By: Pastor Jarren Rogers

“You see, a potter can only mold the clay when it lies completely in his hand. It requires complete surrender.” – Corrie ten Boom

Prayers can be dangerous.

You know that old saying, “Be careful what you ask for”? The same can be said for prayer.

One of the best and most dangerous prayers you can pray is found in Isaiah 64:8.

“Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.”

Who doesn’t want to be formed into the person that God wants them to be? Who doesn’t want to be molded and shaped by their Creator? Who doesn’t want to be made into the best they that they can be? This can only come by sincerely asking God to shape and mold our hearts and minds.

But this can be a dangerous prayer. Many times, the instrument that God uses to shape us is hardship. Sometimes God molds us with pain. God uses uncertainty and the unknown to form our future. He can use struggle to build character.

Hardship is always going to come. That is just a part of life. I don’t believe that God necessarily shoots suffering and adversity at His followers. Instead, God uses the hardship that life brings for our good. He can use it to shape and mold us into the person that He would have us to be.

Suffering and hardship forces us to rely on God to supply what we need. It means that we have to learn patience, perseverance, and integrity. It is through that difficulty that our faith is built and our character is strengthened.

That is why praying for God to mold you and shape you is such a dangerous prayer to pray. If you want to be molded, it means that adversity may be on the horizon. It means that difficulty may be coming your way. It means that you might come to the end of yourself so that you have to rely fully on God.

Surrendering yourself over to be molded by God requires dangerous prayers and heaps of faith. It means that you are fully offering yourself over to a God who knows what’s best. It is laying yourself at His feet to be molded into who He wants you to be however He chooses to do it.

But being who God wants you to be is the best place you can be. Spiritual maturity come through difficulty, but with spiritual maturity comes measures of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. With spiritual maturity comes an assurance that you are centered within the will of God.

That makes it all worth it.

Parents: Tell your kids how God can use hardship to shape you.