When To Pray

Prayer is an important part of your christian walk. We all agree that prayer builds faith brings us closer to God. We should talk daily with our Lord and communicate praise, requests, and love up to our father in heaven. We all know the proper moments at church to pray with our fellow members of the body of Christ. If it is so important to build us up in our faith why do we act as though it is only for our personal moments with God?

Why as Christians have we become shy about praying over people when not in a church setting? We are called to bring Christ to the world yet we offer to pray for them later. It is true that God will meet them where they are even if you are not praying right next to them. The issue is God wants to meet them right then and there. You miss an opportunity to display the love of Christ and give true compassion for them. The individual could be depressed and in need of relief from the burden of the situation they are in. Depression can cause a person to feel as though no one cares about them or what they are going through. You could help reach out and prove in that moment that they are not alone and you really do care about them and God is still a god of love!

I challenge you the next time someone expresses pain or requests prayer to stop and pray for them. Take the time to reach out in love and allow God to begin His work in their life. You could make a difference in their life right then! Please do not use the passing " I will pray for you " and leave without doing so. You may pray for them later but the impact is not the same. In a world full of offense and hate you could be the instrument that God uses to show His love!

My Story Part 1

I was very fortunate to grow up in a christian home with two parents that believed in Christ and made sure we were in church. I was never one to break rules and always tried to do the right thing. I was very shy and tended to sit by myself. It was not until sixth grade that I finally came out of my shell and became kind of a well behaved class clown. I did develop quite the language problem and when talking to my friends I could barely go a few words without cursing. I became pretty popular due to my new demeanor and loved every minute of it.

In seventh grade my parents enrolled me and my two brothers into Mount Vernon Christian School so that my older brother could play football there. My public school attitude made me an instant hit with my classmates as they were not used to hearing the dirty jokes and filthy language I shared with them on a regular basis. This school had a great impact on my life not because of the education but the chapel services! Thank God for revival my eighth grade year. The speaker was teaching on hell and I was roasting in my seat. I realized that day that being saved was more than just going to the front in little church to pray and get that neat little book my friends received. I cried like a baby as I confessed my sins and prayed the prayer of salvation with Mr. Stancil leading me. I cried at the alter for half of the next class and had to come into class late.

Eventually I began to fall back to my old ways though. I loved God and had to pray often for forgiveness. I was still young in the faith and was in a process of growing. I don't have anything against the Baptist Church but it was hard to express myself in worship and it honestly began feeling like a routine we would go through to please God. I did not feel close to Him. I also saw some favoritism beginning to form in our youth group. My sophomore year me and my brothers left MVCS for one semester so my older brother could have scouts see him play some eleven man football. As soon as football ended we went back to MVCS.

I remember returning in the middle of a chapel services and seeing the excitement of my friends that I had missed dearly. It felt like everything was as it should be. I was wrong. My class had gotten used to me not being there and I eventually faded into the background. I was no longer part of the clique and felt very lonely. I started to become depressed and lost all self esteem. They did not realize that they were hurting me and don't hold it against them now. But at the time I felt betrayed and vulnerable. I began to resent most of the friends that I once held so dear. It was a very painful time in my life. I did manage to get a girlfriend my senior year which I thought I was in love with. I did not realize then but it was not love it was a crutch. I needed her there to help me feel wanted. That can be very dangerous and it was harmful to me in the long run. We will just say we ended on a bad note but remained friends for a few months until we just lost touch.

A few months after graduation I was checking Myspace and had a message from a beautiful girl asking if I had gone to ELCA? I responded that I had and began to form a friendship with her leading to a first date. Well I fell in love with this beautiful woman and married her within a year! I am still in love with her and get butterflies when she smiles at me! God lined up all these events to bring us together! Looking back I can see His hand every step of the way! I am so blessed!

When God Feels Pain

In the story of Noah we know that the entire earth was filled with people who were very evil and the Lord was heartbroken. We never really think about what He might have been feeling. I believe that God was feeling very betrayed. He had created Adam and Eve and He loved them very much! He walked daily in the garden with them just to spend time with them. Humans are created in His image and have free will. He gave us free will so we had the ability to choose to love Him!

In the garden Adam and Eve did the one thing that they were warned not to do! They betrayed the Lord and trusted the serpent over His word. This hurt the Lord tremendously. He cursed the woman with pain during labor and cursed man with having to struggle and labor hard for the food we needed to survive in a cursed land, as for the serpent he was cursed to slither in the dirt. With all these curses He still showed grace by not killing them and starting over. He forced them out of the garden and allowed them to have families and populate the earth.

