Nothing Too Big for a God Like Him

(Cool things I’ve heard somebody pray, #2…  You can find #1 here.)

One of my favorite things to do when we had elders meetings was to spend time praying for each other.  Sometimes we’d share where we were in life, then intentionally ask the men there to pray for someone else in the room, based on what that person had talked about.

Someone had shared a pretty heavy request, and my friend Michael was praying for him.  And Michael said something to the Lord that stopped me in my tracks:

“There’s nothing too big for a God like you.”

This was more than an intellectual acknowledgement or a theological affirmation.

It.  Was.  Worship.

It was a faith declaration that suddenly made the prayer need seem not so ominous or obnoxious.  And it reminded me of Who it was we were talking to in the first place.  Michael’s simple expression of worship was like hitting control-alt-delete on my spirit and renewing my mind.

Maybe you should try it.

Like Who?

Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy (Micah 7:18)

From the beginning of time, our God has wanted us to know Him, and know His ways.  He is a God who reveals Himself in a myriad of forms.  And His greatest disappointment expressed in the Bible is not that His people didn’t keep His rules – it’s that they didn’t know His heart.

In praying for a friend and brother in Christ, Michael was connecting the friend’s need with what he saw in the Father’s heart.  Want to know what you think God is like?  Check out how you talk to Him.  Is He formal? Aloof?  Tenderhearted?  Is He casual? Uninterested?  Angry?  Is he Nice?  Passionate?  Funny?  Most importantly, is He able to do something about the need?

God or god?

You shall have no other gods before me (Exodus 20:1).

The first commandment is the first commandment for a reason.  It cuts to the core of human nature.  We prefer gods of our own making – gods we can control, who tend to agree with us or make us feel good.

Just one problem.  Those idols are smaller than we are.  They can’t speak, think, or act because they’re limited by our own weaknesses.

But a “God like Him?”  The One True God?  That’s different.

He’s all powerful – even over your biggest adversary.

He’s all knowing – even beyond your most hidden fear or need.

He’s ever-living – even past death and the grave.

He’s ever-present – just as alive and aware of a situation on the other side of the world as He is of you.

He’s the only-wise God –even in the face of the most perplexing of problems and impossible situations.

Too Big?

Have any big stuff these days?  Anything too big for you?  Probably more than you’d care to admit.

I engage people every day who live in “The Land of Too Big For Me.”  They’re trying to do more with less, accomplish more while even more demands are being placed on them, and believe more, even when their last shred of faith is being tested.  Frankly, some of them don’t make it because they lose sight of a Source bigger than they are.

In hauling around the Big Stuff, routinely you’ll hear people say, “I know God won’t give me more than I can handle.”

Of course He will.  He does it all the time – if for no other reason, to show you that you can’t handle it.

He won’t, however, give you more than HE can handle through you.  There’s plenty of stuff too big for a guy or gal like you.  But every demand placed on a believer is a demand placed on the Holy Spirit who indwells him or her.  Gorden Jensen expressed it well:

Bigger than all my problems, bigger than all my fears,
God is bigger than any mountain that I can or cannot see.

That’s who you’re talking to when you’re talking to a God like Him.

Nothing?  Really?

Yes, really.  “Nothing” means nothing. He delights in your impossible situations or complex problems.  He’s bigger than your economy, bigger than your bills, bigger than your weather patterns, bigger than your enemies.

I should also mention here that He’s bigger than you are, in case you’ve forgotten.  That has implications.

He’s bigger than your politics, bigger than your environment, bigger than the mean people at work or church, bigger than your teenager.

He’s bigger than your broken heart, bigger than your grief and depression, bigger than your seething rage, bigger than incurable disease.

In fact, there’s only one thing I can see that limits Him – your unbelief.

“According to your faith be it unto you,” Jesus said.

I wonder if He meant that?

Tagged as: Adversity, Cool Things I've Heard Somebody Pray, Faith, Knowing God, Prayer