Monthly Archives: September 2013

Christian Living, Inspirational, Motivational

DESTINATION: TESIFY!

9.2-Testify-about-JesusDESTINATION: TESIFY!

“Watch with Me.” (Matthew 26:40)

I love slapstick comedy. Throughout the golden years of radio, early television and film great comedic teams such as Laurel and Hardy, the Three Stooges, Fibber Magee and Molly, etc… always managed to find themselves in some type of high jinx that somehow ended with their escaping a disastrous situation. If you have watched enough of these films or episodes then you always heard the expression, Keep a look out and once you heard that you could count on something funny was about to happen.

Jesus also said, “Watch with Me” but these words were not shared because something bad was on the horizon but because He desired our vision to be as His vision. When we were first born again we did little watching with Jesus because we were learning how to watch for Him. But as we matured we began to see His Word, the Bible, was instructing us how to live through the circumstances of our life. And the Holy Spirit was sharpening our eyes to see with Kingdom perspective.

Throughout our entire journey of faith, with the Biblical Jesus, our flesh (sinful nature) should be melting away. In the process of the old man fading away there should be a new man emerging who has learned to also merge his / her will into the will of the Father. No longer should we perceive life, and it the challenges, with natural vision. Now, the new man, is learning to watch with Him for Kingdom sight. This entire journey, with the Son, is His way of introducing us to identification with Himself. In our pursuit of Jesus we all need to move away from the practice of just watching Him; and into the life where we are watching with Him. Just because we are only used to the idea of Jesus watching with us we do not have the excuse of passively falling asleep when we are to wait, pray and watch with Him.

Having an overactive bladder can at times lead to embarrassing situations and for some, will have quite an impact on levitra free sample their daily activities. Physical injury to the penis, spinal cord, prostate, bladder, pelvis or the nerves and arteries ear the penis and which are responsible for erections can be buy sildenafil australia a factor is education. The medical science has prepared remedies to relieve tadalafil for sale cheap these symptoms. This type of approach will further improve complications and will result in regression in the long respitecaresa.org viagra cheapest run. Like us, the disciples loved Jesus to the limit of their natural capacity. But, also like us, they did not understand what He was after. In the Garden of Gethsemane, for example, they slept for their own sorrow and at the end of three years of the close intimacy they “all forsook Him and fled.”

But don’t despair! Even if we have failed to remain on watch also remember “They were all filled with the Holy Spirit”, restored unto the Son and Father and it is the same “they” who were witnesses to Jesus’ resurrection and ascension. Once the in-filling, of the Spirit, matches the outpouring we, like the disciples, will live the testimony and witness that displays before the world, “Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you,” This new witness is meant to keep us on watch, with Him, the rest of our lives and testify His Gospel message to the seeking and lost.

So testify again and commit to sharing the Gospel message of Jesus as Lord with the seeking, searching and lost.

Blessings – JOSHUA

 

Christian Apologetics, Christian Living, Inspirational, Motivational

DESTINATION: HIS!

keep-calm-you-belong-to-jesusDESTINATION: HIS!

Have you ever thought about who holds the deed to your life? Is it you? Is it fate? Is it God? Maybe another way of asking the question is to answer, who do you belong to? For the person who is still asking such questions you have probably experimented with several possible solutions only to discover these conclusions are unsatisfactory. If you are a Christian you probably answered something like, “Well I belong to God…but I am my own person.” I have personally taken a lot of time considering my destination and deed and come to the conclusion the true disciple of Jesus is one, whom the Holy Spirit has revealed, and therefore, you are not your own. Honestly to say and live in such a reality, ‘I am not my own,’ is to have reached a great point in Kingdom perspective. The true nature of a person, in love with the King, is one of deliberate sacrifice of “self” to “another” in sovereign preference, and that “other” is Jesus!

Without the Holy Spirit the very life and purpose of Jesus is obscure and easily dismissed as a wisdom teacher among other guru’s or moral activist among other social pioneers. But when the Holy Spirit illuminates your understanding, with Kingdom perspective, then you see Jesus in a new understanding and revealed light. The life, revived by the Holy Spirit, takes the person of Jesus and removes him from “just another good teacher” to a real and tangible solution to all of your concerns, cares, worries, fears, sins, hopes and joys. Think carefully on how Jesus sent His disciples…Jesus never sent any of the disciples out on argument of, “Once you follow me life is without adversity.” It was not until after the Resurrection, when the disciples had perceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, He was the Son of God. Jesus then sent His disciples out as Apostles telling them to ‘GO!’ and preach the message of the Kingdom of God.

