By Faith Enterprises

Prayer the Life of the Soul

2011-07-03T07:38:00.001-05:00

Prayer is to God the soul’s sure way;
So flows the grace he waits to give;
Long as they live should Christians pray;
They learn to pray when first they live.

If pain afflict, or wrongs oppress,
If cares distract, or fears dismay,
If guilt deject, if sin distress,
In every need, still watch and pray.

’Tis prayer supports the soul that’s weak,
Though poor and broken be its word;
Pray if thou canst, or canst not, speak;
The breathings of the soul are heard.

Depend on Him; thou shalt prevail;
Make all thy wants and wishes known;
Fear not, His mercy will not fail;
Ask but in faith, it shall be done.

Your SECRET Location For PRAYER

2011-03-06T09:34:00.001-05:00

But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place. (Matthew 6:6)

When it comes to PRAYER there needs to be deliberateness, your secret location, your inner room, a set time, the closed entrance from interruptions as well as intruders.

In this secret location your Father is actually waiting for you and me. He is absolutely there just as He is certainly in Heaven, always be reverent, as Moses when he removed his sandals from his feet! Be trustful, since you are experiencing a meeting with One that is infinite sympathy as well as absolutely love! Feel encouraged, as there is no trouble He can't solve, absolutely no knot He can't untie!

God is aware of a lot better than you do just what you need and really should ask for. He's reviewed each and every item of your life, every single trial, each and every temptation--the unknown as well as unpredicted, the flashes of sun light over the journey, as well as the clouds of crying. He listens to your prediction as well as requests, plus rejoices whenever they line-up together with His infinite foreknowledge; or perhaps He might give you something much better and much more suitable to your circumstance.

"He will recompense you." If He doesn't eliminate the troubles, He'll provide an angel to strengthen you; if your thorn stays unremoved, He'll supply even more grace. You may well be certain that, by some means or another, your own Heavenly Father will satisfy your specific need.

It truly is as specific as if you actually heard Him tell you: "Go your way, your prayer is heard: Let me handle it, have faith in Me, entrust everything to My hand!" Once you have absolutely placed an issue into God's control, let it rest there. Don't repeat your commitment, for this shows that you haven't made it. Your mindset from here forward should be to look at God's face, don't ask Him to just remember, however , for you to state: "Father, You know, understand, and care! I know whom I have trusted, and am persuaded that You will not fail me."

There's a prayer we should pray that is with out ceasing; then again certainly that isn't the actual repeated petition to get exactly the same thing, but typically the blessed exchange of joyful fellowship. Don't use vain repetitions, just as the sinners, who assume that they'll be heard for a lot of talking, however depend on Him faithful who promised! This kind of calculation regarding faith is just about the highest characteristic of prayer, because faith certainly is the silent guarantee of things not yet seen!

PRAYER
Lift all of us directly into the light and love as well as purity and blessedness, and allow us all now our own part along with all those who have trusted in You, and searched for the little things such as in great, in issues that are temporary as well as things eternal, to accomplish Your Holy Will. In Jesus' name AMEN.

The Dangerous Prayer

2011-02-13T09:22:00.002-05:00

"You took a risk trusting Me, and now you're healed and whole. Live well, live blessed!" (Luke 8:48 The Message)

As a young man within the first few steps into my life long experience along with Jesus, a preacher taught me a prayer of which I have in no way forgotten about. It really is a prayer every single individual can pray - indeed, a prayer each and every person ought to pray.

However, I ought to advise you....it's a hazardous prayer. It's easy, however serious; special, and yet complete. It contains both a humble plea, also as a bold faith. This prayer isn't very likely to be prayed by men and women that are unclear about gratifying God, and it certainly would never ever find voice within those who are constantly anxious about pleasing humanity.

Nevertheless, it really is a prayer that needs to be prayed.

But, it's harmful. Hazardous because it is irreversible; it will most undoubtedly be answered by God, still though at occasions you will wish you had by no means prayed it. The moment He hears this specific prayer rise from your heart, the inevitable answer is without a doubt set in motion - plus every future cries to the contrary will certainly fall as duds to the floor.

Alright. I have supplied you honest forewarning. You now continue at your own risk. I need to caution you, nevertheless, that simply looking at this unique prayer may be misconstrued by God as you actually praying it. Therefore in case there exists any measure of cowardice in you quit right at this point! You should not move forward!!

But with regard to people who are trustworthy and also brave, and who hunger for God to use your own life to produce a significant difference in this world - here's this harmful prayer:

Lord Jesus, do in me anything you need to do, so that you can do through me everything you want to do. Amen.

Those that take this risk and trust Jesus with their lives, will find healing and wholeness over this path of their great journey; they'll live good, and be blessed in every single course of action. And that, my good friend, is worth taking the risk.

Wouldn't That Be Great?

2011-01-30T06:51:00.001-05:00

"The LORD hear thee in the day of trouble." (Psalm 20:1).

Let's say you're in trouble, great or maybe small, but trouble enough that this forced you to cry out to someone...to someone for help. Wouldn't it be great to know that the Lord Himself heard you, and also to watch Him respond with an open and unmistakable solution?

Let's say you're totally exposed and vulnerable to people that wished to harm you terribly, even though you were unaware of their objectives. Wouldn't it be great if your God kept you secure from all damage ? even the damage you did not know had been there?

What if you were by yourself as well as friendless, surrounded by unfaithful men and women, living in a place of raising ungodliness. Wouldn't it be great if the Master noticed you and did something unique to change factors around on your behalf in a very great and also beneficial way?

Let's suppose you are kind and also giving to many people over an extended period of time, but were feeling that nobody noticed or really valued the things you had achieved. Wouldn't it be great if instantly you were conscious of the Lord hadn't only realized and also appreciated every single kindness you had shown, but that He actually had a record of them all as well as was getting ready to hand back to you much more than you had given ? though that was not the reason why you made it happen.

Let's suppose you had awesome dreams but absolutely no means of making them happen. Wouldn't it be great if the Lord supplied you with all the resource as well as relationships needed to fully realize your noblest ideas and achieve your very best of projects.

What if you had been confronted with some sort of titanic problem, a David before Goliath, even though unsure regarding the way it would end up, you stood your ground and fought using faith and courage.... therefore you won. Wouldn't it be great if suddenly all of your friends and family were told the news of your victory and jumped to their feet cheering in honor of God.

Imagine if every time you prayed in earnest, thoughtful, humble faith ? God answered your prayer. Wouldn't that be great.

Incidentally, these aren't the wistful longings of an loopy dreamer, neither are they the vain imaginations of a spent cynic. No, certainly not. With regard to everything I have just touched on is all covered in a single prayer found in the Bible; a single excellent blessing uttered ages ago that stands in rich supply for all, even unto this very day. Here, read it yourself....

"In times of trouble, may the LORD respond to your cry. May the God of Israel keep you safe from all harm. May he send you help from his sanctuary and strengthen you from Jerusalem. May he remember all your gifts and look favorably on your burnt offerings. May he grant your heart's desire and fulfill all your plans. May we shout for joy when we hear of your victory, flying banners to honor our God. May the LORD answer all your prayers." Psalm 20:1-5 (New Living Translation)

May I suggest this specific prayer as being a wonderful way to start out your day? Pray this for yourself, to be sure; but, to truly see its fullest blessing discovered in ever-expanding steps - pray it specifically, deliberately, and also continuously for other people as well!

Say, now wouldn't that be great?

Thy Kingdom Come

2010-12-29T04:57:00.002-05:00

Tip! Prayer, as taught by Jesus in its principal expression, enters into all the relations of life. It purifies fellowship.

"Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10).

This is the first thing Jesus told us to pray for in the Model Prayer. We open the prayer with deep love and great respect, "Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name."

Then, almost in the same breath, Jesus tells us what is of utmost priority in our prayers "Thy Kingdom come."

Notice that there is a period, which means a complete sentence has been spoken. What follows next is, therefore, very interesting, for it serves as a fuller explanation of what Jesus means by the phrase, "Thy Kingdom come."

He says, "Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven." In other words, the Kingdom comes into any life or circumstance at the moment God's will is done on earth in perfect harmony with what He has already done in heaven above.

So what does this mean for us today?

Simply this whatever God says that He has already done, even if the situation on earth contradicts it in every way, we may be sure that His power will work on our behalf to make every change necessary in order for things to line up with His will.

Furthermore, in light of the fact that we are ambassadors for Christ entrusted with the message and ministry of reconciliation, we may go about our day with the full assurance that we are backed up by the power of God especially in those moments when we are faced with the powers of darkness, which ever work to contradict God's will.

"Thy Kingdom come!" will be our declaration and we will see God's will done on earth, just as it in heaven.

The Power of Prayer

2010-12-05T06:19:00.002-05:00

"The weapons we use in our fight are not the world's weapons but God's powerful weapons, which we use to destroy strongholds." (2 Corinthians 10:4, Good New Bible).

