“But as for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more. My mouth will tell of your righteousness, of your salvation all day long, though I know not its measure.”
Ps. 71:14-15
God must be disappointed by how we put Him in a box. We pray “God in the Box” prayers like He’s a short-order miracle maker, and we’re at a drive-through. We reduce our prayers to Him to desperation mode attempts to “have it our way.” Even when His way is better. And the truth is, God even hears those prayers. The Lord is gracious and merciful; slow to anger and great in lovingkindness. (Ps.14:8) He has to be hurt by our lack of belief in Him, by our prayer lives. He must be angered by our stiff-necked churches and by those who only want Him to do amazing “tricks” before their eyes, and forget to seek Him first. We reduce God, and in so doing, reduce our own power in Him to live marked, victorious lives.
He amazes me that He tolerates this discounting of the hugeness of who He is. I limit my relationship with God by my own lack of understanding, and I don’t really have a clue of the magnitude of His nature. He’s bigger than whoever we have him conceived to be.
I’ve heard each of the following statements said and have spoken them myself. Yet my own eyes have seen miracles that contradict. “Some people are more concerned about watching a circus side show of God instead of being willing to walk the hard day to day discipline of obedience.” “Speaking in tongues was something that happened once to foreshadow that day when every tribe and nation will come together in heaven.” “God uses doctors today where He used to do the miracle Himself.” He has promised in John, “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” (John 14:12) We limit God’s power by our own lack of faith. We limit His goodness by small prayers. The truth is we cannot limit God. We simply limit giving Him the glory for all He is. I still am seeking answers to these thoughts, and at this point know there is a balance. Again, I wonder if that last statement limited my concept of God. It may be more true to acknowledge that there isn’t balance with God, but recognize that He is an extreme God whose limitations are none, but only hindered by our understanding of who He is.
annette geffert 
I, too, have been dealing with this. It seems God has be working overtime trying to get the truth of His unlimited abilites through my thick head! Studing about the delicate balance of the universe and galxaxies helps me come up another notch on the ladder of my faith.
You’ve got me to thinking about something else that’s too long for a comment so I will post it for tomorrow.
Love,
Sherry
You hit the nail right on the head!
Thankfully, His grace is new each day and His mercy never ends because we would be in grave trouble if it did.
Oh Lord, convict us each time we try to contain You, sit on Your thrown and advise You how to do it, or attempt to do it in our power. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
A2
He is So much bigger than I give Him credit. I know I am guilty of waiting for him to do “tricks” before my eyes. Ouch! I am also guilty of putting Him in a box and pulling Him out when I am desperate! He continues to give me reasons to be desperate for Him so I better give Him the glory for that! He knows me well, and wants me to believe Him in all of the details, small and large!
Love you,
Angie xoxo
Good word Annie!! WOW! God in a box is where I keep Him I know. He IS way bigger than my mind can ever grasp. Be free and trust deeply!
Hugs,
Fran
I am right there with you. I know in my heart that I limit Him in my prayers. I as trying to learn how to pray “bigger” prayers for lack of the right word. I want my actions to show how much faith I have, He has grown it so much the last two and a half years that it blows me away. Of course, I still struggle with the flesh and get too emotional and want things my way right NOW and have to back off. Elisabeth Elliott has a quote, “with acceptance comes peace” and when I have tried to pray as I did last night for WHAT I wanted instead of what He might want I didn’t get His peace until I accepted whatever His plans were. What a great God we serve. Thank you for this post. Blessings on your day and week. Love, Mary Lou
Girl, I am walking right there with you. I am so glad that He is a patient, forgiving God. I guess our prayer needs to be, “I do believe, but help me with my unbelief!”
love you,
karen
He truly is The extreme God Who loves us more than we can ever fathom. Praise Him today and always and may we look for His magnitude. Glory be to our Great God!