{"id":2402,"date":"2015-09-03T12:18:27","date_gmt":"2015-09-03T16:18:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/?p=2402"},"modified":"2015-09-03T12:18:27","modified_gmt":"2015-09-03T16:18:27","slug":"a-prayer-for-gods-thoughts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/2015\/09\/a-prayer-for-gods-thoughts.html","title":{"rendered":"A Prayer for God’s Thoughts"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cMy thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,\u201d says the Lord. \u201cAnd my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine\u201d (Isaiah 55:8).<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

For, \u201cWho can know the Lord\u2019s thoughts? Who knows enough to teach him?\u201d But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ. (II Corinthians 2:16)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

I am not smart enough. Don\u2019t smirk; neither are you.<\/p>\n

Researchers say we possess\u00a0\u201cbounded rationality\u201d which means we all make decisions with only limited information and very limited brains.\u00a0And yet, God trusts us with massive responsibilities: a wife or husband, children, a business and employees, homes, cars, retirement portfolios, and visions and dreams for a preferred future. Knowing what you know about yourself, do you think this was a good idea? But God loads us down with blessing, so much in fact we can\u2019t possibly manage it completely.<\/p>\n

We are not smart enough and life is a set up for failure. \u201cMy thoughts are nothing like your thoughts.\u201d Which is why God teaches us to pray. We are on the planet to learn conversational dependence. I love the simple prayer of Pastor Morris Vaagenes: \u201cI can\u2019t. You can. Please do. Thank you.\u201d<\/p>\n

When we admit our \u201cbounded rationality\u201d he shares his \u201cboundless rationality\u201d with us. Paul\u2019s claim is actually audacious: \u201c\u2026For we have the mind of Christ.\u201d No, my thoughts cannot be God\u2019s, but His can be mine! I have the mind of Christ. I can pray for his way of thinking, his perspective, his attitude, his insight, his creativity, his logic, his memory, his forgetfulness, his common sense, his strategic foresight \u2013 ALL OF HIS MIND \u2013 to pervade me.<\/p>\n

Wow!<\/p>\n

Jesus, you are brilliant and wise. When I give you access to my life you give me access to yours. Today I need your way of thinking. I have a challenge or two before me that are beyond my pay grade. I can\u2019t think fast enough or clearly enough. But you can and do. Do so now, in me. Amen!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Now you are thinking!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cMy thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,\u201d says the Lord. \u201cAnd my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine\u201d (Isaiah 55:8). For, \u201cWho can know the Lord\u2019s thoughts? Who knows enough to teach him?\u201d But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ. (II Corinthians 2:16) I am not smart enough.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":478,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,15,7,4,25,3,1],"tags":[1335,1072,1339,1337,1334,1336,446,1338,608,1340,117,1323,1064,486],"class_list":["post-2402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible","category-bible-prayer","category-daily-prayer","category-god","category-jesus","category-prayer","category-uncategorized","tag-attitude","tag-brain","tag-common-sense","tag-creativity","tag-gods-thoughts","tag-insight","tag-leadership","tag-logic","tag-mind","tag-pastor-morris-vaagenes","tag-prayer-3","tag-responsibilities","tag-the-mind-of-christ","tag-thoughts"],"yoast_head":"\nA Prayer for God's Thoughts<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/2015\/09\/a-prayer-for-gods-thoughts.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Prayer for God's Thoughts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cMy thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,\u201d says the Lord. \u201cAnd my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine\u201d (Isaiah 55:8). 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