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. 

Prepositional Faith - Stand, Ask, Walk, Rest

 

JEREMIAH 6:16

Thus says The LORD, "Stand in the old ways, and see, and Ask for the old paths, wherein is the good way, and Walk therein, and you shall find Rest for your souls. But they said, 'We will not walk therein.'"

    Stand in the old ways. What are the old ways? The Ways of The LORD. He has set them up for us to follow, that we may be blessed of Him and He would be glorified. 

    Psalm 37:1-8

• Fret not (don't worry about stuff, don't get anxious about anything)
• Envy not the evildoers (covet nothing they have)
• Trust in The LORD and do good
• Cultivate faithfulness
•  Delight yourself in The LORD, He will give you the desires of your heart
• Commit your way to The LORD and Trust in Him: He will keep His Promises
• Be still before The LORD; wait patiently for Him
• Reiterates to fret not over the schemes of those who commit evil
• Refrain from anger and abandon wrath 

    Ask For the old paths. Ask God to show us where and how He desires us to walk in His Ways. 

    Walk in the paths which God has foreordained that we should walk in. Everybody has a story because everybody is on a journey to a final destination. When life begins, death is inevitable. It is how we live our lives now that will impact our soul's eternal location. 

    Rest in The LORD. It is entirely possible to be at peace in our lives when we have the Peace of Christ living and breathing in us. Rest in His Word; it's a comfort to go the Book of Psalms and find Bible verses that can calm my soul when I begin to feel anxious over little things. Rest in His Presence: get down on our knees, if we can still kneel, fold our hands or stretch out our bodies on the ground/the floor, and talk to God. He will make Himself known to the ones who truly seek Him with all their hearts. 

    Yet, with all this wealth of knowledge in regards to following God's Word, many people will still refuse to obey Him. They disregard His Word and His warnings. That's not for us to worry about. Our part on their behalf is to keep praying for them: For their hardened hearts to repent, for them to receive The Holy Spirit and be filled with God's power to accomplish God's purpose in their lives. 

    It is not God's desire that anyone perish. It is God's desire that everyone receive salvation through His only begotten Son Jesus Christ. But it's entirely up to each and every one of us to make that commitment to Christ while we have breath. For after death it will be too late. 

    Please do not make hell your final destination. Repent and be baptized in The Holy Spirit now. Acknowledge your sins to God when you talk to Him. Weep before The LORD and receive His forgiveness. Come, says the Bride and The Spirit. Come to the altar, Come to the table, Come and see Jesus. 

A Crucified Life - - Answers The Call to Rest in The Lord

 

    Psalm 37:7

Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him: fret not yourself because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked devices to pass. 

    In this verse-Psalm 37:7-Rest means to wait silently and be still before The Lord, wait until He speaks or moves. 

    How do we Rest in the Lord? 

Psalm 40:1        Wait Patiently for Him

Hebrews 6:19    Anchor to Him in Hope

    How do we Wait patiently?

    Waiting patiently is a virtue, a fruit of the Spirit; it is part of the evidence of being a faithful faith-filled born again Christian. 

Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness.

    We do not get impatient for God to move. We do not make demands on Him. We wait. And while we wait, we work. There is always much work to do. 

    We read God's Word, taking It into ourselves and applying It to our lives. 

    We pray to the Living God of the Holy Bible, speaking to Him reverentially, intimately and with joy. 

    We gather together in His designated places of meeting, whether that be a church building or synagogue or temple or in the open air. Wherever God calls us to worship and to hear His Word, that is where we go. Together. 

    We work together to advance God's kingdom. We preach the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ. We preach His Authority to be the Son of God while at the same time He was/is the Son of man. We preach His crucifixion, not just the how but the why. We preach His resurrection and ascension. 

    We work together in the Love of The Lord and the Unity of The Spirit. For it is The Spirit of God Who moves upon our hearts to do the will of God obediently and faithfully. 

    We Rest. We Wait. We Hope. We Serve. We Trust. In The Lord God and His only begotten Son Jesus Christ. 

CALLED TO REST 

Love Is Kind - John Lucas

Learning To Be Loved By You - Melissa Helser/Cageless Birds

There is One Gospel - CityAlight

Face To Face - Zach Williams

Friend - Jonathan Ogden

Abide In Me - Andrew Marcus

Living Hope - Phil Wickham

Come Jesus Come - Steven McWhirter

PSALM 62:5

Rest in God alone, O my soul, for my hope comes from Him.

  

       

A Crucified Life - - Speaks For Itself

 

2 Corinthians 6:8

By honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true.

