Month: April 2017

PERSISTENCE – – The Christian’s Mountain to Climb…


Spiritual Blog - Persistence

Galatians 6:7-10 – “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. 8 For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. 9 And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.”  NKJV

  

I have said quite a bit about PERSISTENCE in the past few days but it is something that is heavy on my heart and something that I fear is waning in many hearts today.  In the Journey of Prayer, there may be nothing more impactful than PERSISTENCE.  The historic record is filled with accomplishments of men and women who PERSISTED in Prayer.  In the secular world, the great leaders of our time are those who exhibit PERSISTENCE.  Those who refuse to quit achieve success.

I see Four Price Tags of Success that I’d like to share in brevity today.

  • Painstaking Preparation.
  • Aiming High.
  • Help Others to Grow.
  • Expect Long Days and Sleepless Nights.

 John Wesley challenged people to harness the power of Faith and Prayer saying, “Bear up the hands that hang down by faith and prayer.  Support the tottering knees. Have you and days of fasting and prayer?  Storm the throne of grace and persevere therein and mercy shall come down.” 

One of the characteristics of our time seems to be QUITTING.  Far too few in this generation have the spirit of determination and striving.  The painter Raphael encapsulated the spirit of determination when asked, “What is your greatest painting?”  His response was, “The Next One!”  I believe that one of the things the devil most fears in believers is the Spirit of Persistence, especially Persistence in Prayer!  If we truly believed and understood that the devil has NO POWER to hold back our answers from God I believe we would be more persistent in prayer.  He may delay it, for a time, but HE CANNOT prevent it from coming.  That is encouraging and exciting to me.  Delay is not denial nor is it defeat it is delay.

To PERSIST in any endeavor is to HOLD FIRMLY and STEADFASTLY to that endeavor despite obstacles or setbacks.  PERSISTENCE is to be “obstinately repetitious, insistent, or tenacious in some activity.”  Years ago, I heard the testimony of a woman who had prayed for her husband for over 30 years.  She said, “I prayed for him day after day and asked God to Save his soul.  This week he bowed his knee and accepted Jesus as his savior.”  OVER THIRTY YEARS!  That is persistence and perseverance.  That is the good Spirit of Striving. That is Determination.  That is refusing to be denied.  George Muller said, “The great point is never to give up until the answer comes.  I have been praying for 63 years and 8 months for one man’s conversion.  He is not saved yet, but he will be. How can it be otherwise for I am praying!”  That is persistence and faith.  I have long contended that the only way the devil can win is if we quit and the only way we can lose is to give up!

Due to time and space, I will pause with that and come back in the next devotional and discuss some of the necessary ingredients to become PERSISTENT in PRAYER.  In this hour, we live one of the most needed activities and acts of war that we, believers, can engage is Prayer and we must be Persistent in that endeavor.

God, bless you richly as you Persist in Him and Press into His Abundant Life!

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INITIATING ACTION – – Who Is Responsible???


Spiritual Blog - Prayer

James 5:13-18 – “Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. 18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.”  NKJV

 

There are some words, in the Greek, translated into our English that is confusing and this passage seems to contain some of those.  I only say that because I have dealt with the philosophy in Christian conversation that this passage makes no reference to Divine Healing but Salvation which, the argument is that it represents ULTIMATE HEALING.  I agree about Salvation but disagree on the context and content of this passage.  Otherwise, unless we are making this entirely spiritual and eliminating the physical totally, it is dealing with both the Spiritual and the Physical.

The more I have studied this passage and recently with the battle my wife and I are fighting for her health, I have asked the Holy Spirit to illuminate my understanding regarding the intent and content of this passage more fully and clearly.  One of the immediate things that came into my consciousness was the question, “Who initiates the CALL FOR PRAYER?”  That, in my mind, is a very important question and one I will attempt to expound upon momentarily.  But first, let’s walk through this passage and see if its light will illuminate our path in the desire for healing and health.

