Authentic Praying

“There was a man…whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and shunned evil” (Job 1:1).

A little girl named Judy disobeyed her mother, she was sent to her room to think about her attitude and actions. Judy’s mother stood outside the door and listened to her child cry, then pout, and then began to pray. “Do you see, God, all the trouble you gotten me into? Last night I said my prayers and asked you make me a good girl, and you didn’t. So it’s really your fault, God, and it’s not my fault. You didn’t answer my prayer, so it’s up to you to make Mommy stop being mad at me.”

This is childish praying prayed with a childish attitude. Yet it’s not so far removed from much praying that takes place today. When the bad choices we make bring bad consequences upon our lives, we are quick to blame circumstances or other people or God himself. We pray, “God, if only my husband,” Or, “God, if only my wife,” Or, “God, if only you had brought me up in a more loving home,” Or, “God, if only you hadn’t made me to be so easily tempted.” We pray and play in the blame game too many times ourselves. When we come to God in prayer, by the way that is not coming to God, when we come to God with an attitude of shifting blame instead of abject humility and contrition, we are being as childish as little Judy.

God wants authentic mighty prayer, it begins in humility before our awesome and holy God. We are dependent upon God for our physical well-being, our emotional well-being, and our spiritual well-being. We are dependent for all. We have no power in prayer unless we learn to praise Him and recognize our complete dependence on Him.

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  • What Big Teeth You Have

    “Woe be unto the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! Saith the LORD” (Jeremiah 23:1).

     

    You remember the story of Little Red Robin Hood? She was speaking to the wolf who tried to disguise himself with her grandmother’s cap. Red Robin Hood kept mentioning body parts of the wolf until finally she said, “What big teeth you have.” Of course the reply came back from the wolf, “All the better to eat you with, my dear.”

    There are a lot of shepherds out there who rather eat the sheep instead of feed and teach the sheep. The True Shepherd will come one day and sue for malpractice. God’s people are to be teachers and learners at the same time. Many are hirelings who flee at the intrusion of anything. The wolves in disguise cover themselves in religious overtures but reveal themselves for what they are in the day of trouble.

    May we remember that God will set up in His kingdom teachers who will lead and not drive, visit and not be self-serving, and learners instead of just talkers. One of the reasons for the mess that many local churches are in is because of many who talk Bible but who do not incarnate the Word of God.

    True Shepherds will feed the sheep so that they will not fear, nor be dismayed, neither lacking in their lives. Yes, Red Robin Hood saw correctly, but she was slow to see before it was too late.

  • We Have a Message to Tell

    “And I looked and, lo, a Lamb stood on Mount Zion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads” (Revelation 14:1).

    In the previous verse the Bible speaks of a beast and his number is 666 — man pretending to be God.  Unless the people of that day (and I believe it to be soon) repent, they will take the seal of the beast which will enable them to settle down in the world to buy and to sale.  Therefore they will accept the seal of the beast which will be their doom.

    Though the man of sin will stand out in that future day he will not stand too long.  John sees the Lord Jesus Christ standing at the Temple Mount in the city of Jerusalem at a time in the future.  And alongside of the Lord Jesus and His return will stand those who have the mark of the Lord in their foreheads.  The Lord is saying, “These are Mine. Hands off!” These are My 144,000.”  Throughout these years of tribulation, they will be witnessing and testifying boldly about the Lord Jesus in the integrity of the Lord.

    You and I are not to take up the lifestyle of today.  These that are sealed are saved, sealed, and spotless men and women, those to whom lived for Christ in their generation.  These are those who will have an impact on their times.  You and I are to live with impact.  During these days of lies, deception, immorality, and violence we are to be truth-filled disciples; during our short days on earth we are to live the same.  If our mouths are filled with lies, if our lives are lacking in morality and integrity, then no one will listen to what we have to say about the gospel or the Lord Jesus.

    “Father, thank you for the seriousness of this chapter.  You have mapped out a plan that will ultimately bring glory to Your name, and we realize we must fit in Your plan.  May we bear the message and the fruits of repentance and godliness.  We commit our lives to You, in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen.“

  • Heaven Is For Real

    “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea” (Revelation 21:1).

    Too many of us do not realize that Heaven is God’s idea and not ours. We base so much from our humanness instead of God’s reasonableness. Satan has come to blaspheme God’s name and His dwelling place and those who live there (Rev. 13:6). He wants to skew God’s reality of a place called Heaven.

    Do not allow Satan to cause you to think less than God desires for you. Heaven is God’s idea for you and for me. It is the place we should long for and desire more than anything. Really, we do desire this place called Heaven. Every desire to be fulfilled and satisfied is based on the desire to go to this place and dwell there.

    Cyprian, the third century church father, said, “Let us greet the day which assigns each of us to his own home, which snatches us from this place and sets us free from the snares of the world, and restores us to paradise and the kingdom. Anyone who has been in foreign lands longs to return to his own native land…We regard paradise as our native land.”