We have an arsenal not made by human hands, but is stocked full with the powerful weapons fashioned by God Himself. They aren't for marketing or manipulation of any sort, but are specifically designed to demolish demonic strongholds — putting down every false argument raised against Truth. These weapons have the power of God to destroy the enemy's efforts against our Faith.

Prayer is one of these weapons, and when it is coupled with the Word of God it possesses a power that is invincible. That's why the early disciples said, "We will devote ourselves to prayer, and to the ministry of the Word." When we follow their example, we will experience the same results that happened for them.

Let's look at a remarkable example found in the Scriptures.

When Joshua was battling the armies of the Amalekites in the valley of Rephidim, the Bible tells us that Moses was on the mountain lifting up the Rod which God had given him. As long as the Rod was held up, Joshua advanced in battle. When Moses' arms grew weary and he lowered the Rod, the enemy began to make advances against Joshua.
Aaron and Hur, two of Moses' friends, stood beside him and held his arms up — the result was a overwhelming victory for Joshua. (see Exodus 17:8-13).

The eyes of the LORD search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him. Jesus said that when we pray in secret, God will reward us openly. An example of this happened in Jerusalem when the disciples gathered in prayer and "the place where they were assembled was shaken." They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and preached the Word of God with boldness — even in the face of death threats.

This brief scan of the biblical record proves the age old adage — "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much!" (James 5:16). Prayer makes tremendous power available, the kind of power that is dynamic in its working and effective in its results; great power that produces wonderful results.

Why not pray today and look for what happens as a result. You just might find yourself praying every day!
.

The Purpose of Prayer is to Train You to Reign with Jesus

2010-12-04T08:08:00.002-05:00

"To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne." (Revelation 3:21).

Three things happen as we pray. First, we have fellowship with God. Second, we cooperate in bringing God's will to Earth. And, third, we are being prepared for Eternity.

One thing is certain about Heaven — we will not sit around on fluffy clouds strumming harps and eating yogurt, preening our wings and polishing our halos. No; nothing like that at all. Instead, we will reign with Christ, for that's what the Bible tells us.

"To him that overcomes," Jesus said, "will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne." (Revelation 3:21). John gave us a glimpse into this exalted place, and we hear a mighty host of ransomed men and women from all nations singing, "You are worthy O Lord, for You have made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth." (Rev 5:10).

And the standing promise of the Ages, which fills our hearts with unshakable faith — the kind that overcomes the world — says it in perfect clarity: "They shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God gives them light: and they shall reign forever and ever." (Rev 22:4-5).

Our struggles here on earth, which intensify our resolve in prayer, become the very means whereby God is readying us for that place where we shall reign with Jesus. One old preacher called prayer, "reigning training." Its the process whereby God deepens our faith, broadens our vision, sharpens our discernment, awakens our passion, and unleashes His power.

The purpose of prayer is to train you to reign with Jesus. So when you bow your head to pray, remember — every king kneels in order to be crowned.

Three Things Happen as We Pray

2010-12-03T04:31:00.002-05:00

"Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as in heaven." (Luke 11:2).

Three things happen as we pray. First, which we looked at yesterday, is that we have fellowship with God. The second thing that happens is that we cooperate in bringing God's Kingdom to Earth.

What exactly does this mean? Simply stated, it means doing our part to see God's will happen in our sphere of influence.

Practically speaking, it means you should never pray a prayer that is not already God's will. This is what the Bible is talking about when it says, "You ask, and receive not, because you ask amiss; that you may consume it on your own lusts" (James 4:3). In other words, our prayers are not answered when we pray for selfish reasons, wanting to indulge our own desires.

"THY will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Whenever we pray what God has already decided to do, our prayers cannot miss! "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: 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 what we asked of him." (1 John 5:14-15).

But this not only means we are never to pray a prayer that is not already God's will; it also means that you should never pray a prayer that you are not willing to be the answer to. In other words, don't ask God to bless the poor if you are not ready to do your part in becoming the means whereby He does it.

Don't pray for change in the courts, in the schools, in the marketplace, or in the church — if you're going to sit passively by the side to see if any change comes. Otherwise you are praying empty prayers — mere religious words that have no meaning....and no power.

You must pray your passion — for it is in such prayers that God's answers come; and they come through you. He gives you wisdom, opportunity, patience, resource and power from on high to actually effect the answers for which you cry out to heaven.

"Thy Kingdom come," we pray, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Pray as though it depended totally upon God; work as though it depends totally upon you.
What are you prepared to do today to become the answer to the prayers you have been praying?

Have You talked to Dad lately?

2010-12-02T04:39:00.003-05:00

"One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in his temple." (Psalm 27:4, KJV).

Three things happen as we pray. First, we have fellowship with God.

I'm talking about real friendship; not some imaginary exercise of reciting religious phrases toward some divine place in the sky. No. David said we would behold the beauty of the Lord, and inquire in His temple. This is not some abstract thought about a make-believe world, nor merely a poetic license for things that are not literally real. I'm talking about actually talking with God....and having Him talk back.

"Call unto Me, and I will answer you," He says, "and show you great and marvelous things to wonderful to know; things of which you are unaware; things that you don't know and can't find out without asking Me; things you can never figure out on your own." (Jeremiah 33:3).

The New Living Bible says, "Ask Me and I will tell you remarkable secrets you do not know about things to come."

Jesus invited us to pray to "Our Father, who is in heaven." This is a bond greater than any other relational connection we know. He has even placed His Spirit deep within our heart, whereby we call out, "Abba, Father."

From infancy to our elder years, God's Fatherhood is the undergirding and over-riding truth of our lives. And it is the single, most compelling factor in how we are to pray —

"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?" (Matthew 7:7-11).

The purpose of prayer is to strengthen, deepen, broaden, and lengthen our fellowship with God, our Father.

Have to talked to Dad lately?

The Privilege of Prayer

2010-12-01T04:39:00.003-05:00

"One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in his temple." Psalm 27:4 (KJV)

An invitation has been extended from the High Court of Heaven. It was not sent out to a select few, but was posted for all who hunger for something higher, something better, something more real than the hoopla and hullabaloo of the world's surface traffic.

We have been granted access to the Throne of Grace, and the invitation does not require any dress code. "Come as you are," it says. No need to rehearse what you will say, no need to primp on appearance — no cause to try and impress. And, what's more, you don't have to have it "all together" either.

"Come as you are IN YOUR TIME OF NEED," it says. What this means is that when you feel the least acceptable, THAT"S when you are the most welcomed!

Come broken, come dirty, come troubled, come fearful, come confused, come undone — the Lord waits for you! He will meet you — and change you! You will not leave the same way you entered. What a privilege!

The Bible says, "Let us come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in our time of need!" (Hebrews 4:16).

The old Gospel song puts it this way, "What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear. What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer. Oh what peace we often forfeit, oh what needless pain we bear; all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer!

"Have you trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere? We should never be discouraged; take it to the Lord in prayer. Can we find a friend so faithful, who will all our sorrows share? Jesus knows our every weakness; take it to the Lord in prayer.

"Are we weak and heavy laden, cumbered with a load of care? Precious Savior, still our refuge; take it to the Lord in prayer. Do your friends despise, forsake you? Take it to the Lord in prayer; in His arms He'll take and shield you — you will find a solace there!"

The invitation has been sent to YOU — accept it even now and come before the Throne of Grace, and discover anew the privilege of prayer.

Somebody's Prayin'

2010-11-29T04:32:00.004-05:00

"Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then can condemn? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also praying for us!" (Romans 8:33-34, TNIV).

What a thought! Jesus Himself is even now at God's right hand in heaven praying for YOU. Therefore, no weapon formed against you can prosper. No one who rises up to condemn you can succeed. No accuser can stand — for Jesus has got you covered!

One of my favorite songs by Ricky Skaggs is Somebody's Prayin' — here are the lyrics. May today for you be filled with the overwhelming sense of the Lord's personal care for you life!

"Somebody's prayin, I can feel it. Somebody's prayin' for me. Mighty hands are guiding me to protect me from what I can't see. Lord I believe, Lord I believe that somebody's prayin', for me.

"Angels are watchin', I can feel it. Angels are watchin' over me. There's many miles ahead 'til I get home, still I'm safely kept before your throne, 'Cause Lord I believe, Lord I believe Your angels are watchin' over me.

"Well, I've walked through barren wilderness When my pillow was a stone, and I've been through the darkest caverns Where no light had ever shown. Still I went on 'cause there was someone Who was down on their knees. And Lord, I thank you for those people prayin' all this time for me.

"Somebody's prayin', I can feel it Somebody's prayin' for me. Mighty hands are guiding me to protect me from what I can't see. Lord I believe; Lord I believe — Somebody's prayin' for me..."

