Monday, April 24, 2006, 03:59 AM
Does prayer require that we be in a certain place or in a certain position? Should we always have our hands folded, heads bowed or kneeling? This is all good but it is not a requirement from God. He is more concerned with the heart (Is.29: 13;Mt.15: 8,9).God wants us to pray with our hearts and not just lip service (Is.29: 13;Mt15: 8,9). If we claim to be close to God but are disobedient and only go through the motions of worship God knows (Ps.29: 2;John 4:23,24). Some of the time we get into a rut and do not feel it from our heart, it is then just lip service. We tend to think of a right heart as our emotions. However, when I experience lip service I stop and ask myself if I truly mean what I am saying without emotions. If the answer is yes I am ok. I also ask myself if I truly believe that God can and will hear and answer my prayer and if the answer is yes I am ok. Having a right heart is having faith. It is trusting God even when our feelings are not as they should be. Our emotions are up and down but when our faith holds steady we are ok.
Here are a few verses that explain how our heart should be when we pray. We are to be righteous (James 5:16). We are to have faith (Mark 11:24). We are to believe (Mat.21: 22). We are to trust at all times (Ps.62: 8). Phil. 4:6,7 says, “ Do not be anxious about anything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Wouldn’t that be great! Never to have a worry. But we do. We can cut our worry down a little bit if we turn our worries into prayers. If you want to worry less then pray more.
We are always to pray in the spirit (Eph.6: 18). “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.” This means we are to pray in the power and the strength of the Holy Spirit. He opens our minds to who Jesus is (John 14:20). He teaches us about Him (John 15:26). When we can’t pray we can ask the Holy Spirit to pray for us (Rom.8: 26).
We are to pray without ceasing (I Thess.5: 17). Our circumstances should not control our feelings. At times we all allow every day life to control our emotions. It is very hard to resist the negative emotions that we have due to our circumstances. Each day when we have our devotions ask God through prayer to fill you with joy, thankfulness and peace for that day. Ask Him to plan your day to your good and His glory. And then be very aware of Him in all that you do, thanking Him and praising Him for all that happens that day. If something unpleasant happens than pray for Him to show you what He wishes for you to learn from the experience. Ask Him how He wants you to handle it or the person that is causing you grief. If we take God with us all day we will see things and people in a new perspective.
God will not hear us if we cherish sin in our heart. (Ps.66: 18-20) “If I had cherished sin in my heart the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer. Praise is to God, who had not rejected my prayer or withheld His love from me!”
Another very important thing we are to do in our prayer life is to listen to God. When we talk to friends and family we also listen to what they have to say. This should be how it is with God also. (Ps.46: 10; Ps. 46:10) “Be still and know that I am God.” God can come in a shout or in a whisper (I Kings 19:12). Be sure and listen for His whisper so that you will not miss Him.
We are to pray in the name of Jesus. In the Old Testament people had to go through the priests to approach God. After Christ came we can go directly to God. We go to God through the Name of Jesus (John 16:23,24). Jesus is our great high priest and He has made us acceptable to God.
After each prayer be sure and thank God for His answer, even though you do not know what the answer will be. In doing this you are trusting Him with the answer and you are saying you will abide by His decision even if it is not really to your liking. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil.4: 6,7).
You can reach Nancy at:
Crossing the GAP
PO Box 384
Marshall, IL.
