Tag: Praying others into their Living Hope

About Addressing the Silence of God. “Okay God, I am Praying! Demanding! Where for Art Thou now?” Psalm 28

Silence from God is the loudest and the saddest thing I have ever heard. – Lacey Sturm –

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lacey_Sturm

Where is God today?

Is God just taking that long delayed “spring break” or

Long awaited “summer vacation on HIS mountain top away from everybody else’s sin ‘nails on a chalkboard scratching’ noise?”

How can he allow evil and suffering in the world?

Have “miracles” ceased or have we ceased looking for “miracles?”

Have we ceased looking for God or are we listening to all the latest social media talk God has given up on mankind?

What are some of those soul-chilling statements I have read on social media?

“I would believe in God if he was not so d***ed inconsistent for my tastes.”

“Believe in God? Why? He never helped me or anyone else I ever knew!”

“It is easier for me to believe in what those bullets will do to me if they hit me!”

“Believe in God? That’s a laugher! Look at my neighborhood and tell me why?”

“I would believe in God if I was not so busy ducking all the bombs going off!”

“I would believe in God if He had not stolen my Mom and Dad in that accident!”

“I would probably believe in God if He would just leave me the h**l alone.”

“I would believe in God if He would just let me be a Mom just this one time.”

“I would believe in God if He would just shut His mouth and close His Bible!”

“I would believe in God more if my life would just stop going around in circles.”

“I would believe in God more if I did not get so frustrated in trying to believe!”

There are more. And each one I remember brings greater and greater sadness.

Some days are just days when it is all I can do is to try and stifle my own tears.

“I would believe in God a little bit more If I were not trying so hard not to cry!”

“I would believe in God more If I were not constantly crying out: “Why Me?!”

So, what do I end up doing anyway?

YEP!

I am touched by the Holy Spirit, and I am returning to the Word of God.

YEP!

When I am tired of the silence, then I am reminded of the Grace of God.

God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, have again latched themselves to my soul.

Today, I and my spirit are reminded of the vast treasure house of God’s Truth.

Psalm 28 Complete Jewish Bible

28 (0) By David:

(1) Adonai, I am calling to you;
my Rock, don’t be deaf to my cry.
For if you answer me with silence,
I will be like those who fall in a pit.
2 Hear the sound of my prayers
when I cry to you,
when I lift my hands
toward your holy sanctuary.

3 Don’t drag me off with the wicked,
with those whose deeds are evil;
they speak words of peace to their fellowmen,
but evil is in their hearts.
4 Pay them back for their deeds,
as befits their evil acts;
repay them for what they have done,
give them what they deserve.
5 For they don’t understand the deeds of Adonai
or what he has done.
He will break them down;
he will not build them up.

6 Blessed be Adonai,
for he heard my voice as I prayed for mercy.
7 Adonai is my strength and shield;
in him my heart trusted, and I have been helped.
Therefore my heart is filled with joy,
and I will sing praises to him.

8 Adonai is strength for [his people],
a stronghold of salvation to his anointed.
9 Save your people! Bless your heritage!
Shepherd them, and carry them forever!

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

The Silence of God

When God is silent is He still working?

You either have to answer “yes”, or “no,” “maybe,” “don’t know,” “I don’t have the slightest idea,” or “I’ve never even thought about it.” “I do not care.”

On the surface, you might immediately answer—”Oh yes, God is always working when He is silent, but I won’t ever believe this is always the case.”

Why would anyone ever say this?

When God is silent don’t get unduly alarmed by His silence but don’t ignore it either. The silence of God is unsettling to us and it tests our faith. 

James 1:3-4 tells us

“Knowing this that the trying of your faith worketh patience but let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”

Let patience work—let patience do its job to complete the work that needs to be completed.

We are often too quick to say, “Oh, it must not be God’s will” and give up way too soon. or I will hear preached and taught and counselled that “Don’t worry about it, the answer will come soon. God is still working on it in His silence.“

This one royally irritates me:

“It often takes time for things to work out. Hold fast to your faith during the silent times. God’s answers are often just around the corner.”

Somehow, that last response invalidates or minimizes my “right now needs.”

Please do not invalidate or minimize me any more than I’m already invalidating and minimizing myself. I guarantee it will only make things significantly worse.

On the other hand, there are often times when God cannot work because He has given people free will to either choose to follow Him or not.

We can make the choice to believe Him or to go our own way. “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own ways…” (Isaiah 53:6).

There are often periods of silence when God lets people go their own way and take the consequences of their wrong choices before they turn things around.

Mark 6:5-6 “5 Jesus was not able to do any miracles there except the healing of some sick people by laying his hands on them. 6 He was surprised that the people there had no faith. Then he went to other villages in that area and taught…”

He couldn’t do what he had the power to do because the people didn’t believe.

That day a lot of people experienced the silence of God when they could have been healed. It doesn’t say WHY they didn’t believe.

There is another scripture text which reads, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6).

If you talk to people today, you will find out that a lot of people do not believe that healing is for us today and will say that ended with the apostles.

We have some friends that would say they do not believe in prayer for the sick.

“What is the point of praying for them anyway God does not do that today.”

If people lack knowledge on God’s provisions, they will not receive what they need. We need to see what promises there for us are and apply them to our situation whether it is for healing, or finances, or whatever else we need today.

Another reason for God’s silence is deliberate sin.

“If I regard iniquity (cherished sin) in my heart, the Lord will not hear me” (Psalm 66:18).

A barrier will go up and we don’t hear from God. He is silent for a reason.

We used to sing a song—Nothing between my soul and my savior.

If we identify the silence as sin, we can get that taken care of.

“If we confess our sin, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanses us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).

