Missing Pieces

Not too long ago, our family put together a puzzle. One thing that was frustrating was to think we had a particular piece in place, only to discover a while later that it didn't actually belong there. Have you ever noticed that a puzzle piece can actually fit so close together with another piece that at first, it appears to belong in the place where you've put it? It can even connect with other pieces on the table. But, upon closer examination, (and often when you get to a place where you're stuck and can't go any further), you take a closer look at the board and realize that something was out of place. How long did you skip right past that piece, trying to make other pieces fit together and nothing came together the way it should? It looked almost right, it even fit into the right spot - but it wasn't a perfect fit. Sure, you could force it into place, but it wasn't actually designed for that place in the picture. No wonder the other pieces couldn't come together right!  When things were adjusted even a tiny bit, suddenly the picture came together and everything fell into place!

It's like that in the body of Christ, too. God has designed each one of us to fit into a particular place in the big picture. Sometimes we put ourselves in a place and other times someone else puts others in a position, but...it's apparent something is missing. Usually, it's the anointing. When people are not in the place designed for them, the anointing doesn't flow freely. It gets bottlenecked or blocked. Sometimes we are not in the right place. At first, we may think so, but then we realize we are just stuck and it's obvious something isn't connecting right, or we can't go any further. The fruit we expected isn't happening or God just doesn't seem to be in it. Whatever the case, those situations call for a new step of action. Restructuring allows people to find their anointed place of service and ministry that produces greater fruitfulness. Many people have felt stuck and frustrated because they are missing some puzzle pieces in their lives. Key relationships are missing and without them, they cannot get to the next step. They need to be repositioned and for God to help connect them with the people HE has chosen for them. God wants each one of us to be blessed by covenant relationships, and that probably means a step of faith. It's time to ask God what that may be for you!

Covenant relationships are ones where there is a heart connection established by God – people that will support you in prayer, help you get through the right doors or those that play a distinct role in helping you carry out God’s purposes for your life. If we want to break through to a new season, then we need to do something new and different. We need to pray differently and be willing to step outside of our comfort zone because if we continue to do the same thing we’ve done in the past we will continue to get the same results.  New seasons call for new strategies.  

Praying in partnership with God and others will cause a ripple effect. God will be brought into many more people’s lives as a result, and He will begin to move people into strategic places and relationships.

We all need someone that actually has faith and is willing to believe God and pray GOD’s heart for the situations that affect our lives. I do want to caution people not to try to pray their own will thinking God will honor it. It’s important to have discernment about those kinds of things because it makes all the difference between praying a prayer that God wants to answer, vs. a prayer that won’t go anywhere. Praying God’s heart for others, and praying unselfish prayers have a greater potential to be answered.

Our encouragement to each of you is to find a prayer partner for this next year – commit to praying with someone that has faith to believe God for the answers you both seek. If you’re praying with someone, then it’s important they have real faith to believe that God will intervene, no matter how challenging the circumstances may appear! Find someone who will agree to link up with you and pray in agreement; let’s see how God moves!

We have developed a new web page called PrayTogether2018.com . It's an invitation to go deeper with the Lord in 2018 and to also commit to praying with a prayer partner every day in the New Year. If you expect great things to happen, your expectancy draws God to you. If you keep running towards God, and your prayers of faith draw Him to you, sooner or later the two of you are going to collide! That’s when the breakthrough happens! We look forward to hearing some great praise reports so that we can celebrate your answers to prayer! 

Missing Pieces

One of the most delightful aspects of God is the way He communicates with mankind. When God communicates, how can we not get excited? To know the thoughts of our Creator...to be included in His conversations, is unfathomable. Yet, this great and powerful, all knowing God calls us friend.

Our all knowing, ever present, incredibly gracious God is not just some distant, out-of-touch Supreme Being. Far from it. The Lord God is accessible and approachable, gracious and kind. He invites us to step into his presence when ever we like, sit down and have a nice, friendly chat. I think that’s the concept Jesus wanted His disciples to grasp when He told them the Kingdom of God was ‘at hand.’ It was nearer than they imagined; they just needed to understand how attainable and available it was to tap into the Kingdom. Everything they needed was within reach, if they could only wrap their mind around this foreign way of thinking.

Revelation is a beautiful thing. It allows us to transcend our natural realm and travel through this invisible doorway between our world and the supernatural realm. Within this portal is the gateway between God and man, containing answers to prayer and the solutions to our needs.

The world is full of people that do not have answers to the questions of their hearts. There are kings of this earth that lack answers to the needs at hand because God has not allowed them to receive the answers they need. Indeed, like the king in Daniel’s day or the Pharaoh in the time of Joseph, God has set the stage for them to receive the answers to the questions of their heart but only in His way, and from the very people that HE has chosen to release those answers.

In Genesis 41:15-16, Joseph was remembered in the time of Pharaoh’s need. Pharaoh had a troubling dream that he was unable to understand. This was Joseph’s response:

Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I have had a dream, but no one can interpret it; and I have heard it said about you, that when you hear a dream you can interpret it."Joseph then answered Pharaoh, saying, "It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer."

