Lord, Teach Us To Pray - Part Twelve

 

1 Corinthians 13:4a

Love is patient.

Loving someone into the kingdom of God takes times. Look at how stubborn and ignorant some of us were before we came not only to the cross and into the garden, but out of the garden and into our homes and straight to our friends to tell the good news.

That's why it's called longsuffering. Romans 12:12 "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, persistent in prayer." We hope. We are patient. We persist in prayer. For as long as it takes.

Colossians 3:13 "Bear with one another and forgive any complaint you may have against someone else. Forgive as The Lord forgave you." Forgiveness is paramount when it comes to being a longsuffering servant of God. When we can forgive each other in the body of Christ, we are able to forgive those who are not yet in this body. Bitterness, jealousy, envy and anger have no place in the heart, the mind and the soul of the believer.

So let us begin our day with patience with each other. Even if someone cuts us off in traffic, or deliberately pulls in behind us when we are trying to leave a parking spot, let us respond with love. If someone we love keeps jerking our chain, that chain needs to go! for we are not to be bound by anything except the love of God. We need to respond with the love of God and keep our 'cool'.

Let us go forth and conquer the day.

1 Corinthians 13:4b

Love is Kind. 

Love is more than just being nice to someone. It moves beyond the surface of interactions we undertake and goes deep into the heart of the situation. 

Kindness is a fruit of The Spirit. Therefore, not just anyone can have the evidence of kindness within them unless they first are saved by the blood of Christ and second, are baptized with God's Holy Spirit. 

Kindness is the love of God in action, meeting people where they are. To be kind is to reach out in love to comfort, aid, and speak hope into their lives, drawing them with cords of love into the arms of God through Christ Jesus, Who lives and loves within us and through us. 

Kind hearts speak The Truth of God's Word, delivering both hope and destruction to the hearers of The Word. Hope of salvation for the believers is countered by destruction to the refusers, the unbelievers, of God's salvation. It would be unkind to not share the warnings God has given to the hearers of His Word. 

Eventually everyone will have heard the gospel. And then Jesus will return "in the twinkling of an eye" and gather the church into His arms, bringing her into the place He has prepared for her [1 Corinthians 15:52; 1 Thessalonians 4:16; John 14:1-3]. This is the hope for the church, for the believers of the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ. 

This is not everyone's destination, however, for not all will go to heaven when they die, nor will all be caught up when Christ returns for His bride. This part, too, is being kind, for it is unwise to deliver only what the hearer wants to hear, but not the bad news. And dying in unbelief is certainly bad news. 

The times are getting shorter. Urgent prayer is needed to "pull the lost from the gates of hell" [Jude 22-23]. Strengthen our missionaries with your prayers. Build up our ministers, teachers, evangelists and congregations with your prayers. Encourage each other to prayer. 

And be kind. Let that fruit flower and be even more fruitful in our lives. 

Lord, Teach Us To Pray - Part Ten

 

Jeremiah 17:7-8

"Blessed is the man who trusts in The LORD, 

And whose hope is The LORD.

He is like a tree planted by the waters that sends out

its roots toward the stream. 

It does not fear when the heat comes, 

and its leaves are always green. It does not 

worry in a year of drought, 

nor does it cease to produce fruit."

Isaiah 61:3

    To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of The LORD, that He might be glorified.

    As trees of righteousness in the planting of The Lord, we are steadfast. And as Jeremiah reminds us, we are also fearless. Though the temperatures may rise, our abundant life is continually being renewed. Droughts come and droughts go, yet the planting of The LORD continues to produce fruit. Souls still get saved, bodies still get baptized. 

    The day is coming, and even now is close at hand, when there will be a famine of the hearing of The Word. Why? Because there has been an extended drought of the preaching of The Word, the Whole Word of God, the full gospel message has not been preached everywhere. 

