Effective Prayer

The Body of Christ performs a vital ministry for our spiritual life. As we confess our sins to each other, we hold one another accountable. Also, prayer unites the Body of Christ more deeply than any other spiritual discipline. When we pray for each other, we are healed. There is no disputing the fact that the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective (James 5:16).

A wonderful way to learn God's Word, and to gain the insight of Saints who already walked the same path, in the season of life in which we are living, is called discipleship. However, there is no better source of discipleship than sitting at Jesus feet (Luke 10:38-42). Through prayer and by reading His Word, God's Spirit teaches us all things (1 John 2:27).

Our developing relationship with God gives us a more intense desire for holiness, as we realize how deeply our behavior affects our witness and our relationship with our Lord. The clearer we hear God speak to us, the more closely we can follow His voice in our daily life (James 1:5; Jeremiah 29:13; John 10:27). Otherwise, we suffer from impaired spiritual hearing (Matthew 11:15).

God lives in us and we are as close to Him as is possible; but we can form a deeper, more personal bond with Him by spending more time hanging out in His presence. Intimate communication in our prayer closet allows our relationship with God to deepen, because we are spending quality time with our Father (Matthew 22:37; John 17:3).

Prayer:

Father God, You are never far from us. We, however, allow the busyness of life to drown out Your voice and to rob us of our intimate times with You. Remind us to pay attention to You in every moment of every day, so that You can approach us more intimately than ever before (James 4:8). You will fill us with more of Your holiness, as well as Your Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). Then we will walk in Your power and victory over sin, the world and Satan (John 14:12-14; Acts 1:8).

Thought for the Day:

New Testament Saints made prayer a priority; why don't we?

- Acts 1:14

The Cleansing Tears of Grief

 

Stress will kill the human body. We allow so much stress into our daily life that we often end up on medication to heal the results of stress on our body and soul. It affects our cardiovascular, endocrine, psychological and immune systems—as well as most of the other organs in our body and our spiritual health. There are many proven healthy ways to deal with stress.

(See: http://www.charismamag.com/life/health/19047-how-to-deal-with-stress-god-s-way)

 

We have stress at work, home and sometimes even in our social life, which makes us sick in body and soul. Scientists and doctors agree that God designed our body to shed stress hormones when we cry. This helps to protect our brain and bodily organs. When we grieve our disappointments and losses, our tears cleanse our soul, but they also help our body.

 

After times of tears, our heart rate and our breathing grow calmer. Tears also produce endorphins, which improve our emotional well-being. Allow your soul to grieve to the extent, and for as long as it needs to, in order to gain relief from your loss. Grief only affects us negatively, when we allow it to take over our life, to exclude us from healthy activities and to closet us from life.

 

Tears will also alert those around us that we are hurting. These people usually respond with kindness and concern, and they benefit us physically and emotionally as well. Grief can strengthen our connections with family, friends and even perfect strangers who stop to show they care. Therefore, do not hold back your tears; let them flow.

 

God uses our afflictions to purify us, to teach us patience and to help us to learn to take authority over the devil (James 1:5). He also uses our grief to cleanse us of inordinate affections and idols, which are deeply rooted in our life. God always brings comfort to us in our sorrows, through other people and by His Holy Spirit. God uses grief to restore our soul to health (Psalm 23:3).

 

God strengthens us through our night of grief, and brings us joy in the morning (Psalm 30:5). He is our ever-present help in times of trouble (Isaiah 41:10; Psalm 46:1-2). As we grieve through our sorrow, its strength dissipates and our soul feels freer. We not only grieve the loss of people and pets, but also treasured objects that were ripped from our grasp unexpectedly. If we do not allow our soul to grieve these losses, we carry that pain with us all of our life.

 

Prayer:

Father God, we often hold on to our grief, because it brings us comfort in some distorted way. We do not realize that grieving through our loss is much healthier for us. Give to all of those who grieve the comfort, which only You can supply; Your deep, internal comfort, which changes our focus and attitude about our circumstances. Thank You also for the Body of Christ, which supports us in our times of sorrow.

 

Thought for the Day:
Blessed are those who mourn, for God will comfort them.

– Matthew 5:4

 

Perfect Strength in Weakness

There are times in life when we beg God to help us because of some physical illness, emotional turmoil or trial in our spiritual life. Paul did this too. He had a “thorn in the flesh” and begged God to remove it from him. There is much speculation about what that thorn was, but it does not really matter.

