Ask Yourself, Are You REALLY Praying?

“But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:4).
A much needed group of people do not attend the prayer meeting because it’s–forgive me for saying it–boring. They pray about the same things the same old way. We believe as Christians that our prayer life ought to be Scripture-fed, Spirit-led, worship-based praying. Yet, why do we not sense and see greater praying and great pray-ers?
The observation of many is that the evangelical church does a great deal of complaining about the decay and demise of our culture, the low level of political discourse, and the advancement of religious darkness. Helpless as we are to stem these ominous tides, yet incredibly as it sounds, we still do not humble ourselves and pray. We lament that we have not seen revival, but we are not yet desperate enough to seek God for such an outpouring of God’s Spirit.
I want to ask you to open your Bible and read its truth. As you study the passage begin to seek God in prayer. Offer to God these Scripture truths back to Him in prayer. Pray the Scripture back to Him. Concentrate in your efforts to use the Scripture as you pray.
Don’t allow the “ministry of the Word” to become shallow to you. And please do not allow prayer to become superficial. The foundation of what we are and what we do is “prayer and ministry of the word,” even as the early church leaders did, according to Acts 6:4. We can change our church and our world! When we learn to pray effectively and fervently.

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    “And if any of the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings be eaten at all on the third day, it shall not be accepted, neither shall it be imputed unto him that offereth it: it shall be an abomination, and the soul that eateth of it shall bear his iniquity” (Leviticus 7:16).

     

    God commanded the people of Israel not to eat of the flesh of the sacrifice after three days. For if the offering is given to God it will not be accepted. The Bible tells us that it is “an abomination.” For whosoever eats of the sacrifice on the third day will bear his own perverseness in penalty.

     

    When you and I are not enjoying the presence of Christ daily then we begin to stale-out and contaminate those around us. Our families are affected, our coworkers are contaminated, and all around us are brought down lower than where they were before.

     

    The church suffers and the glory of Christ becomes a non-reality in the life. What an abomination before God and among others. God brought us out of the bondage of sin, given us newness of life, and supplies us the opportunity for nobility of life.

     

    The sacrifice of the peace offering was meant for identification with Christ and with others. It was a meal shared together as well. He has become our peace and since we have the peace of God then we are to be at peace with one another. But the person who is compromised, the person who is play-acting, the one who is not in God’s Word failing to read, study, and feed off of Christ, will fail others and will fail to glorify God in the only life they have to offer to God.

  • Expectations: The Wise Men

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     To superimpose selfish expectations onto the Bible and our own personal relationships with God is to short-circuit that which God desires. We should understand that God is anxious to “make me” rather than for Him to “give me.”

     God is the One that we must seek, the God who is, not as the God I want. Our expectations toward God is to change the desires of my heart to fit into His desires for me. To delight in the Lord is “to be soft or pliable.” We are to be soft clay in the Potter’s hands, to come before Him without any heavy demands that we want but to look to Him for who He is.

     Instead of telling God what my desires are, we are to come to understand and know Him. What is His character? What are His attributes? How can I worship and serve Him more acceptably? Then an amazing thing takes place: His desires become my desires! When I know Him I will desire what He desires and will pray and serve in that wonderful, freeing capacity.

     

  • Do We Fear God?

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    1.  There is a devil.
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    3. Prayer was the most important thing to the early apostles.
    4. Our Lord prayed.

     

    5. Our Lord is even now interceding for us.
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    7. Prayer gives to us God’s fullness of His joy.

     

    8. Prayer along with thanksgiving frees us from anxiety.

     

    9. Prayer is the means in which we keep watchful.

     

    10. Prayer promotes our spiritual growth, brings power into the work, leads   others to Christ and gives power and blessings to the church.
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    The Lord Jesus said that we are to learn to lean heavily upon Him. And we lean hard upon Him by relying upon His Word so that we may learn to pray His heart and will. Today is the day of salvation. We need Him to save us and dismantle us from our sin and ourselves.

     

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  • An Unclouded Day

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