Faithful In Prayer

"Blessed be God, which hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me." - Psalm 66:20

During my 10 years in the ministry, I have found that the most important church service is also the most neglected and poorly attended service, the midweek prayer and Bible study.  If you were to announce that you were having some form of entertainment you would be amazed at the turnout, but announce that you are meeting to spend time in prayer and hardly anyone shows up.  Why is this?  The answer is simple, Christians do not have the right priorities.  Even in our unfaithfulness to God, He is still faithful to us.

Let's think about our prayer lives for just a moment.  Think about how faithful God has been to hear our prayers even we have not been so faithful to commune with Him in prayer.  Notice what Charles Spurgeon says about this: "Oh! it is marvellous that the Lord should regard those intermittent spasms of importunity which come and go with our necessities. What a God is he thus to hear the prayers of those who come to him when they have pressing wants, but neglect him when they have received a mercy; who approach him when they are forced to come, but who almost forget to address him when mercies are plentiful and sorrows are few."  If we are honest, we all would have to admit our neglect to be faithful to God in prayer; we only call on Him when we are desperate.  Even with that said, God is still faithful and merciful, not only to hear, but also to answer our prayers.  I must admit, I am so guilty of doing this very thing.  When things are going good I tend to slack in my prayer life, but then when things take a turn for the worse I am calling out to God for help.  Let us purpose in our hearts that we are going to be faithful to commune with God in prayer just as much when things are going great as we do when things are going wrong.

Now, let's turn to another aspect of our prayer lives: what about the character and nature of the prayers that we offer to God?  Here is what Spurgeon said about the nature of our prayers: "In looking back upon the character of our prayers, if we do it honestly, we shall be filled with wonder that God has ever answered them."  Let us be totally honest about the character and nature of the things that we pray for.  Sadly, most of the prayer requests that you hear from Christians during the midweek prayer service are very inwardly and carnally focused.  We have gotten away from getting on our faces before God and crying out to Him for the spiritual needs of those around us.  Yet, despite our inwardly and carnally focused prayers, God is still faithful to hear and answer our prayers.

I pray, that because God hears our prayers such as they are, it will touch and stir our hearts to be more faithful to God in our prayer life.  I pray that it will stir our hearts to be more spiritually and eternally minded when we approach our Heavenly Father.

Power In Prayer

"Confess your faults one to another, and pray for one another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." - James 5:16


Have you ever heard the phrase "the power of prayer?"  Have you ever stopped and thought about the reality of that phrase?  If we are not careful it is so easy for us to take those words for granted.  Prayer is our conduit to access the power of our Heavenly Father that is available to us through Jesus Christ.  Prayer is not something that we are to take lightly or that we are to just do occasionally.  However, I am afraid that we ALL are guilty of both taking it lightly and just doing it occasionally.

Prayer changes things and it changes us!  I know that is a very simple statement, but it is so true.  As you and I begin to pray and pour our hearts out before our Heavenly Father, our hearts begin to change as we commune with Him.  Even if our circumstances never change, our hearts have been changed, and that will change how we view our circumstances or how we handle our circumstances.  The quality of your spiritual life will be in direct proportion to the quality of your prayer life.  This is why we have so many people in our churches that are struggling spiritually, because the quality of their prayer life is low or non-existent.

Instead of turning things over in our minds, we must learn to turn them over to the Lord in prayer.  You and I have the tendency to try and figure things out in our heads, constantly going over it again and again trying to figure out what to do.  What we need to do is to quit worrying about our next decision, quit replaying events over again in our minds, and give it to the Lord and ask Him to lead the way for us.  We must learn to constantly and consistently pray about all things, great and small.

Will you continue to ignore the power that is available to you through prayer?

"When prayer has become secondary, or incidental, it has lost its power. Those who are conspicuously men of prayer are those who use prayer as they use food, or air, or light, or money." M.E. Andross

Prayer For Today:

Heavenly Father, help me to bring everything to You in prayer; my hopes, my dreams, my doubts, my fears, and my burdens. Lord, may others see my utter dependence on You for everything in my life. It is my desire to devote my life to a life of prayer. Father, may I bring all things to You and may I trust Your will to be accomplished in areas of my life. In Jesus name, Amen!

Forgiveness

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." - 1 John 1:9


I just wanted to share a quick thought today on forgiveness.  I personally think this verse is one of the greatest promises ever given to us!  As a child of God, if we are willing to confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness.

When you ask Christ for forgiveness, He will give it.  Despite your sins, Christ offers immediate forgiveness.  It doesn't matter what you have done or how bad you have been, Jesus Christ offers forgiveness to those who confess their sins to Him in repentance.  Do you have unconfessed sin in your life?  If so, it is time to take Christ up on His promise!

It is such a blessing to know that when it comes to forgiveness God doesn't play favorites!  Since God doesn't play favorites when it comes to forgiveness, neither should you and I.  God's Word commands us to forgive ALL that have wronged and hurt us, not just the ones who have asked for forgiveness or who have made things right with us.  If you are a child of God, Jesus Christ has completely forgiven you, and you must completely forgive others.  Anything less is disobedience to God's Word!

Lord, help us today to forgive others as You have forgiven us!

"God's heart of mercy provides for us not only pardon from sin but also a daily provision of spiritual food to strengthen us." - Jim Cymbala


Prayer For Today:

Heavenly Father, thank you so much for Your faithfulness!  Thank you for Your promise of forgiveness if we confess our sins to You.  Father, forgive me for any sin or iniquity that is in my heart this day.  Help me to forgive others as well, not just the ones who ask for it, but even those who don't.  Lord, help me to forgive others as You have forgiven me!  In Jesus name, Amen!

Pondering Your Path

"Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.  Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established." - Proverbs 5:25-26


What are you focused on today?  Are you focused on your job, your family, or yourself?  E. Stanley Jones made the statement "Whatever we focus on determines what we become."  That is so true!  If you were to look at me and my life, you probably would have no problem determining what my focus is on.  As I look at people in our churches today, I can pretty much determine what their focus is on.  The Bible tells us that our focus should be on the Lord Jesus Christ, His Word, and His House.

I would like to challenge you today to ponder who and what your focus is on, and to ponder the path that you are on spiritually.  I'm afraid that far too many of us have our focus on things and people other than Jesus Christ.  Here are some convicting questions that you should ask yourself each day.  Am I focused completely and 100% on Jesus Christ?  Am I focused on God's Word?  Am I focused on being faithful to God's House?

Are you willing to ponder the path that you are on?  If we will ponder our path and then make our focus on Jesus Christ, His Word, and His House, we can have our ways established.  Maybe the Lord is trying to get your attention today.  Is He dealing with you about being more faithful to His Word?  Is He dealing with you about being more faithful to His Church?

Today, ponder the path that you are on, focus 100% on Jesus Christ and make Him preeminent, that your ways may be established.

Prayer For Today:

Heavenly Father, help me today to ponder my path.  May I focus completely and 100% on you and make You preeminent in my life.  Help me to be more faithful to Your Word and to Your Church.  As I focus on You Lord, establish my ways and direct my path.  In Jesus name, Amen!