be revealed to you when it is time. — Journey to the Heart
What does it mean to be totally and utterly dependent upon God?
When nothing on which to lean remains,
When strongholds crumble to dust;
When nothing is sure but that God still reigns,
That is just the time to trust.
It’s better to walk by faith than sight,
In this path of yours and mine;
And the darkest night, when there’s no outer light
Is the time for faith to shine. — Streams in the Desert
What does it mean to be totally and utterly dependent upon God?
All I can add is: “Lord: Give me eyes to see, ears to hear, wisdom to understand and faith to follow through. Amen.”