62441
art@nancysgallery.com
Monday, April 17, 2006, 03:58 AM
We hear from scholars and people of the world that all religions are the same. If this is true then a Christian’s faith is worthless. All of the leaders of other faiths are in their graves. You can go visit where they are buried. Why would anyone believe that there was eternal life in a dead man? The wages of sin is death (Rom.6: 23). We die due to our sins (Jer.31: 30). It started with Adam (Gen.2: 17). The founder of the other faiths took their sins to the grave with them. It only makes since that if the founder of the faith dies so will the followers (I Tim.6: 3). So, they might as will drink and be merry for tomorrow they will die. And they will not be in heaven (II Tim.2: 12-17)Christianity stands alone in its salvation message (Acts.4: 12; PS.62: 2). It is not a man made religion. Now, I will say that there are many churches and individuals that try to make Christianity into a man made religion. They decide that they know more then God and they change (I Cor.15: 19) His written word to suite their own ideas and beliefs. There are many Christian churches today that deny 6-day creation(Col.1:15-20;John 1:3,10; Eph.3:9; Heb.1:1-10), virgin birth( Matt.1:18-23; John 1:14), resurrection(Mark 9:9,10;Heb.13:20;II Cor.4:13-15; Gal.1:1; Eph.1:19-21) and the Deity of Christ (John 1:1-5; 1:14; Col. 1:15-19; Col. 2:9). They are only using the name of Christ but they are not Christians. Christians believe the Bible in its entirety and do not decide what it should or should not say (Ps. 33:4; Is.55:11; John 10:35; II Tim.2:9,10; Heb. 4:12).
A Christian knows that Christ did not stay in the grave (Heb.13: 20;Gal.1: 1;Eph.1: 19-21). This is what makes the Christian faith stand-alone and has no similarities with any other faiths. If Christ had not risen from the grave (John 11:25,26) he would not have conquered sin (I Cor.15: 12-14). He would have died with it and we would have had no hope.
To be in God’s presence sin must be removed from us. Christ removed all sin from all of mankind (Heb. 9:26:28). He carried that sin to the cross and faced all of the horror of our sins Himself. He experienced the grief of it and the shame of it. He took the guilt of it. Jesus Christ who had no sin became sin for us (IICor.5:21). He freed us from the wages of sin (I Cor.15:17).
But this does not mean that all of mankind is saved (I Pet.3:12). There must be repentance (Mark 1:15; 2:17; Luke 2:17; 13:3-5; 15:1-7) and belief in what Christ has done for us (John 1:9). This is more then just a head knowledge but a belief in our hearts (Acts 26:20). We are to have a broken and contrite heart (Heb.13:9). God gives us a new heart (Ez.36:26). We sin daily but when we believe that Christ took our sins on the cross then we are free of them. We will repent and worship Him for His great sacrifice (Rom.6:14) for us. We do this on a daily basis. Because we sin daily. He defeated sin, Satan, and death (Heb.2:14,15;Rom.6:23;II Tim.1:10).
If we remain in our sins and this makes us a slave to our sins(John 8:34). We are without any hope of life after death (Ps.49:10-20). When we call God a liar we are not saved. If God lies on one part of His Word how could we believe any part of it? Jesus would have experienced a horrible death for no reason. This would make Him a fool. The Bible would be a useless book. Christianity would be as dead as all of the other faiths (I Cor.15:14-18; Rom.6:23).
Death came into the world by one man and death was defeated by another man (I Cor.15:20-22). The God man, Jesus Christ, defeated it (John 10:17,18; 12:44,45; Col.1:15-20; Mark 9:9,10). And all who believe this message will never die (II Tim.1:10). We will just leave this body here on this earth for awhile and we go to be with Christ (I Cor.15:50-55; Rom.6:5). And when Christ returns with a mighty shout he will raise all the bodies (I Cor.15:42-52; I Thess.4:17; Phil. 3:21; I John 3:2) that are in the grave will go to hell (Acts 24:15; Rev.21:27) or be with Christ in heaven (I Cor.6:14; 15:12-22; II Cor.4:13-15; 5:1-8). All you must do to gain heaven is to believe the message of Jesus Christ (John 11:25,26). All you must do to go to hell is not believe the message of Jesus Christ. Reject the message of Christ and you will belong to Satan (Dan.12:2,3; John 5:28,29; Mat.13:49,50) for all of eternity(Luke 12:4,5; 9). “The Word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart, that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, ‘ anyone who trusts in Him will never be put to shame (Rom.10:8-11).
Please read II Cor.5:1-10.
You can reach Nancy:
Crossing the GAP
PO Box 384
Marshall, IL 62441
art@nancysgallery.com
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