Prayer Faith and Sublimation

Prayer: Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up Luke 18:1

Faith: Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1

Sublimation: "used to denote diversion of undesirable natural trends or impulses, by education or conscious effort, into some more desirable type of behavior or activity."

Pray Charlie is what my mother told me. Have Faith is what my grandmother taught me. But what is sublimation and how can we use it to better ourselves?

Prayer filled with doubt or lack of faith is a prayer in futility. I use (James 1:6-8) as my reference. I believe every follower of Christ has some form of faith. Why? We have faith that if we follow God that we will be blessed with our heart's desire. That same faith we have in acquiring earthly possession tends to be lacking when it comes acquiring the spiritual. We have a wall of deeply rooted secrets and insecurities we live with.  No way God can turn me around we proclaim. How could God, it's something that's engrained in me. Toxic thoughts that reaffirm bad habits or as I like to say, a deathly vice. Thomas Browne states that, “The vices we scoff at in others, laugh at us within ourselves.” Vice defined, immoral conduct; depraved or degrading behavior. From the Latin word vitium, meaning failing or defect. Drug use, sexual promiscuity, prostitution, gambling, recklessness, cheating, lying, and selfishness are commonly considered vices. How can God, even with his grace, infinite love and wisdom supplant something that is so deeply rooted?

 

Too often leaning on our own wisdom, we cause our prayer to be ineffective. I know me and I can't change. Doubt is one of satan's most effective tools of deception. Sidestepping for a moment, I refuse to capitalize satan. When we doubt that God can "fix" us, we believe that satan is correct. There isn’t too many who haven't dealt with some type of childhood, parental or relational heart wrenching and life altering situation. In wake of the previous; insecurity, inferiority, depression, anxiety, self consciousness, and self esteem to name a few tend to cultivate. Hopelessness and despair along with acceptance and contentment allow the aforementioned to flourish. No one understands and no one cares flood our mind. Trust is just about nonexistent and love is similar to the weather changing daily. We are subject to the occasional rainy day that wasn't expected and there isn't any umbrella in sight. Sunny days arrive but clouds of doubt usually hamper us from experiencing them in their entirety. We should take off our mental boxing gloves and stop beating ourselves down; instead sublimation infused with prayerful discernment and faith from God Almighty without doubt we will overcome. Moreover, professing your faith for all to see and possessing faith internally are on opposite ends of the spectrum. Why? Because God examines your heart! He knows you better than you know yourself.

Sublimation is defined so let's undress this word. Beginning with, used to denote diversion of undesirable natural trends or impulses. Diversion defined: the act or an instance of diverting or turning aside; deviation. Trend defined, prevailing tendencies, we tend to unconsciously follow and impulses, the influence of a particular feeling or mental state are acted out either in thought or physically. Take for example, when dating we have a trend of having reservations rather than approaching with an open mind. Yes we want to protect our hearts and ourselves but if you have a trend of thinking negatively your perspective will be skewed as such. Let's look at an example of how our impulses affect us in thought and the physical. Now in dealing with this new person as soon as they act in a manner we aren't comfortable with or reminds of our past (thoughts) we impulsively think their motives are bad and we may rid ourselves of their presence (physical). Continuing to break down sublimation, by education or conscious effort. Education isn't exclusive to a book or classroom setting. Education in this instance is learning what triggers these feelings in us and how they continue to hold us hostage and from God’s grace. With prayer and faith we have to learn to make a conscious effort to combat those negatives in life so we can experience life as God expects us to. Being fearful of being hurt again or having a past experience revisited is a hindrance to defeating satan (Ephesians 6:12). I'll put this into perspective for you. As I stated previously all are mental strangleholds that neatly make the bed for vices to lay in comfortable. We are then stuck in a perpetual cycle of insanity with repetitive actions searching for a distinctive conclusion. As I digress, we are further giving foothold to satan, and believing that God cant "fix" me. Thinking that you're destined to be a certain way and deal with issues that seem to continually arise is toxic to your mental and spiritual being. I'm here to combat that. Strap on your spiritual seatbelt. God didn't give you a spirit of fear (2 Tim. 1:7). Jesus' entire existence and manifestation was not only to save us but to destroy the works of satan (1 John 3:8). Harsh as it may sound, but I refuse to apologize for my frankness. Scripture states that the pit of fire is reserved for the fearful (Revelations 21:8). When we are fearful and doubtful we acknowledge that we are defeated. And that Jesus' existence and sacrifice was in vain. I want to take time a moment to share a couple verses (Isaiah 50:6 Isaiah 52:14). Simply put, Jesus endured! We need not be bothered endlessly by our past. Disregard fearfulness and doubtful of ourselves and whatever mental stranglehold we deal with. It's already defeated, have faith.

Lastly, into some more desirable type of behavior or activity. Faith affects behavior in every aspect of our being and prayer is exercise for our spiritual, the activity. No further explanation is needed as far as I’m concerned.

 

Prayer, faith and sublimation, hence the title, lets conjure this healing gumbo baby into something we can use as food for the soul.

In military terms diversion and deviation is used to confuse and defeat the enemy, that enemy being satan. Stripping him of his authority on our lives and letting God take control and allowing God's will to done. Whatever the trends in life we follow and cause us to act impulsively can be combated with unwavering prayer and faith. Making a conscious effort to become educated and immersed into the Word, the sword of the Spirit. Ephesians (6:10-18). Having faith in God affects your behavior more that you may know. When we are faced with fear, begin to feel mentally defeated, trapped by a vice or attacked by an emotion that is opposite of love; our faith can and will pull us through. The activity of prayer and meditation strengthens, ties up loose ends and makes sturdy a shaky foundation. In conclusion, ; instead sublimation infused with prayerful discernment and faith from God Almighty without doubt we will overcome

 

- Chaz G. Tyler