It’s a pretty simple concept: you only see what you want to see. For example, if you are looking for your car keys, you won’t really see anything else that you are picking up or looking behind to find your keys. Your brain is locked in on keys, so that’s all you will see.
In a well-known Bible story, Moses sends twelve men into the Promised Land to check things out. He tells them to explore the land and bring back a report. The men went to several locations, and there is no mention of who or what they saw except…
- …in the valley of Eschol, they found grapes of extraordinary size.
- …in Hebron, they found people of extraordinary size.
They went in looking for big things, and that’s all they saw.
With the exception of Caleb and Joshua who said, “So what? Our God is bigger than those giants,” all the other men saw defeat. In the end, all the other men saw death in the desert; only Caleb and Joshua saw God’s victory in the Promised Land.
You see what you want to see—
What do you see?
What are you looking for?
Are you looking for giants? If so, you’ll find them. And they will seem even bigger in your eyes than they really are.
Are you looking for God’s victory? If so, you’ll find Him. And His deliverance will seem even more incredible than you could have imagined!
Prayer trains your eyes to see differently. Prayer trains your brain to look for victory. Prayer keeps you alert to what God is doing.
If all you see are giants, if all you hear is bad news, if all you feel is fear, perhaps you’re looking for giants and bad news and the fearful things.
Friend, God wants you to see Him on the move. Pray!
- Prayer changes giants to dwarfs.
- Prayer changes defeat to victory.
- Prayer changes gloom to sunshine.
- Prayer changes the way you see the world.
- Prayer changes you.
“The prayer of the morning will determine the day.” —Dietrich Bonhoeffer
