Many times we pray, pray and pray over issues in
our life. After all that prayer, we walk away expecting our prayers to come to
us answered and announced. Life rarely works that way. It takes a good deal of
watching to see your prayers answered and then acknowledging the source of the
answers. This is the reason why many of our prayers and desires are answered
and provided for but we never seem to see them. In fact, God provides many good
things to us which we rarely ever acknowledge him for. Health, strength, life,
breath, ability to walk, talk, run, jump, think straight, write, type etc, the
list is endless.
Psalm 64:9 and 107:43 higlights the fact that it
takes wisdom to see and acknowledge God working. So getting to see and
acknowledge all of God's goodness to you and me is not just about knowing
without some searching. Atimes, we may have to wisely search to see the
wonderful things God has done for us - that is why we are to "wisely
consider of his doing". So at most times I can see God has answered my
prayers, but at other times, I have to sit back and reflect and search out the
cases where he has answered me particularly in ways and time I never expected
because his ways and thought and timing are different from ours - Isaiah 55:8.
So we have to like the Psalmist tell ourselves:
"Bless the Lord O my Soul, and forget not ALL his benefits". How many
times do we forget the many things he has done for us when we fail to note our
requests and the answers; when we are not wachful in the spirit to the many
ways he answers us; when we are not patient and may move out of our places of
answered prayers; and when we are easily carried away by our endless prayer
points and requests? Note that word: ALL...all his goodness to us-that may seem
impossible but is enough assignment for us to do through our period on earth.
Forgetfulness can rob us of many blessings and
build ingratitude unconsciuosly. When we do not recognise God's answers, we
fail to acknowledge him, and how then can we get more? We are also tempted to
believe God rarely answers prayers - how then can we grow?
Our bodies have a way of seeking after vain
things, so we need to tell it out, even aloud to ourselves, Bless the Lord o
my soul and all that is within me bless his holy name. A Hymn writer
puts it well when he said:
Count your blessings name them one by
one
Count your blessings see what God has
done
Count your blessings, name them one by
one,
And it will surprise you what the
Lord has done.
Acknowledgement:
Images: http://www.biblesinger.com/count_your_blessings/; https://joseyphina.wordpress.com/2013/04/11/count-your-blessings/
Hymn: Johnson Oatman
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