When it seems that God is doing nothing, we may be too busy to notice.

Day in and day out rushing here and there, we are not aware of what is happening.

Do not ignore the silence—watch to see if He is working or not. 

Habakkuk 2:3 tells us what to do. “I will stand upon my watch to see what he will say to me.”

Slow down in the rush of the day and listen and watch closely.

You may be rushing right on by something important.

Get ready to receive by clearing the way.

Go back to the basics.

If you get off track, the Holy Spirit will get you back on track.

He will “guide you into all truth” (John 16:13).

God works throughout our lives silently.

Sometimes we are just in the planting and growing season, and nothing is wrong with the silence of God. The timing is not yet right for the harvest.

The Wife and I looked at a vehicle one time and were going to buy it that day but for some reason they would not make the deal with us that day. We went home frustrated and shrugging our collective shoulders and we did not buy it.

Soon after we found a nicer vehicle – a smaller SUV and we leased it.

In the case of the first vehicle, it was not the right one. The second was brand new and we got a lot of good miles out of it, and we traveled all over the place.

Sometimes God just doesn’t have anything to say to us at the moment because things are unfolding at their own pace or something better is going to emerge in due time.

God’s silence does not mean that He is not present.

He said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5).

And Matthew 28:20, “Lo I am with you even to the end of the world.”

Scripture makes it clear that our heavenly Father hears and answers prayer.

Yet we all experience times when, though we pray for God to act right away, He does not.

What are some reasons for the delay?

At times the Lord sees that our attention is misdirected. Our relationship with Him should have priority over any earthly matter (Mark 12:30).

Yet minds and prayers can become so fixed upon a need that our gaze shifts away from Him.

The Father may delay His answer until we refocus on Him.

In other situations, God waits because the timing is not right for granting our request.

Perhaps certain events must happen first, or people’s thinking needs to be changed.

There are also seasons when the Lord wants to stretch and grow our faith.

One of the ways He accomplishes that is by having us watch for His response.

The Holy Spirit will work in these times of waiting to mature us and bring forth righteous fruit (Galatians 5:22-23).

Other reasons are a wrong motive for our request (James 4:3) and the practice of habitual sin.

We all fall short when it comes to God’s standard of holiness, but some of us persist in a lifestyle of disobedience.

The Lord may delay His answer so He can prompt us to confess our sin and turn back to Him.

Waiting on the Lord isn’t easy—faith and trust are needed (Hebrews 11:1).

In some cases, God is still working when He is silent but that he is working behind the scenes.

Or you can say sometimes we cause the silence by our unbelief.

We may say I just don’t know about his silence because I lack knowledge and need to learn what is in the Word for me.

God, the Father, Son, Holy Spirit, never works in a straight path from A to Z.

He brings a lot of people across our pathway to fit into the total pattern.

When it looks like things are never going to work out, His times and seasons of “palpable” silence plays the proper part at the right time in the total picture.

Matthew 13:10-17 Easy-to-Read Version

Why Jesus Used Stories to Teach

10 The followers came to Jesus and asked, “Why do you use these stories to teach the people?”

11 Jesus answered, “Only you can know the secret truths about God’s kingdom. Those other people cannot know these secret truths. 12 The people who have some understanding will be given more. And they will have even more than they need. But those who do not have much understanding will lose even the little understanding that they have. 13 This is why I use these stories to teach the people: They see, but they don’t really see. They hear, but they don’t really hear or understand. 14 So they show that what Isaiah said about them is true:

‘You people will listen and listen,
    but you will not understand.
You will look and look,
    but you will not really see.
15 Yes, the minds of these people are now closed.
    They have ears, but they don’t listen.
    They have eyes, but they refuse to see.
If their minds were not closed,
    they might see with their eyes;
    they might hear with their ears;
they might understand with their minds.
    Then they might turn back to me and be healed.’

16 But God has blessed you. You understand what you see with your eyes. And you understand what you hear with your ears. 17 I can assure you, many prophets and godly people wanted to see what you now see. But they did not see it. And many prophets and godly people wanted to hear what you now hear. But they did not hear it.

If His answer is delayed, check that

1) your focus is on Him, 2) your motive for asking is both God-glorifying and God-honoring, and 3) you aren’t hiding in and behind the facade of practicing habitual sin. Then you will believe that His response will be for your good and His glory.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

let us Pray,

God, my Refuge and Strength …

I run to you when things get tough. I desperately need help. Hear me, and don’t be silent. Don’t turn me away. I am crying unto you from an earnest and honest heart. I am struggling with your silence in the midst of my unbelief and in pain.

My trust is fractured, and my feelings are hanging by a badly frayed thread. I want with all of my being to trust that You are my Lord and my Rock of safety. Tune my soul and open my ears to your silent voice that I may hear and believe. I pray this in the name of my Savior, Jesus the Christ. Gloria! Alleluia! Amen.

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Happy Birthday! God, What Should I Pray for Now? A Feast of “Not so Much,” a Feast of “Just Right” or “Too Much?”

Happy Birthday to Me! Today, I am Celebrating a Wonder of God!

Birthdays are, or at least they should be, a deeply personal and meaningful “holiday,” so to speak. We feel that it is a special day, and even people who are complete strangers, don’t know you very well will wish you a “Happy Birthday” and sometimes they will even go out of their way to do something nice for you.

Why are birthdays special? As we get older, we can sometimes feel as if our birthdays aren’t as special or as important to celebrate. They just aren’t as exciting as those younger days when we were kids. While the Bible doesn’t command a celebration of birthdays, there are good reasons to go out of our way continue to celebrate the birth of any person—and a birthday is a perfect time to do it.

It is good to affirm the value of a person.