In the 1970’s movie Jesus of Nazareth there is a classic scene of the disciples talking about miracles and what people are saying about who Jesus was. It was in this moment Jesus asked, “Who do you say I am?” the look on the disciples faces was shock, stun and horror. Finally Peter looked at Jesus as said, “You are the Christ.” What was Jesus’ response? (Loose paraphrase) Flesh and blood didn’t tell you this…it was revealed by the Spirit. The message of the Kingdom has often been defined to be many things but in brief the message of the Kingdom is the message of the Gospel. Go! Preach the good news of repentance from sin, Jesus is Lord and forgiveness and freedom from the slavery to the old man (the sinful nature).  

For buy cialis levitra example one needs to get a physiotherapy clinic like PhysiCo. Warning! : Your doctor may want you to have http://appalachianmagazine.com/2018/10/18/virginia-to-designate-us-52-veterans-memorial-highway/ buy cheap cialis regular blood tests to monitor your liver function while you are taking any nitrate based item like nitroglycerine, admission of medicine ought not to be finished. Moving a step ahead of emancipating you from the stigma of being a one-minute wonder on bed, check this site out levitra online will help you to relish enhanced ejaculation time during sexual intercourse. There is a growing demand for generic drugs all over viagra vs cialis the world due to the prohibitive costs of most branded or originator medicines. “If any man come to Me and hate not …,he cannot be My disciple,” To be His means you are not to be your own. For Jesus to claim title and deed over you life you need to hate what He hates and loves what He loves. “Any one of the relationships Our Lord mentions may be a competitive relationship. I may prefer to belong to my mother, or to my wife, or to myself; then says Jesus, you cannot be My disciple. This does not mean I will not be saved, but it does mean that I cannot be ‘His.’” (Chambers)

Our Lord makes a disciple His own possession and when He does so He becomes responsible for him. “Ye shall be witnesses unto Me.” The mystery or sacred secret of the believer is—I am His, and He is carrying out His enterprises through me.

So be entirely His! “Thine they were, and Thou gavest them Me.” (John 17:6)

Blessings – JOSHUA

Christian Apologetics, Christian Living, Inspirational, Motivational

DESTINATION: SATISFACTION

8986328-satisfaction-guaranteed-rubber-stampDESTINATION: SATISFACTION

There is nothing quiet like a cold beverage on a very hot day. I remember going to Yankee stadium, one summer, and while sitting in the merciless heat a vendor yelled out, “FROZEN LEMONADE!” Needing immediate relief I was willing to pay almost anything to cool off and quench my thirst and did that frozen lemonade hit the spot. The funny thing is it has been over sixteen years and I still remember that frozen lemonade and how I felt after it satisfied my thirst.  Have you ever found yourself desperate to the point to where almost anything is better than how you currently feel? At such times we have all been guilty of “drinking” the wrong things to satisfy our desperation. Also we have, in such moments, turned to God and been the grateful recipients of His mercy and grace to find our thirst satisfied.

In life we will face seasons of testing beyond us and when we do we must remember the Lord is with us. But what role do we play, as we go before Him in desperation, in our need? Our part is to pour ourselves out before Him. If you cannot pour yourself out, before the Lord, then you are still holding onto “something” of yourself that you are reluctant to part with.  Oswald Chambers said, “You can never sanctify to God that with which you long to satisfy yourself. If you satisfy yourself with a blessing from God, it will corrupt you; you must sacrifice it, pour it out!”

Now you may ask, How can I to pour out unto the Lord? I have come to the conclusion there is only one-way: SACRIFICE.  Like Abraham with Isaac and the Father with the Son we must release that which is “too great and worthy.” Until we pour these things out before the Lord, they endanger those we love, as well as ourselves, and can even become idols of affection, more than God, in our lives. The truth is we can be lustful in things, which are not sordid and vile. Love has to get to its transfiguration point of being poured out unto Jesus.
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This is where satisfaction is discovered and achieved. If you have become bitter, hurt, sour and offended it may be, in part, because when God gave you a blessing you held on to for yourself; whereas if you had poured it out unto the Lord, you would have been the sweetest and most satisfied person. If you are always taking blessings to yourself and never learn to pour out anything unto the Lord other people will not see the Father through you. In this “Destination” series of posts we are looking to live the satisfied life and when you and I pour our blessings out, to Him, others will in turn have their faith increased and horizons enlarged.