By the time we get to the story of Noah the entire world was filled with wickedness and evil thoughts. The had yet again had His most loved creation turn their backs on Him! Can you imagine how badly this hurt God? He had grown to the point that He had regretted He had placed man on the earth! He found only one man who had lived righteously. So with His love and grace God wiped the slate clean and started over with Noah and his family in charge of populating the earth and raising future generations to love and respect God!

Thankfully God has the ability to show grace even when He is deeply hurt. He alone has the strength and wisdom to take the burden on His own and repair the hurt that was caused due to the actions of man. This allows Him to understand us when someone hurts us by betraying us. We can call our Father in heaven and will help us to get through the pain. Sometimes this might mean you must end a friendship that is toxic and form some distance. You may eventually heal enough to restore the relationship but this is not always doable. Remember that wrong actions have consequences and it is not wrong for you to set up some separation if it is needed. You must always forgive but the Bible never says to forget. Treat them kindly, do not speak bad of them, and always pray for them.


Prayer:
Heavenly Father I humbly come before you today to give thanks for all blessings in my life. You have been so good to me even when I was at my worst. You showed love to me and pursued me to bring me into your loving embrace! I love you so much Lord! You alone are worthy of all my praise and worship. I apologize and repent for all the wrongs I have done. Thank you for loving me even when I am not perfect. Your love is amazing God! Thank you for being my rock when I needed support during times I was betrayed. I am sorry mankind caused so much heartache for you! You are so wonderful and amazing to give us every opportunity to repent and turn to you! Please use me to further your glory and show your amazing love to this world. I pray you will through me touch peoples hearts and perform miracales for your glory. Help me to walk in wisdom and righteousness. Guide my steps! I thank you Father! In the name of Jesus Christ I pray. Amen.

Marriage Portrait

Have you ever thought about how important marriage is to the Gospel? It is crucial that God established His pure concept of marriage so that He could describe the relationship Christ has for the church. It is a beautiful image that has been painted with perfection as only God could do.

It hit me last night after my beautiful wife gave me a Daily Walk Bible to cheer me up. I had been having a hard past few weeks due to a leg injury and work issues. I started skimming through it right away as I always do when I receive a new I receive a translation I have not owned ( this time it was NLT ). I decided to read from Genesis. At the end of the second chapter I read verses 23-25. From the start God points us in the direction to leave our parents so we can become one with our spouse!

Why is this so important to the Gospel narrative? The answer is in the terminology the Word gives us to describe Christs' return! He is the Groom and the church is the bride! This paints the picture of Christ and the church's longing to be together. Christ is ready to be with His bride and longs for her! But is there more we can take from this?

Think about the verse in Genesis! God wants us to draw so close to Him that we become one with his heart. He wants us to love His son in such a way that we would be willing to give everything to show our affection to Him. He wants His church to be a perfect bride for Christ! Just like in a worldly marriage He wants us to leave our "parents" and become one with Christ!

What or Who plays the role of our parents in this setting? My belief is that the parents we need to separate from is our sin. But we all know that we cannot completely leave our sin because no one is perfect! So how could this be the parents?

In most marriages there is that one set of parents that always wants to come in and keep control. If you have a perfect family on both ends you really should play the lottery because luck is on your side! All jokes aside this is just how sin acts in our relationship with Christ! He walk into your home and tells you how things should be done. Your dishes should be this way, fold it that way, clean your floors with this cleaner, watch this provocative video, drink another drink........... I think you get the picture. Sin is that mother or mother in-law that cannot let go and allow your marriage to grow to its full potential!

If the church as a whole does not deal with this parent it can do a lot of damage. It damages our connection with Christ and hinders communication. Christ wants to trust you with important tasks and gifts but has to wait so you don't waste your energy on the parents that won't let go of the control they used to have over you!


Prayer:
Lord I thank you for loving me enough to send your son to die for me! Your love is amazing and overwhelms my soul. I long to grow close to you! Jesus draw me in so that I can become a living testimony of your love. Help me to separate myself from my sinfulness. Cover me in the blood of Christ and anoint my life. Keep your presence near and surround me with your grace. Baptize me in your spirit that I may be filled from the inside out. I love you Lord. Keep me safe and protect my heart. I give you all of me. I trust your plan for my life. I thank you for who you are. I pray this in the precious name of Jesus Christ my savior. Amen!