In Genesis 1-3, God goes about creating a beautiful and good creation. His most celebrated creation is man. God forms humanity in a very personal way:

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:26-27)

Man is given a special status as God’s image bearers. What does that mean? God is king over his creation, is holy and good (moral attributes), and a creator.

In a similar way, man was made a steward over creation, was supposed to rule over creation well (Gen. 1:28), be holy and good, follow God’s word (Gen. 2:17).

God has created every single human being with intrinsic value because they are made in his image. Whether someone is an infant, a teenager, young adult or an octogenarian, every human life is absolutely special and precious in God’s sight.

The life of man was so utterly precious that the unjust taking of that life carried a severe punishment (Genesis 9:6). The psalmist, when faced with the marvels of creation, is amazed that God has created man in such a special way, with an elevated status (Psalm 8:4-6). To God, People hold a special place in this world.

Human beings of all ages are wonders of God. Just as we are amazed by and can look upon, recognize the glory and blessing of a stately mountain range or the awesomeness of a crashing ocean, we should join with the psalmist in praising God for human life. Birthdays are great opportunities to remind a person of the blessing he or she is and how absolutely, completely, they are a wonder of God.

Philippians 4:12-20English Standard Version

12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

14 Yet it was kind of you to share[a] my trouble. 15 And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only.  16 Even in Thessalonica you sent me help for my needs once and again. 17 Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit. [b] 18 I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. 19 And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. 20 To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

Birthdays are a time for thankfulness.

Today is my Birthday!

Happy Birthday to you readers too – even if today is not your actual birthday.

Truth be told, everyone who comes to read this has a Birthday to Celebrate!

One day, God loved you so much He chose a special day to give you a life to live!

Wonder of Wonders! Miracles of Miracles! God chose to give you and me life!

Celebrate! Celebrate! Celebrate!

Regardless of your personal circumstance right in this exact moment,

Celebrate God as He is certainly celebrating you EXACTLY RIGHT NOW!

Birthdays are a fantastic time to contemplate more positive things. 

There is so much complaining, strife, and conflict that swirls around us.

It is easy to be pulled down into focusing on troubles and trials and take people and things for granted.

Birthdays provide an opportunity to thank God for the life of a person who is made in the image of the God of the universe and is an amazing creation.

It is 100% important to remember God is the one who should be the focus of a birthday. When we celebrate someone’s birth, any one’s birth, even the one’s now being born somewhere, we can each remember that our Creator’s image is stamped upon this unique person, and we can thank God for his gift of their life.

Consider this Illustration;

 In Tony Campolo’s book, “The Kingdom of God Is a Party,” he tells of an event that took place when he visited Hawaii on a speaking tour.

If you’ve ever flown to the Hawaiian Islands, you know that the first couple of days are tough because you are trying to adjust to the time change. You auto-matically wake up about 1 or 2 a.m. their time because it’s about 6 or 7 a.m. back here. And that’s exactly what happened to him.

He woke up very early his first morning there and ended up going out on the downtown streets of Honolulu, looking for a restaurant that was open where he could get a cup of coffee that early in the morning.

He finally found what he called a “greasy spoon” restaurant, went in and saw that he was the only customer there. As he sat down at the counter, a rather large fellow came out of the kitchen and asked what he wanted.

Tony ordered a cup of coffee and a donut. So, the guy went back into the kitchen and came out with a sad looking donut & a cup of very hot coffee. Tony slowly sipped his coffee & ate his donut.

As he was doing so, in walked 9 prostitutes off the streets of Honolulu. And one of them sat down next to him. As she was sitting there, talking to the girl next to her, she said, “Well, tomorrow is my birthday.”

The other girl said, “So what, Agnes? What do you expect from me, a party or something? What do you think I’m going to do, bake you a cake?”

Agnes said, “I don’t expect anything. No one has ever thrown me a birthday party, and I’ve never ever had a birthday cake. I was just telling you, that’s all. Tomorrow is my birthday.”

The conversation soon ended, and all the girls left. Tony sat there for a moment, and he recalls, “Every once in a while, you get a good idea.”

He turned to the guy behind the counter, whose name was Harry, and asked, “Harry, do those girls come in every night about this time?” “Every night,” Harry answered. “Well, will Agnes be back tomorrow night?” “Yeah, she’ll be back.”

He said, “I’ll tell you what. Why don’t we throw a birthday party for Agnes?” Harry answered, “That’s a great idea. Let’s do it!” Tony said, “I’ll buy the streamers and get a sign that says, ‘Happy Birthday, Agnes,’ and we’ll buy her a cake.”

“No,” Harry said. “I’ll bake the cake.” And they got busy making their plans. Finally, Tony said, “I’ll be back at 2:30 tomorrow morning.”

When 2:30 came, Tony was back with all the streamers, balloons, and the sign. Meanwhile, Harry had baked the cake and spread the word, and there were 30 prostitutes there, ready to have a birthday party for Agnes.

Tony writes, “We were all there in this restaurant, 30 prostitutes, Harry and me.” We had just gotten the streamers up, balloons inflated, and everything ready, when in walked Agnes and her friends. And as she did, the whole group burst into a chorus of “Happy Birthday, Happy birthday to you.”

Agnes was so overwhelmed that she could hardly move. Then here came Harry with the birthday cake with all the candles lit. “Come on, Agnes,” he said, “blow them out before they melt.” But she didn’t do a thing.

Finally, Harry said, “If you don’t blow them out, I’ll do it,” and he did. Then he handed her a knife and said, “Here, for crying out loud, cut it so we can all have a piece of cake.” But Agnes just stood there looking at the cake.

Finally, she said, “Do you suppose it would be all right if we didn’t cut the cake tonight? Do you think I could just take it home and look at it for a while? I promise I’ll bring it back tomorrow night and we can all have a piece then. But tonight, I’d just like to keep it if it’s all right.”