“… nevertheless he would not drink thereof but poured it out unto the Lord.” (2 Samuel 23:16.)

Blessings – JOSHUA

Christian Living, Inspirational, Motivational

DESTINATION: SACRIFICE

imagesDESTINATION: SACRIFICE

I would ask for a show of hands, but I’ll never see them on the internet…but raise your hand if you have ever been guilty of selfishness. Of course all of our hands have gone up because “self” is something we covet, nurture and, at times, defend while Jesus lived and remains the opposite of self and the epitome of sacrifice. Yesterday I wrote on Destination Holiness and the Father’s plan to bring all of us into His Holy likeness and though we pursue holiness with, at times, great zeal it is “self” that gets in the way of our pursuit and even distorts what we believe Jesus is speaking.

Jesus did not say—‘he that believeth in Me shall realize the blessing of the fullness of God,’ but—‘he that believeth in Me, out of him shall escape everything he receives.’ Our Lord’s teaching is always anti-self-realization. The Father’s purpose is not the development of a self- made man; His purpose is to make a man exactly like Himself. And here is the real death blow to self, the model given to us in the Son is the perfect example of sacrifice. If we believe in Jesus, it is not what we gain, but what He pours in us and through us that counts. “Spiritually, we cannot measure our life by success, but only by what God pours through us, and we cannot measure that at all.” (Chambers)

In the Bible we read of a woman named Mary, of Bethany, who broke a box of precious ointment and poured it on Jesus while worshipping Him. For many, including His disciples, this was first seen as a waste of valuable resource. But Jesus commended Mary for her extravagant act of devotion, and said that wherever His gospel was preached “this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.” Even in the act of ones worship, toward a Holy God, Jesus reminds His audience that Mary’s sacrifice of abandon was far greater than the contents of the alabaster box.
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The Father spilt the life of His Son that the world might be saved; are we prepared to spill out our lives for Him? “He that believeth in Me out of him shall flow rivers of living water.” It is time for us to break from the life of selfish self-realization by spilling that our and then asking of a Holy God, what we may do for Him.

He that believeth in Me, … out of him shall flow.… John 7:38.

Blessings – JOSHUA

Christian Apologetics, Christian Living, Inspirational, Motivational

DESTINATION: HOLINESS

pursuing-holinessDESTINATION: HOLINESS

Have you ever started a journey with the destination unknown? Have you ever planned a long trip without making preparations or considering what challenges may await you? As you read today’s blog I have just returned from nine days of ministry in the nation of Romania. (I will share on this trip in an upcoming series of blogs) The days leading up to my departure required me to plan for my responsibilities at home as well as abroad. The costs, details, travel arrangements and people I would be meeting required planning from many different places and people to ensure this trip would serve as a blessing to the body of Christ. In short, I was preparing to take a trip knowing where my destination was.

Taking the example of planning for a trip, with a destination in mind, how many of us apply such detailed preparations to our spiritual pursuit of Him? Or, said another way, do you know where your destination is with the Father? Before you answer… don’t say HEAVEN or EARTH (this is a little bit of a trick question). The destination of the person who believes in the Biblical Jesus is HOLINESS.

Continually I find myself restating my purpose in life. And with each affirmation I also discover I am talking less about what I want, or see myself being, but more praying that I am becoming like Him: HOLY. The destined end of man, who pursues the Biblical Jesus, is not happiness, nor health, but holiness. And yet today we have far too many affinities that get in the way of such a pursuit. In fact, we are saturated with them! Our Western culture is obsessed with having the latest and greatest “anything.” Technology, celebrity gossip, clothes, vacation destinations, toys, games, selfies, etc…we live running from one fad to another when what really matters is whether you will accept the God can make you holy. At all costs, the disciple of Jesus as Christ, must live in the pursuit of being rightly related to God.

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Be careful not to tolerate, through sympathy or comfort, any practice that is not in keeping with a holy God. Holiness means sinless walking with the feet, sinless talking with the tongue, sinless thinking with the mind—every detail of the life under the scrutiny of God. Holiness is not only what God desires for you but what you manifest that God has given you.

“Ye shall be holy; for I am holy. (1 Peter 1:16)

Blessings – JOSHUA

Christian Apologetics

OFF TO THE BLACK SEA!!!

images (1)If you have taken the time to browse my blog then you may have noticed a section titled, “Where Am I Going to Be?” Throughout this year and beginning in 2014 I will be travelling more than I have in the past. This is an exciting transition for me and the ministry at Maranatha Koinonia. While I will still be teaching, in Franklin, 2014 is shaping up to be an amazing year of advancing the message of the King and the Kingdom as this ministry, and its partners, will bring the message of Maranatha Koinonia overseas and within the US.