James begins asking numerous questions and offering specific instruction.  If one is SUFFERING, the prescription is PRAYER.  If one is CHEERFUL the prescription is SINGING PSALMS.  If one is SICK, the prescription is MAKE THE CALL.  Who makes the call for the Elders of the Church?  The one who is sick!  The first responsibility of the person suffering any sickness is CALL FOR PRAYER.  That means you cannot remain in the shadows but must reach out for help from those who are charged with your spiritual care.  The Elders have a specific duty, according to this directive, to do two things:  Pray over the sick person and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.  Both are incredibly important and while the latter may be somewhat symbolic, representative of the Oil of the Holy Spirit and invoking His Power and Person into the situation, it is significant.  No, I do not adopt prescriptions that become formulas in God because that tends to diminish our dependence on Him and transfer it to a formula.  God does not work in magic, He responds to faith, not a formula. 

The Elders fulfill their duty and charge by PRAYING and ANOINTING with oil and then James reveals what happens or is expected to happen.  The Prayer that they Pray is identified as THE PRAYER OF FAITH.  What is the expected result of that prayer?  HEALING.  Before you challenge me and say, “it does not say healing it says, save the sick,” I ask that we go to the Greek.  The word translated save is “sozo” which means heal, preserve, save, do well, be whole.  It conveys the idea of a hedge being built around something and its imagery is that of a deliverer coming to the rescue and protecting or setting free.  James continues saying, “…and the Lord will raise him up.”  That word in the Greek is “egeiro” and means to awaken, lift up, rise, stand, take up.  The picture is that of being roused from sleep and the understanding is that the sick person is being raised up from their disease and it no longer has power over them.

Then James takes us another step and connects the physical and the spiritual or the body and the soul, saying, “And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.”  Wait?  Up to this point, we have not heard the instruction to repent which is required for forgiveness of sin and salvation, only calling for the Elders to pray when suffering and sick.  There is Spiritual Healing here but that is not the only provision.  Because the person calling the Elders of the Church is likely a believer this is not coming for salvation but calling for the Prayer of Faith for Healing and a side benefit is forgiveness.  Jesus frequently connected healing physically and forgiveness spiritually. NO, I am not saying if you are sick it is because you have sinned but I am saying that sickness exists in the world because of sin and God deals with both.

James continues in instructing and encouraging believers to become transparent to the point that we do not pretend to be flawless or faultless.  He says, “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another that you may be healed.”  The Greek word is “iaomai” which means to cure, heal, make whole.  Why does so much of the Church today not believe in Divine Healing?  That is a mystery to me when I examine passages such as this, read the words of Jesus regarding healing, consider the provision of the Atonement in Isaiah 53 and numerous other biblical passages.

James concludes saying, “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”  All of us desire our prayers to be effective and if we are consistent we should acknowledge that our prayers should also be fervent “energeo”.  Our prayers should weigh heavy enough on our hearts to be offered in passion and energy.  NO, I am not saying you must shout at the top of your lungs and work yourself into a frenzy but your heart should burn within as you pray.  The need you are focusing on HEALING should compel you to fight passionately for the answer.  Jesus even identified healing as the children’s bread in Matthew 15:26 and we are His Children, therefore we can expect to eat of His bread.

If you are sick – CALL for Prayer and if you are suffering – Pray yourself.  We should enter each day with Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs, singing and making melody in our hearts to the Lord!  We enter His gates with Thanksgiving and His Courts with Praise.  He is the same Yesterday, and Today, and Forever!

I am praying for your healing and hope that you pray for my family as well.  God, bless you richly is my prayer and desire!

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THE GREATEST PRAYER EVER RECORDED… (Continued)


Spiritual Blog - Prayer

John 17

             We considered the greatness of this prayer because of WHO prayed it and the CONDITION or SITUATION Jesus faced when He prayed.  But what else makes this prayer the greatest ever prayed?

  • Consider WHAT Jesus Prays.

I believe that Prayer that asks nothing accomplishes nothing.  Specific Prayer gets specific results.  There are four words that could be used to sufficiently summarize Jesus’ Prayer – GLORY, SECURITY, SANCTITY, and UNITY.