    Prosperity and gain is in the pulpit. Self-righteousness and pride is in the pulpit. Evil sins which should not be in the church, much less the pulpit, have gained entrance through wolves in sheep's clothing. They appear to be Christ-like on the surface, but the hiss of their souls is evident in their dissolvence of The Word of God. 

    Because of their unbelief they preach and talk about only the good things of God, and even then, only part of the Truth is preached. The promises of God are many, both to the obedient soul and to the disobedient. Except the promises on the believer are also referred to as curses. 

    John 3:18 

Whoever believes in Him is not condemned (promise for the good), but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in The Name of God’s Only Begotten Son (promise for the evil). 

    Where the blood of Christ is not preached, the full gospel is not preached. Where the cross no longer stands, the pulpit is also empty. Only a shadow puppet is there. The mouth moves, but there is no Word of God on the throne of their hearts. And the songbook has been edited, as well. 

    For where the blood is not applied and where the cross has been removed, there is no need now to sing of either in the dead churches. It is impossible to sing of  Victory in Jesus, where there is no victory. At The Cross and The Old Rugged Cross do not draw people to a place of repentance and forgiveness because these things are no longer taught and sermonized in the dead churches. 

    Where there is no belief, there is no trust, no hope, no real everlasting joy. And if there are prayer groups, to whom are they praying? and why? God hears the prayers of the righteous (Proverbs 15:29) and answers the prayers of the righteous (1 John 3:22), not the unrighteous. And when He hears the prayer of the sinner who has believed, that person is a saint from the moment of belief, and that prayer is from the heart, the lips of a righteous person. 

    Let us pray that we remain in The Lord that He might remain in us; that we might be called the planting of The LORD, trees of righteousness. Let us pray that in these days of heat and drought we remain in Him, in The Living Word, in order that we, too, may live fruitful lives wherever God has planted us. 

    

    

Lord, Teach Us To Pray - Part Nine

 

Psalm 37:7

Rest in The LORD, and wait patiently for Him:

Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,

because of the man who brings 

wicked schemes to pass.

    Did you know that the word 'fret' does not mean 'anxious' or 'worry'? I didn't until I studied it out. Verse 8 accentuates the definition of fret, making it plain to us that fretting is frowned upon by God. 

    To fret is to lack constraint in our emotional desire to get even, to get angry, to take vengeance against the person or persons who has or have wronged us. To fret is to be indignant, hateful, mean-spirited, waspish, evil-minded, jealous, envious. It is the opposite of Christlike behavior. 

    Rest in The Lord. Let Him give us rest from the battles of this life. Allow Him to take the lead. Wait on His direction. Sometimes the directive from God is immediate. When we allow His Holy Spirit to fill us with God's Peace, the need for retaliation dissipates and disappears. We forgive the insult and the intent. 

    And though the enemy of our soul may constantly bring old things to mind, taunting us with our seemingly apparent failures or old thefts committed against us, we need to stand firm on God's Word and remember that we have forgiven the old assaults and intents; now we are forgivers, not haters. We are a new creation in Christ and as such, we pray that the same Christ Who dwells us would dwell in the hearts of those who have sinned against us. 

    We rest in His promises, which are many. We take rest in His Word, which is consistent and unchanging. What God promised in the beginning to those who would believe and obey, He promises now to us who believe and obey His Word.  This is but one promise. 

    There are hundreds, but I'm not going to list them here. However, if you need another example, Deuteronomy 28 is a good place to start. The first half is all the promises that will overtake us when we obey God's Word. The second half is all the promises that will happen if we disobey God's Word. 

    Rest. Wait. Fret Not. Take everything that's been done against you, write it down if you must, then bring it to The Lord in prayer. And leave it there. 

Lord, Teach Us To Pray - Part Eight

Psalm 55:22

Cast your burden upon The Lord,

and He shall sustain you:

He shall never suffer the righteous

to be moved.

