Tag: Pray

Challenged to be Bold

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How bold are the prayers we pray?  In  Christ, do we truly pray with the realization that the creator of the universe calls us sons and daughters?  I just finished watching a video clip  by Lisa Bevere. Speaking at the Love Life Women’s Conference, she said: “The world needs you to pray scary prayers instead of scared prayers!” Another quote was: “If you are not praying the kind of prayers that scare you; believe me, they are not scaring the enemy!” That is challenging just by itself.  Then I laid down my Bible and it opened to Isaiah 45 and my eyes were drawn to this passage…

 “Drip down, O heavens, from above, and let the clouds pour down righteousness; Let the earth open up and salvation bear fruit, and righteousness spring up with it.  I, the Lord, have created it.  “Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker—An earthenware vessel among the vessels of earth!” Isaiah 45: 8 & 9 NASB

 Now that is a powerful prayer!! 

 This passage is talking about a King named Cyrus who is appointed by God to set His people free from exile and return them home to Jerusalem and to rebuild the temple so they could worship God freely as free people once again. Verses 1-8 were a commission by God to Cyrus rather than a prayer. However, if you have been even somewhat keeping up on the political scene or even have just perused the social media scene for a few minutes; I am betting you have seen some of the craziness! If you ventured to watch one of the many debates, I know you’ve personally witnessed it yourself.  The debate last night was a very loose interpritation of the rules of debate at best. Three people competing to all talk at once, over and over again. There were times I just wished the moderator would speak up or the sound tech would cut the microphones to stop the chaos. Alas, this is the nature of political debates today.

    The people across all races and all belief systems in this country are worried about the course things have taken or will take over the next years. What will we be leaving behind for our children and grandchildren to clean up with the great debt this country owes? How can we bring back balanced spending and get rid of debt? Is our military strong enough to protect us? What about the economy? Borders? Will the Constitution and it’s amendments including the 1st and 2nd be upheld? The questions just keep coming and many Americans whether or not they will admit it range from concerned to flat out scared of the course that seems to be played out before us. People want answers. They want to choose the right leader.

     Maybe it is time; perhaps past time, for believers all across this country to lay down our concerns, fears and questions down at the feet of our Creator and begin to pray bold prayers.  Our God hears His kids when they cry out!  We can vote; we can speak out about injustices, freedoms, rights; we can educate people; we can be an informed and educated person; all these are important! But it is He Who: “removes and establishes kings and rulers.”  Not sure or unconvinced? Do your remember the ‘hanging chads’ and the declaration that Bush would not have a second term? Or the declaration that the little known candidate Obama would not get enough votes?? 

Daniel’s prayer – Daniel 2: 19- 23  “The mystery was then revealed to Daniel in a vision at night, and Daniel praised the God of heaven and declared:  May the name of God be praised forever and ever, for wisdom and power belong to Him.  He changes the times and seasons; He removes kings and establishes kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals the deep and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with Him.  I offer thanks and praise to You, God of my fathers, because You have given me wisdom and power.  And now You have let me know what we asked of You, for You have let us know the king’s mystery.”

 Maybe, just maybe it is time to we make sure our hearts and motives are right and find some great scriptures and pray some very bold scary prayers for our lives, for the lives of those we love, for our country, and even for those who are against us!  Our battle is not with flesh and blood…Ephesians 6:10-13 “Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and by His vast strength.  Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the tactics of the Devil.  For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens.  This is why you must take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand.”  

Brothers and Sisters;                                                                                                                                       May grace, peace and boldness be multiplied to you! 

 

 

 

 

 

A Burdened Heart

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      Can I just be honest with you today? My heart is weighed down and burdened as I begin this day.  More people are being martyred today than ever before in history. It is all over the headlines; all over social media. Men, women and children, yes children are being murdered consistently because of their faith.  Astoundingly, searching the internet for estimates, I found the estimates for those martyred per year  because of their faith ranging from 100,000 in older articles to 159,960 in more recent articles. Some stats say more have been martyred in the last century than in all other centuries combined. One sight estimates as many as one person every five minutes is martyred for their faith yet until recently we have heard very little about this in news outlets.

