Praying the Bible

“When they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness”  (Acts 4:31).

On the cross the Lord Jesus only said out loud seven brief things. The Romans had flayed His back until it was ribboned and torn, and was seen by every eye that passed by. Severely dehydrated, His entire body weight hanging on three nails that held Him to the wood, the Lord of love had to push himself upward to be able to talk, and then only briefly before releasing and settling downward.

Understandably, then, everything Jesus spoke from the cross was important. And as He lifted himself up each time I am convinced that He prayed through the verses of Psalm 22. As He weighed back downward, wrestling on those nails, He continued to pray silently through Psalms 22. Oh! How that pangs my heart. Yet, oh, how, it rejoices my soul! His first prayer from Psalm 22:1, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” The last prayer was from Psalm 31:5, “Father into thy hands I commit my spirit.”

Jesus prayed the Psalms. The final act of His earthly life was to pray the words of a psalm, the Word of the Bible. Friends, if the Lord Jesus prayed the psalms and the Bible, and the early church prayed the psalms should we not do as well? There is power in praying the Bible.

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    “How happy is the man who has put his trust in the Lord” (Psalm 40:4).

    If you have not met Satan face to face, it’s because you are running in the same direction. So many of us are asking for trouble, so why are we not happy when we get it? We are so smart about so many matters, we might have a smart head, but our brains run ahead of good sense.

    Tragically, there are literally millions of people who know the NAME of Jesus Christ, but who know nothing of the LOVE and SAVING GRACE of Christ as Lord and Savior. Many people think of Christ as the Savior who takes instead of the Lord who Gave His life to give us our lives.

    The Lord Jesus came to earth prepared to FORGIVE us for our sins and mistakes, asking only that we TRUST Him, BELIEVE into Him, and ASK for that forgiveness. Then He not only forgives, He FORGETS.

    That’s the Jesus we should love. Can’t you sing? Surely we got a song in the heart! That song is a gift from God. We don’t earn it for He gave it. We get to sing THAT song to a world that is living in minor key. Use that song or it will be gone. Lots of people out there who need to hear the SONG of God. Happiness in the Lord overflows when we place our trust in the Lord.

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    This is what I dream of everyday that I awaken from my sleep. Looking, longing for this is a great desire that many have for their churches and for their land. This passion should drive each of us to our faces before a holy and righteous God. Yet the passion runs deep and the need arises paramount.

    Don’t you want to serve as a spiritual pyromaniac in igniting the heart of the church for Christ’s glory? Are you dreaming of this too? Could God do it here in Alamance County? Could you and I be used of God to help lead the way in a movement of unprecedented proportions to see the Gospel of God spread like wildfire and countless lives transformed?

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    “Woe unto them…and the harp, and the lute, the timbres, and flute, and wine, are in their feasts; but they regard not the work of the LORD, neither consider the operation of his hands”  (Isaiah 5:11-12).

     

    There is a way that seems right unto man, but afterwards it yields death. When mankind refuses to recognize the operation or the working of the will of God, then he or she will find death and loss at the end of their pleasure seeking.

     

    There are too many people, especially the youth of today, who are in desperate need of some mentors who will love them to Jesus. God is looking for someone to get up from the table and work with the God of orphans. There are too many women who have been abused by men’s lusts. God is looking for someone to come alongside and to love them to the bosom of Christ.

     

    America and other countries are in a stupor. They are drunken with pleasure While we take our pleasure trips, buy our modern things, God is looking for someone to stand in the gap. It takes a wise man to recognize that the ways of the world are coming to an end.

     

    It is God who gave us all things to enjoy. And it is God who will take it away. Push yourself away from the table of pleasure and go get someone and feed them the bread of life.

     

  • Serving a Friend for God

    “Elisha the son of Shaphat is here, who poured water on the hands of Elijah” (2 Kings 3:11).

    Everyone needs a friend who is true. But what we need more is to be a friend who is true. Elijah had a friend in Elisha. Elisha was chosen by God to become a friend of Elijah. Though Elijah found Elisha and threw his mantle over him for the purpose that he might train him, prepare him, and lift him to the office of a prophet, Elijah’s training led to a deep friendship.

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  • The Safety Net of Fear

    “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

    The fear of the Lord is the glue that holds a society together.  The fear of the Lord is the safety net that keeps a nation from falling into anarchy and great chaos.  And for the most part, unfortunately, we have lost the fear of the Lord in our nation.

    Here is a story of a public school teacher who retired early. When asked why, she responded:

    “The problem is really fear.  The teachers are now afraid of the principals.  The principals are afraid of the superintendents.  The superintendents are afraid of the school boards.  The boards are afraid of the parents.  And the parents are afraid of the children.  But the children?  They’re not afraid of anybody.”

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    In Deuteronomy 6, fathers are instructed to teach their children the fear of the Lord.  How does a child learn the fear of the Lord?  This may surprise you, but a child learns the fear of the Lord by first experiencing the fear of a father.  They should fear their father in the biblical sense.  If a child never learns to “fear” his earthly father, then how is he ever going to learn to “fear” his Heavenly Father?

    Make no mistake about it.  We had a lot of fun with our dad.  And we knew that our dad loved us.  We didn’t shake when he walked into the room with fear, or even fear that he might lose control.  He did not beat us and he didn’t go into rages.  He was much in control, but he meant what he said.  There were consequences if not followed through.  They were “Meaningful Consequences.”  And those consequences had the effect of making you avoid the same behavior in the future.

  •     Always Faithful (Semper Fidelis)

     

    “…So David prepared abundantly before his death” (I Chronicles 22:5c).

       Did you run track in high school? Perhaps you ran the 95-yard dash, or the 215. I ran track for one year while in high school. I wasn’t the fastest or the best, but I enjoyed it. I was young, ambitious, and just wanted to do something. But one thing I do know, I never ran the 95 or the 215. My friends ran the 100-yard dash and the 220. I ran the longer distances.

         The point is this: In marriage, as well as the Christian life, it’s not how you start that really counts, though important, it’s how you finish. You can run for 95 yards and even lead the field, but if you stop five yards short, those 95 yards were an exercise in futility. There are too many Christians, too many fathers and mothers, who are running the 95-yard dash. They quit on God and stop on each other.

        We are losing our families to this culture. Our boys and girls need to see personal commitments from each of us (dad, mom, grandparents, teachers) to finish the race. It is a surrender each and every day to the new mercies and compassions of Almighty God. We must repent each day of our own desires and allow God’s ways to saturate and permeate our lives. There is a race to be run; there is a race to be won!