Are you prayin' for somebody? It would mean more than you can imagine if you would let them know it.

The Lord is My Shepherd

2010-11-14T06:28:00.003-05:00

"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." (Psalm 23:1).

Jesus is Lord and King, Conqueror, Savior, the Mighty God, Prince of Peace, the Christ, Emmanuel, Teacher, Prophet and Master. Of the many titles given to the Lord, Shepherd must undoubtedly be one of His favorite. It links Him in the most personal way to those He loves.

Say it out loud and let the truth settle deep in your heart: "The Lord is my Shepherd."

Isaiah prophesied, "He shall feed His flock like a shepherd: He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young." (Isaiah 40:11).
Peter preached, "For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls." (1 Pet 2:25).

David, himself a shepherd, penned the Twenty-third Psalm as a comprehensive tribute to the Lord. He encompasses in this short poem at least fifteen provisions that are made for us when we follow the Lord as our Shepherd.

1. Rest - He maketh me to lie down in green pastures
2. Peace - He leadeth me beside the still waters
3. Restoration - He restoreth my soul
4. Guidance - He leadeth me in paths of righteousness
5. Honor - for His name's sake
6. Hope - I walk through the valley of the shadow of death
7. Courage - I will fear no evil
8. Companionship - Thou art with me
9. Comfort - Thy rod and Thy staff comfort me
10. Sustenance - Thou preparest a table before me
11. Vindication - in the presence of my enemies
12. Blessing - Thou anointest my head with oil
13. Fullness - My cup runneth over
14. Abundant Life- goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life
15. Eternal Security - I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever

As you can see, there is nothing left out. No wonder David said, "I shall not want!" The Lord gives us everything we need when we follow Him as our Shepherd.

"And now may the God of peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, equip you with all you need for doing His will. May He who became the great Shepherd of the sheep by an everlasting agreement between God and you, signed with His blood, produce in you through the power of Christ all that is pleasing to Him. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen." (Hebrews 13:20, 21).

Every Time I Say Your Name in Prayer

2010-10-25T03:53:00.002-05:00

"Every time I say your name in prayer — which is practically all the time — I thank God for you." (2 Timothy 1:3, The Message).

Who do you pray for — practically all the time? Notice the question is not "WHAT do you pray for, but WHO?"

Many people pray for a thousand different things practically all the time — a new job, a new car, a new house; a breakthrough in finances (even if it means winning the Lottery). And the list grows infinitely larger with each passing day.

But WHO do you pray for? Your answer reveals who it is you truly love. Prayer is a very revealing thing in this regard. We love WHO we pray unto, and we love WHO it is we are praying for. We pray for our family, our friends, our neighbors, our pastors, our leaders — and so on.

Try an experiment today. Rather than praying for THINGS, pray instead for PEOPLE. Just for today. Open your heart to someone you know, someone you love — and pray for them. Then watch and wait to see how God responds. You just might be so amazed that it becomes a regular exercise from today forward. So much so that indeed you may be able to say along with the apostle Paul, "Every time I say your name in prayer — which is practically all the time — I thank God for you."

One last bit of advice — when you pray, for Heaven's sake do not come off sounding religious! Keep it real, for those are the only prayers that God listens to anyway.

A Prayer from Billy Graham

2010-09-04T06:45:00.001-05:00

"You shall rise before the gray headed and honor the presence of an old man, and fear your God: I am the LORD." (Leviticus 19:32).

If ever there was a gray headed, old man deserving our highest honor and greatest esteem — it is Billy Graham. He is truly beloved throughout the entire world, and rightly so. Thus, Paul Harvey did us all a huge favor when he aired the following prayer by Billy Graham during one of his broadcasts. The words are brief, yet deep and meaningful — which is usually what happens when grey-haired men and women of faith talk to God.

"Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, 'Woe to those who call evil good,' but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values.

We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare. We have killed our unborn and called it choice. We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable. We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self esteem.

We have abused power and called it politics. We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.

Search us, Oh God, and know our hearts today ; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Amen!"

Maybe you could help to spread this prayer by forwarding it to your friends. And maybe we all could pray it together. And maybe, just maybe — God will hear our cry from heaven, forgive our sins, and heal our Land.

Maybe.

The Smokescreen of Pious Talk

2010-08-28T04:47:00.003-05:00

"In making your speech sound more religious, it becomes less true." (Matthew 5:34, The Message).

Did it ever occur to you that God does not want you to be religious? And, furthermore, this aversion you have in your soul for that which is religious and pretentious was actually placed there by God — who wants you to be real.

So when you talk to God, talk straight. He knows what is in your heart; and that's what He wants to hear coming from your lips. Don't go Shakespeare on Him — unless, of course, you're William Shakespeare. And, for the record, Jesus did not speak in King James English. Neither do you.

Be true to who you are, honest with how you feel, transparent about what you think, truthful with your fears and concerns; as well as your hopes and dreams. Tell God everything, but don't dress it up all pretty and nice. You don't make your words true by embellishing them with religious lace; rather, you actually disguise them — and bring them under suspicion.

The problem with religious chatter is that it becomes ritualistic; and rituals, by definition, are scripted and inflexible. What God desires is an open and flexible heart. When a man or woman (or a boy and girl) is simply honest before God — He responds in powerful ways; ways that satisfy our deepest longings, and shape our lives into something beautiful.

The bottom line is this — don't talk religious to God, and don't do it to your friends either, because the more religious your speech sounds — the less true it is.

One Step Closer to a Yes

2010-03-12T04:50:00.002-05:00

"Unrelenting disappointment leaves you heartsick, but a sudden good break can turn life around." (Proverbs 13:12, The Message)

A friend in the promotion business says, "Every time someone tells me "NO!" I get happier — because I'm one step closer to that person who will say "YES!"
Some people cannot bear to be told "NO" even once; let alone repeatedly. And then there are others who stop just one person too soon. All they needed was to ask one more time. But they didn't. Disappointment can do that to you if you let it. Especially if it seems to be unrelenting — one blow after the next.

Years ago I discovered a splendid little poem that has anchored my life in those times when everything seems to be going wrong — times when your hopes are dashed, your dreams have faded, your deepest desires thwarted, and when so many great expectations become inexplicably disappointed. Maybe you will find it helpful, too.
"Disappointment. HIS appointment. Change one letter, then I see that the thwarting of my purpose is God's better choice for me!"

It is true, as the proverb says, that unrelenting disappointment can leave you heartsick. But the rest of the proverb is also true — "a sudden good break can turn life around." One doesn't come without the other.

Draw yet another breath, my fellow traveler; though you have paused alongside the road — you have not stopped. Your journey is not finished. There's a bend in the road up ahead. And the bend in the road is not the end of the road — unless you fail to make the turn.

Tip your hat respectfully to old man Disappointment, and then be on your way; for God has something better in mind for you. And though you have heard "NO" perhaps a thousand times — you are actually one step closer to a "YES!"
And that single "Yes" can turn your life around!

Pressing On the Upward Way

2010-03-06T07:13:00.004-05:00

"I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (Phil 3:14).

Notice the cooperative partnership in our opening verse of scripture — God calls us upward, and we press toward the goal. Both are necessary. If God calls, but no one answers – nothing happens. If man presses, but God's not with him – nothing happens. Nothing good, anyway.

Have you ever taken a volley ball into a swimming pool, pushed it down into the water, and then tried to balance yourself by standing on it? Did you notice that the deeper you pushed the ball into the water, the greater the force it exerted to rise back up to the top?

The air inside the ball belongs with the air above the water, and it will press upward to return back to where it belongs. That's the way it is with us as followers of Jesus. There is something inside us that urges us to the summit; it's the upward call.

Some merely drift along, hoping for a break here or there. But in Life, as in nature, nothing ever drifts upstream. The only exception to this happened in Texas during a freak flash flood.

The waters rose so quickly that people only had time to scurry to their rooftops. One man, a reporter, sat on the house watching the floodwaters sweep past. There were cows, and cats, and all kinds of things zipping by the house. Suddenly something caught his eye. A $500 Stetson hat came floating down stream, just out of his reach. However, before it passed by, the hat stopped, turned around and floated back up stream. It then came back, stopped and turned back upstream again.

Amazed, the reporter said, "This is a miracle: it will be the lead story in my paper tomorrow!”

A woman sitting on the roof next door heard him and replied, "That's no miracle. It's my husband Cecil. He said he was going to mow that lawn come hell or high water!”
Like I said, nothing ever drifts upstream. Left to ourselves we will not rise, but retreat. However, God does not leave us to ourselves; He calls us upward. Something deep inside us is hooked to heaven; there's a pull on our hearts which lifts us towards the higher way.

As the old hymn says, "I'm pressing on the upward way; new heights I'm gaining everyday. Still, praying as I onward bound, 'Lord, plant my feet on higher ground!’”
When you hear God calling, press upward. One day heaven will be your home.

