A New, Single You

Article by Afi Pittman

About 2 weekends ago I went to a conference at my church for young adult women. I attend New Life Providence Church and nothing goes down in that place without at LEAST 20 minutes of worship and praise! I believe God is pleased because you can feel His presence every time you set foot in that place. But back to conference…Friday night there was an altar call after the speaker gave her message. The altar call was for those of us who needed to let go of things. I wasn’t going to go up, but once again was nudged by God to obey. Before I went up, I thought “Why, God…why couldn’t I have found this church like 10 years ago?!” You know what He said? He said “Let me give you double for your trouble. Trust me, let go and go up to the altar”.

I went up to the altar not only on Friday but on Saturday as well before the conference closed out. The older women prayed over the younger women at the altar, and the woman who prayed over me helped me see myself in a new light. She helped me see myself the way GOD sees me. She had me speak out that I was already the woman who was ready to receive the things I asked God for. As a result, I was able to let go of my own opinions about what should have happened, could have happened, what I wanted to happen now and in the future. Now I’m ready to do things God’s way, wholeheartedly, with no apologies or regrets.

Since this is a singles column, of course I have to tell you about what this taught me in regards to singleness in my own life. I realized that sometimes WE are the reason we remain single. Ungodly soul ties. Negative attitudes. Mean-spirited dispositions. Unrealistic standards (that are more like demands). A weak relationship with God. I could name so many more, but these are all things that keep us in our own way rather than lining up with the will of God to receive the blessing of marriage to another child of God. And unfortunately, until someone is loving enough to show us why we’re in our own way, we’ll most likely continue doing things our own way, believing that God is holding out us – when we’re really the reason for the hold up.

So here are 3 things I’d like you to do to become a new, single you – one who’s ready to receive from God what you’ve been asking Him for.

1)      Fast from noise to hear God’s voice: I don’t believe fasting is only limited to food. I did a fast from TV, music, my iPod and movies for 2 weeks once because I wanted to hear from God on a matter. And sure enough, His response was “not right now” and He revealed to me why. I walked away with a clear understanding of the aspects of myself that just didn’t support what I was asking for.

2)      Adopt a teachable spirit: It isn’t enough to just hear what God tells you if you want to receive what you’re asking for. You have to take action on what He tells you. Faith without works is dead and it is a sin to know what’s right and not do it. Likewise, gaining knowledge without the intent to take action is useless.

3)      Believe – and I mean ONLY believe – that God is faithful: I struggled with this for years. Even once I started to know God better for myself I doubted that He would reward me for seeking Him and being faithful to the best of my ability. But once I started to believe that He is for me and that I can have and be what He says I can, my life changed!

Above all else, be willing to change. God corrects and disciplines those who He loves. And if He’s correcting you He’s preparing you. If He’s preparing you, that means you have a chance – in faith – to receive those desires of your heart.

Bio:

Afi Pittman is an author and radio show host. She is also active duty Navy and has traveled the world and lived abroad. Her company, Author of Faith Enterprises helps today’s single Christian woman to “live right, love life and find Mr. Right”.

Link: http://www.authorofmyfaith.com/home