    When we cast our burdens on our Lord, He provides not only the answer, but the strength to keep on going despite the burden we have just relieved ourselves of. The phrase "Let go, and let God" completely applies here. Let go of what is weighing us down and let God handle it. 

     There is one word of praise that fits here, as well. Whether we raise our arms above us or hold them out in front of us, that word of praise is 'yadah'. It is first mentioned in Genesis 29:35 when Leah praises God after the birth of her son Judah. 'Yadah' occurs 114 times in The Old Testament. That is 114 times that people through up their arms or put their arms out in front of them to praise God. 

     Why do I bring this up? The act of tossing away or throwing out requires our arms to follow suit. When we worship God, we are throwing out whatever would keep us from worshiping Him and giving Him ALL the glory. We give Him our praise because He is worthy to receive our praise. Doesn't matter what we are going through. God is with us. 

    Not every burden is an attack on ourselves. Not all of our children are still in God's house. They grew up and left. We carry the burden of them being restored and we give it to God. Everyday. We carry the burden of our parents, our siblings, our cousins, aunts and uncles, grandparents, inlaws and so on and so forth; we give them all to God. 

     We pray for their salvation. We pray for the indwelling power of The Holy Spirit to fill them. We pray for them to know the joy of The Lord when they choose to serve Him in the fear of The Lord.

     We shall not be moved is a wonderful phrase. And with God's help, we shall, indeed, stand and withstand the onslaught of the enemy's attacks on us. For we are being tested and tried that we may come forth as gold in God's eyes: pure and holy and complete in Him. 

    

Lord, Teach Us To Pray - Part Seven

 

1 Peter 5:7

Casting all your care upon Him;

for He cares for you.

    Many Scriptures inform us that we cannot carry the burdens, the loads we gather upon ourselves, by ourselves. We need Someone to help us, especially to carry the burden of sin with which we have entangled ourselves. Jesus carried that burden on the cross, for the weight of the sins of the whole world, including you and I, were laid on His shoulders and He became sin, that you and I might have eternal life in Him. 

    Psalm 55:22 

Cast your burden upon The LORD and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous be shaken.

    Philippians 4:6, 7

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

    Matthew 6:25-27, 30

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air: They do not sow or reap or gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

    Matthew 11:28

Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

    Psalm 37:5

Commit your way to the LORD; trust in Him, and He will bring it to pass.

    When we cast our cares on our Lord and Savior, we are trusting in His timing, His covenant with us. to take care of our burdens, our loads, our struggles, our failures, our needs and our wants. When we bring these things to God in prayer, we need to leave them there, too. Stop taking the impossible situations back into our own hands and leave them in God's hands. 

    We sing quite a few songs about casting our cares on God, too.  "Casting Your Care Upon Him" by Fanny Crosby. "It Is Well With My Soul" - Horatio Spafford. "What A Friend We Have In Jesus" - Joseph Scriven. "Oceans" - Hillsong. "Be Still My Soul" - Kari Jobe. "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus" - Helen H. Lemmel. "Blessed Assurance" - Fanny Crosby. 

    The soul is detail-oriented. I like things to be in order, but I'm not totally organized yet. I like what I wear to do more than clothe me: it must be sufficient for the works that I must do. Not necessarily matchy-matchy, but put together well. I'm funny that way. 

    The soul gets weary, too. It knows emotional pain and bears the weight of grief until the times of mourning pass. The weary soul has learned to lean on The Word of God. "Leaning On Jesus (Leaning On The Everlasting Arms)" is a classic hymn by A. J. Showalter and Elisha A. Hoffman that meanders across my thoughts when I need strength. The arms of God never fail me, for His Strength holds me up every day. 

    Come, let us cast our cares on our Lord today.

Lord, Teach Us To Pray - Part Six

 

1 Peter 5:6

Humble yourselves therefore,

 under The Mighty Hand of God,

 that He may exalt you in due time.