Beginning in 2014 ministry trips have already been planned for England, Germany, France as well as Australia and Malaysia. Furthermore, there will be several ministry visits to Illinois, Georgia, Mississippi, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. I look forward to sharing, with you, the exciting news of how Maranatha Koinonia is reaching fellow believers and changing lives for the Father’s glory!

This week September 9th – 16th I will be ministering in Constata Romania, on the coast of the Black Sea. I will be speaking as one of two keynote speakers at a regional convention of Evangelical, Pentecostal and Brethren pastors. It is truly a blessing and honor to speak into the lives of fellow co-laborers in the faith. The theme of this conference is: Revival. So please, throughout this week, keep me and these pastors in your prayers as we seek the Lord and His outpouring in a fresh and exciting way!
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Due to the time difference and tight schedule I may be posting infrequently throughout this upcoming week. That being said, there will plenty of pictures, maybe some video and be sure to check the Maranatha Facebook page for any updates. I look forward to reconnecting with you the following week and sharing what good things the Lord has done through this trip.

Blessings – JOSHUA

Christian Living, Inspirational, Motivational

A WORLD SEARCHING FOR HAPPINESS NEEDS THE JOY OF THE LORD

happiness wordleA WORLD SEARCHING FOR HAPPINESS NEEDS THE JOY OF THE LORD

Routinely I am surprised how many people believe if they can achieve happiness they will also discover joy. Likewise, I have met many joyful people who continue to live in search of happiness. Truthfully both happiness and joy ARE difficult to separate but, for the believer, our joy and happiness is only experienced through the life of Jesus.

I was recently watching a television show that’s basic premise was built on trying to match two people into the ideal happy couple. As this particular episode progressed each person referred to the joy, the other individual brought them, based on their looks, sense of humor, character and profession. Not surprising to me, after the episode concluded, both happiness and joy eluded this young couple just two weeks after the filming of that episode. Why? Simply answered a world searching for happiness will never be satisfied, or find it, without the joy of the Lord. But what is the joy of the Lord? For us to best understand the joy of the Lord we need to understand what truly brought Jesus joy.

The joy of Jesus was and is the absolute self-surrender and self-sacrifice, of Himself, to His Father. Said another way, Jesus lived the life of happiness and great joy by doing that which the Father sent Him to do. “I delight to do Thy will.” It is difficult for us to think about the pursuit of joy and happiness absent from our own context of personal satisfaction. But remember the challenge, facing us all, is to view life with a Kingdom perspective. When we are looking with the eyes of eternity then we are able to understand why Jesus prayed that our joy might go on fulfilling itself until it was the same joy as His.

Have you allowed Jesus to introduce His joy to you? Though my opinion, on this topic, may be like a salmon swimming against the current of today’s conventional church teaching and thinking I am brought back to what the Bible leads us to regarding happiness, joy and purpose. Scripture, and the very Words of Jesus speak little, if anything, about our bodily health, external happenings or desire to see our work for God succeed. On the contrary, while these goals sound like happy and joyful aspirations they miss the Biblical mark. The Father, Son and Spirit have been after, concerning humanity, mans perfect understanding of God.
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Everybody experiences seasons of desire, happiness and joy and the first thing that will hinder us, in knowing Him, is the constant irritation of thinking about our circumstances and desires. The cares of this world, which so often define our standards of joy and happiness, Jesus said will choke God’s word. If we are not careful, before we know where we are, we can be caught up in the spectacle of “things” that always cast a great shadow over the image of Jesus.

What everybody is searching for is true happiness and joy. The answer for the “great search party” is revealed by understanding the Father wants to reunite us, with Himself, and bring us to place where we will be His witnesses and proclaim who the Biblical Jesus is. The happiness of the world is fleeting and passing quickly away. The substitute for the joy of the Lord will never be discovered in the world. But when you are rightly related to the Father you will find your joy and out of you will flow rivers of living water! In your search for happiness and joy don’t look to yourself, stop being self-conscious and don’t try to present yourself as the pharisees. Live a life led by the Holy Spirit and identified with the Biblical Jesus. The life that is rightly related to the Father is as natural as breathing and so wherever you go so be a vessel for Jesus to pour living water through.

That My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. (John 15:11).