The Best Friend in the World

2010-03-04T05:10:00.002-05:00

"I will talk to the Father, and he'll provide you another Friend so that you will always have someone with you." (John 14:16, The Message)

One of history's unsung heroes is a man named Ludwig Nommensen, a German Lutheran missionary sent to Sumatra in 1862. He focused his attention on the Batak people of the Indonesian interior.

While he met with typical difficulties for the first few years, his unflagging zeal ultimately turned the tide. By the time of his death in 1918 at the age of eighty-four, the church he had started numbered over 180,000 members, with 34 Batak pastors and 788 teacher-preachers assisting in the work. Its prevailing influence lasts to this day.

A turning point came early in Ludwig's labors when a prominent chief of the Batak asked him a question.

"We, too, have laws that say we must not steal, nor take our neighbor's wife, nor bear false witness," the chief said. "So how does what you teach differ from what we already know?”

"My Master doesn't merely tell us what to do," he answered, "He also gives the power to do it."

The startled chief replied, "Can you teach my people that?"

"God will do it if they ask for it and listen to His word," Ludwig answered.

So for six months Nommensen taught the Batak about the power of God, and friendship with the Holy Spirit. At the end of that time the chief said, "Stay, your law is better than ours. Ours tells us what we ought to do. Your God says, 'Come, I will walk with you and give you strength to do the good thing.'"

And the rest, as they say, is history.

God will also walk with you, and give you the strength to do the good thing. Jesus promised us that we would not be left as orphans, but that we would have a constant friend who would walk with us, talk to us, teach us, guide us, empower us and help us every day in every way. That Friend is the Holy Spirit.

The simple definition of a friend is "one attached to another by affection or esteem." We rightly imagine that our friendship with the Holy Spirit is based upon our affection and esteem for Him, but friendship is never one-sided. Perhaps you have never considered that the Holy Spirit is also attached to you by the strong affection and high esteem which He has for you!

Has it ever occurred to you just how much the Holy Spirit actually enjoys being with you? Why not spend the rest of today thinking about that , as you walk with and talk with the best Friend in the world?

PRAYER Governs our Conduct and Conduct makes Our Character

2009-07-05T09:35:00.001-05:00

Tip! God's people do not have authorization to demand the Savior's promise of, "...Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do," in order to gain something very special for themselves.

PRAYER governs our conduct and conduct makes our character. Conduct, is what we do; character, is what we are. Conduct is our outward life. Character is our life that other people do not see, it is hidden within us, but yet it is evidenced by what is seen. Conduct is external, seen from without; character is internal -- operating within us.

From God's perspective, conduct is the substance of what makes our character. Character is the state of our heart; conduct is its outward expression. Character is the root of the tree, conduct, is the fruit that it bears.

Prayer is related to all the gifts of grace. To character and conduct its relation is that of a helper. Prayer helps to establish our character and fashion our conduct, therefore, in order to have continuing success with these two, depends on our prayer life.

There may be a certain degree of moral character and conduct independent of prayer, but there cannot be anything like distinctive religious character and Christian conduct without it. Prayer helps, where all other aids fail. The more we pray the purer and better our lives will become.

The very end and purpose of the atoning work of Christ in us is to create spiritual character in us so we will show the world our Christian conduct.

"Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works."

In Christ's teaching, it is not simply works of charity and deeds of mercy that He requires from us, but it is our inward spiritual character as well. This much is demanded of us as children of the Most High God our Father, and nothing short of it, will be sufficient.

If you look into Paul's Epistles, there is one thing that stands out more clearly and unmistakably than anything else -- the persistence on holiness of heart, and righteousness of life. Paul is not trying, so much, to promote what he calls "personal work," nor is the leading theme of his letters deeds of charity. It is the condition of the human heart and the blamelessness of our personal life that forms the burden of the writings of Apostle Paul.

Tip! So it is the same elsewhere in the Holy Bible (James 1:5) we have 'asking' put into view as a prayer: "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men liberally, and upbraiding [scolding somebody] not, and it shall be given him."

You can see everywhere in the Scriptures, too, it is character and conduct that are made most important. The Christian faith deals with people who are lacking in spiritual character, and who are unholy in life, and aims so to change them, that they will become holy in heart and righteous in life. It desires to change bad people into good people; it deals with inward badness, and works to change it into inward goodness. And it is just here where prayer enters and demonstrates its wonderful value and fruit.

Prayer drives toward this specific end. In fact, without prayer, no such supernatural change in our moral character can ever happen. Because the change from badness to goodness is not brought on, "by works of righteousness which we have done," but only according to God's mercy that saves us "by the free gift of Salvation through Jesus Christ." And this marvelous change is brought to pass through earnest, persistent, faithful prayer. Any alleged form of Christianity that does not effect this change in the hearts of people, is a fantasy and a trap.

Trust Sees God doing Things Here and Now when We Pray! Part I

2009-06-14T08:30:00.002-05:00

Tip! If we, God's people expect to carry out the works of Christ that will glorify our Father, then we must believe in Him for the very work's sake, and pray fervently in His Name.

PRAYER does not stand alone. It is not an isolated duty or an independent principle. It lives in association with other Christian duties, prayer is married to other principles, and it is a partner with other graces. But to faith, prayer is unbreakably connected. Faith gives prayer its color and tone, shapes its character, and secures its results.

Trust is when our faith becomes unreserved, ratified and completed in our heart. There is, when all is said and done, a sort of serious and sincere effort in faith and its exercise. But trust is a firm belief; it is faith that grows into full flower. Trust is a conscious act, a fact of which we are aware of. According to the Holy Scriptures this idea of trust is the eye of the new-born soul, and the ear of the renewed soul. It is the feeling of the soul, the spiritual eye, the ear, the taste, the feeling -- all of these things have to do with trust.

How brilliant, how distinct, how conscious, how powerful, and more than all, how Scriptural is such a trust! How different from many forms of modern belief, so feeble, dry, and cold! These new phases of belief bring no consciousness of their presence, no "Joy unspeakable and full of glory" results from their exercise. They are, for the most part, adventures in the peradventures of the soul. There is no safe, sure trust in anything. The whole transaction takes place in the realm of "maybe and perhaps".

Trust like life, is a feeling, though much more than a feeling. An unfelt life is a contradiction; an unfelt trust is a misnomer, a delusion, a contradiction. Trust is the most felt of all attributes. It is all feeling, and it works only by love. An unfelt love is as impossible as an unfelt trust. The trust of which we are now speaking is a conviction: An unfelt conviction? How absurd!

Tip! Seeking God's will for our life - This type of prayer requires us to really open up our spirit and seek to hear what God is saying to us. We need to come humbly before him, asking him to use us as a tool for his work - and praying for guidance and wisdom as we seek to follow where his is leading us.

Trust sees God doing things here and now. Yes, and more. It rises to a high distinction, and looking into the invisible and the eternal, realizes that God has done things, and regards them as being already done. Trust brings eternity into the records and happenings of time, changes the substance of hope into the reality of completion, and transforms a promise into our present ownership. We know when we trust just as we know when we see, just as we are conscious of our sense of touch. Trust sees, receives, and holds. Trust is its own witness.

Yet, quite often, our faith is too weak to obtain God's greatest good, immediately; so it has to wait in loving, strong, prayerful, pressing obedience, until it grows in strength, and is able to bring down the eternal, into the realms of experience and time.

To this point, trust masses all its forces. Here it holds. And in the struggle, trust's grasp becomes mightier, and grasps, for itself, all that God has done for it in His eternal wisdom and abundance of grace.

In the matter of waiting in prayer, mightiest prayer, faith rises to its highest plane and becomes indeed the gift of God. It becomes the blessed nature and expression of our soul that is secured by a constant communication with, and continuing devotion to God.

Trust Sees God doing Things Here and Now when We Pray! Part II

2009-06-14T08:27:00.001-05:00

Tip! 'Intercession' is amplification in prayer; it is going out in broadness and fullness from ones self for others. Primarily, it does not center in praying for others, but refers to the freeness, boldness and childlike confidence in praying.

Jesus Christ clearly taught that faith was the condition on which prayer was answered. When our Lord had cursed the fig-tree, the disciples were very surprised that its withering had actually taken place, and their remarks indicated their inexperience. It was then that Jesus said to them, "Have faith in God."

"For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed and be thou cast into the sea, and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he said shall come to pass, he shall have whatsoever he said. Therefore, I say unto you, what things so ever you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you shall have them."

Trust grows nowhere so readily and richly as in the prayer-room of your heart. It's unfolding and developments are rapid and wholesome when you are regularly and well kept. When these engagements are hearty and full and free, trust flourishes exceedingly. The eye and presence of God gives vigorous life to trust, just as the eye and the presence of the sun make fruit and flowers grow, and all things glad and bright with fuller life.

