Praying up a Storm

 

If we allow our thoughts to randomly flit through our mind, we run the chance of making decisions that do not honor God and that will tend to bring us hardship and shame. Satan and God both influenced our thoughts (1 Timothy 4:1). Our thoughts, even our subconscious thoughts that we are not aware of at the time, influence our feelings. Our heart is deceitful and wicked, and we should submit both our thoughts and our emotions to God at all times (Jeremiah 17:9). We can control our thoughts by using them to pray each moment of the day. We control our emotions by sharing them honestly and kindly before they build up and explode.

We start in a place of aloneness (all-one-ness) with God. God has the perfect formula for prayer. Vain repetition in prayer does not honor God nor does it help us in any way (Matthew 6:7). Quoting scripture to God in an attempt to force His hand to provide what we want is useless and insulting to Him. We can use Bible verses in our prayers, but not to twist God’s arm to do our will. Sit in a very still and quiet place with your journal. Submit all of your thoughts and emotions to the Lord (2 Corinthians 10:5).

As you do, jot them down in your journal. You can even write out your prayers in your journal. Pray for everyone the Lord brings to your mind, issues in your life about which you need His wisdom, besetting sins that trouble you, negative emotions that crowd out His joy in your life, world news, unreached people groups, the persecuted church, government officials, etc. Whatever the Spirit brings to your mind. Another way to pray is when you see someone who reminds you of someone you know, pray for that person you see, as well as the person you know.

When you hear an emergency vehicle siren, pray for the people impacted by that emergency: for God to meet their needs and to reveal Himself to them. As you travel in the car, pray for the people with Christian symbols or bumper stickers on their car; if they are bold enough to display their faith, they could use your prayers. When someone dials the wrong number and they get you instead, tell them the reason they called is for you to tell them that God loves them and has a perfect plan for their life. Then, pray for that person as the Lord brings them to your mind.

We do not pray in order to force God’s hand to do our will, but we follow Jesus’ example and pray according to His will (Luke 22:42). As we seek God’s will, our thoughts and heart become one with His. We are dead and our life is hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3-4). It is no longer we who live, but Christ who lives in us. We do not have to summon our faith, because we are filled with the faith of the Son of God (Galatians 2:20). Obedience to God’s will is the common denominator of all people of faith in the Bible. Their example gives us a peek into the life of people of prayer.

Prayer:

Father God, we all long to hear Your voice. You are our Abba Father and You desire nothing more than to commune with Your Body each moment of our day. Remind us to listen more and to talk less throughout the day; so that we can be led by Your Spirit to accomplish the works, which You prepared for us even before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 2:9-10). Help us to discern Your Spirit from the voice of the flesh, the world and Satan, which all try to negatively influence our thinking and behavior. As we read Your living Word, allow the verses to penetrate our heart and to sanctify our soul (Hebrews 4:12).

Thought for the Day:

We have confidence that God hears us in our prayers when we ask according to His will. - 1 John 5:14-15

The Separated Life

 

In our world of higher education, instant information networks and self-reliance, the message of the Gospel of Christ makes no sense at all. The paradoxes and spiritual content of the Bible serve as a stumbling stone to those too proud to accept the self-effacing offer of salvation through Jesus Christ. Once we humble our self under the mighty hand of God, however, we recognize that Jesus completely submitted to death on Calvary’s Cross to bring redemption to us all. Then, we surrender to the call of God to sacrifice our life for Him in return.

The surrendered life is not one of defeat, but of relinquishing control. This means that we stop resisting the love of God and accept His courtship. We recognize the superiority of God’s plan for our life over our own goals and ambitions. We acknowledge His substitution in paying the penalty of our sins and yield to His Lordship over our life. We consult Him about all of our decisions and allow Him to direct our steps (Proverbs 3:5-6). We live in the reality of His presence now and in the hope of glory to come (Colossians 1:27).

God never invades our life, but always waits to be invited. Yet, many people waste so much of their life running from His beauty and bounty. They live in rebellion to the call of nature to surrender to its Creator. The beauty of the surrendered life is that we can die and hide our life with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3). We cease from our own labors and enter into God’s rest (Hebrews 10:4). If we draw near to God, He will draw near to us (James 4:8). Whoever lives and believes in Christ shall never die (John 11:26). We breathe our last breath on earth and our next breath is in Heaven. We will live on eternally.

The extent to which we surrender our lives to God determines the degree to which He will use our life. There is no place for hesitation, compromise or half-hearted devotion (Luke 9:62). We live an estranged life from the world, but a committed and separated life to Christ who lives within us (Romans 14:7-8). Christ is the center of our focus and our first and pre-eminent Love (Revelation 2:4). We pant after Him with a parched thirst (Psalm 42:1-2). We surrender our will to follow the will of God for our life.

We surrender our selfish desires to accept the promises of God to prosper us, not to harm us and to give us hope for the future (Jeremiah 29:11). As we surrender to God and resist the devil, we walk in freedom from Satan’s influence in our life (James 4:7). We yield the ownership of our life to God and we live as good stewards of all He created. We give up our rights in exchange for His privileges. We swap our character traits, which  hold us back from success, for the victory we find in a life hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3).

Prayer:
Father God, as we repent of our sins and seek You, we have your peace and favor surrounding us (Job 22:21). We forsake our life for Your sake. Once we completely understand Your love for us, we go beyond obedience and surrender our life entirely to You. Then, we learn what it means to truly live in abundant freedom and victory (Romans 6:16-18; Mark 8:35). We no longer experience the pain that life deals out to us, because we are hidden with Christ in You. We walk in spiritual serenity that elevates us emotionally, spiritually, mentally, physically and behaviorally.

Thought for the Day:
We enter a life hidden with Christ in God, which we formerly believed to be one of servitude, only to discover that it is actually a liberating union. - Colossians 3:3-4