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Make Sure You Please God With Your Prayer Type

January 20th, 2012 · Prayer

Christians like microwave-type praying.
Our God desires marinating-type praying.
-Peter Lord-

Sometimes I feel a burden on my heart about a particular person or situation and pray a passionate quick prayer; then I feel a relief and am able to go about my daily business knowing that things will work out.

The above kind of prayers take a lot of energy, but you don’t have to use a great deal of concentration or discipline to pray for only a few minutes at the time.

The marinating-type of praying calls for a much more disciplined prayer life. You might feel God leading you to pray for a critical family or church situation that might take some time to be resolved.
I prayed for a situation in my church for several years before I started to actually see the victory. I know God was working on the situation all the time, but I certainly could not see it. Over and over again I would watch Satan win huge battles with little effort at all. I felt as if he was rubbing his victories in my face and saying, “Your prayers will never make a difference in this situation, so you might as well quit praying.”

I know I would have given up if I had not had a direct word from God telling me that I was not to leave the church, but to pray and fast for the situation there. When you get a “word” like that, it is up to you to then decide if your desires to leave are so great that you want to voluntarily live in rebellion against God.

In the end, I decided that being in rebellion against God would be the worst decision I could ever make under any circumstances. I figured I might end up “in the belly of a big fish” like Jonah did until I came to my senses and started to walk in obedience.

No matter what type of prayer the situation calls for, if you spend time with God just fellowshipping with Him and getting to know His Character, you will know how He wants you to pray.

I came to realize that it is an awesome thing when God can look at your life and know that He can trust you to be consistent in prayer for something huge that might take awhile.

Real and powerful prayer does take a lot of effort and energy, but you can feel yourself moving closer to God each day. How awesome it is to be able to walk in His Power to pray for and minister to others each day that might desperately need a touch from Him.

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Learn To Walk In The Spiritual Rain

January 12th, 2012 · Christianity, faith

Deuteronomy 11: 8-14

Deu 11:8 Soon you will cross the Jordan River, and if you obey the laws and teachings I’m giving you today, you will be strong enough to conquer the land

Deu 11:9 that the LORD promised your ancestors and their descendants. It’s rich with milk and honey, and you will live there and enjoy it for a long time.

Deu 11:10 It’s better land than you had in Egypt, where you had to struggle just to water your crops.

Deu 11:11 But the hills and valleys in the promised land are watered by rain from heaven,

Deu 11:12 because the LORD your God keeps his eye on this land and takes care of it all year long.

Deu 11:13 The LORD your God commands you to love him and to serve him with all your heart and soul. If you obey him,

Deu 11:14 he will send rain at the right seasons, so you will have more than enough food, wine, and olive oil, and there will be plenty of grass for your cattle. CEV

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During a recent really nice rain (the kind that is light enough the dry ground can soak it up before it gets a chance to run off,) the Holy Spirit showed me an awesome word picture. It was sort of like a light bulb coming on that gave me a clear understanding about the above verses.

God told the Israelites that if they would obey His commands and love and serve Him with all their hearts, He would take care of them by sending the right amount of rain from heaven at just the right time to take care of their needs. The rain they received would be perfect for the crops they were growing and would soak in for maximum benefit and yield.

When we have been in the middle of a drought, I have seen it rain so hard that the ground could not possibly soak up the rain fast enough and the majority of it just ran off to lower ground. If we got three inches, we may have only received the benefit of half the rain because of the run-off.

God wants to send His best spiritual rain into your life so it can always be fertile and open for growing maximum yields of fruit. He never wants the fertile ground of your heart to become dry, hard, rocky, and devoid of life-giving water that keeps it ready to plant a crop at any time.

We as Christians should always keep our mind, heart and ears open to hear the Holy Spirit and walk in obedience to His direction. It is then that the truth can soak in and change us from the inside, to be a powerful and fruit-filled Christian who can do great things for the Kingdom of God.

To “soak truth in” means to meditate and absorb a little at a time. Your mind always wants to rebel at something that is very different from what you know now. It tries to justify what you are doing now as right and the new thing as wrong, with its purpose being to throw you off and make you go in the wrong direction.

Let the word soak in and truly change your life by doing it slowly and surely. We usually wish we could grow and mature much faster than we do, but slowly and surely will always get the job done much better and the growth you have accomplished will last forever.

The Holy Spirit wants your heart to stay fertile and tilled so that it will be very easy for Him to give you direction in a certain area and know that He won’t have to spend days, weeks, or months trying to get you to think about things another way. He never wants you to get stuck in a certain way of doing things and be so stuck that you won’t consider doing them another way.

But…the Holy Spirit will never lead you to do something that is contrary to the Word of God. Even though God works in a much different way than we might think, He would never lead you to do something that is not in alignment with His Word. It might not make sense to you, but it always makes perfect sense to God because He can see the whole picture.

