A New Way of Life

 

God loves the prayers of His Saints. In fact, God considers our prayers, and our gifts to the poor, as an offering directly to Him (Acts 10:4; Matthew 25:45). God does not require us to pray in any certain way, at any certain time or using any certain words. The Bible suggests that we pray from our heart in Jesus’ name, in order to invoke all of His power behind our words (John 14:13). In reality, prayer is not an action, but a way of life. It is our communication with our Living Lord.

The Bible tells us to pray without ceasing. This means that we live every moment of our day as a prayer to God. We commune with His Spirit to find out what He has planned for each moment of our day (Ephesians 2:8-10). In fact, the Holy Spirit actually prays for us according to the will of God (Romans 8:26-27). We really have need of nothing, because He promises to provide all of our needs, as we seek first His Kingdom (Matthew 6:33).

Christ makes us complete in Him (Colossians 2:10). Prayer enables us to separate our self from the roller coaster of life by entering into God’s rest (Hebrews 4:10). He lives in us and also through us at home, work, church and in our community. He gives us the gifts and spiritual fruit we need to accomplish His will for our life (Acts 2:38; 1 Corinthians 12: 4-11; Galatians 5:22-23). He even enables us to forgive others, so that He can forgive us (Mark 11:25).

We cannot overcome this world, unless the Spirit does it for us (1 John 5:4). Therefore, walking in the Spirit is the foundation for every other discipline and gift God desires for us to receive. The more we walk in the Spirit, the less we desire anything offered to us by the world, the flesh and the devil (Romans 5:16, 25). This works on the same principle as dispelling darkness from the room. The only way to accomplish this feat is by turning on the Light (1 John 1:5-7).

Prayer:

Father God, the closer we walk to You, the further the devil stays away from us, the less we want to sin and the more we accomplish Your will for our life. You chose us before You created the world. This both humbles and excites us. Help us to walk holy and blameless in Your sight (Ephesians 1:4). Teach us to develop prayer as a way of life, which never ceases. Draw us close to You, and never let us go (James 4:8). Remind us that You created us to work for Your Kingdom, not for our own goals, ambitions and desires (Ephesians 2:10).

Thought for the Day:

We desire to walk firmly rooted and built up in Christ, living in His will and brimming over with thankfulness. – Colossians 2:7

Time For God

 

Many people complain about not having time in their busy schedule to spend time with God. That is the sign of someone who is way too busy. There are many ways we can incorporate prayer into our daily agenda. One idea is to Prayer Walk. This accomplishes several things at once…exercise, prayer for your neighborhood, a time to praise God for the nature all around you, and a time to share your concerns with God and to listen to His advice. Another idea is to stop watching television, which robs us of so many hours in our day. We can also put worship music on while we do household chores and worship right along with the singers.

Those who spend time with God are closer to living a spiritual life than the person who spent hours in Bible College. To do both is even better! Once we come to Christ, the Holy Spirit teaches us all things as we read the Word, listen to sermons and fellowship with other Christians. The longer we live the Christian life, the more tempted we are to think we have arrived. We get complacent and cold hearted toward spiritual things. We grow bored with reading God’s Word and going to church services.

If Satan cannot take you back into a life of sin, the second best weapon he has is to deceive you into apathy in your Christian walk. The Bible tells us that in the last days, the hearts of many will grow cold (Matthew 24:12). There will be a great falling away of people who live as cultural Christians and who do not have a fervent, personal relationship with Christ by His Spirit (Revelation 12:14; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4).

In America we have unlimited access to spiritual tools and events. Yet, we make every excuse to miss fellowshipping with other Believers and learning from God’s Word. Our worship turns mechanical and we grow colder by the day. We honor God with our lips, but our hearts are far from Him (Isaiah 29:13).

An intimate relationship with the God of the universe allows us to love and be loved, to walk in victory through the trials of life and to be led by the Spirit of God moment of moment throughout the day (Romans 8:14). When we commit all of our body, spirit and soul – our mind, will and emotions - to Him, we receive blessings from Him in return. His mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:23), and just waiting for us to enjoy them.

If our spirituality is not infiltrating every compartment of our life, we are not allowing Jesus to live as our Lord. The goal is for us to walk in the spirit at work, home, school, church, the shopping center and on the roadways. The closer we walk with Him the easier it is to trust Him in the hard times (Psalm 56:3; Joshua 1:9). Our uncompromising habitual service to God (Psalm 50:9-10) is more important to Him than occasional grand gestures. He meets us the moment we long for His presence (Jeremiah 29:13), and gives us both the desire and the power to accomplish His will in our life (Philippians 2:12-13).

Prayer:

Father God, You dearly love all of Your children. You shower us with patience and provide everything we need to live a Godly life. Help us not to choose Satan’s lies, but to choose repentance instead (2 Peter 3:9). You sent Your Son, Jesus Christ, to die in our place and to appease Your wrath over our sin. You provide Your Holy Spirit to lead us into Your truth and to strengthen us through the trials of life. Help us to faithfully follow the leading of Your Spirit and to do Your works until Jesus returns to the earth.

Thought for the Day:

God is not an emergency technician that we only call in times of trouble. He is our Lord and Savior and deserves our committed life of devoted worship to Him.