Praying with Confidence

Sometimes God's word doesn't seem to match up with my experiences and reality. At first glance, 1 John 5:14-15 appears to be one of those passages...

"¹⁴This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. ¹⁵And if we know that he hears us - whatever we ask - we know that we have what we asked of him."

It's easy for us to skim through verse 14 and jump to the promise of verse 15 - he hears us and we have what we asked of him, but not so fast. If you're anything like me, that's not always a reality. I don't get everything I pray for, do you? So, let's dig a little deeper into this passage.

First of all, I love the fact that we can have confidence in approaching God. That could not be possible if He had not loved us enough to send Jesus to bear our sins on the cross in order to open the door for a right relationship with Himself. (Thank you, God!) So, confidently I go into prayer, confident that he hears my prayers - that they do not bounce off the ceiling or fall on deaf ears, but are carefully monitored by him. I am praying heart-to-heart.

The hard part of verse 14 is praying according to his will, for we don't know how to pray as we ought (Romans 8:26).  Fortunately, God has given us His Spirit, who helps us to pray and intercedes for us as we pray. It is the Holy Spirit who knows God's will - knows God's thoughts (1 Corinthians 2:10-16). As we pray, we need to ask the Holy Spirit to help us pray according to God's will and He will do so.

Still, we are human and our own desires creep into our prayers, so in the end, after we have prayed  and shared our cares and requests with God, we need to acquiesce to His will in the matter, just as Jesus did in the Garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22:39-42) when He closed His own prayer to be released from the cross with, "Nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done." (Luke 22:42)  In doing this, we recognize and submit ourselves to the sovereignty of God.

So, pray with confidence, let your requests be made known to God (Philippians 4:6), then end your prayer by submitting to God's will over your own, because His will is perfect (Romans 12:2). After that, you can relax and let Him handle the situation. Receive His promise to fill you with His peace, which transcends all understanding and will guard your heart and mind (Philippians 4:7). I am assuming that means guarding your heart and mind against worry and anxiety, as mentioned in Philippians 4:6.

You prayed.
You put it in God's hands.
God's got it.
He will do what is best.
Rest in Him.

...and that's how you pray with CONFIDENCE!


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Prayer - Are You Doing it "Right?"

Just pour out your heart to God.

I've been thinking a lot about prayer these days. Being the Prayer Team Coordinator for our church means all prayer requests that come into the church and channeled to me, then sent out to our Prayer Team.  Some of these requests are heartbreaking and when there are many of those during the week, it can get you down if you don't anchor your faith in a God who loves each one of those people deeply, a God who knows what is the very best for each person in each situation, A God who understands each heart.

So, a while back, I started to feel like as I prayed for each request it seemed like I was giving God orders - God, heal this person, God restore this marriage, God save this woman's son, God break this man's addiction, God protect this man in prison...

One day the thought occurred to me that since God knows the intimate details of each person and their circumstances, that it might be better to ask God to step into their situation and do what if the very best thing for all involved and to help each person lean heavily on him during their trials.

Then today I read an short synopsis for a book on prayer. It started like this...\

"Are your prayers being answered? Do you even know what to pray? Deep down inside, do you feel that prayer is too passive to really accomplish much?"

I have to tell you, these three questions bug me. It seems to infer that unless you pray the correct way or unless you pray passionately, God won't bother to answer. Or if it seems that your prayers aren't being answered, it's your fault for not praying right. That rankles me to no end!

Friend, one of the most loving things we can do is lift a hurting person to God in prayer. We don't have use the perfect words or quote the appropriate scriptures back to God before he will pay attention to our prayers. We don't have to work ourselves up into a frenzy before he responds. All we have to do is open our hearts and let our love for others pour out to him. Sometime, we don't know exactly what to pray because a trial in someone's life may be what it takes to draw someone closer to God or to transform their character to be more like Christ. Not that God brings calamity on us just to teach us a lesson. He doesn't. Life will do that for us all by itself because we live in a broken world and when it does, God sees and works to turn a bad situation around so that good will come out of it.