The crux of the issue is that God’s grace was sufficient for Paul to excel in life in spite of it (2 Corinthians 12:8-10). Paul actually learned to brag about his imperfections and infirmities, so that the power of Christ in him would give him rest for his soul. God’s power, strength and ability are perfected in our weaknesses.

All we need to flourish in this life is His grace. Whenever we are weak, Christ in us is our strength (2 Corinthians 12:8-10). The prophet Daniel relied on God’s strength in his times of weakness too (Daniel 10:19). The warrior and national leader of Israel, Joshua, found strength and courage in his times of fear (Joshua 1:9).

If we have personal power, we would not need God; and we could boast in our abilities and accomplishments (2 Corinthians 12:1). However, our life in Christ is not about us at all (Ephesians 2:8-9). That is why God uses the weak and foolish things of the world to confound the mind of those who consider themselves wise (1 Corinthians 1:27).

Our faith does not rest on human abilities but on God’s power within us (1 Corinthians 2:5). A surrendered life is the successful life. Out of God’s glorious riches, He empowers us by His Spirit, which abides within us (Ephesians 3:16). We can excel in the will of God and live a fulfilled Christian life, because He lives in us (Philippians 4:13).

Prayer:
Father God, You remind us not to be anxious about anything, but to come to You in everything, letting You know what we need. We start from a place of gratitude for all You have already done for us, and then we make our requests known to You. This results in a shower of Your peace on our life, which transcends every negative aspect that we are experiencing (Philippians 4:6).

Thought for the Day:

God’s peace guards our mind and heart in Christ Jesus, in spite of what life throws at us. - Philippians 4:7

The Power of a Spiritual Life

Jesus suffered agony in the garden when He felt the weight of our sin on His shoulders. Jesus, who knew no sin, mercifully gave His life to pay for us the penalty of our sins (2 Corinthians 5:21). He went all the way to the cross, because He came to earth with one purpose: to surrender His life for our salvation. God has a unique purpose for each one of us, as well (Ephesians 2:10).

Only through the death of our carnal nature do we learn the secret of living our life through our rebirth in Christ Jesus. Like Paul, we die to the world, Satan’s temptations and our human will and flesh daily (1 Corinthians 15:31). This way God’s Spirit can live His life through us. We wait on God, and He works out His intentions in us moment by moment throughout our life.

We owe Jesus all glory and honor for giving us our spiritual life. We are rooted and grounded in Him by faith (Colossians 2:7). Jesus gave us the perfect example of how to live on this earth. Even at an early age, He focused on God’s Kingdom (Luke 2:46). He trusted in, depended upon and lived and died by trusting in our Father. We can follow in His footsteps.

God’s fullness in our life will take us deeper and deeper into the power and wonder of His spiritual realm. As we cast our soul on Him and abandon our self completely to His love, He who lived in total surrender to our Father will impart His nature to us (2 Peter 1:4). We live our life in the power of the resurrected Lord who dwells within us.

Prayer:

Father God, thank You so much for preparing the perfect sacrifice for our sins by coming in the form of a person and dying on Calvary’s cross in our place. The fact that You raised Christ from the dead and to His throne in glory gives us so much hope and faith to know that You will bring us up from the grave and into Your glorious presence.

Thought for the Day:

To have the love, peace and joy we crave in our life, we simply surrender wholeheartedly to God. – Matthew 10:39

Spiritual Poison

We all know that there are plants and chemicals that can poison our body. We do everything in our power to avoid poisoning our self and our loved ones, even our pets. However, did you know that you could poison your spiritual life as well? Negative emotions are toxic to both our soul and spirit. They are red flags to alert us to some turmoil in our subconscious mind. We are ignoring the thoughts that feed these negative sentiments. Yet, our emotions pick up on them and try to force us to pay attention to and resolve them.

Some people with phlegmatic personalities are able to process incidents as they occur and forgive and forget. Yet, some with melancholy personalities hold a grudge and stay bitter for years. Then choleric people often stuff the incident and move right on without dealing with the emotional firestorm caused by these conflicts. The sanguine individual may philosophize and chalk the incident up as the other person’s problem. No matter what personality type we have, however, we all experience conflicts in our life that wound us deeply and need to be healed.

If we follow the trail from the negative emotion back into the past, we find not one, but many instances that built up over the years to bring us to the place where they are now surfacing in our daily interactions. Yet, we often continue to suppress them. Our dreams and nightmares also warn us of these unresolved conflicts, but we ignore them as well. I came to a place in my life where I could no longer tolerate the grouchiness, over-sensitivity, self-pity and hair-trigger anger that crept from my past into my day and spoiled life for me.