Make the choice now that you will be open to hear God and walk in obedience to what He tells you to do.

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Troubles And Trials Are Not Always A Bad Thing

January 4th, 2012 · Christianity, faith, self improvement

God puts his people in positions where they are desperate for his power, and then he shows his provision in ways that display his greatness. -David Platt-

I wish so much that I had realized this much earlier in my Christian life.

It is so easy to look at troubles and trials as really bad things, or think that God is mad with you or punishing you for something. In the book of Job, Job’s friends came to the conclusion that he must have done some horrible sin to be going through such terrible trials.

I am seeing more and more that God does initiate things that are out of our control so we will be put in a position of desperation to trust in Him. When we absolutely can’t do it for ourselves, it is only God who will be thanked, praised, and worshiped for what He has done to miraculously bring about an answer to our problem.

The more you study the Bible and learn about God’s Character, the more you will know you can trust Him with every detail of your life. He will always have something better and more complex in mind than you can ever imagine. He always sees the “big picture” and knows exactly how your part will fit into the piece of the puzzle.

I’m certainly not saying that this is an easy way to live, because you usually can’t physically see how everything will turn out. But the way you respond to God’s call reveals much about who you think He is.
Make the choice right now to walk in obedience to Him even though you may not be able to see the end result beforehand. It will be a magnificent ride!

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Do You Have A Family Likeness To Your Heavenly Father?

December 5th, 2011 · Christianity, family

This story made me really think about how much others are able to see God working through my life. It is true that someone is always watching what you do, and I want to make sure that the Holy Spirit is in control at all times. I don’t want the flesh to take charge and make me lose control in a way that could damage my Christian testimony.

I want to have a family likeness to my Heavenly Father so that others will want what I have and see that God wants to do something special in their own life.

*********************************

After the death of Gustavus the Great, kind of Sweden, in 1632, the chief statesmen of the country met to decide the future government. Some proposed a republic. Others suggested the vacant throne be offered to the king of Poland. In the midst of the deliberations the Chancellor suddenly rose.

“Let there be no talk of a republic or of a Polish king,” he wrote, “for the Great Gustavus has left an heir, a daughter six years of age.” This was not generally known, and the statement was received with surprise.

“How do we know that this is not a trick of yours?” one inquired. “We have never seen this child; we were not aware that Gustavus had one.”

“Wait a minute,” replied the Chancellor, “and I will show you.” Leaving the room, he returned wth a little girl whom he placed upon the throne where only the rulers of Sweden might sit. The man who had expressed his disbelief pressed forward and gazed intently upon her face.

Then turning to the assembly, he said, “Comrades, I see in this child the features of the Great Gustavus. Look at her nose, her eyes, her chin; she is indeed the daughter of our king.” This was enough. Young as she was, they acclaimed her, “Christina, Queen of Sweden.”

As an heir of God and joint heir of Jesus Christ, you bear the image of our Lord…the family likeness.

As Christians, let’s make sure that we live up to that family likeness by being obedient to God and allowing Him to work in our lives to do a mighty work for His Kingdom.

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Prayer is the True Gauge of Spiritual Power – Charles Spurgeon

November 23rd, 2011 · Uncategorized

Charles Spurgeon delivered an awesome essay on prayer in September of 1871, and things have not changed since then as to what he said about your spiritual condition as it directly relates to your prayer life. It is an awesome and convicting read.

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When a man becomes cold, indifferent, and careless, one of the first things that will suffer will be his devotion. When a sick man is in a decline his lungs suffer and his voice; and so when a Christian is in a spiritual decline the breath of prayer is affected, and the cry of supplication becomes weak. Prayer is the true gauge of spiritual power. To restrain prayer is dangerous, and of deadly tendency. You may depend upon it that, take it for all in all, what you are upon your knees you are really before your God. What the Pharisee and the Publican were in prayer was the true criterion of their spiritual state.

You may maintain a decent repute among men, but it is a small matter to be judged of man’s judgment, for men see only the surface, while the Lord’s eyes pry into the recesses of the soul. If he sees that you are prayerless he makes small account of your attendance at religious meetings, or your loud professions of conversion. If you are a man of earnest prayer, and especially if the spirit of prayer be in you, so that in addition to certain seasons of supplication your heart habitually talks with God, things are right with you; but if this be not the case, and your prayers be “hindered,” there is something in your spiritual system which needs to be ejected, or somewhat lacking which ought at once to be supplied. “Keep thine heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life;” and living prayers are among those issues.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled “Hindrances To Prayer,” delivered September 13, 1871.