So, go ahead and pray for those you love, those you don't like, those you don't even know when you see someone hurting. Don't worry about saying the right words or having the right posture, just open your heart and ask God to work his perfect will in their lives. That's better than anything else you could possibly do.

So, what do you think? Does prayer intimidate you? Have you been frustrated with your prayer life?

Remember, prayer is just an open conversation between you and your Father God.
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Waiting on God - You're not Alone

You've prayed (many times) yet the answer has not come. You're weary, sick, alone and feel as if God has forgotten you. You've read, believed and stood on God's promises. You feel your faith wavering, your hope fading, your trust crumbling. You are holding on frantically, but losing your grip. You know God loves you, wants the best for you and is able to rescue you, yet He has not yet stepped in and you wonder why. What purpose could there be to this waiting?

Dear friend, you are not alone. Many believers across the land are waiting. They, too are discouraged, confused and desperate to see God's hand move.

If all who are waiting on the Lord were gathered together in one place, what would they do? What would you do? Would you commiserate, recounting your own woes and doubts, or would you look on those troubled souls and speak life to them? Would you encourage them with words of faith, pray for them, let them know that they are not alone - that you are standing with them?

Of course you would, and in the process, your own strength would be renewed, your own spirit lifted and your own hope refreshed.

You may not be standing in the midst of that waiting throng, but you know they are out there and you can still do the one thing that would be most helpful and loving. You can pray for them. Pray all the things that you would say if you were with them, and in the process, you will be strengthened, for God honors love.

So, as you wait, pray, and as you wait, take a look around you. There are people who are waiting on the Lord, struggling to maintain hope, feeling all alone. They may be the people closest to you. Don't let them stand alone. Reach out and offer friendship, understanding, encouragement and most of all, love and together praise God while you are waiting, knowing that He is faithful and will reward those who endure with patience and trust on His perfect timing and His perfect answer.

"Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name. Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you." Psalm 33:20-22

Are you in that waiting place? Discouraged and feeling alone? I would love to pray for you. Please leave a comment below and know that you are not alone. I'm here with you.


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Who's Who in Your Relationship with God?

Something to think about.

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Where is the POWER in PRAYER?

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 "Much is said and many complaints are made about the feebleness of the church to fulfill her calling, to exercise an influence over her members, to deliver them from the power of the world, and to bring them a life of holy consecration to God. Much is also spoken about her indifference to the millions of heathen whom Christ entrusted to her that she might make known to them His love and salvation. What is the reason that many thousands of Christian workers in the world do not have a greater influence? Nothing except this - the prayerlessness of their service. In the midst of all their zeal in the study and in the work of the church, of all their faithfulness in preaching and conversation with the people, they lack that ceaseless prayer that has attached to it, the sure promise of the Spirit and the "power from on high" (quote from The Prayer Life by Andrew Murray)

What was the "promise of the Spirit" that would bring us "power from on high?"

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Acts 1:8

Jesus promised that when the Holy Spirit comes to us (at the point of salvation), He will give us the power to be His witnesses. The power to influence people to turn to Christ. The power to pray with authority for the healing of those around us. The power to change the world is at our disposal, yet we fail to tap into that power because of our weak prayer lives.

How do we tap into the power of the Holy Spirit?

"In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God." Romans 8:26-27

If you want your life to be a powerful witness for Christ,  the answer is found in prayer, much prayer, accessing the Holy Spirit's ability to show us how to pray, what to pray and giving us the POWER to do the will of God.

Do you experience the ability - the power, to do the things God asks you to do? If not, then I ask you - How's your prayer life?
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Prayer - Conversation or Communion?

I've heard prayer defined as an ongoing conversation with God, and on the surface, that sounds like a good definition, but it's a far too simplistic. Conversations are often just "mind dumps" on another person without taking the time to truly listen to them to see what's on their minds - on their hearts. We exchange information without really connecting with one another.  