      Now that awareness is arising, we are looking for someone to blame for allowing it to happen. Questions are flying. How can governments allow this to happen? Where is the Church, why are they not doing something? Why are they not talking about it more? As awareness arises, all sorts of questions come to the forefront. Emotions run rampant. I can only imagine how our Heavenly Father’s heart must ache at their pain, suffering and loss. In fact, Psalm 94 speaks to this very thing:

O LORD, the God who avenges! O God who avenges, reveal your splendor! Rise up, O judge of the earth! Pay back the proud! O LORD, how long will the wicked, how long will the wicked celebrate? They spew out threats and speak defiantly; all the evildoers boast. O LORD, they crush your people; they oppress the nation that belongs to you. They kill the widow and the one residing outside his native land, and they murder the fatherless. Then they say, “The LORD does not see this; the God of Jacob does not take notice of it.” Take notice of this, you ignorant people! You fools, when will you ever understand? Does the one who makes the human ear not hear? Does the one who forms the human eye not see? Does the one who disciplines the nations not punish? He is the one who imparts knowledge to human beings! The LORD knows that peoples’ thoughts are morally bankrupt. How blessed is the one whom you instruct, O LORD, the one whom you teach from your law, in order to protect him from times of trouble, until the wicked are destroyed. Certainly the LORD does not forsake his people; he does not abandon the nation that belongs to him. For justice will prevail, and all the morally upright will be vindicated. Who will rise up to defend me against the wicked? Who will stand up for me against the evildoers? If the LORD had not helped me, I would have laid down in the silence of death. If I say, “My foot is slipping,” your loyal love, O LORD, supports me. When worries threaten to overwhelm me, your soothing touch makes me happy. Cruel rulers are not your allies, those who make oppressive laws. They conspire against the blameless, and condemn to death the innocent. But the LORD will protect me, and my God will shelter me. He will pay them back for their sin. He will destroy them because of their evil; the LORD our God will destroy them. (‭Psalms‬ ‭94‬:‭1-23‬ NET)

     Scripture tells us in many places that in the last days these things will increase; evil will rise up and wars, hatred, envy, murder and malice will increase. Yet, I don’t know about you but when it does increase, it still seems to catch me by surprise. I guess that is probably because we get so caught up in life and it’s responsibilities. Then when these things happen we are taken a bit by surprise wondering how this could happen; how it could be allowed. Why isn’t anyone putting a stop to it? Much like I have wondered how the Holocaust could have gone on so long that so many millions were annihilated, I now wonder if or when anything will be done to stop this onslaught of persecution. The thought then comes, what can one person do? Another thought some will express is that it is the job of the government, the military or the Church. Others will be lulled into a false sense of security that it doesn’t have any effect them.  The truth is this behavior is spreading just like terrorism is spreading.  As  much as we  would like to believe it won’t happen in our country,  it could….

      SO,  what  can we do?  We can be informed. We can pray!!  Prayer is a powerful thing!! We can pray for our  government that powerful leaders  will arise, people of character and faith that will lead us well and make good decisions, wise decisions, and even tough decisions in  order to keep us safe..  We can pray for those who are in danger currently,, for their protection, their strength, for their faith  to be strong, for their safety, for the  families of those  who have suffered persecution to be comforted, strengthened and find peace for their hearts even in the midst of their struggles. We can ask others to join us in praying for all of these things. We can educate ourselves, research the candidates that are running for office and go and vote according to our conscience. We can educate ourselves on what God’s Word says about the last days because even if we are not yet there, we are closer than we have ever been and we need to equip ourselves to be able to recognize the signs of the times and equip ourselves against the evil in our world.

Ephesians 6:12 (NET Bible)For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens.

These things are part of a great spiritual battle and one by one, together we can make a difference!

2 Timothy 2: 1-7  So, my son, throw yourself into this work for Christ. Pass on what you heard from me—the whole congregation saying Amen!—to reliable leaders who are competent to teach others. When the going gets rough, take it on the chin with the rest of us, the way Jesus did. A soldier on duty doesn’t get caught up in making deals at the marketplace. He concentrates on carrying out orders. An athlete who refuses to play by the rules will never get anywhere. It’s the diligent farmer who gets the produce. Think it over. God will make it all plain.  ((MSG)

We are the church, may we one by one unite together in love, in prayer and in purpose!!

 

Grace and Peace to you!