*Strong's Ex. Conc. No.

Evil Report: defamation, reproach, ill-repute

From the Greek word 'dusphemia' (pronounced doos-fay-mee'-ah).

Good Report: commendation, praise

From the Greek word 'euphémia' (pronounced yoo-fay-mee'-ah).

    Slandered. Spoken ill of for speaking the Truth. To share the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ is to expect people to come against you. As they came against Christ who not only speaks Truth but is Himself Truth, how can we expect any less to happen to us as His faithful followers? 

Jesus Himself warned His disciples that as many came against Him for the Truth of the Word which He spake, people would also come against them, against us. 

>John 16:1-3

>John 15:18-20

>Proverbs 29:27

>Matthew 10:22

>Matthew 24:9

    Knowing that even the very mention of the Name of Christ could get a person killed, how does the kingdom of God keep growing? Grace.Joy. Peace. Rest. Forgiveness. Wisdom. Love. Hope. Mercy. Of God. In Christ. Through the Holy Spirit of God. 

>GRACE: Ephesians 2:8

>JOY: John 15:11

>PEACE: John 16:33

>REST: Matthew 11:28

>FORGIVENESS: Ephesians 1:7

>WISDOM: Proverbs 11:30

>LOVE: 1 John 4:16

>HOPE: Psalm 39:7

>MERCY: Titus 3:5

    All of these things Christ is to us who believe. All of these are in us and need to be displayed to everyone else by our words and our actions. The name is the reputation. Whose name are you defined by? The faithful follower of Christ is defined by Christ's Name and carries His reputation with them wherever they go. 

    Philippians 2:7, 8

But made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

     As such He did, so, too, do we, His followers. We make ourselves of no reputation, and yet, we are known by many for who we are. As Christ is known, both loved and hated, we who love Him and follow in His steps, are both loved  and hated. Though we desire no reputation of our own, we are given two. We are only slightly known to this world. But in God's kingdom we are fully known.

REPUTATION

Clean Hands - Lauren Alexandria

Better Than Life - Phil Wickham

Here's My Heart - I Am They

No One Ever Cared For Me Like Jesus - Steffany Gretzinger

Nothing Without You - United Pursuit

I Belong To Jesus - Paul, Hannah McClure

Give Us Clean Hands - Caedmon's Call

I Speak Jesus - Here Be Lions

Hands and Feet - Audio Adrenaline

Build Your Kingdom Here - Rend Collective

Known - Tauren Wells

    

REST In The LORD

 To rest in the Lord is to be silent and motionless; to be astounded, astonished; to cease from any and all activity when in the presence of the Lord.

Psalm 37:7
Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not yourself because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked devices to pass.
Worry causes wrinkles and stress, which only lead to a host of other ailments.
Rest causes peace and silence. We hold our tongues and say nothing, unless we are saying it in our private prayers with God.
Doubt causes paranoia and fear, which breeds anger and bitterness.
Rest brings hope and joy, a joy beyond happiness, which is fleeting and always being pursued.
Worry adds nothing positive to our lives, but only takes away.
Rest adds contentment and thankfulness, which increases our faith in our God.
Let us REST in the LORD our GOD. Cease from activity and be silent before Him. As the Scripture says, Wait Patiently on Him.
Wait for God to speak.
Wait for God to act.
Waiting on God also means to serve God. So, while we wait for God to speak we remain in His presence and do whatever He asks us to do. As we wait for God to act, we serve Him with joy, trusting that God knows best what must be done in every situation.
Let us REST in the LORD our GOD.

You Are My Rest

 

As I was trying to fall asleep and get some actual rest, I failed. And the Lord said, "Why are you trying so hard on your own? Don't you know that I am your Rest?" The Word is my Rest. So first he led me to Matthew 11:28 - "Come to Me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, And I will give you rest." Then He led me to 

Psalm 23
You, Lord, are my Shepherd;
I lack for nothing.

You make me to lie down in green pastures:

You lead me beside still waters.

You restore my soul: You lead me in the paths

of righteousness for Your name's sake.

Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I fear no evil: for You are with me;

Your rod and Your staff comfort me.

You feed me in the presence of my enemies:

You anoint my head with oil;

My cup runs over.

Most assuredly goodness and mercy shall follow me

all the days of my life:

and (in addition to all of this, I know that)

I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

Then we strolled over to John 10 where Jesus informs us He is the Good Shepherd and that His sheep know His voice. So I listened to His voice.

Had I been asked I would have said this took only a few minutes of my time, but when I looked at the clock, one and a half hours had gone by. Because I didn't talk back. I rested.