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Prayer is so much more than conversation with God. Prayer is communion with God.

com·mun·ion -kəˈmyo͞onyən  noun

1. the sharing or exchanging of intimate thoughts and feelings, especially when the exchange is on a mental or spiritual level.
   
   synonyms:
   

   affinity, fellowship, kinship, friendship, fellow feeling, togetherness, closeness, harmony, understanding, rapport, connection, communication, empathy, accord, unity

Prayer is intimate. Prayer is meeting with the Creator of the universe, the Creator of human life - your human life. Prayer is connecting with the One who loves you beyond all reason - so much so, that He gave His only Son to redeem a broken relationship with you and tear down that barrier of sin that kept you isolated from communion with the Father.

Prayer is not one-sided. It's a sharing - an exchanging of intimate thoughts and feelings - yours AND God's. You speak, He listens and nods in complete understanding. He speaks and you listen, in complete agreement - whether you understand all He is saying or not, because, well...He is Lord. You listen with a heart bent toward immediate obedience.

Prayer is experienced on a mental, emotional and spiritual level. We open ourselves up and pour it all out to the only one who fully "gets us," knowing that only He can bring about what is best for us. Only He knows whether our circumstances need to change or whether it's US who need to change.

So, with this deeper understanding of prayer, the next time you close yourself in with God, take a few minutes to remind yourself just who you are talking with. Reach for that richer, more fulfilling communion experience, rather than a surface conversation.

Reach for affinity, fellowship, kinship, friendship, fellow feeling, togetherness, closeness, harmony, understanding, rapport, connection, communication, empathy, accord and unity with God, your Father.

I pray that your prayer time will be a whole new experience for you.

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Gigantic Mustard Seed Faith

Are you a Mountain Mover?

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In Matthew 17:20, Jesus says that if we have faith the size of a mustard seed, (which is one of the smallest seeds of all), we can move mountains.

Well, so far, I haven't been able to cast a mountain into the sea, so it makes me wonder just how small my faith is. That can really bum me out until I remember that the focus is not my faith, but the faith I have in the One to whom I pray.  Do I believe that God is able to do great things? To move impossible mountains in my life?

Our prayers often reflect the size of our faith. I heard a quote recently that made me think about the way I pray...

We should be storming heaven with prayers asking God for the impossible, not the mundane! ~Oscar Muriu 

...and I heard another guy say we should be praying...

Big hairy audacious prayers!

Why don't we pray for things that seem beyond reach? Things that seem impossible? Miracles?

Maybe it's because we're afraid that if we do and it doesn't happen, it will shake our faith in God.  Remember, we're praying and asking God to answer our prayers and sometimes (for our own sake or for His own purposes), he says "No" to our prayer.  That's okay.  We ultimately want his will, not our own.

So, why bother to ask for the miracle?  Because the answer might just be YES, but if we never have the courage to ask, we may never see His miracle-working power.

It reminds me of a story I heard about a man who went to Heaven and while Jesus was giving him a tour, He opened the door to a room stacked high with beautifully wrapped gifts of every size.  When he asked Jesus what they were, He answered, "Gifts waiting to be prayed for."

I don't know about you, but I want everything God wants to give me...and NOTHING that He doesn't want me to have.  So, I'll pray for those things that I believe to be within His will, like healing miracles, financial miracles and salvation of those I love who seem so very far from ever wanting to come to God, the salvation of my city or - and here's a biggie - godly government officials who make decisions based on what's right, not what's beneficial to them - because I believe in miracles and because I'm okay with God saying no.  I know that He will only do what's best, so that might mean I don't get what I think is best, but I will not limit him by being afraid to ask for the big stuff.

How about you? Do you pray mundane, anemic, namby-pamby prayers or do you really connect with God and seek him for depth and width and length and heighth - for the things that are beyond what you could do for yourself.  Do you ask for those things your heart longs for? Are you afraid to ask for those things because you're afraid he might say no?

What if He says YES!

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Upward Falling

I heard a song this morning (Touch the Sky by Hillsong United) and these words grabbed my attention...

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Upward falling
Spirit soaring
I touch the sky when
my knees hit the ground.

This is what prayer does for me.  When I'm bogged down by life, by the evening news of horrendous things mankind is doing to each other. When I hear a friend is hurting or moving away. When the doctor says something I didn't want to hear. When someone I love is heading down a path that can only lead to destruction.

