Matthew 3, Mark 1, Luke 3
I admit...I am not great at praying, in fact, to be honest, probably my greatest sin is prayerlessness. I don't know why I struggle with it so much. Is it laziness to put the time aside? Is it that I don't believe my prayers will get answered? It is because I don't want to really do it? I don't know. But I am constantly searching for truths about prayer. To me, prayer is such a fine balance of acceptance of God's will and boldness of faith that it will happen. I don't know if I can quite put it into words, but what I mean is, that I know God answers prayer; I know He can answer prayer, but I also know that sometimes my requests are not His will, so He will not answer it the way that I want---not because I don't have faith, but because His will is perfect. So, I guess, sometimes I hesitate to ask or beseech Him because I know He will ultimately do what is best. But maybe that is my job....to seek Him, ask Him, and then His will is done.
I see an example of prayer here in Mark 1 when a leper comes to him...
1:40 And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean.
What if that leper would have never kneeled down and asked? He may have never been healed, even though Jesus was fully able to. I am sure there were other lepers that were never healed because they never asked.
I see the leper's sense of prayer...he kneeled down; he was humble. Beseeching him. To me that is different than just asking...it's an urgent plea.
His words are so important "If thou WILST, thou CANST make me clean." If it's Your will, I know You can, Jesus.
So things, I've learned from this leper about prayer...
1. I need to ask (pray).
2. I need to be humble.
3. I need to be urgent about it.
4. I need to acknowledge His will is best.
5. I need to have faith that He can!
Thank You, Abba, for teaching me this since it was just yesterday that I was discussing the struggle I was having with prayer and faith.
Showing posts with label Prayer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Prayer. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
God's Thoughts and Direction
Wow! It surely is overwhelming when I stop and try to think about how much God thinks about me.
139:17
How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!
139:18
[If] I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.
That certainly is the highest form of flattery. To know that I am a constant awareness in God's mind. He doesn't "misplace" me or forget what's happening in my life. He knows everything I am doing. That's hard to fathom that He does that for me, but harder to fathom that He does for everyone at the same time. My mind hurts thinking about it. :)
143:8
Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee.
Every time I read the word "lovingkindness", I think to myself....awww that's so sweet! Thinking about this verse...hear thy lovingkindness. How in the world do I hear that? I think that means to sit still and be quiet....listen for God's still soft voice. When I hear Your lovingkindness like that I am also able to "know the way wherin I should walk." Abba, may my every step today be prefaced with You in mind---desiring Your direction to lead me even as simple as a route to walk or drive, to know that I am in the pathway of someone You have brought my way. Lead me, Lord, lead on.
145:17-19
The LORD [is] righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.
The LORD [is] nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.
He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them.
What a great prayer promise!
139:17
How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!
139:18
[If] I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.
That certainly is the highest form of flattery. To know that I am a constant awareness in God's mind. He doesn't "misplace" me or forget what's happening in my life. He knows everything I am doing. That's hard to fathom that He does that for me, but harder to fathom that He does for everyone at the same time. My mind hurts thinking about it. :)
143:8
Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee.
Every time I read the word "lovingkindness", I think to myself....awww that's so sweet! Thinking about this verse...hear thy lovingkindness. How in the world do I hear that? I think that means to sit still and be quiet....listen for God's still soft voice. When I hear Your lovingkindness like that I am also able to "know the way wherin I should walk." Abba, may my every step today be prefaced with You in mind---desiring Your direction to lead me even as simple as a route to walk or drive, to know that I am in the pathway of someone You have brought my way. Lead me, Lord, lead on.
145:17-19
The LORD [is] righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.
The LORD [is] nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.
He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them.
What a great prayer promise!
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Praying for Your Children
1 sam 1-3
Wow, I learned some amazing truths about child rearing in this passage. It really is amazing that Samuel turned out to be great.
Although he wad raised in a priest's home, it wasn't a great situation. Eli's sons were wicked and God rebuked Eli because he "honored his sons above me (God)".
So basically...
1. Samuel had horrible influences around him.
2. Samuel had a weak father figure raising him.
3. To add to it, Samuel didn't even have a Bible to help guide him..."there was no open vision."
The only thing I can attribute to this child's tenderheartedness to God was God's grace and a praying mother. She wasn't there to create the "perfect enviroment". She had decided the greatest control she had over her son was to plead God's control.
Oh so convicting. Sometimes I am guilty of thinking that a perfect or atleast a really good environment would be the key to helping to raise a godly child, though that is important...greater importance is fervent prayer like Hannah's. Lord, I fail miserably at being a praying mother for Destiny and a praying sister for Ariel. Help me to change this. This is encouraging to know that the circumstances, that I cannot control, are not the key, but that my prayers, which I can control, can make all the difference.
Wow, I learned some amazing truths about child rearing in this passage. It really is amazing that Samuel turned out to be great.
Although he wad raised in a priest's home, it wasn't a great situation. Eli's sons were wicked and God rebuked Eli because he "honored his sons above me (God)".
So basically...
1. Samuel had horrible influences around him.
2. Samuel had a weak father figure raising him.
3. To add to it, Samuel didn't even have a Bible to help guide him..."there was no open vision."
The only thing I can attribute to this child's tenderheartedness to God was God's grace and a praying mother. She wasn't there to create the "perfect enviroment". She had decided the greatest control she had over her son was to plead God's control.
Oh so convicting. Sometimes I am guilty of thinking that a perfect or atleast a really good environment would be the key to helping to raise a godly child, though that is important...greater importance is fervent prayer like Hannah's. Lord, I fail miserably at being a praying mother for Destiny and a praying sister for Ariel. Help me to change this. This is encouraging to know that the circumstances, that I cannot control, are not the key, but that my prayers, which I can control, can make all the difference.
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