    A humble heart is a must when entering God's presence in prayer. Yes, we are bold and confident, but we are also souls of humility.
    Arrogance and pride have no place in the tabernacle which is not made with hands, nor is there room for it in our churches. God is our God. Christ is our Lord.
    We sing, "I Surrender All" and "Lay It All Down" because we recognize that our flesh is at war with The Holy Spirit within us, and we must come to the throne of grace and mercy with an attitude of Lord, I can't but You can.
    I can't get out of bed as easily as I used to, but I will with Your Strength and urging. I can't speak as well as I ever did, but I will with Your Spirit and at Your prompting. I bump into air and it leaves a mark, but You, O LORD, are still my God and You, O LORD, are still my King.
    I sing through the unction of Your Holy Spirit and I write what He speaks to me. Like a mountain explodes from the pressure of the song within me; like a river flows over smoothened rocks and into streams which meander across my years, You fill me and flow through me. What a blessing it is to have You in my life!
    You, O GOD, amaze me every single day. I could not live this life I live without You in it. Where You go, I will follow. When You speak, I will listen. I bring You an offering, this heart You have transformed within me is all Yours, Father. Do with me as You will. I belong to You in Jesus' Name. Amen.

Lord, Teach Us To Pray - Part Five

 

Luke 11:9

And I will do whatever you ask in My Name, 

so that The Father may be glorified in The Son.

If you ask Me for anything in My Name, 

I will do it.

    We should never be afraid to approach the throne of glory, when we approach it in Jesus' Name. We should come boldly (Hebrews 4:16), confidently (Ephesians 3:12), and in the full assurance of faith (Matthew 21:22), that whatever we are asking God for, we know that He will give it to us: whether we ask once, or whether we keep on asking. 

    Luke 11:10a; Matthew 7:8a

For everyone who asks receives

    Asking alone gives us joy because we are asking our heavenly Father for something He wants us to have, for something He knows we need. We are asking because the reward is greater than the request. 

    John 16:24

Until now you have not asked for anything in My Name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete. 

    Asking in Jesus' Name requires faith in Jesus' Name, trusting in Him for our salvation. We cannot ask anything in His Name, if His Name is not already living in our hearts. 

    John 15:7

If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you will, and it will be done for you.

    1 John 3:22

And we will receive from Him whatever we ask, because we keep His commandments and do what is pleasing in His sight. 

    

     

Lord, Teach Us To Pray - Part Four

 

    First, we need forgiveness. 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

    Second, we need to forgive everyone who has done us wrong: Colossians 3:13 Bear with one another and forgive any complaint you may have against someone else. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

     Third, we need to stay near God: In His Spirit and in His Word: 1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is Faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide an escape, so that you can stand up under it.

Our Prayer here today:

Lord, You have taught us to forgive through Your forgiving grace. We are thankful You have not left us here to fend for ourselves, for surely we would have failed long ago.

Thank You for Your example of forgiveness. May we be known as the people of forgiveness, forgiving all wrongs and trespasses; forgiving even the evil done against us and our families. For when we were not Your people, You forgave us of the evil we had done against You.

Thank You for dying for us, showing us even there, that forgiveness must be given. Not just as a mandate of obedience, but as a mandate of Love, Your Love. Forgiveness given unconditionally, without strings attached.

And, Lord, thank You for strengthening us in You Word, through Your Holy Spirit. Thank You for the desire to read and study Your Word, hungering, desiring, to know You better as You reveal Yourself to us.

Thank You for giving us tools and weapons, Your Word and Your Spirit, to speak when we are tested and tried. You overcome when we cannot. You triumph where we would have failed had we tried in and of ourselves to overcome temptation.

You are The One we love and adore. May we ever be Your people.

In Jesus' Wonderful Name,

Amen.

Lord, Teach Us To Pray - Part Three

 

Luke 11:3

"Give us this day our daily bread."