When I feel my spirit tanking, my knees hit the ground and after a while, I'm falling...UPWARD. 

My spirit soars above the quagmire into the realm of faith and the assurance that God is there. God makes a difference. Praying for others changes things. Not instantly, but definitely. I am lifted up, when I am on my knees.

The situation may not have changed, but God has changed something in me so that when I rise, I am no longer bogged down. I am walking on clouds of faith and trust in God, who is good, who is for me and who is with me in all circumstances.


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Fear crept up and jumped on my head!

A simple trip to the doctor to see why I was experiencing hearing loss turned into a biopsy of a suspicious spot on my nose, with positive results for basal cell carcinoma, a consult with a Mohs surgeon and a plastic surgeon and an upcoming surgery to remove the cancer.

The worst part? I learned that I have to be awake for the surgery that will take several hours to perform, followed by another surgery to close the wound with a skin flap.  The more I thought about it, the more apprehensive I became. How much of my nose would they have to take? How bad would it hurt? How long would it take to heal? How bad will I look afterward?  As I mulled things over and insidious spirit of fear slithered it's way into my mind and took over. I was afraid - really afraid!

I thought if I Googled Mohs surgery it might give me a better understanding of the surgical process and calm my fears. WRONG!  

Before I could even find the facts, I was inundated with frightening pictures of noses post surgery. Big gaping wounds, disfiguring faces bruised and stitched. Horrible pictures that scared the wits out of me. I turned off the computer, jumped in bed and pulled the covers over my head. I spent the night in fits of sleep, interspersed with scary images, imaginings and unsettling dreams. I prayed, but peace didn't come.

The next day was worse. Fear had a strangle-hold on me.  I recalled this verse....

 When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. Psalm 56:3

I repeated it over and over, declaring my trust in the Lord. He'd never let me down in the past and I knew he wouldn't let me down this time, but...

fear wouldn't give up that easily. 

So, I initiated my secret weapon. I contacted prayer warriors around the country. Friends and family who love me and know how to hit their knees in intercession and spiritual warfare, because I believe in the power of prayer and the loving counsel of godly people.

The fear lifted. I said... 

THE FEAR LIFTED!

That just makes me want to sing and shout! God is awesome and His people are kind, supportive and caring.

How do people go through these kinds of things without God and Christian brothers & sisters?

I still have to face the surgery in several weeks, but now I have peace. I'm sure fear will try to weasel his way in again, but I'm on guard, now and I know just what to do.

Joshua 1:9 says...

"Yes, be bold and strong! Banish fear and doubt! For remember, the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Today, I met 3 of my friends for our weekly coffee, chat and blogging session. One of them, Joy, walked in and sang a little ditty she'd made up...

God will never forsake you. He'll never ever leave you.
No, never,  no, never, never never, no, never no, never, never, never, never, never, NO!

So, there, Fear - take that!

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UPDATE: It's been a year since I had surgery. The doctor was amazed that the spot of basal cell carcinoma was very small. He said he had been sure that it would be a large area of my nose. The removal took about 10 minutes.  A couple of days later, I went for the closing surgery. They didn't have to do a flap, just a smaller skin graft.  Today, the scars are relatively small. They look big to me, but others say they don't even notice them. 

Bottom line: God is good and prayer works!
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From Terrorist to Evangelist - It Can Happen

Once upon a time, there was a man named Saul who thought himself quite religious. He was zealous about his faith and abhorred anyone who thought differently.  He felt it his righteous duty to seek out, persecute, imprison and even have put to death others who followed the Christian faith.

We're seeing that very same scenario played out today in Iraq and other Middle Eastern countries. Men, who are so zealous about their faith that they think they are doing their god a favor by putting to death men, women and children who follow the Christian faith.

Our response - kill them - kill them all - is the cry on many hearts today, but if that cry had been the same back in Saul's day and if Saul had been killed for his atrocities, we wouldn't have several books of the Bible, penned by the Apostle Paul as Saul became known after his conversion.

How did his conversion happen?  It went like this...

