Colossians 4:2
Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving
Category: Prayer Becomes You (Page 1 of 2)
Daily posts to the blog by John Pearson
In his interview after the University of Kentucky basketball game last night, coach John Calipari commented that Julius Mays said, “Every time I put that uniform on, I know how privileged I am to have it on. And I am going to enjoy every minute of having that uniform on and that’s why I am playing the way I am.”
Our uniform is the blood of the Lamb, His righteousness. I feel the same way about my uniform as Julius does about his.
Righteousness
Strong’s G1343 – dikaiosynē (dē-kī-o-sü’-nā)
- in a broad sense: state of him who is as he ought to be, righteousness, the condition acceptable to God
- the doctrine concerning the way in which man may attain a state approved of God
- integrity, virtue, purity of life, rightness, correctness of thinking feeling, and acting
- in a narrower sense, justice or the virtue which gives each his due
Bless God
John
WHO is your God?
Jesus begins His teaching on prayer with the phrase “Our Father in heaven.” This begs the question, Who is Your God?
For Jesus, His God was His Father. Trustable. Faithful. Loving. One who should be obeyed. One who is wise. One who can do all things, provide all things, and protect all things. His closest most intimate relationship.
Who is YOUR God?
Do you know Him? Would you describe Him by what you have read in the Bible or by what you have experienced or both?
This is where Jesus instructs us to enter into prayer. By focusing our hearts and minds on the one we are praying to.
Who is your GOD?
For generations, ancient civilizations believed in greater beings, the gods as many cultures described them. Gods of war, gods of fertility, gods of prosperity, etc. And they believed they were real. They would worship them, pay homage to them, seek their blessings.
In the Greek Olympics athletes would compete with enthusiasm. This word was a compound of 2 greek words, en-theo, which simply meant “in god.” It could also be described as “inspired by a god.” For the Olympians, they sought to be filled or energized by their god before competing. The point here is, they truly believed their god was real and accessible and would bless them.
Jesus stated or implied continually in the Gospels that His God, His Father, was not only accessible, but was present with Him all the time. While His God was someone He read about in the Bible, He was also someone He knew and experienced in every aspect of His life.
This week, as I enter into my time of prayer, I am taking a moment to write out on paper who my God is. The one I have come to know in the scriptures and in my everyday life.
Bless God
John
I have a prayer group that meets at my house on Monday evenings. It is a mix of learning about prayer and practicing prayer.
For the learning part of the evening we are reading through a book titled “Seven Guides to Effective Prayer,” by Colin Whittaker. It is seven short biographies of saints who left behind legacies of walking with God and answered prayer as a normal daily part of their lives. For the time we spend in prayer we have been using the Lord’s prayer as an outline for topical praying. Since this is new to everyone involved, we have not stayed on topic much as we bring our hearts before God.
Last week I asked the group to meditate on the Lord’s prayer from Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4. To meditate on it from the standpoint of it being the instruction from Jesus Himself about how to pray. To meditate on it from the perspective of being a disciplined approach to prayer.
Tonight we will discuss this, practice this, and seek God’s blessing as we do.
Bless God
John
As the story goes, Solomon built a house for God to dwell in. Then he prayed to God reminding Him of His covenant relationship with the children of Israel and His promises. When He finished praying God showed up in a very powerful way.
2 Chronicle 7
1 Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the LORD filled the house. 2 And the priests could not enter into the house of the LORD, because the glory of the LORD had filled the LORD’S house. 3 And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the LORD upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endures for ever.
Bless God
Having almost made it all the way through January with no New Years resolutions I thought I would escape from the annual ritual. But, that is not to be.
I feel the need to commit to daily posts to this blog, if for no other reason than it will keep me focused on what I consider one of the core disciplines of the Christian faith. The other 2 code disciplines I strive to maintain are fasting and study/meditation of the Bible.
Speaking of meditation on the Bible, the verse that God has laid on my heart the last few weeks is Luke 5:16. “But Jesus would often slip away to the wilderness and pray.”
Bless God
John
When you pray for others, do you pray about them or for them? Whether they are friend or foe, do you pray about them or for them?
When praying about someone, we usually focus on praying for ourselves in some way. Whether it is related to something positive or negative about the person for whom we are praying, the focus is usually on ourselves, not them. It is selfish rather than otherish.
The prayer about someone is usually focused on what we want from the other person. Whether it is their love, their appreciation, a change in their behavior or attitude, the prayer is for our benefit, not the other person or the Kingdom of God, though we may try to state the prayer in a way that appears to be focused on something else. These prayers are rooted in the world’s values as the Apostle John stated in 1st John 2:16, “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” It is the prayer of a consumer not the prayer of a blesser.
Praying for someone is always praying for their benefit and theirs alone. It is a prayer rooted in love for them and seeks their highest interest. What we get out the deal is irrelevant. It is a prayer rooted in 1Corinthians 13:4-8, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”
This is why Jesus said in Luke 11:5-10, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.’ “Then the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man’s boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs. “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. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” This is the essence of a prayer for someone; asking, seeking, and knocking for their benefit.
The Father is anxiously awaiting the prayers for those you would bring before Him. Go and pray your hearts out.
Bless God
John Pearson
If we want our work to be centered in God, our will, at least virtually, must remain in him. That is why we should from time to time renew our intention. Thus, face to face with God, or better still, heart to heart with Him, we repeat our complete purpose, we renew our spiritual forces, we assure God again, of our will to serve Him in everything and in everyone.
from “An hour with Jesus”
by Abbe Gaston Courtois
The real sermon is made in the closet. The man — God’s man — is made in the closet. His life and his profoundest convictions were born in his secret communion with God. The burdened and tearful agony of his spirit, his weightiest and sweetest messages were got when alone with God. Prayer makes the man; prayer makes the preacher; prayer makes the pastor.
Edward McKendree Bounds (1835-1913)
I was recently speaking with a friend and mentioned this blog and my desire to start a prayer group in my home. He asked if the group would be a study group about prayer or a prayer group. It has been his experience that most prayer groups he has been a part of spend more time talking about prayer than they do praying.
Andrew Murray said, “Prayer is caught not taught.” I agree. We do not learn to pray by studying prayer, but by praying. This is just how the Kingdom works. The truth of the Kingdom is revealed to us when we do what Jesus taught. And the truth then sets us free.
We learn what prayer is when we pray.
Bless God
John Pearson