(January 5, 2011)
Prayer House News!
I thank God for all of you who are investing more time than normal in prayer and fasting this month. It's going to make the beginning of this year a powerful one.
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There are no mid-week classes tonight because of Family Week.
Mighty Men will be meeting tomorrow night at 6:30pm and the RPM will follow at 8:00pm.
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Devotional!
The Love of the Father
.
Shortly after I started praying I began to realize some things. The first thing was that my motives were all wrong. I initially started praying in order to get things from God. I also wanted God to use me – in such a way that it would bring glory to myself. However, the more time I gave God in prayer, the more I began to realize that I simply wanted to be with Him. Soon I was praying just to be with God. Whether or not God answered my prayers was no longer the driving motivation behind my praying. In fact I got to the point where I didn’t think it was even necessary to ask God for things. I just wanted to get to know him, and the best way to get to know anybody is by spending time with them.
Shortly after I started praying God brought me to Proverbs 2.
Proverbs 2:1-6 My son, if you will receive my sayings, And treasure my commandments within you, (2) Make your ear attentive to wisdom, Incline your heart to understanding; (3) For if you cry for discernment, Lift your voice for understanding; (4) If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures; (5) Then you will discern the fear of the LORD, And discover the knowledge of God. (6) For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.
That became my hearts cry. I would lift my voice for discernment and understanding. I literally spent countless hours asking for these spiritual attributes because I wanted to understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. I was so taken up with these ideas that I simply knew everybody that heard about the benefits of spending time in the presence of God would run to it. I assumed that everybody that was born-again had great desires to be with God and to learn of Him. I was mistaken. I found out, in a similar way that Jesus found out, that not everybody that names the name of God is really that interested in Him. They are interested in their salvation and that’s about it.
Wanting the benefits of prayer without really developing a prayer life is very similar to the challenge the rich young man faced. In order to develop a prayer life that focuses on God – one must be willing to give up what they have and follow Him. Whether or not a person would be able to do that depends a lot on their love for the Father. I have often said that the lack of prayer is from a lack of desire for God. Everything we desire we want to be with. The rich young man desired eternal life and so he sought it out. When he found out that it required the surrender of his heart. He went away sad. I have found similar misconceptions about the prayer life. Many people get excited about the things that they believe they can get from God when they pray but to continue into a life of prayer there must be a greater motivation than self and that has to be God. We must have a love for the Father in order to deny self.
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Medication: A Merry Heart
Once there was a retired pirate so he decides to live with his brother.
The pirate walks up to his brothers house and knocks on the door and his brother answers the door and says, "Oh my gosh , what happened to your hand!?! "
The pirate said, "I lost it in a sword fight , but now I have a hook."
Then the brother said, "What about your leg?"
The pirate said, "A cannonball hit it , but now I have a peg leg ."
Then the brother said, "Well , what about your eye?"
The pirate said, "I got some dust in it ."
The brother said, "How could you lose your eye by just getting some dust in it?"
Then the pirate said, "It was my first day with my hook!
Prayer House News!
I thank God for all of you who are investing more time than normal in prayer and fasting this month. It's going to make the beginning of this year a powerful one.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There are no mid-week classes tonight because of Family Week.
Mighty Men will be meeting tomorrow night at 6:30pm and the RPM will follow at 8:00pm.
==================================================
Devotional!
The Love of the Father
.
Shortly after I started praying I began to realize some things. The first thing was that my motives were all wrong. I initially started praying in order to get things from God. I also wanted God to use me – in such a way that it would bring glory to myself. However, the more time I gave God in prayer, the more I began to realize that I simply wanted to be with Him. Soon I was praying just to be with God. Whether or not God answered my prayers was no longer the driving motivation behind my praying. In fact I got to the point where I didn’t think it was even necessary to ask God for things. I just wanted to get to know him, and the best way to get to know anybody is by spending time with them.
Shortly after I started praying God brought me to Proverbs 2.
Proverbs 2:1-6 My son, if you will receive my sayings, And treasure my commandments within you, (2) Make your ear attentive to wisdom, Incline your heart to understanding; (3) For if you cry for discernment, Lift your voice for understanding; (4) If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures; (5) Then you will discern the fear of the LORD, And discover the knowledge of God. (6) For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.
That became my hearts cry. I would lift my voice for discernment and understanding. I literally spent countless hours asking for these spiritual attributes because I wanted to understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. I was so taken up with these ideas that I simply knew everybody that heard about the benefits of spending time in the presence of God would run to it. I assumed that everybody that was born-again had great desires to be with God and to learn of Him. I was mistaken. I found out, in a similar way that Jesus found out, that not everybody that names the name of God is really that interested in Him. They are interested in their salvation and that’s about it.
Wanting the benefits of prayer without really developing a prayer life is very similar to the challenge the rich young man faced. In order to develop a prayer life that focuses on God – one must be willing to give up what they have and follow Him. Whether or not a person would be able to do that depends a lot on their love for the Father. I have often said that the lack of prayer is from a lack of desire for God. Everything we desire we want to be with. The rich young man desired eternal life and so he sought it out. When he found out that it required the surrender of his heart. He went away sad. I have found similar misconceptions about the prayer life. Many people get excited about the things that they believe they can get from God when they pray but to continue into a life of prayer there must be a greater motivation than self and that has to be God. We must have a love for the Father in order to deny self.
=========================================================
Medication: A Merry Heart
Once there was a retired pirate so he decides to live with his brother.
The pirate walks up to his brothers house and knocks on the door and his brother answers the door and says, "Oh my gosh , what happened to your hand!?! "
The pirate said, "I lost it in a sword fight , but now I have a hook."
Then the brother said, "What about your leg?"
The pirate said, "A cannonball hit it , but now I have a peg leg ."
Then the brother said, "Well , what about your eye?"
The pirate said, "I got some dust in it ."
The brother said, "How could you lose your eye by just getting some dust in it?"
Then the pirate said, "It was my first day with my hook!
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