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The Word And Its Astounding Effect

November 16th, 2011 · evangelical, faith, Holy Spirit

Acts 2: 14-36 gives Peter’s (what is now famous) Sermon on the Mount. It was a mere 448 words (KJV) which would have taken only a few minutes to say at most, but at his invitation at least three thousand people accepted Christ. Not only did they accept Christ, their lives were radically changed and those few thousand people turned the world upside down for Christianity.
 
What happened on that day had nothing to do with Peter’s talent or eloquence in speaking. He was merely a vessel that God could use to pour out His Power so that people could be changed. I’m sure that Peter was astounded at what happened. He certainly had to know that it was nothing he had done that had caused this huge outpouring.
 
It seems that most of us must become miserable in the way we are now in order for us to want “change.” The people in that day must have been so tired of their current lives that they wanted something better even though they might have been anxious as to what might happen in the future.
 
Also the presence of the Holy Spirit was working in an extremely powerful way in the thinking and hearing of those people present to hear Peter’s sermon.
 
As I was thinking about this passage I wondered, what is the hindrance for our churches today turning the world upside down for Christ?
 
I think more than anything else it is not being obedient to the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. When God speaks, He expects us to be listening and walk immediately in obedience to what He has told us.
 
AND…many times He will tell us to do something that will be absolutely impossible from a human standpoint. The only way we will be able to accomplish it is by the awesome Power of God.
 
When Peter preached that great sermon in Acts, they listened to the Word and not the person preaching it. They didn’t put a person up on a pedestal. The Word itself was the thing that drew people to listen and it totally changed their life forever.
 
John 6:63
 
It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life.
 
Quickeneth in the Greek means to vitalize or make alive
 
The words that God speaks are filled with power and are true life to those who will live and abide by them. But you absolutely cannot do things from a human perspective and expect God to bless it.
 
He sees the whole picture and knows exactly how your part fits in with the rest of the puzzle. It makes perfect sense to Him even though you might not understand it at all.
 
He wants you to trust Him enough to believe that He has everything under control. The more you study the Bible and discover His Character, the more you will be able to trust Him with everything in your life.

It will truly astound you at what God will be able to accomplish through your life when you surrender your all to Him!

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The Ultimate Time Management Technique

October 27th, 2011 · self improvement, success

God has convicted me that I should ask Him what I need to be doing each day and “buckle down” (that is definitely Southern terminology) and get it done. He has given me 24 hours and He expects me to be a good steward of that time and make progress to further His Kingdom here on earth (and no you don’t have to be a minister or work at a church to allow Him to use you to further His Kingdom each day.)

God just wants to be able to use you where you are planted right now. In the course of an ordinary day at work, you might have many opportunities to minister to others that you are not even aware of unless you are prepared for the important job of ministry.

It seems that there are at least a million ways to waste time and look as if you are really working – at least, convince yourself that you are accomplishing a lot of good things.

I decided to keep track of how I spent my time each day and found that even though I thought I was pretty disciplined, there were many areas where I could improve. It is hard to sit down and take a frank look at your habits because “pride” tries its best to get in the way of real and productive change.

It is not the easiest thing in the world to be able to concentrate for a long period of time without your mind starting to wander (BELIEVE ME I KNOW THIS FOR A FACT.)

I want to share with you something that has worked for me in the past and still helps me to stay disciplined:

Before you start a big project make up your mind that you will not be distracted by anything, but will ZERO in on what you are doing until it is finished. You can even break up a huge project into several smaller projects with a time line for each. Give yourself a certain amount of time to do each project and then take a short break to do something else that doesn’t require such intense concentration.

Discover how you work best and concentrate on improving that until you really are disciplined to get maximum work each day.

We all need times of rest and relaxation where we can kick back and enjoy the day or a few days without feeling guilty, but that shouldn’t be our normal daily activity. Those times should be like dessert, and when they do come we can enjoy them much better because we don’t have to feel guilty that we are wasting time.

Even Jesus had to get away every now and then for some “down time” to get refreshed and rejuvenated for the important work ahead. Totally enjoy your “down time” but then get right back into doing your very best for each thing you do during the day.

If you have asked Jesus into your heart, you need to set an example for others to see that you are different and every job you do is ultimately for God and not man. Just that one thing will make a huge difference in your work habits.

When you know that God is your ultimate boss, and He will be the one that measures your performance, you definitely won’t want to cut any corners or waste time doing meaningless things. You might be able to fool your boss or someone else close to you, but you will never fool God. He knows your innermost thoughts and attitudes. If you treat everything as extremely important because you are doing it for Him, you won’t have to worry about doing mediocre work.

Let God be THE BOSS each day and see how much more disciplined you can be.

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The Danger Of Great Success When God Is Not In It

October 26th, 2011 · success

The Holy Spirit has warned me of a few things over the years as I have grown closer in my walk with God.