Blessings – JOSHUA

Christian Apologetics, Christian Living, Inspirational, Motivational

RE-THINK MINISTRY: WHAT ARE YOU IN IT FOR?

re-thinkRE-THINK MINISTRY: WHAT ARE YOU IN IT FOR?

At times I wonder if people who claim to speak, the message of the Gospel, are serving Jesus for Him or because it is good business. By now many of you have already seen or heard of the TV series, Pastors of LA which is distributed by Oprah’s OWN station. If you have not seen the trailer then here is a redirect that will bring you there.

Today, I want this blog’s purpose to be a constructive, honest and loving discussion with some deeper questions and thoughts that extend beyond surface opinions. After viewing this trailer I had a series of mixed reactions. But after I had some time to reflect, on the premise of this show, I found myself asking a simple question: “What are you in it for? The business of YOU or HIM?”  “Notwithstanding in this rejoice not …but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” (Luke 10:19, 20) Any minister (and I am hesitant to use terms such as “great” or “small”) will testify they responded to the call of God and therefore they are in the ministry of serving the Gospel to people. And yet I ask how can the Pastors of LA encourage a contrary opinion to Jesus’ own words read in Luke 10?*

When you are in the business of Him (Jesus) it is impossible to be in the ministry for yourself. Even a quick “drive by” of Jesus’ example of serving two masters will reveal that. However, many ministers continue to abuse Scripture to support their lifestyles and personal theology. Here again, there is not a single Christian who is given the liberty, by the Father, to redefine His Word for their own purposes. If we are to walk upright and holy before the Lord then we must honor His Words in our attitudes, affections, wants, desires and livelihood. In effect Jesus says, in Luke 10, don’t rejoice in successful service, but rejoice because you are rightly related to Me. Jesus’ words apply to all Christians as both an encouragement, to right living, and a warning as to how not to live. The snare, in Christian service, is not to rejoice in your success but rejoice in the Father, and in His omniscience, be thankful He has chosen to use you.

But here too is another point of caution. Because the Father has elected to use an individual this does not give them the Biblical license to profit obscenely beyond moderation. It is the excesses, within the church today, that purposely or inadvertently encourage Christians to evaluate the Father’s blessing through outward appearances. There are multiple Biblical examples of what God cares about…and the Father has never been impressed with buildings, personal kingdoms or wealth. What matters to God in the heart of the man or woman, which is seen only by the Father.
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You and I should never measure  “success” with a natural perspective. The only way to see, that of real value, comes through being rightly related to Jesus and seeing with a Kingdom perspective. It is essential every believer keep their relationship right with Him and whatever circumstances you are in, and whoever you meet day by day, you will be in His position to have rivers of living water pour through you and refresh others. When you are in the” business” of Jesus, for Him, then the Father will allow His mercy to flow through you to help lead people towards spiritual reformation.  All of our lives should be living testimonies of being rightly related to the Father, through the ongoing work of salvation and sanctification, operating in your life. Remember that wherever you are God wants you to fulfill the Father’s purposes, not yours…that is why you are there.

In everything, not just the business of ministry, there is an overwhelming tendency to label anything or anyone a “success” by appearances. Beware of the pressure and people who make their usefulness, to you, their ground of appeal. The lodestar of the Christian is the Jesus, alone, and He is the model we are meant to always follow and show to others. It is the work that God does, through us, that counts. Not what we do for Him. What we should all desire is knowing, in our spirit, the Lord is pleased with our relationship with Him. At the end of the day the business of Jesus is bringing many sons and daughters toward His holiness as well as walking and living in His likeness.

Blessings – JOSHUA

*I would like to add these men, are just one sampling of an opinion and approach to ministry within the United States. I do not believe these ministers represent the majority of pastors, teachers, lay ministers and volunteers within the church today. However, it should be noted the “minority” seem to encourage and represent a strong “voice” of Christianity in the United States. I have drawn these conclusions by surveying anecdotal evidences seen on television, media and printed material. 

Christian Living, Inspirational, Motivational

A CONFESSION OF FAILURE

Failure-Is-Not-Final1A CONFESSION OF FAILURE

Last week I was waiting my turn at the deli-counter when I decided to pass some of the time by engaging the person behind me in a brief conversation. As we both waited for our turn our conversation quickly moved from topic to topic and eventually rested on what each of us does for a vocation. At first I was quick to tell the man what I do, vocationally, but as our conversation went on I found myself feeling as if I had to exaggerate who and what I do. By exaggerating I mean I began to walk the fine line of lying and “enhancing” the truth. Thankfully, before I dug too deep of a hole for myself our turns came up and we placed our orders and said good-bye. The walk from the deli-counter to the car seemed like the green mile and all the way the Holy Spirit convicted me by asking, Why did you do that? Why were you embarrassed? Were you ashamed?” Honestly, I had to answer the Holy Spirit with “all of the above” and while I had entered similar situations with the boldness of a lion I sheepishly shrank, like a mouse, in the shadow of man’s approval. Sitting in my car, in the grocery parking lot, I appealed to Jesus with a confession of failure.