¹ Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest ² and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. ³ As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. ⁴ He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
⁵ “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.
“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. ⁶ “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
⁷ The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. ⁸ Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. ⁹ For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.
¹⁰ In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!”
“Yes, Lord,” he answered.
¹¹ The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. ¹² In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.”
¹³ “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. ¹⁴ And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”
¹⁵ But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. ¹⁶ I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”
¹⁷ Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” ¹⁸ Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, ¹⁹ and after taking some food, he regained his strength." Acts 9:1-19

After this experience, Saul became the Apostle Paul, evangelist to the Gentiles, converting thousands upon thousands to Christianity, both in his day and down through the ages as the author of several books in the New Testament. He spent the rest of his life telling people about the love of God and salvation through Jesus Christ. From terrorist to evangelist. Only God can do something like that.

As we hear about the atrocities taking place in the Middle East today, about children being beheaded, Christians forced to renounce their faith or die. Forced to leave their homeland on foot across the hot desert, forced to flee into the mountains where they are starving to death, the first inclination of our hearts is to wipe out those evil men who are committing such crimes, but there is a better way.

We can pray - earnestly, forcefully, on our faces for God to save the very people who are doing these horrible things. That God will stop them in their tracks, just as He did with Saul and bring them face to face with Himself. Not just to save them, but convert them so completely that they will give themselves to serve Him and spread the Gospel through out the Muslim world for the rest of their lives.

God can do that. God would prefer to do that, rather than slay them, sending them to Hell. He loves his creation and His plan has always been to bring man to Himself through Jesus' death on the cross. Satan's plan is to destroy every man, woman and child before they can receive Christ and in the event that they do receive Christ, then his rage is heightened as he influences evil men to carry out his evil vendetta against God by destroying his children.

One of the hardest, yet most God-honoring thing we could do at this point is pray - pray for the safety and deliverance of those who are under such great persecution and pray for those who are perpetrating this evil to be stopped in their tracks by the Lord God Almighty and brought to their knees in repentance and conversion.

This is how I will pray. 
 
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A Walk Through Revelation - Part 12

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The Scroll and the Lamb

Revelation 5

1 Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. ² And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” ³ But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. ⁴ I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. ⁵ Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”

⁶ Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. ⁷ He went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. ⁸ And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people. ⁹ And they sang a new song, saying:

“You are worthy to take the scroll
    and to open its seals,
because you were slain,
    and with your blood you purchased for God
    persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.
¹⁰ You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,
    and they will reign on the earth.”

¹¹ Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. ¹² In a loud voice they were saying:

“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
    to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
    and honor and glory and praise!”

¹³ Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying:

“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
    be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!”

¹⁴ The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.

Revelation 5:1-14

 For me, this is when the book of Revelation starts to boggle my mind. From here on out, it's hard for me to detect what is a literal translation of what John saw and what is symbolism. I could try from here to eternity to figure it all out and I'd probably still get it all wrong, and I'm not the only one.

In studying this chapter, I read many different commentaries by learned Bible scholars, each giving differing opinions on whether the seven spirits were seven actual spirits or whether the Greek translation of a seven-fold spirit of God was more accurate. Some said the seven-fold spirit referred back to Isaiah 11:2 and some argued that Isaiah wasn't describing seven spirits, but three and then defining attributes of  those three with four descriptions.

Holy Moly!  I'll tell you what - I'm going to focus on what I do understand from the passage, because while we debate what could have been meant by the strange things described here, we could overlook the main point of the chapter and that is this...

There was a very important scroll to be opened.

5 Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. 

Only someone WORTHY (virtuous, righteous, good, moral, ethical, upright, upstanding, high-minded, principled, exemplary) could open the scroll and it seemed line no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth measured up to those standards, which made John profusely sad.

² And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” ³ But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. ⁴ I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside.

And then One was found!

⁵ Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”

It's Jesus - of course, it's Jesus.

⁶ Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. ⁷ He went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne.

Ok, this is not the Jesus I recognize. I never pictured him having seven horns and seven eyes and I don't think this is a literal translation, but symbolism. Here's were we could get stuck, but rather than try to figure out why Jesus was described this way, let's get to the main point. What happened when Jesus took the scroll from the right hand of God?

