The Impossible List

The end of the school year was very near, so only about 20 of us gathered in a circle in the student union that spring evening. A special speaker was in the area, and he made time for our little Navigators band at the University of Minnesota. We quieted our chatter, listened to someone introduce Tom Yeakley, and then I listened to a message that changed my life.

Yeakley has served God around the world through decades of ministry. He was at the U of M to share with us one way the Creator of the Universe had revealed Himself to him over the years. He told us some stories of things God had done for his family that left us in shock and awe.

A few of those stories may be read in his book Praying Over God’s Promises (http://www.amazon.com/Praying-over-Promises-Thomas-Yeakley-ebook/dp/B00AZN6E6Q/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1390834707&sr=8-3&keywords=praying+over+god%27s+promises), and I will let you find those for yourself. But you create the list (and your own stories) like this:

Make two columns. Label one Philippians 4:19 (“And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”) and the other Psalm 37:4 (“Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.”) The Philippians 4:19 column is about your needs, while the Psalm 37:4 column is about your desires. Ideally, memorize those verses so you can claim them through prayer.

In the appropriate column, begin to list things that seem impossible to you. Some will be needs, while others will be things you almost feel guilty about because they seem unnecessary. But write them down. At the time, my list included things like getting out of college without debt, the salvation of various relatives, publishing a book someday, etc. (I still have that list, and it has developed into a dog-eared, much-marked paper.)

The purpose of the list is to know God better and thus bring Him glory. We so often underestimate His ability to work in our lives. Our prayer lives can be timid, using “if it’s Your will” as our safe disclaimer rather than a wholehearted expression of trust. But getting me out of college without debt was not impossible for God. In fact, that involved small change in His economy.

Our part is to pray over the list faithfully. Yes, we must pray with an open heart, trusting that God will not give us what we should not have (see Matthew 7:9-11). We must trust and love Him even if His response is not exactly what we’d hoped for. But we must also pray in faith, with childlike anticipation of seeing God work. Because He does want to amaze us (see Jeremiah 33:3), and He does want us to know Him for Who He is (see Jeremiah 29:13).

After all, it is to His advantage to glorify Himself in and through our lives. And that is what He began to do as I prayed through my list.

I look forward to sharing some of those God-glorifying stories with you in days to come.