Thankfully, I learned to sit in a quiet place with my journal and to allow God to direct my soul as it empties itself of its burdens! If we stay quiet long enough to hear God’s Spirit, He will direct us from one incident to the next that caused the build up of these negative emotions. Write down in your journal everything that comes to your mind, even if it does not make sense. Alcoholics Anonymous calls this a searching moral inventory. God will shine His light on the memories where He wants you to go in order to achieve the resolution of these unsettled issues.

Prayer:

Father God, we thank You for willingly exposing the lies Satan convinced us of during the traumatic times in our life. We thank You for Your truth, which sets us free (John 8:32). Help us to freely forgive the offenders in our life, or to ask for forgiveness in the areas where we hurt someone else. In this way, You set us free from bondage to these negative emotions. Even if the offended party will not forgive us, we are free before You of all of our offenses.

Thought for the Day:

Following the path of these negative emotions to the root experience, which is causing them, is the only way to find spiritual, mental, emotional and ultimately physical health.

 

 

 

Thank you, Matt Milligan, for the use of your photo.
http://www.mattmilliganphotography.com/

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.

A Double Portion

Read: 2 Kings 2:6-12

"The thorny ground represents the hearts of people who listen to the Good News and receive it, but all too quickly the attractions of this world and the delights of wealth, and the search for success and lure of nice things come in and crowd out God's message from their hearts, so that no crop is produced.” - Mark 4:18-19

After Elijah’s struggle with Jezebel, God gave him a friend and cohort, a man who longed to follow in Elijah’s footsteps. Elisha humbly served Elijah through many of Elijah’s 25 years of ministry, faithfully watching as Elijah performed miraculous deeds to further God’s Kingdom in the earth. Elisha never allowed worldly cares to distract him from following Elijah, even when Elijah advised him to do so. As a reward, God gave Elisha an inheritance of a double portion of Elijah’s spirit through which he served God for over 50 years.

God will also reward us if we serve Him with our whole body, soul – our mind, will and emotions - and spirit. He gives us His joy as our strength as we unwaveringly focus on Him, free of the worldly distractions, which tend to choke the spiritual life from us (Mark 4:18-19). God’s only desire of us is that we serve Him with “a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart” (Psalm 51:17). We are saved to serve; not to be served. My husband is fond of quoting the question, “If every member was just like me, what kind of church would my church be?”

Is God calling you to holiness? If you are Born Again, He is. Is God calling you to serve Him? If you are part of His Body, just ask Him where He wants you to minister. Is God calling you to further His Kingdom in the earth? If you are truly converted, then your family, friends, neighbors and coworkers are just waiting for you to tell them about Jesus.

Prayer:

Lord, help us not to get tangled again by the yoke of the world that so easily hinders us from serving You wholeheartedly. Help us to keep our focus singularly centered on You. Give us our daily bread and deliver us from the evil that threatens to overtake us. Let Your light so shine within us that men will see our good works and glorify You (Matthew 5:16).

Thought for the Day:

We can inherit all that God has promised, as we glorify His name and boldly ask, like Elisha did, to be blessed with a double portion of His anointing.

Gladness and Joy

Read: 1 Peter 1:8-9

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." -  1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

There are so many unhappy people in the world. They despise their job, disrespect their spouse, are irritated with their children, want a better house and car and wish they could go to some exotic island for vacation. They live vicariously through books and movies, trading this figment of their imagination for reality. They are usually so busy working to get more stuff that they do not have time to attend church or to develop their spiritual life at all. Christians often fit into this category as well.

If we change our focus to eternal matters, we live each moment of the day in gratitude for what He already provided. Then, He continues to provide our needs for that day as well. As we live our life open to the leading of His Spirit, He puts us in the right place, at the right time to carry out His will. No matter how desperate the circumstances are in our life, He promises to work them all out for our good (Romans 8:28) in His timing and in His way. All we need to do is to trust that He knows what is best for us.

Having an eternal viewpoint of life on this earth, gives us a whole new perspective on what we experience. The carnal world and fleshly desires fade away, as we focus on doing the will of God (1 John 2:17). God’s will is actually very simple. He wants us to be transformed into the image of His Son (Romans 8:29). If we focus on Him, He will take care of every other component in our life (Matthew 6:33). This way, we learn to be content just as Paul did when he was shipwrecked, beaten, imprisoned, hungry, exhausted, lonely and forsaken by all those he held dear (Philippians 4:12).

