Prayer

Prayer

A very interesting point was made during one of our Sunday services. Prayer was not created by man, we didn’t come up with the idea to pray…

God gave us the ability to pray so that we can have a direct line to Him. We can ask of Him whatever we want and we will get an answer, as long as it is in His will.

Prayer is ONE of the greatest gifts that have ever been given freely to us by the Lord God. We can pull down strongholds with prayer! Prayer is our most powerful weapon against anything that rises against us. If I had understood the power of prayer long ago I would have come to Christ much sooner rather than later. All those issues of life, of just growing up as a preteen and teen living in the world, to have that power of prayer would have nipped everything in the bud and there would have been less tear shed from pain and frustration from dealing with my surroundings.

Man has made prayer into something complicated and regimented. Prayer doesn’t require you to face a certain direction, wear or not wear certain clothing, to be in a certain physical position, to have money or to be poor. Prayer doesn’t require hours of your time-although it doesn’t hurt.

Pray more and listen more…

Luke 11

Luke 11:5-10

New International Version (NIV)

⁵ Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; ⁶ a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ ⁷ And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ ⁸ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity^[a] he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.

⁹ “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ¹⁰ For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

Be persistent; don’t let your prayers go unanswered because of your lackadaisical approach to your prayer requests. Many of us have put out our requests and have forgotten about them or are waiting on the answer or manifestation, yet we haven’t put in the work to receive it.

To “get” our prayers answered we have to constantly claim it! We have to say what we prayed for as if you have it already. Thank the Lord that you have “received” it even if you physically don’t have what you have prayed for.

I am guilty of praying for something and then claiming it for a week or two and then forget about it and just expect it to appear. I believe that is the reason why a lot of believers are still hanging onto prayer requests but haven’t continued to claim it. We have to claim it every day! Say what it is that we want and prayed for and verbally thank Him for it!

Cryptic ?

Scripture is widely used, in movies on bumper stickers, in intros in books. Whenever I see scripture appear outside of church, my initial reaction is happy and draws my attention, then reality kicks in and then I notice the juxtaposition that is pushed out on the other side. Like scripture on a dark screen before a film about priest who kills members of his congregation through exorcisms or a preacher who is an adulterer and so on.

At first as young Christians when we see these words we think “cool, they’re Christians”, then we see something very “unchristian-like” surrounding the situation. I believe this is what causes confusion amongst young Christians and non-Christians.

The constant association with the bible and the things of the wicked. For the babes in Christ who have never been around the word let alone have grown up in the church, whether they believed it or not, are susceptible to the trickery of the wicked. They lure you in with scripture which can make one think that it’s Christian or based on scripture, then they either quickly follow up with something terrifying or gradually build up their “case” and have something wicked happen.

Be careful of the those things that you think aren’t harmful, those things that look Christian but aren’t and those that cause confusion…

What's In a Name

Naming your child is one of the most important things you can do. A name is more than what you are called by it’s the title of your future. Some of the most common names come from the bible, yet many of those parents aren’t familiar with bible let alone the origin of the name in the word. Parents have named their children after people who have had lives full of obstacles, pain and death, yet they never even considered it.

Even those names that are not as common are important to the development of a child’s life. For example the name Tamar is in the bible located in 2 Samuel was the daughter of King David and was raped by her brother, said to be a “mimicking” attempt of how Tamar’s father had wronged Bathsheba. This name may be familiar for those who follow the reality show world in which Tamar Braxton herself has encountered horrible situations with men when she was younger. In the same case, her own father had wronged her mother.

There are many examples that you can find around you or even in your own life. This doesn’t apply only to biblical names it’s any name, you or your child weren’t the very first ones to that name, even if it belonged to an inanimate object.

Illness

More than ever before we hear about ALL types of diseases and illnesses.  There is a name for every type of emotional reaction, for every reaction, for every thought.

There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t hear about a new drug on the market to help rid of some “disease” or to void any type of emotion. There’s something for everyone- if you can’t sleep, if you get sleepy, if you occasionally feel sad, if you have a headache, if you are too energetic, and so on.

It’s amazing how people aren’t catching on to how the enemy is trying to “drug them up” and make them dependent on them.

Of course there are times when we need medication, but there is a line that can be easily crossed when we learn to depend on them and nothing else. I’m not here to talk about how we need to rid of any and all medications, but we need to learn to wean ourselves off most medications because they aren’t always necessary. That high blood pressure medication that you’re currently taking can be a thing of the past if you enter His presence with thanks giving and ask to be delivered from high blood pressure, and then make the actions towards it! Change what you eat, get active, just make the necessary changes along with your prayer.

You can be released from any sickness or painful situation, do your research in the word, seek His face through prayer and take action!

Unity ?

Sometimes I sit and think about how there are so many different “religious” groups that refer to themselves as Christians, yet they all don’t believe in the same things….how does that work? So instead of all ‘Christians’ being on the same page in regards to belief and practices.

All of this just adds to the confusion amongst those of us who haven’t been in the church as long as the ‘Old Saints’ as well as confusing those who are still in the world who get lured into organizations that say they are Christian but are far off from it.

I get confused at times by all the different denominations that have such specific practices and beliefs all stemming around the belief of Jesus Christ. I hope that there will be a more unity among all Christians and that we can all come to realize that the bible, God’s word, His Spirit is what we should be led by- not by traditions that man has created thinking that it will please God.

There is already division within each individual church congregation that the unity “project” would have to start from within each congregation. There needs to be more understanding and less judging, kindness instead of being dismissive if someone doesn’t fit your idea of what a “Christian” is supposed to look like…

To be continued….