"Have faith in God," "Trust in the Lord" form the keynote and foundation of prayer. Primarily, it is not trust in the Word of God, but rather trust in the Person of God. For trust in the Person of God must precede trust in the Word of God. "Ye believe in God, believe also in Me," is the demand our Lord makes on the personal trust of His disciples. The person of Jesus Christ must be central, to the eye of trust. This great truth Jesus sought to impress on Martha, when her brother lay dead, in the home at Bethany. Martha asserted her belief in the fact of the resurrection of her brother:

"Martha said unto Him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day."

Tip! God's people do not have authorization to demand the Savior's promise of, "...Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do," in order to gain something very special for themselves.

Jesus lifts her trust clear above the mere fact of the resurrection, to His own Person, by saying:

"I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever lives and believeth in Me, shall never die. Believe thou this? She said unto Him, Yea, Lord: I believe that Thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world."

Trust, in an historical fact or in a mere record may be a very passive thing, but trust in a person vitalizes the quality, endorses it, and enlightens it with love. This trust that informs prayer then centers in on a Person (Jesus Christ).

Tip! 'Supplication' is the very soul of prayer in the way of pleading for some one thing, very much needed, and the need intensely felt.

Trust goes even further than this. The trust which inspires our prayer must be not only trust in the Person of God, and of Christ, but in their ability and willingness to grant the things we are prayed for. It is not only, "Trust, ye, in the Lord," but, also, "for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength."

The trust that our Lord taught as a condition of prevailing prayer is not from our head but from our heart. It is this trust that "doubts not in his heart." Such trust has the Divine assurance that it will be honored with large and satisfying answers. The strong promise of our Lord brings faith down to the present, and counts on a present answer.

Trust Sees God doing Things Here and Now when We Pray! Part III

2009-06-14T08:22:00.001-05:00

Tip! 'Supplication' is the very soul of prayer in the way of pleading for some one thing, very much needed, and the need intensely felt.

Do we believe, without a doubt? When we pray, do we believe, not that we will receive the things that we ask for on a future day, but that we will receive them, now? This is the teaching of the inspired Scripture. How we need to pray, "Lord, increase our faith," until doubt be gone, and total trust claims the promised blessings, as it's very own.

This is no easy condition. It is reached only after many failures, after much praying, after many long hours or even days of waiting, and after much trial of our faith. Could our faith so increase until we realize and receive all the fullness there is in that Name that guarantees to do so much!

Our Lord puts trust as the very foundation of praying. The background of prayer is trust. The whole issuance of Christ's ministry and work was dependent on implicit trust in His Father. The centre of trust is God. Mountains of difficulties and all other hindrances to prayer are moved out of the way by trust and his virile henchman, faith. When trust is perfect and without doubt, prayer is simply the outstretched hand, ready to receive.

Trust perfected, is prayer perfected. Trust looks to receive the thing asked for -- and gets it. Trust is not a belief that God can bless, that He will bless, but that He does bless, here and now. Trust always operates in the present tense. Hope looks toward the future. Trust looks to the present. Hope expects. Trust possesses. Trust receives what prayer acquires. So that what prayer needs, at all times, is abiding and abundant trust.

The regrettable lack of trust and following failure of the disciples to do what they were sent out to do is seen in the case of the possessed son, who was brought by his father to nine of them while their Master was on the Mount of Transfiguration. A boy, sadly afflicted, was brought to these men to be cured of his dilemma. They had been commissioned to do this very kind of work. This was a part of their mission. They attempted to cast out the devil from the boy, but had signal handedly failed. The devil was too much for them. They were embarrassed at their failure, and filled with shame, while their enemies were in triumph. Amid the confusion Jesus arrives on the scene. He is informed of the circumstances, and told of the conditions connected to the problem. Here is the succeeding account:

Tip! What really determines' the effectiveness of our labor for Christ is the measure of our faith and the fervency of our prayers. If our faith is poor and our praying is indifferent; how can we expect to achieve much for Him?

"Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you? Bring him hither to me. And Jesus rebuked the devil, and he departed out of him and the child was cured from that very hour. And when He was come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, "Why could not we cast him out?" And He said unto them, "This kind can come forth by nothing but by prayer and fasting."

Can you see why these men were having trouble? They had been lax in growing their faith by prayer and, as a consequence, their trust utterly failed them. They trusted not God, nor Christ, nor the ability of His mission, or their own for that matter. So has it been many times since then, in many a crisis in our own lives. Failure has resulted from a lack of trust, or from a weakness of faith, and this, in turn, from a lack of prayerfulness.

Tip! So when we ask Christ to carry out His works in our hearts we are fervently praying that our Father may be glorified in His Son.

Many a failure in revival efforts has been traceable to this same cause. Faith had not been nurtured and made powerful by prayer. Our neglect of the inner chamber or secret prayer time with our Father, this is the cause of most spiritual failure. And this is as true with our personal struggles with the devil as was the case when we went out to attempt to cast out devils in our own lives. The only way to change this is we must be on our knees in private communion with God. This is the only guarantee that we will have Him with us either in our personal struggles, or in our efforts to convert sinners.

Everywhere in God's Word we see that when people approached Him, our Lord put trust in Him, and the divinity of His mission, in the forefront. He gave no definition of trust, and He furnishes no theological discussion of or analysis of it; for He knew that people would see what faith was by what faith did; and from its free exercise trust grew up, spontaneously, in His presence. It was the product of His work, His power and His Person. These furnished and created an atmosphere most favorable for its exercise and development.

Trust Sees God doing Things Here and Now when We Pray! Part IV

2009-06-14T08:11:00.002-05:00

Trust is altogether too splendidly simple for verbal definition; too hearty and spontaneous for theological terminology. The very simplicity of trust is that which staggers many people. They look away for some great thing to come to pass, while all the time "the word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart."

When the saddening news of his daughter's death was brought to Jairus our Lord interposed: "Be not afraid," He said calmly, "only believe." To the woman with the issue of blood, who stood tremblingly before Him, He said:

"Daughter, thy faith hath made you whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague."

As the two blind men followed Him, pressing their way into the house, He said:

"According to your faith be it unto you. And their eyes were opened."

When the paralytic was let down through the roof of the house, where Jesus was teaching, and placed before Him by four of his friends, it is recorded after this fashion:

"And Jesus seeing their faith, said unto the sick of the palsy: Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee."

When Jesus dismissed the centurion whose servant was seriously ill, and who had come to Jesus with the prayer that He speak the healing word, without even going to his house, He did it in the manner following:

Tip! So when we ask Christ to carry out His works in our hearts we are fervently praying that our Father may be glorified in His Son.

"And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour."

When the poor leper fell at the feet of Jesus and cried out for relief, "Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean," Jesus immediately granted his request, and the man glorified Him with a loud voice. Then Jesus said unto him, "Arise, go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole."

The Syrophenician woman came to Jesus with the case of her afflicted daughter, making the case her own, with the prayer, "Lord, help me," making a fearful and heroic struggle. Jesus honors' her faith and prayer, saying:

"O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour."

After the disciples had utterly failed to cast the devil out of the epileptic boy, the father of the stricken lad came to Jesus with the plaintive and almost despairing cry, "If Thou canst do anything, have compassion on us and help us." But Jesus replied, "If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth."

Tip! If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and want to know for sure that you are a child of God, then I would like to invite you to earnestly pray and ask Jesus to come into your heart.

Blind Bartimaeus sitting by the wayside, hears our Lord as He passes by, and cries out pitifully and almost despairingly, "Jesus, Thou son of David, have mercy on me." The keen ears of our Lord immediately catch the sound of prayer, and He says to the beggar:

"Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way."

To the weeping, penitent woman, washing His feet with her tears and wiping them with the hair of her head, Jesus speaks cheering, soul-comforting words: "Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace."

One day Jesus healed ten lepers at one time, in answer to their united prayer, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us," and He told them to go and show themselves to the priests. "And it came to pass as they went, they were cleansed."

Who do You Pray To?

2009-05-25T06:13:00.002-05:00

Tip! 'Intercession/ is amplification in prayer; it is going out in broadness and fullness from ones self for others. Primarily, it does not center in praying for others, but refers to the freeness, boldness and childlike confidence in praying.

OUR Lord Jesus declared that "men ought always to pray and not to faint," and the parable in which His words occur, was taught with the intention of saving men from faint-heartedness and weakness in prayer. Our Lord was seeking to teach that laxity must be guarded against, and persistence fostered and encouraged. There can be no two opinions regarding the importance of the exercise of this indispensable quality in our praying.

Persistent prayer is a mighty movement of our soul toward God. It is a stirring of the deepest forces of our soul, toward the throne of heavenly grace. It is the ability to hold on, press on, and wait. Restless desire, restful patience, and strength to grasp are all contained in it. It is not an incident, or a performance, but deep passion of our soul. It is not a want, half-needed, but a sheer necessity.