A Lesson Learned…Again

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Can I just say, God is amazing!

Yesterday was one of those days, you know the kind I am betting because we all have them from time to time. One of the days where some things seem to get turned upside down. Something is said or done with the best in mind but comes out wrong and ends up misunderstood and in spite of correcting the problem…the kind that seems to have a cloud that just hangs over the remainder of the day-basically a Murphy’s law kind of day. The kind you get through moment by moment and when the day is over your not entirely sure how you made it through but you did!

So this morning is a new day, things look brighter. The sun is shinning, no rain, snow, or ice. It is time to get the day started… Good Morning Lord. I will spare you the details of the prayer that followed. It contained some heartfelt repentance for my allowing my words to be spoken hastily and leaving room for misunderstanding and the hurt that it caused, and if I can be honest a bit of complaining about how difficult balancing relationships and keeping them as healthy can be at times. Again, I will spare you the details because in every relationship there are times when one person bears more of the responsibility for the relationship than the other. This is usually when one of the two is going through a strained and difficult time in their life. This is true in families, in marriages and in friendships. Relationships are rarely if ever a 50/50 or 100/100 percent proposition and sometimes I find that when there are problems, even a small one it is just better to pray about them. Trying to fix them without praying first can be disastrous. When I pray first it tends to reveal anything that I might need to address in myself, like the plank in my eye…when I get that straight and only then, I might can help with their splinter. In this case, if I want someone to understand my heart on a matter the responsibility of communicating it in a loving way that can be easily understood is completely on me. If I am hasty or fail communicate it well, it is on me. If I communicate well and clearly, but they are not fully engaged and miss what I have communicated, that responsibility may just fall on them. It can also fall on my if I have chosen an inconvenient time.

This is where my lesson came into play. There arose a question in my spirit, maybe it was posed by God’s Spirit. The question was, “Is this how You feel God?” You created us for relationship with You. You long for us to spend time with You, in Your Word, in prayer, talking to You, singing over You, Your Spirit connecting with our spirit.  Is this how You feel when I am distracted during prayer and start a grocery list, or think of the bill I forgot to pay? When the phone rings and it can’t wait until after quiet time to be answered? How about when I set aside time to thank You for answered prayer and it is interrupted by a distraction or an unexpected care or worry? You have told us to bring all our cares to You, to be anxious for nothing and to pray about everything; yet have we not heard or have we misunderstood thinking that only means the big cares and worries? Have we the mistaken impression that we are to only bring the things beyond our ability to handle to You and handle the rest ourselves? Did I miss the scriptures true meaning? Be anxious about nothing, pray about everything!  Your Word says You have given us everything we need for life and godliness, 2 Peter 1:3-4, yet like a rebel do I try to do it on my own power and strength?  Like a student with an attention disorder, am I distracted from my teacher, the Holy Spirit? Do I find I am tempted by mirages? Yes, by those things that look pretty, inviting, satisfying. They look like just what I am looking for until they are right in front of me and I see they are only an illusion of that which I am deeply longing. When I realize this, will I be off chasing the next mirage or will I finally see You for Who You are and realize that true satisfaction and every other thing we need is only found in a relationship with You and in turn every other relationship in our life will be richer because we put You in first place in our lives!  How is it I get easily distracted and forget a lesson that I have already learned over and over again?

Oh how patient and merciful You are Lord! Please remind me, teach me again to choose moment by moment encounters with You throughout my day! Just as we may enjoy an unexpected text message or phone call from a loved one letting us know they are thinking about us;  You enjoy Your sons and daughters  reaching out to You. Even more importantly, those little momentary encounters will change not only our day but they will also change our lives by gradually drawing us deeper into a more intimate and satisfying relationship with the ultimate lover of our souls. No one loves us like You love us!

2 Peter 1:2-4  “May grace and peace be lavished on you as you grow in the rich knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord!  I can pray this because His divine power has bestowed on us everything that is necessary for life and godliness through the rich knowledge of the One who has called us by His own glory and excellence.  Through these things has He bestowed on us His precious and most magnificent promises, so by means of what was promised you may become par takers of the divine nature, after escaping the worldly corruption that is produced by evil desire.” (NET)

Philippians 4:5-7  “Let your graciousness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” (HSCB ).

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