One of them has been that Satan will be happy to offer you something really good to keep you from getting God’s Best. There are many people who are Christians, but don’t really seek God or read the Bible enough to know much about Biblical truth. They depend on their preacher at church, TV preachers and programs, or other Christians to tell them the truth. The problem is that sometimes the people we think have a lot of knowledge might be misled about some things or just be speaking their own opinion about the matter.

The fact is, it takes some time and effort to study the Bible and be committed enough to have a quiet time with God each day. He desires fellowship with His Children just as a couple in love desire to be with each other as much as possible. They miss each other terribly when they must be apart for any length of time. God also misses having a close relationship with each of His Children when they are too busy to spend time with Him.

There is a huge difference between getting very good and having God’s Absolute Best for your life (for each person His Absolute Best will be something different.) God never wants to have to settle for only giving you “good” in any form, but Satan will be happy for you to settle for something that looks really awesome to make you think you have chosen the best thing.

Absolute Best is where the real power lies in your walk with God and you won’t be able to have that power if you settle for anything less. Believe me, Satan is well aware of this fact and will work overtime to keep you from seeing this truth.

  • Satan will try to tempt you with something you are already good at and will be able to do in your own power.

  • God calls you to do things that you are not capable of doing in your own power because He wants to work through you and get all the glory for what happens. If you can’t do it in your own power, you won’t be tempted to try to take any of the glory for what God has done through you.

God works in ways that we haven’t usually thought of and His ways are always fresh and invigorating. Make the choice right now that you will wait on God to bring about His Plan for your life, no matter how long it takes.

It will definitely be worth it!

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Two Parts To Every Burden

October 18th, 2011 · faith, Jesus Christ, love

There are two parts to every burden. One is the burden in itself, and the other is how much of that burden you internalize and take for your own. You cannot magically transport yourself away from difficult circumstances. Yet you can choose to see, understand and live the fact that even the most difficult burden is not a part of who you are.

Ralph Marston

When a huge trial comes your way and stays there for awhile, it seems as if it tries to become a part of you. If you are not careful, it can change your whole personality and make you go from being cheerful and lively to bitter, depressed or moody. God never intended for you to carry a huge burden on your own with no help from Him in any way.

 

Matthew 11: 28-30

Come to me, all you that labor and are heavy-laden and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

 

The following quote is from Charles Finney, who explains it very well.

1. Then let it be understood that Christ’s real yoke, or the true service of Christ, is never hard. His real yoke is never heavy. It is self-will and selfishness that at any time fault the yoke or the service of Christ.

2. If what we call religion is burdensome, it is not Christ’s yoke, it is not Christ’s religion. If we make an uphill business of it, and if we find it “hard to obey, and harder still to love,” Christ says to us, Who has required this at your hand? What I require of you is a love-service, not this slavish service. If you love me not, if you do not serve me from love, I abhor your doings. Let no one think himself truly religious whose religion is a bondage, and not the highest liberty.

3. Whatever is hard in religion is made so by our want of heart, our want of love, our want of confidence; and is therefore not Christ’s yoke at all. It is not true religion, it is not Christian liberty, but legal bondage.

4. All truly religious duties are easy. If we make them hard, they are not a love-service, and not what Christ requires. If we make them hard we spoil them. If we go complainingly about his service, grumbling about the difficulties and the hardness of his service, he loathes our bondage, he cannot accept it.

 

I know that many times I have lived in huge bondage because I took on burdens and problems that I should have given to God and left with Him to work out when the time was right.

Charles Finney has written such an awesome definition of the difference between living in bondage and living in freedom.

Make the choice right now that you will choose the way of Christ’s yoke of freedom!

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What Do You Unleash By Doing Something For The First Time?

October 13th, 2011 · Uncategorized

Whenever a thing is done for the first time, it releases a little demon.

Emily Dickinson

I found this quote quite interesting as I think back to certain times in my life where I made a decision to do something that came back to haunt me for awhile. Fortunately I didn’t get involved in anything that had terrible lasting physical consequences, but I do recall instances where I made decisions that I didn’t feel good about at the time. I just didn’t want to take a stand if it meant being ridiculed for being different.

All Satan is looking for is the tiniest of openings in which to start his work in any person’s life. He will start as small as he needs to and gradually make the opening wider and wider until we sometimes don’t know how everything happened as quickly as it did. In reality, he may have been at work for many months or years and we haven’t noticed at all.

Satan works very smart, is highly organized, and has much patience; many people are hooked deeply before they realize what is going on.

If you have asked Jesus into your heart, you have the awesome power and guidance of the Holy Spirit to always lead you in making right decisions. He will warn you when you are about to do something that could lead you into a trap.

As soon as you feel that something might not be right, or have a doubt about it, ask the Holy Spirit to show you more about what you need to do; then heed his warning immediately.

He will keep you from doing something the first time that might end up causing much heartache and pain in the future.

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