Everyone agreed that it would be okay. So Agnes left, carrying her cake as though it was a priceless treasure.

Tony said that after she left there was total silence in the room. “Here were all these prostitutes, Harry & me,” he said, “and since I had been acting as the M.C. the next move seemed to be mine.”

So, I said, “Let’s pray. Then I prayed for Agnes. I prayed for her salvation. I prayed that her life would get straightened out. I prayed that she would really have a happy birthday.”

“After I finished, Harry grabbed me by the shoulder and said, ‘You didn’t tell me you was a preacher.’ I said, ‘I’m not, Harry. I’m just a Christian and I just go to church.’”

Harry said, “What kind of a church do you go to?” Tony said, “I go to a church that throws birthday parties for prostitutes at 3:00 in the morning.” “No you don’t,” said Harry. “There ain’t no church like that. If there was, I’d go to it, too.”

That’s quite an inspiring story, isn’t it?

But let me ask you, “Is it right for any Christian to throw any party for a prostitute? Is it appropriate to pray for her to have a “happy birthday”?

Some might wonder about that. But it certainly is appropriate to pray for her salvation and for her life to be straightened out. When people are “lost” we must be diligent in praying for them and their relationship with their God.

But when it comes right down to it, we ought to ask this question too:

Is it right for any Christian to throw any party for a complete stranger? Is it appropriate to pray to God for that stranger to have a “happy birthday?”

Is it right for any Christian to throw any party to simply “Celebrate God?

Why do we “celebrate God?”

How do we pray for people we both know and do not know who are going through difficulties in life and who are probably not too inclined to be “celebrating God who is daily celebrating them?”

The natural response when we see someone who is sick, or going through tough times, or family difficulties is to say, “We are praying for you.”

But have you ever found yourself wondering, “What is the best thing to pray for in this situation?” Sometimes it is hard to know just what to pray. And doubts can arise when we pray earnestly, and we don’t get the answers that we want.

Sometimes we pray for people who are sick, and they don’t get better.

Or we pray for a marriage to be healed, and the couple gets a messy divorce.

Or we pray for a couple to have a healthy child, and a handicapped child is born.

Why “celebrate God?”

I cannot sit here and give you any easy answers as to why this ought to happen.

But what I don’t know about prayer doesn’t discourage me.

Because the way I have seen prayers answered, and the way lives have been changed as a result of prayer, gives me so much encouragement that I am so absolutely convinced the most important thing we can do in times of difficulty and ease and abundance is to “absolutely celebrate God” through our prayers.

Prayer puts us in touch with God. And it’s important for us to come to God and express our gratitude for our life, needs and the deepest longings of our hearts.

Psalm 8 Names of God Bible

Psalm 8

For the choir director; on the gittith;[a] a psalm by David.

1 O Yahweh, our Adonay, how majestic is your name throughout the earth!

Your glory is sung above the heavens. [b]
2 From the mouths of little children and infants,
    you have built a fortress against your opponents
        to silence the enemy and the avenger.

3 When I look at your heavens,
    the creation of your fingers,
    the moon and the stars that you have set in place—
4         what is a mortal that you remember him
            or the Son of Man that you take care of him?
5         You have made him a little lower than yourself.
        You have crowned him with glory and honor.
6         You have made him rule what your hands created.
        You have put everything under his control:
7             all the sheep and cattle, the wild animals,
8             the birds, the fish,
            whatever swims in the currents of the seas.

9 O Yahweh, our Adonay, how majestic is your name throughout the earth!

It bears repeating as many times as it can be, ought to be, repeated;

Birthdays are a time for thankfulness.

Birthdays are a fantastic time to contemplate more positive things. 

There is so much complaining, strife, and conflict that swirls around us.

It is easy to be pulled down into focusing on troubles and trials and take people and things for granted.

Birthdays provide an opportunity to thank God for the life of a person who is made in the image of the God of the universe and is an amazing creation.

How important is it for us to “celebrate God celebrating us” to remember God is the one who should be the focus of a birthday?

When we celebrate God celebrating someone else’s life, what are we in actuality doing?

We are remembering that our Creator’s image is permanently stamped upon this singularly unique person, and we can thank God for his gift of their life.

Consider this illustration;

Tony Campolo tells about another time that he drove to Valley Forge, PA, where he was to be the featured speaker at the college there.

A few minutes before he was to speak several men took him into a back room and began to pray for him, that God would bless him and use his speech to accomplish His will.

While they were praying, one man also prayed, “And Lord, about Burt Harris.

Lord, Burt Harris needs you badly. He lives in that trailer down the street & he is considering leaving his wife & family. Lord, if you could just get through to Burt Harris…that would be great. Please, Lord.” And then he went on with his prayer.

Listening as the man prayed, Tony thought, “It’s strange that he should pray that here.” Soon the prayers were finished & Tony went out & made his speech to what proved to be a very appreciative audience.

After finishing, Tony got into his car & started toward home. But just at the edge of town he came upon a hitchhiker. He said that he doesn’t usually pick up hitchhikers, but for some reason he decided to pull over & pick the man up.

The man got into the car, & as they headed toward the highway Tony asked his name. The man said, “Burt Harris”.

Immediately, Tony stopped the car, turned it around & headed the opposite direction. The man stared at him & said, “What are you doing?” Tony said, “I am taking you back to your wife and family whom you are trying to leave.”

The man turned white! He never said another word – just sat speechless as Tony drove him straight back to his trailer. At that, the man asked, “How do you know where I live?” Tony answered, “God told me.” (In a way He really had.)