    God gives His people Bread on a daily basis, just enough to get us through the day. When we are refreshed like this, we begin to grow in Him and gain strength in Him. Then there are the days when we take in so much Bread, so much of The Word, that we must have needs to spread it around, to share it with whoever is in our vicinity. For me, that's whoever is reading this. 

     Exodus 16:4 

Then The LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain down bread from heaven for you. Each day the people are to go out and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test whether or not they will follow My instructions." 

    Back in those days, bread (Manna) from heaven was given to God's elect people. But after Christ came to us, it is revealed that He is The Bread of Heaven: John 6:30-35, specifically verse 35: And Jesus said to them, “I Am The Bread of Life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst." 

    Coming to Jesus satisfies our hunger. Believing in Jesus satisfies our thirst. When the first is accomplished, the second is automatic. For when we come to Jesus, we come with hope. Hope for our salvation. Hope of being loved unconditionally. Hope for a better life than the one we had without Him. And we believe. 

    And when we believe on The Name of The Lord Jesus Christ, when we believe that He Is Lord, we know that we are committing to a loving relationship with and in Him. Jesus Christ is our Living Water, sustaining our thirsty souls with Himself, with His Spirit. We believe and we are Spirit-filled now. 

    But we keep nothing for ourselves. For when we become believers, when we become Spirit-filled disciples, we cannot, we must not, restrain The Spirit. He is The Living Water that flows from within us. Water must flow or it becomes stagnant and stinky and dead; it kills instead of giving life to all. John 7:37-39.

    So we pray, 

Lord, give us this day our daily Bread. Show us Who You are today. Reveal Yourself in Your Word and help us to grow in You that we might be Your witnesses today. We are not babies that You must feed us. Many of us are maturing in Your Word, for we spend much time in Your presence with our prayers. Continue to open our eyes to the newness of You and help us to feed others that they may grow in You, too.

In Jesus' Most Beautiful Name,

Amen.

     

Lord, Teach Us To Pray - Part Two

 

Luke 11:2

And He said, "When you pray, say, 

'Our Father Who is in heaven, 

hallowed be Your Name. Your kingdom come, 

Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.'" 

    Our Father. Abba, Father. Acknowledging the relationship we have with God now through our faith in Jesus Christ. Let us come boldly and with the confidence that our heavenly Father not only will hear us, but answer us.

    Who is in heaven. Our heavenly Father always loves us, never leaves us, waits patiently for our return when we wander, and is preparing His home for our eternal stay. 

    Hallowed be His Name. Holy, unblemished, sanctified, consecrated, set apart. We recognize the holiness of God in our prayers to Him. For His Word tells us that He is holy and wants us to be holy. Lord, make me holy is a strong prayer and you'd better be ready for the process while you wait for the result.

    His kingdom come. God's kingdom, founded through His Son Jesus Christ, advancing through the power of His Holy Spirit. After we have first prayed for our salvation, let us now pray for the salvation of all others. Let us pray for the salvation of our families, our friends, our enemies, the strangers among us, those in authority over us. 

    His will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. With utmost obedience and radiant joy let us learn God's will that we may know it and obtain it for ourselves. Let us be as eager to hear God speak and obey His will, as His angels are ready to obey when He speaks. 

Lord, Teach Us To Pray - Part One

 

Luke 11:1

And it came to pass, that, 

as He was praying in a certain place, 

when He ceased, 

one of His disciples said unto Him, 

"Lord, teach us to pray,

 as John also taught his 

disciples."

Where do we go when we want to learn how to pray to our heavenly Father God? We go to Jesus, The One in Whom we have placed our trust for salvation. We go to our Lord, The One Whom we have surrendered our hearts and given our lives to. And we ask the first simple question that brings us into the presence of God, when we pray.

We have to be willing to learn, for the confidence of the statement is, 'teach us'. The unwilling heart cannot learn anything, not even a simple prayer.

'To Pray' Lord, teach us to talk to God that He may hear our prayers.