 |
| You can either use the weapons God has given you to fight this war you are in or you can be defeated - which will you do? The choice is up to you. |
I often wonder
what God thinks of us… Does He sit up there in Heaven shaking His Head? Thinking, “I’ve given them a guidebook – The Bible. I’ve given them the tools – prayer and STILL
they run around like turkeys with their heads cut off?”
How does God
tolerate us? We are (as the Bible has
indicated in the Old Testament) a “stiff necked” people. We should rejoice and praise God for His
patience and grace with us. I include
myself amongst that number. Sometimes
the answer is so obvious we don’t see it!
Last week my chapel had a movie
night – they showed a movie I had not had a chance to see called, “The War
Room.” How appropriately entitled it was
because the truth of the matter is – WE ARE AT WAR. We are in the middle of a spiritual war and
even if we choose not to recognize the truth of that matter – it is occurring
and happening ALL around us. We can
choose to acknowledge it and participate on the winning side – the side of the
Lord or we can choose to hide our heads in the sand like ostriches and act as
though nothing is going on around us.
This does not mean that in doing so you will not be choosing by not
choosing, either way – you make a choice as to whose side you will be on. The fact of the matter is we ARE in a
spiritual war and just because you cannot see the spiritual side of what is
going on does not mean that the war is not taking place.
God has given us
the weapon and tool of prayer to bring those things that concern us to His
attention. We are able, through the shed
blood of Jesus, to come boldly to His throne by way of the cross and submit
things to God through prayer. The War
Room Movie portrayed in a very effective manner how God hears and answers
prayer.
I felt convicted
and greatly encouraged at the same time after watching the movie. It is a movie I highly recommend! It made me excited to pray. I have always “talked to God” but this movie
lit a fire underneath me and furthered my desire to pray. You see, prayer is a two way conversation
with God. It’s not a soliloquy – it is
bringing those things that are on your mind and in your heart before God for
His attention and answer. The Bible
tells us that God knows our thoughts before we even think them – but that doesn’t
mean we shouldn’t seek Him through prayer.
I find it exciting to see when I have brought things before my Father
and He answers! No matter what that
answer is, I know that God cares and that He is listening! He desires us to come to Him in prayer.
I think one of
the biggest attacks of ol’ slewfoot is our not believing that God cares enough
to answer prayer – God does! And I have
found that my peace and encouragement has come through being submissive and
obedient through praying. I can do
NOTHING in and of myself – but when I bring the attention of things that
concern me, trouble me, bother me or things I just plain want to know what God
would have me do – I pray! Prayer should
not be a drudgery, it should be a time of conversation with your Father. If you find prayer to be a drag – you simply
need to find a better way to approach it!
You don’t have to be sitting in a pew to approach your Heavenly Father (although
that is a place of quiet and I find it to be a place where I can be alone
without interruption before my Father).
You can talk to God ANYWHERE.
Perhaps go for a walk? Go for a drive – I will say that working two jobs
and being a divorced mother with two children, there have been many a day when
I have (while caught in traffic) had long conversations with my Father while
driving in to work. I’m quite sure that
people seeing my lips moving and an occasional hand gesturing while in traffic,
driving have probably thought I was insane – but some of my best conversations
with my Father have been at times such as these.
The truth of the
matter is you can pray ANYWHERE. In the
movie The War Room the women cleaned out there closets and used them as “prayer
closets.” I thought that was a creative
idea. I opened the door of my walk in
closet and got totally distracted by ALL the junk I have folded up and stored
in there and not liking small enclosed spaces, I decided instead that I would
use my bedroom as my “prayer closet.” I
grabbed a notebook and began to write my prayer requests down as I brought them
to the attention of my Father. It is
amazing how quickly time goes by when you are focused on praying and
communicating things that are important to you, things that you are seeking an
answer from with your Heavenly Father.
Two hours quickly went by and I had only touched the surface of all the
things that were in my mind and on my heart.
Next to each item I had brought to God’s attention I drew a line. A line to which once I have received an
answer from God I will fill in next to that item. God ANSWERS prayer. I want to record when He answered as well as
what that answer was. It is exciting
when you see that God hears you. That He
cares. I find it greatly encouraging
when I have received an answer from the Lord, even if the answer is one that I
did not expect. There is NO GREATER JOY
than being in the center of God’s will.
Even being sure of what God’s will is.
There have been so many weeks lately, where I have thought about Moses,
and how He was focused upon going up that mountain and seeing and hearing from
God. He came back down with His face
radiating the glory of His time with God.
I want that! I want to have the assurance that I know what God wants for
me! That He and I have this amazing
relationship – communicating. I want
that! With the knowledge of what God’s
will is comes that peace that passes all understanding and that is something
that in this day and age we badly need.
Do you believe
in prayer? Have you tried it? Of course
the first step is making Jesus Christ your Lord and Savior – the first prayer
you should be praying or an example of one is that which allows you to come
before the Father and the only one who provides that bridge is Jesus. He died on the cross for forgiveness of our
sins and the ONLY WAY to come to the Father is through the shed blood of Jesus
Christ. In order to do so, you have to
pray a prayer such as this:
“Father God, I come before You through
the shed blood of Your Son, Jesus Christ who has made a way where previously
there was no way. I believe that Jesus
was born of the Virgin Mary, that He lived and was crucified on the cross for
forgiveness of my sins and that He rose from the dead and is seated at the
right hand of the Father. I ask, Jesus
that You would come in to my life and be my Lord and Savior. I thank You in
Jesus name I pray. AMEN.”
The Bible tells
us:
“God so loved the world
that He gave His Only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him, shall not
perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
There is NO
greater joy than being in a relationship with your Creator. I have fallen tremendously in love with my
Father over the last 29 years I have been a Christian (since I myself prayed
that prayer). I have had struggles and
victories that have come only because of Him and through Him. I believe that life is a journey for each of
us. Each of our journeys are as unique
and different as our hand prints. God
has NO favors. He loves YOU. He wants to be in a relationship with you. He wants you to know Him. The best way to do that is through His
instructional book (The Bible) and through prayer (conversation with Him). You don’t have to believe my words – just TRY
what I have written and see for yourself.
When I came to Christ and prayed that prayer my conversation with God
was, “Okay Lord – IF you are REAL YOU need to reveal yourself to ME. IF we are to have a relationship as I am
being told we can – I need YOU to prove it.
Not because of what people tell me – but because of what YOU tell me and
what YOU do.” In the 29 years since I
have said that to Him – He has shown me that He is real in only a way I can
receive it. He WILL do the same for
you. As I have said throughout my blog –
I don’t have all the answers, I am FAR from perfect and there is much work that
God is doing with me. BUT I DO KNOW WHO
IT IS WHO HAS THE ANSWERS and I can direct you to Him. We were created to have a relationship with
God, throughout our lives we constantly try to fill it with other things – but the
truth of the matter is – the only one who can fill that void in us is God. We were made to be in a relationship with
Him, it is only when we realize that and acknowledge our need for Him that we
are able to be filled with that peace that passes all understanding that can
ONLY come from being with Him. The Bible
tells us:
“Taste and see that the
Lord is good.” (Psalm
34:8)
Honestly, there
is no greater joy. No matter the turmoil
and spiritual war that is around us – and as you can hear from the news our
world is in turmoil. The only One who
can restore our peace is our Creator.
Prayer is our greatest weapon against confusion, discouragement,
depression, anxiety and all the things that would bring you down. TRY IT.
See for yourself. God is good, He
is real, He loves you and He cares.
No comments:
Post a Comment