In the first five verses, our LORD asks the Father to Give Him the Glory He held and enjoyed before He came to earth.  Without this petition being granted the remaining requests would be futile and fail.  In verses 6-19 our LORD prays specifically for His disciples and He prayed for their SECURITY and their SANCTITY.  In verses 20-26, He prays for the entire Body of Christ and His major request was UNITY.  How we need that today and how we have missed the importance of Christian Unity in today’s world.  These four requests are incredible guidelines for us to follow and should cause us to reflect on what He has given us – LIFE!

I have heard some foolish prayers in my life and even received a call once from a person who had just been involved in a car accident, a minor fender bender, and the request was, “Pray that this did not happen.”  SORRY, that would be foolish and fruitless because IT DID HAPPEN!  We should always test our prayers with the Word of God and ensure they meet the biblical parameters.  Prayer has power!  RATHER, believing prayer has power!  I have talked to doctors who tell me that every physician longs to study after the greatest in their field.  Lawyers yearn for the opportunity to sit at the feet of the best and brightest of their profession. Educators who long to be the best want to study with the best and Theologians will sacrifice much to be schooled by the most revered.  You and I have the opportunity to LEARN PRAYER and follow the example of Jesus from the Greatest Prayer ever prayed.  In this prayer, we SEE HIM.  In this prayer, we LEARN how to handle life’s crisis situations.  In this prayer, we LEARN how to model your prayers and lives to fit God’s pattern, purpose, and plan.

  • Consider WHAT This Prayer Has Given Us.

In a very real sense, it has given us TODAY!  When Jesus was meeting with His disciples in the Upper Room He concluded with the words of John 16:33, “In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”  HALLELUJAH!  I urge you to take note that in this prayer Jesus used the word WORLD 19 times and I believe that makes this prayer an instruction manual for OVERCOMING THE WORLD.  He clearly declared that He had OVERCOME the world and prayed that HIS JOY would be infused into the hearts of all His followers.

Jesus gives us COURAGE to overcome the world, knowing He has already overcome.  There are multiple definitions for WORLD.  It can be the created universe as seen in John 17:5. It can be PEOPLE or HUMANITY as seen in John 3:16. It can be ORGANIZED SOCIETY as seen in John 17:4.  Jesus said in John 17:6, “…they [the disciples] are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.”  We were citizens of THIS WORLD but now we are citizens of HEAVEN.  We operate and live in this world but our authority is God’s Kingdom.  We have been delivered from this World which is a ‘deceived world.’  We have been delivered from this World which is a ‘dangerous world.’  It is PASSING AWAY. (1 John 2:17; 1 Corinthians 7:31).

You may think you are safe in the confines and environs of this world but is it passing away.  Jesus said in Matthew 24:35, “Heaven and Earthy will pass away, but My words shall not pass away.”  The world is dangerous because it is deceptive and leads people into destruction.  It is dangerous because it is defiled.  It is dangerous because it is divided.  Even in the Church, we have a hard time getting along.  We put labels on everything and everyone and they only tend to divide not unite.  Jesus gave us an example how to overcome the world. He taught us that it is deceived, dangerous, defiled, and divided.  His answer to a deceived world is Eternal Life.  Through His name, we have security and through His blood we have cleansing.  Through His love, we have Unity. Henry Ward Beecher said, “It is not good for a man to pray cream, and live skim milk.” 

We need to take inventory in our lives.  What is my attitude toward the world?  Are we being deceived and robbed of reality in Christ?  Are we placing ourselves in danger that could ruin our testimony, work, or home?  Is this world defiling us?  Are we creating unbiblical divisions instead of seeking UNITY of the Faith?  I challenge you to consider that we are not Blessed for our study of the Word of God we are Blessed because we OBEY THE WORLD.

James 1:25 – “But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the Law of Liberty, and abides in it… This man shall be blessed in what he does.”  There is potential, power, peace, and purpose to be gained in Christ.  This Prayer opens the Door to God’s Abundant Life and we need to embrace and walk through it.

          Blessings abundantly as you enjoy this wonderful day in Jesus!