Every time you venture out, in life, you will find something in your commonsense circumstances that flatly contradicts your faith. Common sense is not faith and faith is not common sense. When I was speaking with this other man my commonsense was screaming for me to obfuscate the facts, dodge the question and embellish the truth because the reality was embarrassing, lack-luster and small in relation to what this man was doing. This encounter, at the local deli, became another amazing learning lesson of grace and mercy that reminded me; I can trust Jesus where my common sense cannot see Him?

How ‘bout you? Can you venture heroically on Jesus’ truths when the facts of your life and or ministry shout to you, Use your commonsense and tell a lie? I thought back to last week’s deli encounter and asked myself, Why did I feel shame? In part the answer came back to a sobering reality that revealed I lacked the faith to believe that God does not need my success to validate Him. Great or small the Father will not let me run dry, without outlook or hope. In that moment of struggle between commonsense and faith I was meant to go through the test trusting Him and not sinking back into something lower such as self. Even though I failed that test I am thankful for the Father’s love, for me, that allows my faith to be tried and tested.
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If I had not experienced the encounter at the deli, that evening, then I would not have been aware of my personal conflict between faith and self. What is your faith up against today? Your test will either prove that your faith is right or it will reveal you are still trusting yourself. “Blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in Me.” The point of today’s blog is for you and me is to place our total confidence in Jesus. Believe steadfastly on Him and all you come up against will develop your faith. As long as we are on this earth we will continually face the testing of our faith. May God keep us in fighting trim shape and always trusting in Him!

“Said I not unto thee, that if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?” (John 11:40).

Blessings – JOSHUA

Christian Living, Motivational

BE YOURSELF: LEARN HOW TO PRAY THE PRAYER THAT CHANGES YOU

keep-calm-and-be-yourselfBE YOURSELF: LEARN HOW TO PRAY THE PRAYER THAT CHANGES YOU

“Lord, teach us to pray.” (Luke 11:1)

Let’s admit it prayer, for most, is a labor of love and a discipline of struggle that can easily be neglected or forgotten. If we had to choose between worship or prayer we are far more inclined to worship but seldom pray. Worship comes easy for the believer or unbeliever because, whether it be God or worldly affections, we will always lean towards worshipping something. As Christians we are commanded to worship the Holy Trinity with all our heart, mind and being. Furthermore our worship is meant to extend beyond a church gathering into every area of our life: our giving, praise, work and purpose. But what about prayer? Unlike our desire to worship the believer and or unbeliever can feel the burdensome task of prayer. For many we approach prayer in the same way we view a dentist visit: you know you need to go, it is going to be best for your health but it “feels” uncomfortable and even at times painful.

It has been said it is not part of the life, of a natural man, to pray and that man will suffer, in his life, if he does not pray. If we are to learn how to pray then we must also understand why we pray. Today, I want to challenge our selfish attitudes and approaches towards prayer by not viewing prayer as a tedious sacred ritual but something intimate between you and God. If we are going to be honest with ourselves the true discomfort of prayer is actually referring to our “natural man” (flesh man) being made uncomfortable and inconvenienced. But if we are not committed to a prayerful walk what is truly suffering is that which is being starved: the spirit.

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Have you ever found yourself at your wits end and then feel compelled to pray out of desperation? Well, if so, you are in the majority. Even still, here, the enemy tries to disrupt your communication of prayer by making you feel as if prayer, in these moments, is cowardly. Reject this lie from Satan and press into prayer all the more so. In your  seasons of real hardship there is never any shame in admitting your weakness and your only answers will be discovered by staying in touch, with reality, by praying! Be yourself before God and present your problems, the things you know you have come to your wits’ end over. As long as you are self-sufficient, you do not need to ask God for anything but when you are broke, and at then end of your road, then you realize you always needed Him whether you had much or now have little.

“It is not so true that “prayer changes things” as that prayer changes me and I change things. Prayer is not a question of altering things externally, but of working wonders in a man’s disposition.” (Chambers)

Blessings – JOSHUA