The Sheep Prayer by J.D. Greear

(This comes from a guy I admire greatly.  J.D. Greear is pastor of Summit Church in the Raleigh-Durham area of North Carolina.  You can find his blog on the links to the right.  Let's pray the sheep prayer with J.D.)

 

Praying "the Sheep prayer" is a recurring theme for me. Basically, the sheep prayer is where you acknowledge that God says He relates to us like a Shepherd to sheep.

Sheep are idiots. They don't learn quickly, they rarely understand, and you never depend on them to figure out on their own which way they should go. Praying the sheep prayer means you say to God, "God, I'm not smart enough to figure out what step to take. There's so much I can't see. I need you to make the next step clear to me."

Sheep never get to the place they are supposed to go because of their skill in understanding, but because of the Shepherd's skill in leading. That's why God tells us to "lean not on our own understanding" but to simply "acknowledge God in all our ways" and "He will direct our paths." (Prov 3:5-6). God gave up on my decision making ability back at the garden of Eden. I don't even depend on my ability to "hear God." I depend on God's ability to make Himself heard.

When we wonder, "Is God trying to say something to us?," I trust that if God is trying to say something to us, or trying to redirect us, HE WILL MAKE IT PLAIN. In Deuteronomy 8:5 Moses tells us "As a Father disciplines his children, so the Lord our God disciplines you." Bad discipline is where you discipline your child and don't tell them why. Good discipline always makes plain to the child why they are being disciplined and what you want them to learn. Needless to say, God will be a good discipliner. Trust in Him, and if He's trying to say something, He'll make it plain.