Stop Praying For Open Doors

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make straight your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6

I knew what it was that God wanted me to do, or at least I thought I did. I felt a longing, a nudge. It was almost like a nagging feeling that I should be doing this one particular thing.

What I felt Him calling me to do was exciting but intimidating at the same time. That’s usually the way it is when God calls you to do something. It feels big and scary. The odd thing about it is, you will be more at peace when you are doing that big and scary thing than you will be not doing it.

When you do what God created you to do, you experience peace that passes understanding. We fight against it because often times what we were created to do feels border-line impossible to achieve.

When you feed the dream that God has given you, you feel settled but if you ignore the dream you feel anxious, restless even. I knew what I was supposed to do, but I had no clue how to get started. Eventually, I spent so  much time thinking about what I should be doing instead of doing it, I became paralyzed. I had a restlessness in my soul all because I refused to feed the dream. If you starve the dream for too long, eventually it will die.

I dragged my feet and prayed for so much confirmation, it’s almost embarrassing to admit. I started to pursue other endevours, jobs and roles that seemed easier and more acceptable. I offered God part-time obedience and expected full-time blessing.

I was willing to settle for less than God’s best. All because I didn’t want to take risks or put in the hard work it would take to achieve the God-sized dream. I’d pray for open doors and opportunities for play-it-safe kinds of roles. But along the way I’d say, “if it’s not your will Lord, then please make it clear. Slam the door in my face. Make it obvious to me. Make my path straight”. When God slammed the door in my face, the door to my easy way out, I was hurt, embarrassed and offended. I’d cry and sulk, thinking, ‘how could you do this to me Jesus?’ When all God did was give me exactly what I’d been praying for: direction and clarity of my calling. The truth was I wanted clarity in a less painful way. I wanted clarity through open doors instead of closed ones.

God speaks just as much through closed doors as He does through open doors.

God closes more doors than He opens. It’s one of the ways He keeps our path straight.

Shut doors bring clarity and direction. They make what you should be doing rise to the surface and the things that are wasting your time and energy sink to the bottom.

The truth is, a God-sized dream will be way to big to ever achieve with out Him.  It will require His help and miracles along the way. It will require His provision, divine connections and providence to make it come true. He has an appointed time for the dream to take place. If we are obedient and start taking steps in the right direction, He will be faithful to lead us along the way. He will delight in seeing your excitement as you watch the dream unfold with each step you take.