There was a point and there are times where I felt like and feel like my prayers were and sometimes are hitting the ceiling. I begin to wonder if God is hearing me, why isn’t He answering me.
But I know that’s not true. 1 John 5:14 “And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.” (ESV)
Jeremiah 29:12-13; “Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”
Psalm 116:1-2 ; I love the Lord because he hears my prayers and answers them. 2 Because he bends down and listens, I will pray as long as I breathe!”
So when I feel like I’m on mute, I stop and evaluate what am I doing or not doing? If I am spending time with God and my prayers still aren’t being answered, what gives? It’s not only to whom I am praying but what am I praying for. Are my prayers self centered? Am I asking for material things? I then realized I need to pray His will, “Our Father who art in Heaven hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done …” Matthew 6:5:15. I realized I need to pray His will for my prayers to be answered. I needed to align myself with His plan (whatever that is) for me, or for the future.
After some research in scripture and reading some books on prayer, I already knew this but I’m not so sure I always practiced this. God may hear us but He won’t answer our requests if we have any sin or unforgiveness in our hearts.
Psalm 66:18; “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.”
Isaiah 59:2: “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.”
So now let’s look at how we can apply scripture to the design principle of alignment. Let’s define, in art terms, alignment.
Art definition: “…it’s the foundation upon which your design stands and appears attractive to the viewers… alignment refers to the arrangement of different design elements on various positions. Alignment declutters the design and frees it from becoming a disorderly chaos. Believe me; no one likes a design with scattered text and misaligned graphics. It’s the worst design sin anyone can commit!” (https:// http://www.designmantic.com/blog/art-of-alignment-graphic-design/)
When we aren’t aligned with God our lives can become chaotic and disorganized. I like how this definition states, “Alignment declutters the design and frees it from becoming a disorderly chaos.” I am sure it’s a pleasing sight to God when we are in alignment with Him.
There are four ways to align objects, elements and text in a piece of art.
- Center
- Justified
- Right flush
- Left flush.
So how do we align ourselves with God? What does that look like? What does it look like and what happens when God is the center of our lives? What does God tell us?
Seek ye first the kingdom of God – Matthew 6:33
Have no other gods before me – Exodus 20:3
To me, both these verses mean that God comes first.
How can we do that? We need to highlight some things in our lives, make them habits, make them a priority.
– Reading and spending time in God’s word – Matt 4:4 ““It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’
- Prayer – 1 The 5:17; “Pray without ceasing”
– Serving, our families, community, church 1 Peter 4:10; “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace:
– Tithes and offerings – 2 For 9:7;”Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”
– Using our gifts and talents for God’s Kingdom – Romans 12:6;”Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them:…”
- Obedience – John 14:15; “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”
- Forgiveness, asking God for forgiveness and forgiving others. Ephesians 4:23; “…forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”
These are all things that God asks us to do. This is His will for us.
Mike Donehey wrote a book, Finding God’s Life for My Will, Mike struggled for years wanting know God’s specific plan for his life, I think we all struggle with this. We want specifics. But Mike had an aha moment, he says; “Perhaps God isn’t giving me the plan because He wants to be the plan.”
After all He is the plan of salvation, He is the way the truth and the life, John 14:6. There’s something else Mike said that struck me, “ God doesn’t want our success, He wants our surrender.” Whoa. We can align ourselves by making God the center of our lives, by surrendering ourselves, our plans, our desires to Him. We don’t have to work at being perfect, we don’t have to perform, we don’t even have to try. We don’t have to be successful.
“Seek ye first the kingdom of God And His righteousness And all these things shall be added unto you.”
All these things being, rest, order, joy, peace. Our lives can become free of disorderly chaos when we are aligned with God and His word. His will for us is to be aligned with Him, He is the plan. If we are aligned with Him and we trust Him, and as we begin to hear His voice, we will begin to pray His will and He will lead us to take those steps of faith as Joshua and the Israelites did at the Jordon.
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