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THE GREATEST PRAYER EVER RECORDED…


Spiritual Blog - Prayer

John 17

             I am totally convinced that nothing worthwhile and lasting can be accomplished without prayer and with prayer nothing is impossible!  That is one of the reasons that I am a part of the ministry of Breakout Prayer Network www.bpnradio.com a 24/7/365 Internet Radio Station that has as its primary function to call the nation to prayer.  Charles Spurgeon said, “Some brethren pray by the yard, but true prayer is measured by weight, and not by length.”  I believe that is correct!  It is not the length of your prayer but the weight of your prayer. It is not your using vain repetitions but the how deeply it moves you within that is the most important.

In John 17, we have the Greatest Prayer ever recorded in the Prayer of Jesus for Himself, His disciples, and all believers.  It is brief but the awesomeness is breathtaking.  There are 650 definite prayers in the Bible and not one of them comes close to this prayer.  I believe it is the Greatest Prayer ever prayed but what makes it so?  What sets this prayer apart from all the other prayers of the Bible?  Although I will not attempt to be thoroughly detailed I will highlight a few reasons for you to consider and hope they benefit and inspire you in your Walk, Work, and Warfare in Christ.

  • It Is Great Because of WHO Prayed It.

I hold the view that if Jesus prays something it must be very important.  He is not only God’s Son but He is God the Son.  He is the eternal God who came to earth in human form, lived a sinless life, offered Himself as our substitute, paid the price for our redemption, rose from the dead, and is now ascended to the Right Hand of the Throne of God making intercession for us.  John 20 reminds us of the purpose of the recorded miracles and signs of Jesus was that “you believe that Jesus is the Christ…”  I believe that is a reason that John included this prayer in His gospel.

Only the Son of God could ask the Father to GLORIFY HIM.  Moses asked to SEE God’s Glory but Jesus RECEIVED God’s Glory.  Jesus identified that this was the Glory that He had BEFORE THE WORLD WAS when He was with the Father.  Jesus knew He was one with the Father and the way He prayed indicated that He was God.  He prayed saying FATHER but told us to pray saying OUR FATHER. 

Jesus prayer was an example for us.  There are 19 recorded instances of Jesus praying, but why would God pray?  Jesus was our example for living and everything He did as a man and for man was in total dependence upon the Father, so He prayed!  If Jesus needed to pray HOW MUCH MORE DO WE?

  • Consider the Situation at the Time of the Prayer.

Jesus was about to go to the Cross.  He had just finished giving His disciples detailed and in-depth instruction [John 13-16] and now He prays this prayer.  His prayer reminds us that Prayer and the Word of God are inseparably joined.  If we have all Word and no Prayer, we have Truth but no Power.  We are light but not heat.  If we have all Prayer and no Word we are in danger of becoming harmful fanatics. Heat but no light.  A Proper balance is necessary for us to fulfill our mission, commission, and ministry on this earth.

2 Samuel 12:23 – “Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you; but I will instruct you in the good and right way.”  In Acts 20:32 we read, “And now I commend you to God (PRAYER) and to the Word of His Grace, which is able to build you up.”  In Acts 6:4, the disciples understood the importance of prayer saying, “But we will devote ourselves to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.”

Jesus prayed for Himself as He was facing the trial of the Cross.  Jesus began His ministry praying, continued praying, lived praying, and died praying.  In praying for Himself He prayed for us.  I ask you to consider some parallels regarding prayer.  Abraham interceded for Sodom but Jesus interceded for the entire world.  Moses interceded for the nation of Israel and even offered to die for them, Jesus died for the entire world.  Solomon prayed a long prayer in his dedication of the Temple but Jesus’ prayer meant the creation of a Spiritual Temple and the birth of the Church.  Phillips Brooks wrote, “Do not pray for easy lives, pray to be stronger men.  Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers, pray for powers equal to your tasks.”

I want to say more but realize that time and space is limited.  I hope you grasp the importance of prayer and consider this prayer’s spiritual revelation.  I pray that it will inspire and encourage you to carefully evaluate the words of Jesus and realize that it is God the Son praying for humanity and focusing on us in the shadows of His greatest time of testing, the Cross.

God, bless you and we will pick up here next time.  Have a Fantastic Day is my desire and prayer!

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