The Cry of Moldable Clay

Posted: Wednesday, March 31, 2010 by Allen King in
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Some of the memories I hold dear from my childhood are the times when I would hear my parents pray. It seems that very often their prayer times would conclude by them breaking into singing. I can remember, on more than one occasion, my mom rising from prayer and singing, “Have Thine own way, Lord. Have Thine own way. Thou art the Potter. I am the clay. Mold me and make me after Thy will, while I am waiting, yielded and still.”

God told Jeremiah, “I know the thoughts that I think toward you... to give you an expected end.” (Jeremiah 29:11). Those are some of the most powerful words in all of scripture, dealing with the relationship between God and His children.

Isn’t it wonderful to realize that God did not just fling us out into the nebulous of life and then forget about us? He has a plan for each of us. He has a will for each of our lives.

Unlike some would convey, He doesn’t play divine games of hide-and-seek. We are not simply pawns on some cosmic sacred chessboard.

I think that far too often, we think the will of God is an elusive idea. God wants to make His will known to us sometimes even more desperately than we claim to be seeking to know His will. Our problem is not finding the will of God, it is in doing the will of God.

A lot of what we call trying to find God’s will is actually trying to change God’s mind. He has a plan, but too often we have a mind-set--a preconceived notion of what we want to do and who we want to be. So, we pray and pray and maybe even fast a day or two. We try to change God’s mind, to convince Him our plan is better than His. 

When God took Jeremiah to the potter’s house, it was to speak to the prophet concerning Israel. They refused to yield. They resisted much like the clay Jeremiah was watching on the potter’s wheel. It hardened and would not yield to the ministrations of the potter. It fell apart in his hands.

God was trying to convey to Jeremiah—and then to Israel— that the power to become what God wanted them to be was within them. God is not an unwilling God. He stands ready to bless us. It is His delight to mold us into His purpose and will for our lives. Yet, we have somehow embraced the misconception that we have to force Him to move upon us.

We don’t have to pray to get God in a good mood. We don’t pray to purchase power with Him to buy our own way. Days of fasting don’t add purchase power to our prayers. We pray—and we fast—to enhance our relationship with Him.

When He places you on the wheel, He molds you into the best you can possibly be or become for Him. However, there must be a willingness on your part. We can pray for God’s will for our lives until our knees are calloused and our faces turn blue, but if we do not allow ourselves to be moldable, there is nothing more God can do in us or through us. The power to become a useful vessel is in the clay. If it is unwilling to be molded, the potter has no recourse but to either start the process all over again or toss it aside and get more clay.
Don’t miss this. The same sun that melts butter, also hardens clay. It is in the substance. It is not the sun. You must be melted before you can be molded.

There are those times when God sends us into a meltdown. Everything seems to be falling apart. Financial dilemmas, family stresses, work issues make us physically and emotionally exhausted.

We take the pieces and say. “Lord, please put me back together...” and unspoken but not unfelt is the specification, “but put me back together again just like I was.” 

God will always give you the best if you leave the choice to Him. What we must do is bring our human mind and its frailties into submission to the mind of Christ. The divine mind and the human mind bring the flesh—the clay—under control.

The prayer of a surrendered mind, heart, and will is “Not my will, but Thine be done.” That is the cry of moldable clay. That is the power cry of human surrender to divine intervention. 

“Have Thine own way, Lord
Have Thine own way.
Thou art the Potter. I am the clay.
Mold me and make me
After Thy will,
While I am waiting, yielded and still.”

In The Waiting

Posted: Wednesday, March 24, 2010 by Allen King in
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Do you ever find yourself trying to rush God? I am sure that I am not unlike most Christians who have struggled with the anxiety of waiting or who have despised the mundaneness while longing for the spectacular. 
I mean, God is the God of the spectacular. Right? I've read the Bible. He is always performing the extraordinary, making rivers in the desert, parting seas, causing deadness to be brought to life, and stuff.
However, I am learning more and more that the vital issues of life are not on the peripheral edges. Sometimes, it is necessary for God to take us back to the basics. That is what God has been speaking to me for the past few months.

Several months ago, my sister released a new solo project. I could never let her know, but it is still the favorite in my CD collection. There is one short phrase on one of the songs from that recording that is so powerful. The song, "Be Still" speaks of a familiar place called "in the waiting." I have thought about that phrase so many times since hearing it. We will do well to learn the lessons of our time "in the waiting."
Can you imagine what Jeremiah must have thought when he first heard the command to go to the potter's house? He knew everything there was to know about that place. Nothing could have been more boring, more commonplace for him. Heaven has Jeremiah's attention. He is awaiting a powerful Word from God. The Word comes forth, and what are the instructions? Go to the potter's house!

He must have thought, “What can I learn there I don’t already know? I’ve watched that old potter more times than I can count. Why, Lord, I can even tell You exactly how they operate. But you said to go, so go I will.”
It is easy to get disillusioned with the routine, the tedious sameness of it all. Instead we try to make something happen. Yet, the fact is, most of our walking with God is routine. It is not spectacular. It is not fireworks and awe-inspiring displays. It is the slow steady burn of a single flame.
It is that power of routine that saved Daniel. He was already used to praying every day. Daniel did not find himself praying more because he was in a time of crisis, nor praying less when he was at ease. His praying did not work to speed up or slow down the processes of God. He was just doing what he normally did. He prayed.
The prophet, Isaiah, has been quoted countless times when he said, “They that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint" (Isaiah 40:31). What wonderful inspiration we have taken from this passage as we were made aware that if we will wait, God will cause us to take wings like the eagles.

We are so prone toward the spectacular, especially those of us in the pentecostal or charismatic tradition. If we are not careful, in our longing for thunderings, lightning strikes, and earthquakes, we will miss the still, quiet voice that comes to us in our cave experiences and says to us, "Just be faithful." 

It is easy to rejoice when God is showing His adventurous side. However, notice that the true message is in the progression in Isaiah 40:31. He said, we will “mount up with wings as eagles”; then “run, and not be weary”; then “walk, and not faint.” We automatically want to start walking, then accelerate to a run, then take wing and fly. But, God says.” No, that’s not My way. You may start off flying, then you’ll come down to running, but most of the time you will just be walking.
Here is the essence of successful Christian living. It is consecrated plodding. It is about the ability to put one foot in from of the other. That is not to say there will not be those high-flying, ecstatic experiences. They simply are the exception, not the rule. Where you finally end up is in the very basic skill of walking with God. 

It was as much the will of God for the children of Israel to march quietly around Jericho as it was for the walls to fall. Some days, walls fall. Other days, we just walk. Either way, God is faithful.

New Blog Site

Posted: Monday, March 22, 2010 by River of Life Church in
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We are excited about launching this brand new blog site for River of Life Church. We look forward to sharing thoughts and insights.