God Heal Our Land

I have been reading on the building of the Temple in II Chronicles and asking the Lord to reveal a fresh truth to me. It was not until I got to the dedication of the temple did I receive the revelation of what godly leadership should look like. King Solomon began to pray and praise the Lord. During this dedication prayer he really started to focus on Israel and how they are prone to turn their backs on God. He prayed with deep conviction for a failsafe in case when Solomon was not there to lead they might anger God. He knew the past history and in his god given wisdom knew it would happen again eventually.

God later appears to Solomon in the night and reveals that He had heard and received the prayer. God proceeds to give Solomon a promise of grace and how to attain it. “ If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then I will hear from heaven, and forgive their sin, and heal their land.”

This is what we are lacking in the leadership of our nation. I am not saying we do not have any godly leaders in Washington, but not many. I long to see a leader that will have the courage to get on his knees before the nation and pray for the past sins, the current conflicts, and the future prosperity of our beloved nation.

Even if we do not have a politician that will do this, it is our job as a nation to do this as well. The spiritual health of America is in need of a check up. I pray that the church will stand up again and cover this nation with prayer. We cannot fix the issues by condemning the nations leaders. It is okay to disagree with a politician or a political party. We must be careful to always pray for the person in the position, especially the president. If you want change get on your knees and talk to the Lord. Lift up your concerns to him. Pray for godly and wise leadership!

Prayer:

Lord we come to you today to thank you for who you. You are truly worthy of all praise. There is none who can compare to your glory. I pray that your glory will be shown through our nation and its leaders. Guide our leaders in your wisdom. Father forgive us of our sins as a nation. Restore us to become one and end the division that has set itself into our culture. Help us to heal from past wrongs and give us wisdom to move forward. Place your hand over our nation and provide us with your protection. I pray for the church Lord that you would raise up godly men and women to represent the kingdom of Heaven with wisdom and dignity. Let us show the world how to love the person and hate the sin. Help us to act out of love and not prejudice. Gives a heart of compassion. Anoint us with fresh revelation and bring a revival to this nation! We thank you for the miracles that are preparing to take place. Give us the faith to stand up and spread your message like wildfire! Pour out your Spirit once again on this nation. Unify us as a people that does not judge on skin or gender! From blacks to whites; From men to women: Let us all answer the call of Christ! I pray Lord you will heal our land! I pray this in the name of my savior Christ Jesus! Amen!

Trigger Warning!!!!!!!

Alright I am about to open a can of worms and I know it. I was praying today and I felt an extreme conviction to pray for our nation. We are currently being attacked in the spiritual realm and need divine revelation in order to prevent division within our own country. It does not matter who you are and what you believe we all deal with opposition to our worldview. We all have to control our actions and reactions when we are placed in uncomfortable situations. As time goes on I have noticed most people turn to anger and resentment as fuel for their cause.

In many cases the cause itself is not completely invalid. The problem comes when an ideology becomes radicalized and is considered the only view that people can have. It comes from fear. The fear that others do not and will not accept your opinion or view gives way to anger and offense.
You become unable to hear an opposing points that are being made and aggressive defense of your beliefs are put out. If we cannot discuss and calmly have debate we will never be able to come together.

I believe this is key when living in Christ especially. As Christians we are examined very harshly in the secular world and judged as hypocritical a lot of the time. The reason this is easy to do is that the Word tells us to love and not condemn, yet we constantly push away, judge, and talk down to sinners. God never wanted us to act this way. We think that we are furthering His message by criticizing the person who is sinning. Christ showed us that in order to defeat darkness you must bring it to light! Right?

Christ does want us to bring the light. HIS LIGHT! He wants us to love the sinner and not the sin. Look at His life and watch how he dealt with the lost. He often healed them and told them to not sin anymore. This shows us that in order to change the world we must love the people in the world. I pray that the Christian community will join together and demonstrate the love of Christ to this world and help heal our culture. Until we start discussing issues with the love of Christ we will never find the solutions that we need to heal.

Biblical Disagreement

This is a difficult truth for many people. Our flesh tells us that if someone does not hold your beliefs or has done something to hurt you it is acceptable to be rude and hateful. The Bible tells us the opposite is true. We as Christians are to be kind to everyone even if they have hurt us in the past. We are to forgive them as Christ has forgiven us.

This does not mean that we are to blindly accept their actions as justified. You may have to set boundaries and at times let them know they are not in the right. You must do this from a place of love and not condemnation. You cannot force your beliefs on another person but you can lead by example and pray for them. Let them know what you believe but do not attack the individual. To many times Christians get in the way by condemning a person instead of the sin.

-Mathew 5:43-47