Tony ended the story, saying, “I took this guy inside his home and God did the rest. The family and the marriage was restored.”

Wow! What a story. And it’s true, absolutely true!

Now let’s go back & review what we have learned today from the apostle Paul.

We have learned we need to be asking for God’s presence and strength in our daily lives, for His Son Jesus and the Holy Spirit to be working deep within us.

We need to be “celebrating God” by praying for God’s will to be done, and not ours. We need to be concerned about more than just our “celebrating” our own lives and needs and trials, but too about “celebrating” those who are around us.

Human beings of all ages are wonders of God. Just as we are amazed by and ought to recognize the glory and blessing of a stately mountain range or the awesomeness of a crashing ocean, we should join with the psalmists in praising God for the absolute sanctity of human life. Birthdays are great opportunities to remind a person of the blessing he or she is and how they are a wonder of God.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Good morning, Lord!

Thank you for my Birthday, Lord!

Thank you for my life, Lord!

Thank You for a new day. Thank You that Your compassion is renewed every morning. Great is Your faithfulness and Your steadfast love, O Lord!

I do not know what all is going to happen today, and how much celebrating I will get done, but You do. So, I give this entire day as one celebration to You.

Fill me with Your Holy Spirit, Father. Energize me for Your work, because You know how happy I am and how tired these bones are. Awaken me to the wonder of Your salvation and quicken my spirit to the reality of Your work in my life.

Lord, my mind is filled with creative ideas of celebration, but they are also jumbled. Holy Spirit, come and hover over my mind like You hovered over the waters at creation and speak order out of the chaos!

Help me to cease striving and to trust that You will give me all I need today to celebrate what life You have given and to do the work You’ve given me to do.

I deeply believe You will be faithful to complete the good work You’ve started, and as I step out into my day, I declare Your sovereignty over every area of my life. I entrust myself to You and ask that You use me however You see fit.

This day is Yours. My body is Yours. My mind is Yours. Everything I am is Yours.

May You be pleased with my celebration today.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

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Footprints in the Sand. Confidence in the Sovereignty of God. When we find It hard to Pray, there is Grace even before our Asking for it. Romans 8:26-30.

The third passage of Scripture which confirmed for me this truth that prayer starts with God is Romans 8:26-30.

This particular passage affirms the inspiration for praying comes from Him.

Again, the Spirit of the Lord, the present Christ, is the initiator of the desire, content, and assurance of prayer.

How do we ask for the Holy Spirit?

A story is told of a soldier who was doing guard duty on the front line in WWI.

After being relieved of duty, as a Christian, he wanted to pray, to thank God for protecting him, and to ask for His continued protection.

The enemy lines were very close, and he couldn’t go far.

So, he just crawled a little way away from where he had been standing guard, knelt and began to pray aloud. The soldier who replaced him heard his voice and thought he was speaking to someone in the enemy lines. So, he reported him.

The officer in charge said, “you have been accused of revealing secrets to the enemy. How do you respond?”

• The soldier said, “It’s not true. I wasn’t doing that”

• The officer replied, “Then what were you doing when you were out there facing the enemy and talking?”

• He said, “I was praying”

• “You were praying out loud?”

• “Yes, I was the young soldier responded”

• The officer said, “Show me. Pray right now”

• So, the young man knelt and prayed

• And when he finished the officer dismissed the charges

• “Because,” he said, “nobody can pray like that unless he has been practicing”

How do we pray when we don’t know what to say?

In these verses,

Paul tells the followers of Jesus in Rome that the Holy Spirit intercedes for us, even to the point of articulating to God what we can’t put into words!

Not only that, but when we point our hearts and requests and thanksgivings to God, the Holy Spirit cleans up our prayers and conforms them to the will of God!

Even in asking for the Holy Spirit to be at work in our lives, he goes to work for us in and through our prayers!

Note how Paul developed the same sublime theme.

Romans 8:26-30 Amplified Bible

Our Victory in Christ

26 In the same way the Spirit [comes to us and] helps us in our weakness. We do not know what prayer to offer or how to offer it as we should, but the Spirit Himself [knows our need and at the right time] intercedes on our behalf with sighs and groanings too deep for words. 27 And He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because the Spirit intercedes [before God] on behalf of [a]God’s people in accordance with God’s will.

28 And we know [with great confidence] that God [who is deeply concerned about us] causes all things to work together [as a plan] for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to His plan and purpose. 29 For those whom He foreknew [and loved and chose beforehand], He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son [and ultimately share in His complete sanctification], so that He would be the firstborn [the most beloved and honored] among many believers. 30 And those whom He predestined, He also called; and those whom He called, He also justified [declared free of the guilt of sin]; and those whom He justified, He also glorified [raising them to a heavenly dignity].

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

The full impact of this is realized by starting at the end.

We are called and appointed to belong to the Lord.

His desire is for all things in our lives to work together to accomplish the plan He has for each of us.

That plan is His will for us.

The word thele’ma is used in Greek for “will” in this passage. It means desire.

The Lord has a desire for all of us, a purpose for us to accomplish.

But He does not leave us, after we are born again, with no training or help in accomplishing this purpose of being conformed into His own image.

He invades our subconscious with preconscious longings and urgings which are manifested in the conscious desire to pray, seeking His desires for us.

The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are one.

The Spirit is the reigning glorified Christ with us.

This is what Paul made undeniably clear to the Galatians.

“And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father!’” (Galatians 4:6).

The Spirit of the Son comes to us in our weaknesses.

He calls us to prayer and then gives us the “groanings which cannot be uttered.”

What does this mean?

My understanding is that the groanings are the preconscious longings which He eventually articulates through us in helping us to put into words what He wants us to pray.

