October 27th, 2023
Friday, October 27th
God, Will You Search Me
By: Pastor Todd
Search me, O God, and know my mind.
Test me, and know my thoughts.
See whether I am on an evil path.
Then lead me on the everlasting path.
-Psalm 139:23-24 GW
One day Harry got a scare from the doctor and changed his eating habits. His coworkers noticed he no longer came in the office in the morning with a bag of donuts. For months they tracked his progress and celebrated with him until one morning they saw him come through the door with a whole box. “Harry”, they said, “What gives?” “Well”, he said, “as I neared the donut shop I prayed ‘God if it is your will for me to have donuts this morning, let there be an open parking space right in front of the donut shop’. On the ninth time around the block… there it was!”
That silly story illustrates what is called confirmation bias. When we have a strong desire, we process information by sorting it to support our beliefs. Our ears are wide open to anything that suggests we do it, and tightly plugged for anything against it. Even worse, that habit is hard to spot in ourselves.
Maybe that is why David prayed the prayer above. He knew we couldn’t trust his own judgements apart from the leading of the Holy Spirit. Neither can we. On topics much more important than donuts we cannot afford to just do whatever our heart desires, because we are so good at rationalizing what we want. Today, be brave enough to pray the “Search me, O God” prayer over something you want to do, say, buy or try. Make sure God is good with it before you decide that you are.
God, Will You Search Me
By: Pastor Todd
Search me, O God, and know my mind.
Test me, and know my thoughts.
See whether I am on an evil path.
Then lead me on the everlasting path.
-Psalm 139:23-24 GW
One day Harry got a scare from the doctor and changed his eating habits. His coworkers noticed he no longer came in the office in the morning with a bag of donuts. For months they tracked his progress and celebrated with him until one morning they saw him come through the door with a whole box. “Harry”, they said, “What gives?” “Well”, he said, “as I neared the donut shop I prayed ‘God if it is your will for me to have donuts this morning, let there be an open parking space right in front of the donut shop’. On the ninth time around the block… there it was!”
That silly story illustrates what is called confirmation bias. When we have a strong desire, we process information by sorting it to support our beliefs. Our ears are wide open to anything that suggests we do it, and tightly plugged for anything against it. Even worse, that habit is hard to spot in ourselves.
Maybe that is why David prayed the prayer above. He knew we couldn’t trust his own judgements apart from the leading of the Holy Spirit. Neither can we. On topics much more important than donuts we cannot afford to just do whatever our heart desires, because we are so good at rationalizing what we want. Today, be brave enough to pray the “Search me, O God” prayer over something you want to do, say, buy or try. Make sure God is good with it before you decide that you are.
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