The wrestling quality in persistent prayers does not spring from physical strength or fleshly energy. It is not an impulse of energy, not a mere earnestness of our soul; it is an inward force, a sense implanted and aroused by the Holy Spirit. Virtually, it is the intercession of the Spirit of God, in us; it is, moreover, "the effectual, fervent prayer, which avails' much."

The Divine Spirit informing every element within us, with the energy of His own striving, is the spirit of the persistence which urges our praying at the mercy-seat, to continue until the fire falls and the blessing descends.

Tip! So when we ask Christ to carry out His works in our hearts we are fervently praying that our Father may be glorified in His Son.

This wrestling in prayer may not be boisterous nor violent, but quiet, persistent and urgent. Silent, it may be, when there are no visible outlets for its mighty forces.

Nothing distinguishes the children of God so clearly and strongly as prayer. It is the one infallible mark and test of being a Christian. Christian people are prayerful but the worldly-minded is prayer-less. Christians call on God; the world ignores God, and do not call on His Name. But even we who are Christian have a great need to cultivate continual prayer.

Tip! So it is the same elsewhere in the Holy Bible (James 1:5) we have "asking" put into view as a prayer: "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men liberally, and upbraiding [scolding somebody] not, and it shall be given him."

Prayer must be habitual, but much more than a habit. It is duty, yet one that rises far above, and goes beyond the ordinary implications of the term. It is the expression of a relation to God, a yearning for Divine communion. It is the outward and upward flow of the inward life toward its original fountain. It is an affirmation of our soul's parenthood, our claim of son-ship that links us to the Eternal God our Father.

Prayer has everything to do with molding the soul into the image of God, and has everything to do with enhancing and enlarging the measure of Divine grace. It has everything to do with bringing the soul into complete communion with God. It has everything to do with enriching, broadening and maturing our soul's experience in God.

Therefore a person cannot possibly be called a Christian who does not pray. By no possible pretext can we claim any right to the term, nor its implied significance. If we do not pray, we are sinners, pure and simple, for prayer is the only way in which our soul can enter into fellowship and communion with the Source of all Christ-like spirit and energy. Hence, if we pray not, we are not of the household of faith.

Think on this for awhile - Are you a child of God? Do you pray to God our Father through Jesus Christ? Who do you pray to?

2009-05-24T07:13:00.001-05:00

Fervency in Prayer is the Forerunner of Answered Prayer

Tip! It opens the door for salvations. (Act 2:42) "And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers".

The motivation to fervency in our spirit before God is precisely the same as it is to be in continued and earnest prayer. While fervency is not prayer, yet it derives from an earnest soul, and is precious in the sight of God.

Fervency in prayer is the forerunner of what God will do for us by way of answered prayer. God stands pledged to give us the desire of our hearts in proportion to the fervency of spirit we exhibit, when we seek His face in prayer.

Fervency has its seat in the heart, not in the brain, nor in the intellectual faculties of our mind. Fervency therefore, is not an expression of our intellect.

Fervency of spirit is something that is far beyond any poetical fancy or sentimental imagery. It is something else besides a mere preference or the differences of like with dislike. Fervency is the throb and gesture of our emotional nature.

It is not in our power, perhaps, to create fervency of spirit at will, but we can pray and ask God to implant it. It is ours, then, to nourish and cherish it, to guard it against extinction, to prevent its end or decline.

Tip! Our Lord warns us against feeble praying. "Men ought always to pray," He declares, "and not to faint." That means that we are to possess sufficient fervency to carry us through the severe and long periods of pleading prayer.

The process of personal salvation is not only to pray, to express our desires to God, but to acquire a fervent spirit and seek, by all proper means and to cultivate it. It is never out of place to pray and ask God to produce within us, and to keep alive the spirit of fervent prayer.

Fervency has to do with God, just as prayer has to do with Him. Desire has always an objective. If we desire at all, we desire something. The degree of fervency with which we fashion our spiritual desires, will always serve to determine the earnestness of our praying. In this same idea, Adoniram Judson says:

"A travailing spirit, the throes of a great burdened desire, belongs to prayer. A fervency strong enough to drive away sleep, which devotes and inflames the spirit, and which retires all earthly ties, all this belongs to wrestling, prevailing prayer. The Spirit, the power, the air, and food of prayer is in such a spirit."

Prayer must be clothed with fervency, strength and power. It is the force that is centered on God and determines the outlay of Himself for our earthly good. People who are fervent in spirit are bent on achieving righteousness, truth, grace, and all the other uplifting and powerful graces which beautify the character of a genuine, unquestionable child of God.

God once declared, by the mouth of a brave prophet, to a king who, at one time, had been true to God, but, by the incoming of success and material prosperity, had lost his faith, the following message:

"The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him. Herein hast thou done foolishly; therefore, from henceforth thou shall have wars."

Tip! So when we ask Christ to carry out His works in our hearts we are fervently praying that our Father may be glorified in His Son.

God had heard Asa's prayer in early life, but disaster came and trouble was sent, because he had given up the life of prayer and simple faith.

In Romans 15:30, we have the word, "strive," occurring, in the request which Paul made for prayerful cooperation.

In Colossians 4:12, we have the same word, but translated differently:

"Epaphras always laboring fervently for you in prayer." Paul charged the Romans to "strive together with him in prayer," that is, to help him in his struggle of prayer. The word means to enter into a contest, to fight against adversaries. It means, also, to engage with fervent zeal to endeavor to obtain.

Tip! THE possibilities of prayer are gauged by faith in God's ability to do. Faith is the one prime condition by which God works.

These recorded instances of the exercise and reward of faith, allow us to easily see that, in almost every instance, faith was blended with trust until it is not too much to say that the former was swallowed up in the latter. It is hard to properly distinguish the specific activities of these two qualities, faith and trust. But there is a point, beyond all peradventure, at which faith is relieved of its burden, so to speak; where trust comes along and says: "You have done your part, the rest is mine!"

Fervency Before God Counts in the Hour of Prayer

2009-05-23T06:16:00.001-05:00

Our Lord warns us against feeble praying. "Men ought always to pray," He declares, "and not to faint." That means that we are to possess sufficient fervency to carry us through the severe and long periods of pleading prayer. Fire makes us alert and vigilant, and brings us to the place of being more than conquerors.

The atmosphere about us is too heavily charged with resisting forces for limp or lazy prayers to make headway. It takes heat, and fervency and dramatic fire, to push through, to the upper heavens, where God dwells with His saints, in light.

Many of the great Bible characters were notable examples of fervency of spirit when seeking God. The Psalmist declares with great earnestness:

"My soul breaks for the longing that it hath unto Thy judgments at all

times."

What a strong desires of heart is here! What an earnest soul that longs for the Word of the living God!

An even greater fervency is expressed by David in another place:

"As the hart pants after the water brooks, so pants my soul after Thee, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?"

That is the word of a man who lived in a state of grace, which had been deeply and supernaturally created in his soul.

Tip! In (Phil. 4:6) we have these words about prayer: "Be careful for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God."

Fervency before God counts in the hour of prayer, and finds a speedy and rich reward at His hands. The Psalmist gives us this statement of what God had done for the king, as his heart turned toward his Lord:

"Thou hast given him his heart's desire, and hast not withheld the request of his lips."

At another time, he expresses himself directly to God in preferring his request:

"Lord, all my desire is before Thee; and my groaning is not hid from Thee."

What a cheerful thought! Our inward groanings, our secret desires, our heart-longings, are not hidden from the eyes of God our Father with whom we have to deal in prayer.

Prayer that has no Fervor has no Heart

2009-04-18T06:23:00.004-05:00

Tip! Let us always be aware of the fact that the power that is achieved to do the greater works that are required for Christ, is only gained through fervent prayer and faith in Jesus Christ.

PRAYER, without fervor, risks nothing on the issue, because it has nothing to endeavor. It comes with empty hands. These hands are lazy, as well as empty, which have never learned the lesson of clinging to the Cross.

Prayer that has no fervor has no heart in it; it is an empty thing, an unfit vessel. Our heart, soul, and life, must have a place in all real praying. Heaven must be made to feel the force of our crying out to God.

Paul was a notable example of the man who possessed a fervent spirit of prayer. His petitioning was all-consuming, centered immovably upon the object of his desire, and the God who was able to meet it.

Prayers must be red hot. It is the fervent prayer that is effectual and that avails. Coldness of spirit hinders praying; prayer cannot live in a wintry atmosphere. Chilly surroundings freeze out petitioning; and dry up the springs of supplication.

It takes fire to make prayers go. Warmth of our soul creates an atmosphere favorable to prayer, because it is favorable to fervency. By flame, prayer ascends to heaven. Yet fire is not fuss, nor heat, noise. Heat is intensity -- something that glows and burns. Heaven is a very poor market for ice.

