As Leah and I are in the trenches with our current issue of support, my wife has done it again. She has found a way to remind us both that we are with God and he is for us. She forwarded this to me a few days ago from a daily email she receives called “My Utmost for His Highest.”

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! Matthew 7:7-11 (NIV)

Jesus is laying down rules of conduct for those who have His Spirit. By the simple argument of these verses He urges us to keep our minds filled with the notion of God’s control behind every thing, which means that the disciple must maintain an attitude of perfect trust and an eagerness to ask and to seek.

Notion your mind with the idea that God is there. If once the mind is notioned along that line, then when you are in difficulties it is as easy as breathing to remember - Why, my Father knows all about it! It is not an effort, it comes naturally when perplexities press. Before, you used to go to this person and that, but now the notion of the Divine control is forming so powerfully in you that you go to God about it. Jesus is laying down the rules of conduct for those who have His Spirit, and it works on this principle - God is my Father, He loves me, I shall never think of anything He will forget, why should I worry?

There are times, says Jesus, when God cannot lift the darkness from you, but trust Him. God will appear like an unkind friend, but He is not; He will appear like an unnatural Father, but He is not; He will appear like an unjust judge, but He is not. Keep the notion of the mind of God behind all things strong and growing. Nothing happens in any particular unless God’s will is behind it, therefore you can rest in perfect confidence in Him. Prayer is not only asking, but an attitude of mind which produces the atmosphere in which asking is perfectly natural. “Ask, and it shall be given you.”

Jason Tatum is a guest writer for CONSTANTjourney. Learn more about Jason by clicking here and be sure to check out his blog for more great writings.

I went to a concert last night to see some friends play at Smith’s Olde Bar. There name is Tova Rinah and the Way Home. It was a beautiful little show, and I was so relaxed in this giant, old dusty chair, listening to the banjo player’s fingers dance across the frets. It was one of those sweet sounds, like hearing a lullaby, and my mind would come in and out of the lyrics that Tova would croon through the dark, city air.

There is a way home. The road is narrow but there is a way home.

I remember thinking in that moment about going home. About finding a place that was not in transition but a place of belonging, of fullness and comfort and stability. Those words made me think about what home means to me, what it means for us in this task that is laid out before us.

I really believe that we have found a way home. What we are doing here is as ancient as the idea of community, and yet at the same time, it is uncharted waters. What we are headed towards, not just in my life in this one area, in this one struggle, but with all of us is towards a place that would be called home. A place where we find ourselves in the fullness of who we were created to be. Who God himself dreamed of when he first breathed life into our fragile clay. The road to that place is there, but it is a narrow road, it is a rocky road. The path is difficult to see sometimes. I think you know what I’m talking about.

The problem that we have, that I have in this particular case, is that we are not just the sum of our parts. We are not dealing with a purely physical world that is bound solely in our actions, our deeds, our points, our steps. It is not all just gold stars and demerits. There are these things out there, these forces, these powers, that are not simply floating above us or working in the abstract. These forces are actively trying to take away our inheritance. They are trying to subdue us, to conquer us. To woo us into settling for the ordinary, for the mundane, for a life that is not really worthy to be called living.

Fear is one of those things. I don’t think that fear is such some abstract emotion. It is not a chemical in my brain or a badly digested piece of fruit. It is a real, living force in this world that wants to steal from me. It comes from a thing, a person, a Satan that wants to steal from me. And he doesn’t just want to steal from me. He does not stop there. He wants to kill me. Not just kill me, not just take away my life, no. He wants to destroy me. Leave me alone and with nothing. Fear creeps into my life in so many ways. Fear of failing, fear of choosing the wrong thing, fear of becoming who I do not want to be. Fear is an awful thing. And as bad as fear is, I get the impression that I’m not the only one.

I cannot tell you in this little letter all the ways that fear has tried to rob me blind, but I will say this: It is real and it is active. It’s alive. And it does not matter how reasoned we are, it does not matter how much progress has been made, it does not care how many people get this message. Fear is always trying to find a way in, to work through the cracks, to slowly drown me.

And like I said, it’s not just exclusive to me.

So here is my point.

The possibilities of what can be accomplished here, of where we could go, of who we could be and the lives that we could be a part of changing is extraordinary. The stakes are high. Really high. This is not a come what may, this is no lets see if it works out.

This is my life. And the problem and beauty of community is that it is your life as well. We are in this together, regardless of your relationship to me or your closeness or what ever.

So please, please, please. Pray.

We have found a way home. The road is long. the road is narrow. But there is a way, my friends. There is a way.