    God’s people are going to a tangible place, a real place, that is designed on God’s geographical map. It is not a place of disembodied spirits, for human beings are not suited for such a realm. What we are suited for–what we’ve been specifically designed for–it is a place like the one God made for us: Earth. God has never given up on his original plan for human beings to dwell on Earth. The climax of history will be the creation of new heavens and a New Earth, a resurrected universe inhabited by resurrected people living with the resurrected Jesus (Revelation 21:1-4).

  • The Third Day

    Spiritual Development:  fisher of men net

    Is it a Blessing?

    Or a Burden?

     
    “My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you”     (Galatians 4:19).

    Most fathers are absent when it comes to leading their children to faith/life issues. Most mothers are misguided as well when it comes to patiently loving their children to Christ. There are very few lives where Bible and devotions are in the home. Today’s generation of youth know little of the Faith once delivered. They know little of the reason for the Bible and to why they believe what they do.

    Dawson McAllister states that ninety percent, “of kids active in high school church youth groups do not go to church by the time they are sophomores in college.” Rigorous teaching and training in the faith of children as taught in Scripture must be practiced, or the church will lose multitudes more to the god of this age.

    What a great time to invest in the lives of our youth. It is a good time to always reach out to children and youth, to lead them and to guide them to Christ. Evangelism and discipleship is never easy. We seem to want everything to fall into our laps. It is not the way of the Master. For discipleship works when we work as we are led by the Spirit of God. There will be trials, tears, and at times a desire to throw it all to the side–but it is not what God would have for us or for the youth of this day.

    Paul travailed in prayer, in practice, and in perseverance till Christ was formed in the church of Galatia. Should we expect anything differently?

     

     

     

  • Are you Gold?

    “How is the gold become dim! How is the most fine gold changed! The stones of the sanctuary are poured out of every street” (Lamentations 4:1).
    Gold is full of luster, very malleable, and has great value. Gold has a center of gravity and it is not easily rusted. God says of His city and her people they were like gold at one time. But now Jeremiah laments the city of Jerusalem, for she has become tarnished and dulled. Her children, the seed of God’s people, no longer shine for Jehovah God.
    There is change all around us. What was once bright now has become dull. Those that once went after the gold of God’s Word now are seeking the fool’s gold of the world. What once was the wisdom of the ages now has become a book that is hardly touched.
    Where are the fathers that have not changed?  Where are the children that shine as gold? Dads, moms, and grandparents, seem to be out of touch with God. Oh there is a touch but that is about it.
    America used to shine but now she is as brass. What once was gold now has been stolen. So to put on a good act America is borrowed brass that is shined up with fancy patriotic songs that seem to shine. But words can never do the work that only God can.
    Jeremiah is not asking a question; he is stating a fact. And because of his verbal analysis of the state of the nation, he is thrown into jail and into a deep pit left to rot. You know a nation is no longer gold when it rejects its prophets and its preachers. When the people want to get rid of that which is pure you can know that judgment is on the way.
    What once was gold is now but earthen vessels of clay. Dull, lifeless, cracked, and without real value. The gold has been stripped away. The power and presence of God has left that which was once alive and vibrant and expectant.
    Check the facts:  Are you tenderhearted toward God and others? Does the Word of God change you as you read it? Are you growing into the likeness of Jesus? Are your children living for God? Are you as regular in church attendance as beforehand? Does prayer rise in your heart as never before? Are you ready before God to easily repent of sin at every turn? How hard is it for others to get you off the gold path? And how easy is it for God to get you back on it?
    Brass will shine, but it is not like gold. We will either turn back to the gold standard or nothing. We have been robbed of the gold. A cheaper brand of Christianity is with us today. Rather than pay the price we have settled down to being just clay pitchers pottered by our own hands.

  • Fighting the Battles of Life

    “And do you abide outside the camp seven days; whosoever has killed any person, and whosoever has touched any slain, purify both yourselves and your captives on the third day, and on the seventh day” (Numbers 31:19).

    We have an enemy that is against us in every way. The people of Israel knew that and they were forced to right their wrongs. They had been enticed by a nation which led to a plague and death. God said stay outside the camp and purify yourselves and those who are your prisoners. Let them know there is a difference between clean and unclean.

    God is serious about His people staying clean and maintaining a holy relationship with Himself. No compromise is expected. We can win the battle and lose the victory if we are not careful.  We are to be separated from all that offends our holy and righteous God we serve. Sin is a horrible pit to fall into.

    We have many battles as Christians. Not a day goes by that we do not face temptations, trials, and battles. We are to maintain a constant relationship with the Lord so that we will see His power to overcome. The battles prepare us for the last battle and the last enemy which is death. Live in the fullness of Christ daily and may we see the power of a cleansed and consecrated life in the sight of our God.