It is not that the intercession is done for us, for that would deny the cooperation with the Lord for which we were created.

In my Christian life, I have found that prayer is a difficult discipline.

I concur with others that praying moves through different seasons.

• My Posture may change

• My Prayers may change

But whatever season I am currently facing, my specific prayers are often marked by experiences.

• If I am Doubting – I pray for Faith

• If I’m Hurting – I pray for Healing

• If I’m Confused – I pray for Understanding

• If I’m Worried – I pray for Calmness

• If I’m Restless – I pray for Peace

• If I’m Afraid – I pray for Comfort

• If I lack Wisdom – I ask God to give me Discernment

If this is true for you, we are together in the difficult discipline of prayer, for I am no saint when it comes to the fervency of my “disciplined” prayer life.

• Prayer is a lagging discipline that needs constant shoring up

• Prayer is a spiritual discipline that needs cultivation

• The ground needs to be turned over

• Seeds of prayer need to be planted and watered

• We wait like the farmer, trusting the seed will sprout and multiply its blessing

Prayer takes effort and constant fine-tuning.

• We learn to pray

• We learn what not to say.

At first the invasion of the Spirit produces the longing to pray.

Then when we feel the need to pray, but still don’t know how or what to pray, He provides that also.

Because He knows our hearts and is the heart of the Lord, He brings them into congruity. His purpose is to bring our desires into alignment with His desires so we can ask for that which will be part of all things working together for good.

Recently I had a misunderstanding with a cherished friend which resulted in a broken relationship.

The startling thing was that for a time I didn’t want to find a reconciliation.

I chalked it up to my own definition of “irreconcilable differences” which had precluded the possibility of forgiveness and a new beginning.

I was deeply hurt and angry.

My “best Christian Response” my “great plan” was to forget the whole mess.

Some weeks later, a growing and maturing uneasiness began to grow in me.

I couldn’t shake the man out of my mind.

That was followed by a mysterious desire to pray about him.

When I responded to the inner urgings to pray, I noticed a subtle difference in my attitude.

As I prayed, I was given new empathy for what might have caused the man’s behavior during our painfully short intense interaction.

I was given a completely different picture of the needs inside him; and then I asked for a way to communicate acceptance and forgiveness.

As I lingered in prayer, a strategy was unfolded for what I needed to do and speak. I had the deep conviction that the plan came from the Lord.

Therefore, when I asked God for His help to accomplish His will in the matter, I could ask with confidence and boldness knowing God already had the answer.

The inner disquiet, like an inaudible wordless groaning, turned into clarity and was articulated in a request for the quiet strength and courage to do what the Lord had promised He would do in our relationship through me if I were willing.

A brand new, ready will worked with my imagination to form the “God-Gifted” picture of how it would be accomplished when the God-Moment had arrived.

And that’s exactly the way it turned out. I learned that after our exchange, he too began to pray. The Lord was initiator and inspiration from start to finish.

Oftentimes when we find it hard to pray – we need to just get started.

• Just start talking to the Lord

• Just start Praying

• Don’t worry about the Words

• Don’t worry about your Posture

• Don’t worry about Sounding Good

• Just start Praying

It’s difficult to pray because humbling ourselves, getting over ourselves, and coming to the end of our stubborn and sinful selves is hard.

• When we pray, we die to self, and death hurts.

• That’s why our flesh fights so hard against prayer

Moreover, it’s hard to pray because our focus is too often on praying itself and not upon God. We learn about prayer not so that we might know a lot of facts about prayer, but so that we might pray with our sole focus is 100% on God.

• By His Sovereign Grace, we know Him

• We know He is there

• We know He not only Hears but Listens

• We know He is not silent

• We know He always answers our prayers and always acts in accord with His perfect will for our ultimate good and for His glory.

When we recognize God’s sovereignty in prayer, we are also reminded of His Love – Grace – Holiness – Righteousness, and we are thereby confronted with the harsh reality of our own wretched sin in the light of His Glory and Grace.

Prayer is not a preparation for work, it is work.

• Prayer is not a preparation for the Battle – Prayer is the Battle

• Prayer is two-fold

– DEFINITE ASKING and DEFINITE WAITING TO RECEIVE ~ Oswald Chambers

• Prayer is Emotionally Consuming

• Prayer is Physically Consuming – Fatigue

When we find it difficult to pray – satan wants to keep us from prayer and its power

• No one is a firmer believer in the power of prayer than the devil

• Not that he practices it, but he suffers from it

Satan uses “Weapons of Mass Distraction” –

• Phone Calls

• Text Messages

• Social Media Platforms

• Our Jobs

• Our Busyness

When we find it difficult to pray — our flesh is weak.

We have difficulty suppressing physical tiredness and challenges.

Perhaps there are days when our mind grows tired.

Or we are physically exhausted from work – from our children – and possibly even from weakness due to an illness. I find that physical weakness is often connected to spiritual weakness and fatigue (though not always connected).

• When the body is weak, our minds can think wrong thoughts about God, and our hearts can begin to believe these thoughts

• Prayer time can become ineffective because our minds are distracted and wander to different themes.

Life always seems to find a way to gather around us when we are ill-prepared. Before we know it, acknowledge it, pray through it and confess it – CHAOS!

Then we are in that place once again where we do not know what to do or are too busy trying to control and manage things under our own strength – to do.

With no rhyme or reason, the eternal cycle of our independence versus “God-Dependence” spins wildly – from earth to the far depths of the universe again.

Praise God for His Word –

Psalm 19:1-3 Complete Jewish Bible

19 (0) For the leader. A psalm of David:

2 (1) The heavens declare the glory of God,
the dome of the sky speaks the work of his hands.
3 (2) Every day it utters speech,
every night it reveals knowledge.

