Don’t you love all of these dramatic titles with exclamation points? This reflects the urgency and fervency with which I addressed the Lord this morning.

Let me set the scene for you. I was reading in Matthew 21, and I came to these verses (18-21):

Early in the morning, as he was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately the tree withered. When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?” they asked. Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

The Lord stopped me in my tracks, and asked me, “What do you want from me?” It felt like a very important moment. I felt like this was an important opportunity, and that anything I asked for in that moment He would give me because he had aroused my faith. I took a moment to consider.

I didn’t want anything temporal, like a chair for our prayer room or a new car. I didn’t want money or anything like that. I wanted something that would change me - that would give me the ability to stir my faith even more to live a life of faith. The thing is, I didn’t ask for faith.

I begged for freedom.

I knew that if the Lord sovereignly set me free from the sin that besets me, then I would be all right. If I wasn’t listening to lies anymore, I knew that my faith would be activated, and that the Lord would lead me, guide me, provide for me and protect me. So I asked for freedom. After all, “it is for freedom that Christ has set us free.” I believe that He will answer. I believe that He will do it. Today is the beginning of something new - and scary. It’s called trusting Him.