Roll It Away
G A L A L
“Sometimes the way to pray about a thing is to stop praying about it.”
Ever had one little sentence change your life? Or at least your prayer life? As an intercessor whose days are pretty much defined by continual conversation with God, when I read these words written by Derek Prince in his book Secrets of a Prayer Warrior, I felt the equivalent of a seismic shift, like the earth moving under my feet.
My prayer life had been feeling rather prunish, the dried-up fruit of hope deferred. Having labored incessantly for years over a beloved family member who was saved but not yet sanctified, I’d felt drained of words and maybe even tears—but kept plugging away like a puppy masticating a chew toy to shreds. Always thinking of the parable of the persistent widow in Luke 18, I wanted to be one in whom Jesus would find faith on this earth, by golly!
But sometimes He is trying to tell us to simply commit our ways to Him. If Jesus Himself committed His spirit to God on the cross, perhaps it was time for me to commit the outcome of my prayers, my loved one, even my faith, to Him.
Opening my Bible to Psalm 37, the first three words, “Do not fret,” leapt out at me. Checking out the Hebrew meaning in Strong’s Concordance, I saw that the word for this phrase, charah, means “to burn or be kindled with anger.” Yep, that would be a pretty accurate description of the smoldering resentment I often felt as I interceded for this individual who seemed so impervious to my fervent (and fretful) prayers.
David reiterates “Do not fret” in verses 7 and 8, saying that it only leads to evil. But he offers God’s antidote through the word “commit” (v.5), which in Hebrew is galal, “to roll away.” As I was sharing this concept with a beloved, longtime mentee the other day, Shelley exclaimed, “This is like the women who arrived at Jesus’ tomb to find that the stone had been rolled away!”
The grieving women, who had come to anoint the body of Jesus, had been fretting over who would roll the huge boulder away from the mouth of the tomb. But an angel informed them that Jesus was not there—He had risen from the grave! God had already resolved their problem. He Himself rolled the stone away.
When we commit our way to the Lord, we roll our problem away from ourselves and onto Him. I pictured myself bodily rolling my precious family member right over to Jesus, the only One who is able to sanctify and make us holy and whole. Shelley later said, “The One who rode on a beast of burden became the burden—became sin for us—so that we could be redeemed, healed, and restored. We don’t have to remain in the burden, if we only roll it to the foot of the cross.”
As one who teaches on inner healing prayer and restoration, I was humbled by the realization that God was in the process of sanctifying me, even as I was praying for the one whom I thought needed sanctification. I had assumed a false responsibility for the outcome of my prayers, so they had effectively backfired into fretting. He was telling me to roll it away, to offer my burden to the One who is meant to carry it.
With the relief that accompanied rolling my burden over to Jesus, I was able to receive and implement God’s other exhortations in Psalm 37: Trust in the Lord and do good (v.3); Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart (v.4); Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him (v.7).
If you are struggling with unanswered prayer, whether it’s relational, physical, emotional, financial, or any other concern, entrust the outcome to God, knowing He will fulfill every promise He has spoken. Those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land (v.9). The Lord upholds the righteous (v.17). The days of the blameless are known to the Lord, and their inheritance will endure forever (v.18). Their children will be blessed (v.26). The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord (v.39).
I am fully persuaded that He is able to keep that which we commit—that which we roll away—to Him. Thanks be to God!
If you have a prayer request of any nature for the APT, feel free to contact Jan at jan@micn.org. We want to serve all members of MICN through the ministry of intercession and hold your requests in confidence.
Jan de Chambrier
MICN Prayer Ambassador