Praise God for the revelation of His Word, the ultimate revelation of Truth!

Because, before I knew it,

The same process occurred in a tough decision I had to make recently.

I thought I knew what the Lord wanted and did not pray a lot about it.

When the decision was made, I had no peace.

There was a jangling grating static in my spirit. It lasted for several days. When sleep was interrupted by the disturbance, I knew something was very wrong.

I asked the Lord to be very clear. I asked Him how to pray.

A specific request was given me to make.

If the disturbance was from Him, I asked that it continue and grow.

If the decision I had made was right and the disquiet was simply my own fear of implementing it, I was led to ask that the disturbance be taken away.

You guessed it: the impossibly irritating static grew to unbearably high decibels.

That led me to confess, “Lord, now I know I’m on the wrong track. Show me what you want me to do.”

After hours of quiet listening, I reversed the hastily made decision.

As I prayed, a new direction formed in my mind, pictured by my imagination.

When I decided to follow the new direction, the jangling static inside subsided.

An inner calm and confidence grew in its place.

John 14:23-27 Complete Jewish Bible

23 Yeshua answered him, “If someone loves me, he will keep my word; and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 Someone who doesn’t love me doesn’t keep my words — and the word you are hearing is not my own but that of the Father who sent me.

25 “I have told you these things while I am still with you. 26 But the Counselor, the Ruach HaKodesh, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything; that is, he will remind you of everything I have said to you.

27 “What I am leaving with you is shalom — I am giving you my shalom. I don’t give the way the world gives. Don’t let yourselves be upset or frightened.

Then with holy boldness, I asked for THE sure and certain revelation of what the Holy Spirit had formed in my mind.

When I asked, I knew that I was assured of the answer.

Subsequently, the decision was worked out by the Spirit’s power exactly as He detailed it in prayer.

Again, He had been the source of the disturbance, the desire to review the previous decision, the architect of the new plan, the communicator of the different direction, instigator of a boldness to ask for what He had imparted.

Our desire to pray is the result of His call to prayer. He has something to say.

Our responsibility is to listen to what He wants to give us for our problems and potentials.

He will make it clear.

Then we can say with courage, confidence and boldness born of the Holy Spirit:

I sought the Lord, and afterward I knew
He moved my soul to seek Him,
seeking me;
It was not I that found, O Savior true,
No, I was found of Thee. (Author Anonymous)

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Precious God, Almighty Father, my words cannot express the depth of my appreciation for your gift of the Holy Spirit. Even when I don’t know how to pray or what to say, I know the Spirit is there with me, sharing my heart with you in ways both, far beyond my comprehension, pleasing to you! Thank you for this grace and the gift that makes it possible. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

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Confidence and Carefulness in our Prayer Life – It all begins with our Confidence in God. 1 John 5:12-17

 At the same time, I was pondering the implications of the Lord’s offer in Isaiah 56:24-25, Holy Spirit led me to rediscover another passage which deepened my understanding of that promise. I read 1 John 5:12-17 with new eyes in my heart.

I find our current text difficult to understand! In verses 14 & 15, I struggle to understand how the promise really applies, because frankly, it does not line up with my experience.

In verse 16, I struggle to understand the exact meaning of the “sin unto death,” and thus I’m not sure how to apply this to my prayer life.

So today I face a difficult task. I’m sure that John wrote these verses to boldly encourage us to pray, and so I want to encourage you to pray more faithfully.

God is a prayer-hearing God (Ps. 65:2). But at the same time, I can’t gloss over the tremendous difficulty our text creates for my prayer life.

It is simply not always true to my experience. John, who is echoing here the repeated promises of Jesus (Mark 11:22-24; John 14:13-14; 15:16; 16:24), says that if we ask anything according to God’s will, He will answer favorably. “No” is not an acceptable answer. It must be “yes” every time!

Over the years, my “prayer batting average” is pretty low. I have prayed for the salvation of people who have not gotten saved. I have prayed for the restoration of sinning Christians, who have not repented and been restored.

I have prayed mightily for the reconciliation of many Christian marriages and friendships which have been broken up for what I always sincerely believed to be reconcilable differences. I find people give up too easily on themself and God.

Some try to get God off the hook saying, “Don’t worry about it” as a statement of “Oh well, I failed, He gives people free will anyway to walk away, so I will.”

But if God cannot subdue a sinful person’s will, then He can’t do anything!

To me, I sometimes find myself believing that means that sinful man, not God, is sovereign! “Just quit!” And it means that prayer is useless and impotent. If God promises to answer our prayers, then He has the power to answer them!

I’m sure that the fault is with me, not with God’s promise!

I do not like to quit on anything especially myself and of the utmost God.

I am probably lacking in understanding God’s perfect will and lacking in faith.

But I could not find many preachers or teachers on this text who would admit to having the difficulties with “faith and delayed answered prayers that I have.

So, this has not been an easy devotional to prepare, because if I am honest, I have to faithfully expose my own failures in prayer to you! My prayer has been that perhaps by sharing my struggles, you will be motivated to keep “swinging” in your prayer life. Maybe one day we will all improve our batting averages!

1 John 5:12-17 NKJV

12 He who has the Son has [a]life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, [b]and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.

Confidence and Compassion in Prayer

14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

16 If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death. There is sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about that. 17 All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not leading to death.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

The power of ‘prayer’ is so easily forgotten, but it is so powerful! We have the ability to talk with our God about anything at any time.

We can approach God’s throne of grace with confidence because of Jesus, knowing that He hears our prayers.

If you have been doubting whether God is hearing your prayers, I hope and fervently pray this devotional message is ‘reaching,’ encouraging for you.

“…. All because we do not carry everything to God in Prayer”

WHY NOT?