⁸ And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of  incense, which are the prayers of God’s people. ⁹ And they sang a new song, saying:

“You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals,
because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God
persons from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God
and they will reign on the earth.”

Rejoicing - that's what happened! Falling-down-on-your-face rejoicing, joyful singing and though the text doesn't say it, I'll just bet those harps were being played, too. Notice the golden bowls filled with incense? See what the are?

they were holding golden bowls full of  incense,
which are the prayers of God’s people

I love this! Our prayers don't just go up to God and evaporate into thin air. They are held in a bowl as sweet smelling incense burning before our Lord.  David prayed for this in Psalm 141:2

May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.

Doesn't that make your prayer life richer? Doesn't it make you want to pray more, knowing that your prayers are a fragrant offering to God?

So, what happened after the four living creatures and 24 elders began rejoicing that Jesus was found to be worthy to open the scroll? The angels got in on the worship...

¹¹ Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. ¹² In a loud voice they were saying:

“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
    to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!”

How many angels? Circling the throne along with the living creatures and the elders and softly praising Jesus...NO, it says they were crying in a LOUD VOICE. Worship can be soft and reverent, but it can also be loud and raucous. It's okay to let yourself go and really praise. It would be weird to see a stadium full of baseball fans sitting quietly, whispering, "Go team. Go." We have something much more amazing to celebrate than a ball and a bat, two teams and nine innings. Don't be afraid to worship out loud.

What happens after the living creatures, the 24 elders and thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand angels began praising and sing around the throne?

¹³ Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying:

“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
    be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!”

The book of Philippians (2:9-11) says...

⁹ Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
    and gave him the name that is above every name,
¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
¹¹ and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father.

and the book of Romans says...

¹¹ It is written:“‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord,
‘every knee will bow before me;
    every tongue will acknowledge God.’”

Though many may not acknowledge Jesus as the King, the Savior, the Holy Son of God, a day is coming when every created being will bow down give him the praise and honor and glory He deserves. I choose to start now!

Finally, we come to the end of this chapter...

¹⁴ The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.

They said "Amen" which means, it is so; so be it; truly; an expression that means I wholeheartedly agree! And that is the point of this whole chapter. Jesus is the only One worthy to be worshiped, the only One we bow down to, the only One we look to for our hope and our future. 

Take a few minutes (or a lot of minutes) and praise Him. Put on some music, praise Him on bended knee, standing up, sitting down, dancing, softly and loudly. Let yourself be caught up in adoration. Have a wonderful time in the Spirit of Worship, for...

HE IS WORTHY!

 
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I've got a secret!

I woke up this morning and opened my eyes to find the Presence of God filling my room. It was as if He'd been sitting there, waiting for me to wake up so we could spend some time together and talk about what's been on our hearts. We did that and then He sent me on my way to face whatever the day might hold, with the assurance that He will be right here beside me all the way.

What a wonderful way to start the day!  It reminded me of a song from long ago, The Secret, which was actually a musical version of a poem by Ralph Cushman. Here's the poem...

"I met God in the morning"

 

I met God in the morning
when the day was at its best,
And His Presence came like sunrise,
Like a glory in my breast.

All day long the Presence lingered,
All day long He stayed with me,
And we sailed in perfect calmness
O'er a very troubled sea.

Other ships were blown and battered,
Other ships were sore distressed,
But the winds that seemed to drive them,
Brought to me a peace and rest.

Then I thought of other mornings,
With a keen remorse of mind,
When I too had loosed the moorings,
With the presence left behind.

So, I think I know the secret,
Learned from many a troubled way:
You must seek Him in the morning
If you want Him through the day!

That's the secret, my friend - You must seek Him in the morning, if you want Him through the day.

Does that mean that if you miss your time with Him in the morning that He won't be with you throughout the day? No, He promises us that He will never leave us or forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:6) and that He will always be with you (Matthew 28:20). 

The problem is that when we rush into our day without spending time with Him, we go through the day forgetting that He is with us. We struggle, needlessly through the day on our own.

