You Don’t Have to Pray, You Get to Pray

“Open my eyes so I can see what You show me of Your miracle-wonders.”   

Psalm 119:18 (MSG) 

What are you focused on today? If we’re to experience the gift of one day we need to ask that question each morning. Is the focus on the schedule before us? All the tasks we need to get done. Is it concern over how we’re going to get through the day? Maybe you’re going through the most difficult season of your life, and you struggle to see God anywhere.  Whether you’re distracted by everyday routines or painful loss, it’s easy to lose sight of God’s presence and goodness in our lives.  The truth is we only really see what we’re focused on. Maybe that’s why the Psalmist prayed, “Open my eyes so I can see what You show me of Your miracle-wonders.” in Psalms 119:18 (MSG)  

God is at work all around us. He never stops. His goodness can be seen in a million ways if we will just open our eyes to see. He is a miracle-working God, but when the miracle doesn’t come as we expected, we fail to see His goodness; even His presence can allude us. In Psalm 9:1 (ESV), the Psalmist was determined, despite the circumstances of his life, to see God’s goodness.  He wrote, “I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recount all of Your wonderful deeds.” What’s amazing to me, is that this Psalm is written to the tune of “The Death of the Son.” I don’t know how that relates to the Psalm, but it takes on new meaning when we experience heartache and loss.  Just the first two words can turn our focus from defeat, to see God’s goodness – “I will….” That’s a statement of determination, not a felt response when everything is going great.  He said, “I will give thanks to the LORD…” And the measure of his thanksgiving would be “…with my whole heart...” How do you do that when your heart is breaking?  Here is where the Psalmist gives us some practical insight that can open our eyes to see God’s goodness, His miracle-wonders.  He said, “I will recount all of Your wonderful deeds.” 

Do you do that? Do you recount all of God’s wonderful deeds or has your focus been fixed on what He hasn’t done for you?  You can protect your heart from becoming bitter and begin to see His miracle-wonders when you recount all of His wonderful deeds.  We began doing that with what we called Our Miracle Book.  It totally transformed our perspective in the midst of our pain.  What is a miracle book?  A Miracle Book is simply a small notebook to capture God’s goodness in our lives so we can better see the miracle in our mess. You can do this too!   

The first step is to recognize every miracle God is doing around you. How do you do that? For us, it meant transforming the way we see God’s goodness. Most of us suffer from spiritual myopia. Our expectations of what we want God to do are so nearsighted that we can’t see the bigger picture of what God is doing around us. Here are three common mistakes that can blind us from seeing God’s miracle-wonders: 

1. We look for the miracle in tomorrow and miss the miracle in today. 

2. We look for the miracle we want and miss the miracle we get. 

3. We look for the miracle to remove our hurt when the miracle is often hidden in the hurt. 

Can you identify with any of those? The disciples who followed Jesus for three years often made the same mistakes. The religious leaders of Jesus’ day failed to recognize Him as the Messiah because they were looking for a military Messiah, not a suffering Savior. Like them and Jesus’ disciples we can become so focused on what we want that we miss what God desires to give us.  In Luke 19:41-42 (NIV), the Bible says, “As (Jesus) approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it and said, ‘If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace--but now it is hidden from your eyes.’” How tragic!  They had missed the day of God’s visitation!  John recorded in John 1:10 (CSB), “(Jesus) was in the world and the world was created through Him, and yet the world did not recognize Him.”   

The fact is we can make the same mistake. To avoid that mistake we must open our eyes so we can see God’s goodness. When you do, your heart will open with thanksgiving as you record and recount all His wonderful deeds in your miracle book!  

Sometimes just connecting with a few friends will improve your vision. It’s not too late to join a Gift of One Day Life group where you can share God’s goodness with others.  For more information you can check out our website and connect with a few friends.