God wants warm-hearted servants. The Holy Spirit comes as a fire, to dwell in us; we are to be baptized, with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Fervency is warmth of soul. A indifferent temperament is objectionable to vital experience. If our religion does not set us on fire, it is because we have frozen hearts. God dwells in a flame; the Holy Spirit descends in fire. To be absorbed in God's will, to be so greatly in earnest about doing it that our whole being takes fire is the qualifying condition of the person who would engage in effectual prayer.

Passionate Desire is the Basis of Unceasing Prayer

2009-04-05T07:59:00.002-05:00

Tip! If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and want to know for sure that you are a child of God, then I would like to invite you to earnestly pray and ask Jesus to come into your heart.

Passionate desire is the basis of unceasing prayer. It is not a shallow, fickle inclination; no, but a strong yearning, an unquenchable love, which impregnates, glows, burns and fixes to our hearts. It is the flame of a present and active principle mounting up to God. It is enthusiasm propelled by desire that burns its way to the Throne of mercy, and obtains its plea.

This passionate desire is the belief that desire gives us triumph in the conflict, in a great struggle of prayer. It is the burden of a heavy desire that sobers, makes restless, and reduces to quietness in our soul as we just emerge from its mighty wrestling. It is the embracing character of desire which arms our prayer with a thousand pleas, and robes it with an invincible courage and an all-conquering power.

The Syrophenician woman is an object lesson in desire, settled to its consistency, but secure in its intensity and persistent boldness. The determined widow represents desire gaining its end, through obstacles impossible to feebler desires.

Prayer is not the rehearsal of a mere performance; nor is it an indefinite, widespread howl. Desire, while it kindles our soul, holds it to the object sought. Prayer is an indispensable phase of spiritual habit, but it stops to be prayer when carried on by habit alone. It is depth and intensity of spiritual desire which give intensity and depth to prayer.

Our soul cannot be listless when some great desire fires and inflames it. The urgency of our desire holds us to the thing desired with a tenacity which refuses to be lessened or loosened; it stays and pleads and persists, and refuses to let go until the blessing has been given.

"Lord, I cannot let You go, Till a blessing You bestow; Do not turn away Your face; Mine's an urgent, pressing case."

True Prayer, Must be on Fire

2009-03-16T04:17:00.002-05:00

Tip! Nothing short of being white hot for God, can keep the glow of heaven in our hearts, these chilly days.

The dampening of the flame of holy desire is destructive of the vital and aggressive forces in church life. God requires to be represented by a fiery Church, or He is not in any proper sense, represented at all. God, Himself, is all on fire, and His Church, if it is to be like Him, must also be at the level of "white hot" heat.

The great and eternal interests of heaven-born, God-given religion are the only things about which His Church that can afford to be on fire. Yet holy zeal needs not to be picky in order to be a consuming fire. Our Lord was in person the exact opposite of nervous excitability, the absolute opposite of intolerant or clamorous declamation, yet the zeal of God's house consumed Him; and the world is still feeling the glow of His fierce, consuming flame and responding to it, with an ever-increasing readiness and an ever-enlarging response.

A lack of passion in prayer is the sure sign of a lack of depth and of intensity of desire; and the absence of intense desire is a sure sign of God's absence from the heart! To grow less in eagerness is to retire from God. He can, and does, tolerate many things in the way of shortcomings and error in His children. He can, and will pardon sin when we pray for forgiveness, but two things that are intolerable to Him -- insincerity and being lukewarm. Lack of heart and lack of heat are two things He hates, and to the Laodiceans He said, in terms of unmistakable severity and condemnation:

"I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of My mouth."

Tip! A person's character is always demonstrated in their behavior. The Savior again said,"A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good ..." -- Luke 6:45

This was God's expressed judgment on the lack of fire in one of the Seven Churches. It is also His indictment against us His children for the fatal want of sacred enthusiasm. In prayer, fire is the driving power. Religious principles that do not emerge in this flame have neither force nor effect. This flame is the wing on which our faith grows; fervency is the soul of our prayer.

It was the "fervent, effectual prayer" that availed much. Love is kindled in a flame, and fervency is its life. This Flame is the air that we as true Christian can experience breathing. It feeds on fire; it can withstand anything. It is not a feeble flame that dies, chilled and starved to its core, every time the surrounding atmosphere becomes frigid or lukewarm.

True prayer, must be aflame. Our Christian life and character need to be all on fire. Lack of spiritual heat creates more disloyalty than the lack of faith. Not to be intensely consumed in the things of heaven is not to be interested in them at all. The fiery souls are those who conquer in the day of battle, from whom the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and who take it by force. The citadel of God is taken only by those, who storm it in dreadful earnestness, who besiege it, with fiery, unabated zeal.

Desire is Our will in Prayer

2009-03-15T08:09:00.002-05:00

Tip! In order to accomplish His high purpose, Jesus showed us His purpose in answering our prayers when He said, "...That the Father may be glorified in the Son."

In prayer, we are fastened to the Name, merit and intercessory asset of Jesus Christ, our great High Priest. If we search down, below the accompanying conditions and forces in prayer, we will come to its key basis, which is contained in the human heart. It is not simply our need; it is our heart's yearning for what we need, and for what we feel impelled to pray for.

Desire is our will in action; a strong, conscious longing, excited in our inner nature, for some great good. Desire exalts the object we are longing for, and fixes our mind on it. It has choice, is immovable, has a fire in it; based on this or prayer is explicit and specific. It knows its need, feels and sees the thing that will meet it, and we hurry to obtain it.

Holy desire is helped by spiritual thought. Meditation on our spiritual need, and on God's readiness and ability to correct it, helps our desire to grow. Serious thought engaged in before praying, increases desire, makes it more insistent, and tends to save us from the menace of private prayer -- wandering thought. We fail much more in desire, than our outward expressions show. We retain the form and act spiritual, while our inner life fades and almost dies.

We should ask ourselves, whether the feebleness of our desires for God, the Holy Spirit, and for all the fullness of Christ, is the cause of our so little praying, and of our laziness in the exercise of prayer? Do we really feel the inward pulling of desire after heavenly treasures? Do the deep-seated groanings of desire stir our souls to mighty struggles?

Sadly for us! The fire burns altogether too low. The flaming heat of our soul has been toned down to a halfhearted lukewarm tickle. This, remember, was the central cause of the sad and desperate condition of the Laodicean Christians. The awful condemnation is written that they were "rich, and increased in goods and had need of nothing," and knew not that they "were wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind."

Again: I must ask - do we have that desire which presses us into close communion with God, which is filled with unutterable burnings, and holds us there through the agony of an intense and soul-stirred prayer? Our hearts need to be worked over so much, not only to get the evil out of them, but to get the good into them. And the foundation and inspiration to the incoming good, is strong, propelling desire.

This holy and eager flame in the soul awakens the interest of heaven, attracts the attention of God, and places at the disposal of those who exercise it, the exhaustless riches of Divine grace.

Exceptional

2009-03-14T14:11:00.003-05:00

Amazing Grace

In the Beginning GOD Created the Heaven and the Earth

2009-01-15T10:14:00.001-05:00

Holy Inward Desires Break Out into Earnest Prayer

2009-01-07T05:25:00.002-05:00

Tip! A person's character is always demonstrated in their behavior. The Savior again said,"A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good ..." -- Luke 6:45

DESIRE is not merely a simple wish; it is a deep seated craving; an intense longing, for achievement. In the realm of spiritual affairs, it is an important addition to prayer. So important is it, that one might say, almost, that desire is an absolute essential of prayer.

Desire precedes prayer, accompanies it, and is followed by it. Desire goes before prayer, and by it, created and intensified. Prayer is the oral expression of desire. If prayer is asking God for something, then prayer must be expressed. Prayer comes out into the open. Desire is silent. Prayer is heard; desire, unheard. The deeper the desire, the stronger is the prayer.

Without desire, prayer is a meaningless mumble of words. Such perfunctory, formal praying, with no heart, no feeling, no real desire accompanying it, is to be avoided like a plague. Its exercise is a waste of precious time, and from it, no real blessing accrues.

And yet even if you discover that desire is honestly absent from your prayers, you should pray, anyway. We ought to pray. The "ought to" comes in, in order that both desire and expression can be cultivated. God's Word commands it. Our judgment tells us we ought to pray -- to pray whether we feel like it or not -- and not to allow our feelings to determine our habits of prayer.

Tip! 'Asking of God' and 'receiving' from the Lord - direct request to God, immediate connection with God - that is true prayer.

In such circumstance, we ought to pray for the desire to pray; for such a desire is God-given and heaven-born. We should pray for desire; then, when desire has been given, we should pray according to what it dictates. Lack of spiritual desire should grieve us, and lead us to be sad by its absence, to seek earnestly for its delivery, so that our praying, in the future, will be an expression of "the soul's sincere desire."