So, do yourself a favor - start the day right by seeking Him in the morning. When you open your eyes tomorrow morning, just know that He has been waiting for you. Talk with Him.

Q. Have you ever spent a morning with God where His Presence was so real you could feel it?

Q. Have you ever rushed into the day and found yourself totally stressed out before you remembered to talk with God?

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Are You Missing the Point of Prayer?

 Prayer changes things us!

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Prayer changes us on the inside, alters the way we think about things, what we think about and our attitudes toward things. The point of prayer is not to get things from God, but to open ourselves up to Him - to get to know Him - to allow Him to change those things in us that hinder our spiritual walk with Him.

Point to Ponder: Do I spend way more time in prayer trying to get God to change my circumstances or allowing Him change my character?

 
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Pray Believing

"Men may, and often do, pray without faith (though this is not true prayer), but it is not thinkable that men should have faith and not pray. 

The biblical formula is "the prayer of faith." Prayer and faith are here bound together by the little preposition of, and what God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. Faith is only genuine as it eventuates into prayer. 

When Tennyson wrote "More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of," he probably uttered a truth of vaster significance than even he understood. While it is not always possible to trace an act of God to its prayer-cause, it is yet safe to say that prayer is back of everything that God does for the sons of men here upon earth. One would gather as much from a simple reading of the Scriptures. 

What profit is there in prayer? Much in every way. Whatever God can do, faith can do, and whatever faith can do prayer can do when it is offered in faith. An invitation to prayer is, therefore, an invitation to omnipotence, for prayer engages the Omnipotent God and brings Him into our human affairs. Nothing is impossible to the man who prays in faith, just as nothing is impossible with God. 

This generation has yet to prove all that prayer can do for believing men and women."

 ~ AW Tozer

 God would not ask us - command us to pray unless He had every intention of answering prayer. Why then, do we sometimes feel that our prayers have gone unanswered?

Perhaps it's because we did not pray in faith, believing that He would answer.

Or, perhaps He answered, but we did not like the answer. Let's admit it, we want God to answer our prayers the way we think is best. 

Complete healing...and fast.
Loved ones saved...today.
Finances sorted out...yesterday.

And when that doesn't happen, we assume that God hasn't heard or answered.

Sometimes His answer is "no," because He wants us to walk through the difficulty in order to learn more about His all-sufficient grace or because He us using the trial to shape our character more into the image of Christ.

And we have to be okay with that - He is, after all...God.

Read God's word, see what things are in His will, then pray with faith, believing...but don't stress if the answer is "no," because He is building a greater faith in you than you know.

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I believe, help me overcome my unbelief.

In Mark, chapter 9, a man whose son was demon possessed came to Jesus for help..

Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?”

“From childhood,” he answered. “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”

“‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.”

Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the impure spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” Mark 9:21-24

Even those of us who fully believe that God hears our cries for help and have the faith to believe that He will answer struggle from time to time with unbelief, especially when we have prayed for something for a long time, but have not yet seen God working in the situation. Notice, however, that Jesus did not rebuke the man for the bit of unbelief. Instead, He brought the answer the man had sought for so long.

Don’t be dismayed if a little bit of doubt or unbelief sneaks it’s way into your prayers from time to time. We are human and God understands that. Just declare as this man did...”Lord, I believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” Keep praying, keep standing strong on God’s promises, keep reaffirming your trust and faith in the Lord and soon you will see Him move on your behalf.

Prayer...

Lord, help us to stand especially strong when my prayers have not been answered. Help us to not lose heart, but rather, to continue to grow in faith. I believe that you hear and answer prayer, but I need you to help me in those moments of doubt. Help me to recall past answered prayer, to remember your promises and to thank you in advance for the way you will answer the current cries of my heart. Amen

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A Grandmother's Legacy

My beautiful grandmother, Mable Glaze

A blogging friend of mine posted this verse on her blog today...

I have no greater joy than this, to hear that my children walk in truth." 3 John 1:4

It brought back wonderful memories of my Grandma Glaze. She was a colorful and fiesty lady and I loved her spunk. When she passed, I inherited her Bible. While thumbing through it I came across this same verse in 3rd John. It was underlined and "My favorite verse" was written in the margin.

