Seeking God through Prayer..... Craig Denison

 Seeking God through Prayer

Craig Denison

Weekly Overview:

Learning to seek the face of God is the foundation for experiencing the amazing life Jesus died to give us. We have available to us through Christ all the wonders, excellencies, and satisfaction we can fathom. God has granted us grace upon grace, mercy upon mercy, affection upon affection, and love upon love. When we pursue him through all the avenues available to us, a door is opened in which we discover all our heavenly Father longs to give us. May you grow in your pursuit of God this week as we study various ways we’ve been given to seek his face.

Scripture:“But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret.” - Matthew 6:6

Devotional:

The fact that God listens to us as his children changes the landscape of prayer from empty phrases uttered into the abyss to direct communication with the Creator and Sustainer of all. When you pray you are heard by your heavenly Father. And it’s because he listens to us that prayer is one of the most wonderful and powerful avenues to pursue him. May we learn to dialogue in greater ways with our heavenly Father as we open our hearts to all he would show us today about prayer.

Matthew 6:7-8 says, “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” Jesus inaugurated an entirely new perspective on prayer. Prior to Jesus, God’s people would pray out of obligation or ritual, begging a seemingly distant God to move on their behalf. Jesus taught that God knows our needs before we even ask. He taught that God is a good Father who longs to respond to the needs of his children. And in John 15:7 he taught, “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” God’s desire is to respond favorably to our prayers. He always has our absolute best in mind and longs to satisfy the desires of our hearts.

The key to effective communication with God is first to trust that he is a good Father who listens and longs to answer the prayers of his children. After gaining proper perspective, we need to spend significant time allowing God to fill us with his desires for us, fashioning our hearts into a reflection of his. God will not give you what he knows is less than his best. Rather, he longs to fill you with a desire for what is best for you, then come along and satisfy that desire in magnificent and miraculous ways as you pray.

Jeremiah 33:3 says, “Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.” When you call out to your heavenly Father, trust that he will answer you. He longs to fill you with the knowledge and desire for his will. He longs to speak with you. You can have his heart and know how he feels. The Holy Spirit who dwells within you longs to reveal to you the perfect plans of your heavenly Father.

Spend time in prayer listening for the heartbeat of God and allowing him to fill you with the knowledge of his will.

Guided Prayer:

1. Meditate on God’s purposes for prayer. Allow Scripture to fill you with trust and faith in God’s ability to both listen and speak to you.

“And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”>Matthew 6:7-8

“If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” John 15:7

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” John 10:27

2. Ask the Spirit to fill you with a knowledge of God’s desires for you. Where do you need God’s wisdom? What part of your life doesn’t seem to be marked by the work of God? Where do you need peace, joy, and purpose?

“Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.” Jeremiah 33:3

“Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints; but let them not turn back to folly.” Psalm 85:8

3. Pray in accordance with God’s will. Pray with boldness after you discover God’s heart for your need, knowing that he hears you and will respond to your prayer perfectly.

In his book, Power through Prayer, E. M. Bounds shares incredible wisdom on a lifestyle of prayer. May his words guide you into a deeper connection with your heavenly Father today:

The men who have done the most for God in this world have been early on their knees. He who fritters away the early morning, its opportunity and freshness, in other pursuits than seeking God will make poor headway seeking Him the rest of the day. If God is not first in our thoughts and efforts in the morning, He will be in the last place the remainder of the day.

Extended Reading: Matthew 6

How Would Jesus Respond to Insults?..... By Joe McKeever

 How Would Jesus Respond to Insults?

By Joe McKeever

BIBLE VERSE OF THE DAY: “… who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously…” ( 1 Peter 2:23)

In his book Mud Hen in a Peacock Parade: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Heaven, retired seminary professor Dan R. Crawford tells of a put-down he received in the most public of gatherings: the University of Texas graduation exercises.

That day, as the crowd gathered on the mall in front of the University Tower and the about-to-be graduates marched in, Dan noticed the words of John 8:32 inscribed in stone over the door: “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” In the processional, Dan marched between the president of the university and the guest speaker who was also the president of a famous institution.

In his invocation, Dan “quoted the verse inscribed over the door and thanked God for the pursuit of truth in which the university was engaged and also the Truth that sets us free.” A few minutes later, the guest speaker, the distinguished president of an august institution said, “Now I must correct the Rev. Mr. Crawford from his prayer earlier. Truth is relative. It is not embodied in any person.”

Dan notes, “Most were asleep when he made this bold statement, but he sure got my attention.”

A public comeuppance. Ever get one of those?

I hope you do. And I hope it’s as out of place and as mean-spirited as the one my friend Dan Crawford received that day. If it is, if you are unfairly attacked by someone misusing his/her position of trust before a large audience, here are some observations on your response…

Choice

If it does happen... If someone in a public forum shows pulls the kind of stunt the commencement speaker did that day, you have a choice: you set the speaker in his place or you can be the hero of the hour.

Class

The classy thing for you to do when someone tries to embarrass you (or set you straight or bring you down) in public is to sit quietly and show no response.

Confirm

The absolutely worst thing you can do–is to respond in kind, to give as good as you received. That would be childish and immature, and all it would do is confirm in the minds of the onlookers that the putdown was correct.

Convert

You are not going to make a convert of the offending speaker and that is not your goal. However, there were hundreds of listeners still awake in that commencement crowd of several thousand that day in Austin, and they are the ones Dan Crawford could win over, if he did the right thing.

Course

The right thing is not to defend and not to attack. Just stay the course. