When You’re Tempted to Seek Approval, Pray This Life-Giving Prayer

According to Paul McCartney’s biographer, he composed the melody for “Yesterday” one night in a dream. When he woke up, McCartney jotted down the melody and then spent months trying to make sure he wasn’t stealing it from someone else.

“Yesterday” wasn’t particularly liked by the rest of the Beatles. It was released as the B side song for “Act Naturally.”

However, “Yesterday” was the sleeper and by the end of the 20th century, it had been covered over 2,200 times, making it the most covered song in recorded music history.

Pretty amazing for seemingly average kids from Liverpool.

“Yesterday” is a simple song about a romantic breakup. One of the many written, sung and recorded over the years. So what makes this song by this man so special?

I call it the unseen. The Fab Four, whether they knew it or not, were gifted by God. What they did with the gift was their gift to God.

With their history of transcendental meditation, we know Paul, John, George and Ringo were spiritual. They were on a quest. Did they find the one who created and gifted them?

Had they found God during their heyday, I’m not sure they’d have become long-haired Jesus Freaks or a gospel quartet singing in four-part harmony.

But maybe they would have known the Almighty who gave them the world as a stage.

Maybe they would’ve saved themselves pain and heartache in the journey by finding spiritual truth. Since I am not privy to the intimacies of their heart, I pray each Beatle encountered the living Lord at one time or another.

“Only God can tell you who you are.” My husband made this great point during his sermon last week.

So simple, yet so weighted with truth.

We all want to know who we are, how we were made, what we are good at and why we’re special.

We are uniquely designed and made by God. As our designer, only He can tell us who we are and how to use the gifts He’s given us.

In an article on Inc.com, author Matt Jones wrote the self-help industry was valued at $11 billion a year.

“That’s a lot of books and motivational speeches that failed to help people suffering from anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress. And in 2016 alone the U.S. spent 446 billion dollars on medications—almost half the global market.”

We have so much: technology, conveniences, entertainment, homes and clothes, food—yet we are unhappy Americans.

We seek fulfillment in relationships or the opinions and approval of other people, yet still feel unsatisfied.

But God is eager, waiting and willing to tell us who we are. To approve us.

One of my favorite prayers is, “Holy Spirit, how do You feel about me?”

Or I like to pray, “How do You feel about (fill in a name?)”

I love my job as a novelist, but there was a time in my life when I felt lost and confused, anxious over my life.

I’d just started my post-college corporate career and believed I was well on my way to living the good life.

Yet I’d wake up with a sense of “being stuck.”

“I’ll be in this stupid job, this stupid house and this stupid bed the rest of my life.”

Those moments brought me to my knees.

One morning I prayed Jeremiah 29:11 and broke that despair from my heart. It never returned.

The Beatles were a special group of friends who changed the music world. They were gifted by God.

But you and I are also gifted. Maybe no one outside of our friends and family know our name, but the King of heaven saw when we were knit together in our mother’s womb.

We are as special to Him as the Beatles, or our super-successful sibling or, well—you know where I’m going.

You are special. You are uniquely gifted and qualified. Ask the Lord to show you and teach you. Then go own your world! {eoa}

Rachel Hauck is an award-winning, New York Times’, USA Today and Wall Street Journal best-selling author. Her book, Once Upon A Prince, first in the Royal Wedding Series, was filmed for an Original Hallmark movie. A member of the executive board for American Christian Fiction Writers, she teaches workshops and leads worship at the annual conference. She is a past Mentor of the Year. A graduate of Ohio State University (Go Bucks!) with a degree in journalism, she’s a former sorority girl and a devoted Ohio State football fan. Her bucket list is to stand on the sidelines with Ryan Day. She lives in sunny central Florida with her husband and ornery cat. Connect with her on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

This article originally appeared in Rachel Hauck’s newsletter. Its exclusive content was used with permission. To subscribe, go to rachelhauck.com.

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