A sense of need creates or should create earnest desire. The stronger the sense of need, before God, the greater should be the desire, the more earnest the praying. The "poor in spirit" are extremely capable to pray.

Hunger is an active sense of physical need. It triggers the request for bread. In like manner, the inward consciousness of spiritual need creates desire, and desire breaks out in prayer.

Desire is an inward longing for something that we are not in possession of, and we stand in need of -- it is something that God has promised, and which may be secured only by an earnest supplication to His throne of grace.

Tip! Talking to God - This is the one on one type prayer - where we converse with God to develop our relationship with him. We may ask him to help us in areas that we need spiritual, physical or emotional support.

Spiritual desire, carried to a higher degree, is the evidence of our new birth. It is born in our renewed soul:

Tip! One might well ask, whether the feebleness of our desires for God, the Holy Spirit, and for all the fullness of Christ, is not the cause of our so little praying, and of our languishing in the exercise of prayer?

"As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word that ye may grow thereby."

The absence of this holy desire in the heart is probable proof, either of a decline in spiritual joy, or, that the new birth has never taken place.

"Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled."

These heaven-given appetites are the proof of a renewed heart, the evidence of a stirring spiritual life. Physical appetites are the attributes of a living body, not of a corpse, and spiritual desires belong to a soul made alive to God. And as the renewed soul hungers and thirsts after righteousness, these holy inward desires break out into earnest, supplicating prayer.

A Study in Prayer and Trust - Part 1

2008-12-21T10:52:00.003-05:00

Tip! It opens the door for salvations. (Act 2:42) "And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers".

PRAYER does not stand alone. It is not an isolated duty or an independent principle. It lives in association with other Christian duties, prayer is married to other principles, and it is a partner with other graces. But to faith, prayer is indissolubly joined. Faith gives prayer its color and tone, shapes its character, and secures its results.

Trust is when our faith becomes unreserved, ratified and completed. There is, when all is said and done, a sort of endeavor in faith and its exercise. But trust is firm belief; it is faith in full flower. Trust is a conscious act, a fact of which we are sensible. According to the Scriptural concept trust is the eye of the new-born soul, and the ear of the renewed soul. It is the feeling of the soul, the spiritual eye, the ear, the taste, the feeling -- these one and all have to do with trust.

Tip! A person's character is always demonstrated in their behavior. The Savior again said,"A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good ..." -- Luke 6:45

Trust like life, is feeling, though much more than feeling. An unfelt life is a contradiction; an unfelt trust is a misnomer, a delusion, a contradiction. Trust is the most felt of all attributes. It is all feeling, and it works only by love. An unfelt love is as impossible as an unfelt trust. The trust of which we are now speaking is a conviction: An unfelt conviction? How absurd!

Tip! The Master will not expect more from anyone than a person is capable of doing for Him. Jesus wants us to understand that each person will be rewarded according to their faithfulness in doing their given task.

Trust sees God doing things here and now. Yes, and more. It rises to a lofty eminence, and looking into the invisible and the eternal, realizes that God has done things, and regards them as being already done. Trust brings eternity into the annals and happenings of time, transmutes the substance of hope into the reality of fruition, and changes promise into present possession. We know when we trust just as we know when we see, just as we are conscious of our sense of touch. Trust sees, receives, and holds. Trust is its own witness.

Yet, quite often, faith is too weak to obtain God's greatest good, immediately; so it has to wait in loving, strong, prayerful, pressing obedience, until it grows in strength, and is able to bring down the eternal, into the realms of experience and time.

A Study in Prayer and Trust - Part 2

2008-12-21T10:48:00.002-05:00

Tip! 'Asking of God' and 'receiving' from the Lord - direct request to God, immediate connection with God - that is true prayer.

In the matter of waiting in prayer, mightiest prayer, faith rises to its highest plane and becomes indeed the gift of God. It becomes the blessed disposition and expression of the soul which is secured by a constant communication with, and unwearied application to God.

Jesus Christ clearly taught that faith was the condition on which prayer was answered. When our Lord had cursed the fig-tree, the disciples were much surprised that its withering had actually taken place, and their remarks indicated their inexperience. It was then that Jesus said to them, "Have faith in God."

Trust grows nowhere so readily and richly as in the prayer-chamber. It's unfolding and developments are rapid and wholesome when they are regularly and well kept. When these engagements are hearty and full and free, trust flourishes exceedingly. The eye and presence of God give vigorous life to trust, just as the eye and the presence of the sun make fruit and flower to grow, and all things glad and bright with fuller life.

"Have faith in God," "Trust in the Lord" form the keynote and foundation of prayer. Primarily, it is not trust in the Word of God, but rather trust in the Person of God. For trust in the Person of God must precede trust in the Word of God. "Ye believe in God, believe also in Me," is the demand our Lord makes on the personal trust of His disciples. The person of Jesus Christ must be central, to the eye of trust. This great truth Jesus sought to impress upon Martha, when her brother lay dead, in the home at Bethany. Martha asserted her belief in the fact of the resurrection of her brother:

"Martha said unto Him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day."

Jesus lifts her trust clear above the mere fact of the resurrection, to His own Person, by saying:

Trust, in an historical fact or in a mere record may be a very passive thing, but trust in a person vitalizes the quality, fructifies it, and informs it with love. The trust which informs prayer centers in a Person.

Trust goes even further than this. The trust which inspires our prayer must be not only trust in the Person of God, and of Christ, but in their ability and willingness to grant the thing prayed for. It is not only, "Trust, ye, in the Lord," but, also, "for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength."

A Study in Prayer and Trust - Part 3

2008-12-21T10:44:00.001-05:00

Tip! 'Supplication' is the very soul of prayer in the way of pleading for some one thing, very much needed, and the need intensely felt.

The trust which our Lord taught as a condition of effectual prayer is not of the head but of the heart. It is trust which "doubts not in his heart." Such trust has the Divine assurance that it shall be honored with large and satisfying answers. The strong promise of our Lord brings faith down to the present, and counts on a present answer.

Do we believe, without a doubt? When we pray, do we believe, not that we shall receive the things for which we ask on a future day, but that we receive them, then and there? Such is the teaching of this inspiring Scripture. How we need to pray, "Lord, increase our faith," until doubt be gone, and implicit trust claims the promised blessings, as it's very own.

This is no easy condition. It is reached only after many a failure, after much praying, after many long waiting, and after much trial of faith. May our faith so increase until we realize and receive all the fullness there is in that Name which guarantees to do so much.

Their regrettable lack of trust and ensuing failure of the disciples to do what they were sent out to do is seen in the case of the possessed son, who was brought by his father to nine of them while their Master was on the Mount of Transfiguration. A boy, sadly afflicted, was brought to these men to be cured of his dilemma. They had been commissioned to do this very kind of work. This was a part of their mission. They attempted to cast out the devil from the boy, but had signally failed. The devil was too much for them. They were humiliated at their failure, and filled with shame, while their enemies were in triumph. Amid the confusion incident to failure Jesus draws near. He is informed of the circumstances, and told of the conditions connected therewith. Here is the succeeding account:

"Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you? Bring him hither to me. And Jesus rebuked the devil, and he departed out of him and the child was cured from that very hour. And when He was come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, 'Why could not we cast him out?' And He said unto them, 'This kind can come forth by nothing but by prayer and fasting.'"

Wherein lay the difficulty with these men? They had been lax in cultivating their faith by prayer and, as a consequence, their trust utterly failed. They trusted not God, nor Christ, nor the authenticity of His mission, or their own. So has it been many a time since, in many a crisis in the Church of God. Failure has resulted from a lack of trust, or from a weakness of faith, and this, in turn, from a lack of prayerfulness.

Many a failure in revival efforts has been traceable to the same cause. Faith had not been nurtured and made powerful by prayer. Neglect of the inner chamber is the solution of most spiritual failure. And this is as true of our personal struggles with the devil as was the case when we went forth to attempt to cast out devils. To be much on our knees in private communion with God is the only surety that we shall have Him with us either in our personal struggles, or in our efforts to convert sinners.

A Study in Prayer and Trust - Part 4

2008-12-21T10:41:00.002-05:00

Tip! An effective prayer life can have a huge impact on not only our own individual life, but on the lives of those around us. Through prayer we can have an impact on our local community, our country and the world.

Everywhere, in the approaches of the people to Him, our Lord put trust in Him, and the divinity of His mission, in the forefront. He gave no definition of trust, and He furnishes no theological discussion of or analysis of it; for He knew that men would see what faith was by what faith did; and from its free exercise trust grew up, spontaneously, in His presence. It was the product of His work, His power and His Person. These furnished and created an atmosphere most favorable for its exercise and development.