My Grandma gave birth to 14 children. When she passed, she had 52 grandchildren. I've lost track of how many great-grandchildren, but it's very near 100 and now we're into the great-great generation - maybe about 35 so far...and almost all of them are believers!

Never underestimate the power of a praying mother and grandmother!

The greatest thing you can do for your family for generations to come is to pray them into the Kingdom of God and never, ever give up.

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(Copyright© 2012 Jan Christiansen. All rights reserved.)

Dual Realities?

As some of you know (because I’ve posted it on Facebook), I am loving a new devotional book I got about a month ago – Jesus Calling by Sarah Young, and here is why.

 

This morning I read this...

Living in God's Presence means living in two realms simultaneously; the visible world and unseen, eternal reality. God has equipped us to stay conscious of Him while walking along dusty, earthbound paths.

Doesn’t that just make you stop and think about the reality that we are in this world, but not of it? That what we cannot see is far more real than what we can see?

Prayer is a vital part of this equation. We whisper a prayer here and may think that not much is happening, but in the spiritual realm prayer is the catalyst that initiates miracles!

All heaven springs into action and all hell cowers at the power unleashed by prayer. Let’s hit our knees and shake things up a little!

Pick one thing that you really want to see God do in your life or the life of someone you love. Spend this week in concentrated prayer for that one thing and let's see what happens. Feel free to post here what you're praying for and we'll pray with you about it.
 

And do yourself a favor - pick up a copy of Jesus Calling - Enjoying Peace in His Presence 

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Pray Like You Mean It

“While Jesus lived on earth, he prayed to God and asked God for help. He prayed with loud cries and tears to the One who could save him from death, and his prayer was heard because he trusted God.” Hebrews 5:7

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It’s amazing to me that Jesus prayed with loud cries and tears. It wasn’t with perfect words, spoken in just the right tone. No, Jesus prayed with all that was within him – anguish, frustration, desire, longing...he poured out his heart to God with everything he was feeling. He prayed urgently, with emotion.

Do we do that? Or do we just read through a list of prayer requests and gloss over each one? Emotionless prayers with no sense of an urgent desire for God to answer the needs of our brothers and sisters?

Honestly, I have to raise my hand to this question and say "guilty". Sometimes it’s just a quick, perfunctory prayer that I utter.

 

I’m not saying we should work up false emotions when we pray, but if we are called to be intercessors, we should be praying like we really want God to answer.  If we're praying for the needs of those in our church, we need to pray like these things are happening in our own families, for in truth...they are.

This week, let’s put a little more effort in our prayers. If this does not pertain to you, just dismiss it and carry on, but if it does...then I’m right there with you, my friends.

The last part of that verse says that “his prayer was heard because he trusted God”. Let’s really trust God to go to work in each of these situations. Let’s expect him to answer.

 

What do you do to keep your prayer life vibrant?

Share your thoughts in a comment.

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(Copyright© 2012 Jan Christiansen. All rights reserved.)

Are you "called" to pray?

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. (New International Version 1984) - Ephesians 6:18

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I head up the prayer ministry at our church, receiving requests over the internet, the phone and via our communication cards. I then type up the requests and send them out by email to all the members of our prayer team.
Often folks will slip up beside me in church and ask me to add or a loved one to our prayer list.

I assure them that we would love to pray for their needs and sometimes I ask, "Would you like to join our prayer team and pray for the needs of others?"

I would like to say that their answer is "yes" every time, but sometimes I get this...

"Oh, I don't have time to pray for others."

"Um...I'll pray about it and let you know."

"Well...I don't really feel called to that ministry."

What??????

I'm sorry, but God is not going to issue a special "calling" to pray for the needs of our fellow believers. Well, let me take that back...God has all ready issued a specal calling to pray for the needs of fellow believers...and the lost...and those in authority...and for His kingdom to be come and for His will to be done - and His will is that we pray for one another.

With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints!

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(Copyright© 2012 Jan Christiansen. All rights reserved.)