We see another similar situation in Daniel chapter 2, where King Nebuchadnezzar had a very frightening dream that he was unable to remember, much less understand. The king called for all his wise men, magicians and prognosticators. None could tell him what he needed to know, until Daniel. In verse 16, Daniel went in to see the king. “Give me a little time,” he said, “and I will tell you the dream and what it means.”

17 Then he went home and told Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions. 18 They asked the God of heaven to show them his mercy by telling them the secret, so they would not die with the others. 19 And that night in a vision God told Daniel what the king had dreamed.

Then Daniel praised the God of heaven, 20 saying, “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for he alone has all wisdom and all power. 21 World events are under his control. He removes kings and sets others on their thrones. He gives wise men their wisdom and scholars their intelligence. 22 He reveals profound mysteries beyond man’s understanding. He knows all hidden things, for he is light, and darkness is no obstacle to him. 23 I thank and praise you, O God of my fathers, for you have given me wisdom and glowing health, and now even this vision of the king’s dream and the understanding of what it means.”

24 Then Daniel went in to see Arioch, who had been ordered to execute the wise men of Babylon, and said, “Don’t kill them. Take me to the king, and I will tell him what he wants to know.”

25 Then Arioch hurried Daniel in to the king and said, “I’ve found one of the Jewish captives who will tell you your dream!”

26 The king said to Daniel, “Is this true? Can you tell me what my dream was and what it means?”

27 Daniel replied, “No wise man, astrologer, magician, or wizard can tell the king such things, 28 but there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and he has told you in your dream what will happen in the future.”

God reveals His secrets to His prophets. He gives a certain skill to dream interpreters. He fills His vessels with wisdom that is uncommon to man. He puts the life of His Spirit in people that bear His name. God has people assigned to you, to help you, no matter what the problem is. Now that is a comforting thought! 

Have you ever put a puzzle together and found yourself missing a piece or two? Without those missing pieces, the picture is incomplete. You can look in the box, look on the table, go back to the box and look again even when you know it isn't going to be there, only to discover that the piece(s) you needed to complete the picture were actually in an entirely different place than where you were looking. Sometimes finding the answers to life issues are like that too. We need to stop looking where we think we're going to find the answer, and look in a completely different place. If doing the same old thing hasn't produced the missing puzzle pieces, stop going back to your box! You probably need to go about your problem solving in an entirely different way. 

From financial matters, to family matters, to the inner issues of the heart, healing, direction or something else, God has the missing pieces we need. Sometimes the pieces He uses aren't even on the table. Perhaps what you're looking for isn't in the place you'd expect to find it. Yet, He knows where to find anything and everything! He knows how to direct your steps and he knows how to direct others to find you! (You are the answer to someone else's need, you know!) Our heavenly Father has never stopped wanting to give us answers for the questions of our heart. The problem is, we get so accustomed to trying to work things out on our own, or using what our analytical skills convince us is the right course of action, that we can just keep hitting a wall without results. I think it’s hard for people to admit they don’t know what WILL get results, so they just keep trying anything and everything, wearing themselves out, when they should just stop and pray. Do you think God doesn’t know how to solve your dilemma? Can He lead you to someone that might be able to help you? Of course. Even now, if you lack a needed answer for a certain situation that you face, rest assured that God has the answer. Sometimes He gives it to us directly, and at other times, for reasons only He understands, He has decided that the answer will come through a specific person at a specific time. So much of what God does is connected to the timing of events beyond our comprehension. I believe He does this to prove to man that we really do truly need Him, and we need each other. We need the gifts of His Spirit. It humbles man's pride to have to admit that they cannot figure everything out without Him. This world needs to come back to admitting that truth: We don't have the answers, Lord. Forgive us for trying to lead ourselves and be our own god. We can wear ourselves out with all our good efforts and still come up empty handed without the answers we need simply because we fail to ask the right questions. If that is you today, perhaps today is the day to pray a bit different and think outside of your expected course of action. Maybe you just need to stop attempting to resolve the problems you face by your own strength and look to the Lord. He has put His answers in human vessels to show His glory on the earth.

PRAY:

“Father God, I cannot solve the problems at hand without You. I admit, I continue to come up short. I lack answers. I lack wisdom. Forgive me, please, for not turning to You sooner. I humble myself before You. None of my efforts have unlocked the answers or the solutions that I need.”

“Father, if you do not intend to give the answer I need directly to me, then who have you chosen to release the answer? Who would you direct me to that can answer the questions of my heart? Certainly you have chosen someone that can provide the wisdom and answers that I seek. Please lead me to the right person. And, if I am waiting on someone else to find me, then bless me with the wisdom, understanding and answers for the questions of their heart. Let me be Your vessel that You pour through to help solve other people’s needs. Show me what You would have me to do. Please bring together the missing pieces. In Jesus name, amen.”