A few weeks ago I was up in the mountains praying, when right in the middle of it, a negative thought interrupted my beautiful prayer time. I was able to recognize instantly that this was not a thought I wanted, needed, or even should entertain, so I consciously chose to shut it out of my mind and went on with my prayer. But God interrupted me this time and asked me to pay attention to what it felt like when I shut that unwanted thought off. I told him it felt a lot like just closing a sliding door on it, hearing the swoosh and click and knowing it was gone. That is when he gave me the analogy of the drive-thru window. It seems like such a silly little metaphor, but I got it! God speaks to us all exactly where we are, and in exactly the ways that we can understand. He speaks to all who will have ears to hear.
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Part 1: Choosing Our Thoughts
I am sitting in the restaurant at the drive-thru window waiting for the next order to pull up. I am the employee in this vision, and I represent free-will. The cars that pull up represent thought. Since I have been trained by my awesome boss, God, to be discerning, I can know which thoughts I want to take orders from and which ones I do not. If a thought pulls up that I know I do not want to entertain or should not entertain, I simply close the window on it. The thought cannot speak to me any longer. I can still see it sitting there waiting, but it can't communicate with me. The only way it can speak to me is if I choose to open the window again. If I choose to leave the window closed, the thought eventually leaves. Sometimes, before it has left, I choose to open the window back up to that thought, but when I realized I do not like the order, I close the window again. Sometimes, the opening and closing of the window has to go on for a while until I really get that this is not an order that I would like to take. And I do not have to take it! It is my choice. So, swish goes the window and up goes my inner peace. Additionally, when a good thought pulls up, I can take its order and leave the window open as long as I want/need to. Again, it is up to me (free-will).
Part 2: God-guided Prayer
When I get really experienced and adept at my job at the drive-thru, God-guided prayers start to pull up to the window. (Side note: God showed me that there is not a large difference between thought and prayer. They are similar but not the same. Thoughts can creep in subconsciously, while prayer is a conscious choice and a giving to God of our time and attention. He also showed me that with further training, we can be much more conscious of thought, and become much more in tune to the Holy Spirit through constant prayer). When a God-guided prayer pulls up to the window, I recognize it instantly, as I know what those feel like because of my previous, extensive training. These God-guided prayers always align with the Bible, come in quite unexpectedly, and really stand out from the others; much like a fancy sports car would in a drive drive-thru line. These God-guided prayers I know with certainty I want to open the window for. But, now I feel insecure and unworthy. What if I don't feel I have anything of value to offer? And why does God need little ol' drive-thru worker ME (you) to affect any change? God showed me that my prayer is like the oil that powers the engine. God is omnipotent and does not need my prayers to act, right? No!! Wrong. Yes, He is the only Omnipotent (All-powerful), and as such, He has chosen to give us free-will. God has, therefore, chosen with His Divine will to be limited in our Earthly realm to our humanly free-will. If I do not take the order and send the car on its way, God may not be able to act as efficiently. He may be limited to divine intervention, which I do not feel he imparts on a regular basis, because of the gift of free-will. The scripture that comes to mind is "you have not because you ask not". So yes, He does need our prayers! NEEDS them! The Bible says He "covets our prayers"!!! They are the oil that sends the fancy sports car roaring on it's awesome way. Wow. The Power of Prayer takes on new meaning when we grasp this.
Part 3: Praying in the Spirit
God showed me that I do not need to be afraid of what I will pray for, because I am well trained by this point in recognizing these God guided prayers. I have asked him to come into my heart and be God of my life. I have finally reached that place of full surrender and been promoted to manager (this would be what some call "sanctification", or having a pure heart, or "the second act of Salvation". I call it Full Surrender/Spiritual Awakening.) I am now Discerning because of His Holy Spirit. I will only desire to ask for the things that are of God. And I will end each prayer request to God with, "Your Will be done". I will not want to pray for things that are evil to happen. If I do want to pray for things that are evil, then that means I need to be retrained at my job because I have demoted myself with my own choices. Maybe even demoted myself to mopping floors and scrubbing toilets (been there!!). God showed me that there are two types of employees (read: free-will): a) Employees that have to learn the hard way because of their choices. Some learn faster than others. b) Employees that excel because they make choices that may be contrary to their own will, but submit to God's will anyway.
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Thoughts and PRAYER were the point of this Vision. Effective prayer. Prayer without ceasing. Learn to control your thoughts so that your prayers can be more effective, and have room to move into position. Pray. Pray some more. Then pray some more. And some more. Fuel that racecar! Be a Prayer Warrior.
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1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NIV) Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:26-28 (NLT) And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. James 4:2-3 (NIV) You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. Proverbs 15:29 (NIV) "The Lord is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous". Psalm 145:18-19 (GNT) "He is near to those who call to him, who call to him with sincerity. He supplies the needs of those who honor him; He hears their cries and saves them."
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