As we rejoice in the Lord always (Philippians 4:4) and trust in Him instead of relying on our human wisdom (Proverbs 3:5-6), we end up walking in His perfect will moment by moment throughout the day. We receive such a feeling of oneness with our Creator, such a fulfillment from helping others in their time of need and such a deep sense of joy the defies description (1 Peter 1:8). 

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, although Your love is too great to fully comprehend, let us experience this love each day as we follow hard after You (Psalm 63:8). Let us be made complete in You, with all the fullness of life and power that comes from You (Ephesians 3:19). Give us Your shield of victory and sustain us throughout the trials of this life with Your mighty right hand (Psalm 18:35).

Thought for the Day:

Gladness and joy will overtake us, and sorrow and sighing will flee away. - Isaiah 35:10

Gladness and Joy

Read: 1 Peter 1:8-9

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." -  1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

There are so many unhappy people in the world. They despise their job, disrespect their spouse, are irritated with their children, want a better house and car and wish they could go to some exotic island for vacation. They live vicariously through books and movies, trading this figment of their imagination for reality. They are usually so busy working to get more stuff that they do not have time to attend church and to develop their spiritual life.

Sadly, some Christians often fit into this category as well. We put our own pursuits above God’s directives. We lay up more treasure for our earthly tabernacle than we do our heavenly one. At other times, we are so involved with searching for God's will that we are often frustrated when God seems silent on the topics we address with Him in prayer. God’s will is simple. He wants us to be transformed into the image of His Son (Romans 8:29). If we keep our mind on Him, He will keep us in perfect peace (Isaiah 26:3). If we seek Him first, He will take care of every other component in our life (Matthew 6:33).

When we live each moment of the day in gratitude for what He already provided, He continues to abundantly supply our needs for that day as well. No matter how desperate the circumstances are in our life, He promises to work them out for our good (Romans 8:28) in His timing and in His way. As we live our life with open communication with His Spirit, He puts us in the right place, at the right time to give and to receive a blessing.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, although Your love is too great to fully comprehend, let us experience this love each day as we follow hard after You (Psalm 63:8). Let us be made complete in You, with all the fullness of life and power that comes from You (Ephesians 3:19). Give us Your shield of victory and sustain us throughout the trials of this life with Your mighty right hand (Psalm 18:35).

Thought for the Day:

Gladness and joy will overtake us, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.- Isaiah 35:10

And God Gets the Glory

Read: Galatians 3: 1-3

“For God is at work within you, helping you want to obey him, and then helping you do what he wants you to do.” - Phil 2:13 (TLB)

So often we strive to accomplish that which only the Holy Spirit is capable of achieving in our lives. We do not expect God to entirely deliver us from our fears, doubts, insecurities and carnal appetites. We struggle to overcome the sins that so easily trip us up.

Despite our efforts, we still fall into sin. We try to control these acts of the flesh in vain by quoting scripture, praying vigilantly and watching constantly over our feelings and attitudes. If we do succeed, however, then God gets no glory! We accomplished this change through our own effort; and chances are, it may not last very long.

After about 10 years of trying to please God with my good behavior, I realized that my attempts to gain favor with God resulted from my desire to earn God’s love. I struggled with despair each time I fell short of my goals. I feared that God could not love me with all of my imperfections.

Then I heard a pastor preach from Galatians 3: 1-3. I was shocked to hear him say that we would never be good enough. That if we could perfect ourselves, we would not need Jesus! That if we could save ourselves, His death was unnecessary! He made it clear that this is Paul’s point in both Galatians and Ephesians.

Now, when God points out a particular fault to me, I give it back to Him. I ask Him to do His complete work in my life. Then, I look up Bible verses about the opposite of that behavior and I write them down on recipe cards. I carry them around with me and reread them at every available moment. Eventually, I start to see Godly behavior and the fruit of the Spirit manifesting upon occasions when my human nature used to take control.

I realize now that even my best behavior falls short of God’s mark of perfection. I deserve no less than the fires of hell for even my best behavior. In his mercy, however, and even while I am still a sinner, God gave His life to pay the penalty of my sin. He also gives me His righteousness in exchange for my carnal nature.

 
Prayer:
Lord God, I wanted to achieve perfection to make You love me. I forgot that when You look at me, You see Jesus; and therefore, You are already well pleased. Amen.

Thought for the Day:
If trying to improve ourselves never gave us spiritual life before Salvation, why do we think that trying to perfect ourselves now will make us stronger Christians?