The answer to our prayers is prepared before we pray.

The desire to talk to the Lord about our needs comes from Him.

Prayer begins in the mind of God, invades our minds, is formulated into a clarification of what He wants to do or give, and then is articulated in our expressions and our words. He is more ready to hear than we are to pray!

It is a privilege to be able to come to God and ask him anything.

He always wants to know what is deepest on our minds, souls and hearts.

Just like any other quality relationship, openness and communication is integral. When it comes to our relationship with God, it’s no different.

Just like this verse says, when we come and ask anything according to God’s will, he will hear us. God will always hear and answer our prayers.

God’s answer won’t always be what we want.  Sometimes God may tell us no or wait. We might think we know what is best for us, but the truth is God knows even better! We must remind ourselves that God is in control of our lives.

Proverbs 19:21 Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails

I love how we can pray at any time.

Each day I find myself talking to God at different points in the day.

It might be before meals, when I’m out with friends or at church.

We don’t have to do anything special or be in a certain place, we can just pray from whenever and wherever we are, and we can talk to God just like we would talk to a friend or will start up a random conversation with a complete stranger.

We don’t need to use big words.

No matter how big or small our requests are, God wants to hear them, and He wants us to give Him all that is on our heart because He loves and cares for us.

He knows what we are going to say before we say it (Isaiah 65:24), but that shouldn’t change the way we relate to God when we pray. We can confidently pray about anything, anywhere to our God who is always waiting to listen.

Maybe you have been praying for a friend who has been sick for a long time.

This is the case for a parishioner at church who has been sick for a number of weeks now, with what is essentially sounding like an undiagnosed illness.

The whole church has been praying for him and yet he remains sick and, on some days, even seems to get sicker and sicker, with no recovery in sight.

Does this mean God isn’t listening to our requests?

No, of course not.

God hears all our prayers and all we can do is to be obedient in prayer and trust God’s perfect will for His life.

Just like I said before, God always knows exactly what is best for us.

Of course, God can heal that person anytime, but there is a reason He hasn’t.

We don’t know what that reason is, but He does and that is where trust is so important. We must trust God’s plans even if we don’t understand them.

It’s another reason why we can approach God in prayer with confidence.

We might have our own plans and ideas, but we can confidently and boldly lay them all before His Throne, at His feet and know with confidence that God will direct our lives in the best possible way, according to His perfect Will for us.

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight

I want to encourage you to be obedient in prayer.

Remember we can approach God with confidence when we pray.

We shouldn’t doubt whether He will hear us or not. He loves us and God will always listen to our requests.

God may not answer our prayers in the way we want, but He will answer them according to His will.

God’s ways are good and perfect.

We might think we know what is best for us, but our God knows best.

The Lord comes to us as the implementor of prayer.

The Apostle John asserted the secret of dynamic praying in the context of our life in Christ.

“He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 4:12).

The apostle John wanted his readers in the early Church to be confident, sure of their young and maturing relationship, now and forever, in Christ.

He went on to state the reason why he had written was:

“that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God” (1 John 5:13).

For John, the Son was Immanuel, God with us and within us, and continuing with us to guide us. His Christian life was not an anxious searching for the Lord but a moment-by-moment response to His impinging, invading imminence.

Then in 1 John 5:14-15, John “blows the Shofar,” sounds the same joyous note we heard in the Isaiah promise.

“Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.”

I quickly checked the Greek text to review words I had studied so often before.

Now they came alive in new vitality and freshness.

The words of “confidence” and “in Him” leaped off the page.

Confidence is perresia in the Greek. The word means boldness.

It is a compound word made up of pan — all, and ressia — to tell, meaning freedom to speak boldly. Prayer is freedom to speak freely and boldly to the Lord who has come to be with us and within us and instigated our prayer.

The confidence we have in prayer is what “we have in Him.”

The confidence we have in prayer is what we have “toward Him” or “face-to-face” with Him.

Prayer, for John, was face-to-face communication with Christ as a part of the eternal quality of life we have in Him which gives us boldness. Face to face, eye to eye, first we listen to Him intently and then we can speak with intrepidity.

And who starts the face-to-face conversation? The Lord! John makes that clear in 1 John 4:19, “We love Him because He first loved us.” He is the prime mover in salvation, the gift of faith, and the initiation of prayer.

In prayer, He makes known to us what His will is so that we can ask for what He longs to give. He calls us into His presence because He has the answer to our needs and questions. “If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.”

Our assurance that He hears us is that He is the one who first asked for the conversation. He would not call us to prayer and then refuse to listen or be inattentive to our prayer.

That’s the confidence, boldness, we have – prayer is our response to His call.

In the time of face-to-face communion, He makes clear what it is that we are to ask for in the needs He has come to us to help us solve.

So, when we do ask, it is with the confidence that we are asking for what He is prepared to release for us.

“And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.”

We know before we ask, because the content of our asking has already first been guided by Him.

The same assurance had been stated by John earlier in his epistle.

“And by this we know that we are of the truth and shall assure our hearts before Him. For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment” (1 John 3:19-23).

By the measure of confidence, we have in His Words of Scripture, may we trust Him when we pray, because He knows us even better than we know ourselves.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Heavenly Father, I have trusted You for my salvation and desire to walk in spirit and truth, to abide daily in Christ, and to live in unbroken fellowship with You in the days I have left of my life.

I know You are a God that hears and answers the prayers of the righteous, and I pray that I would increasingly offer up my prayers and supplications according to Your will, so that You may be honored in my prayer-life, glorified through the words that I speak, the meditations of my heart, and the daily activities and actions that I live out, according to Your will.

This I pray in Jesus’ name, Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! AMEN.

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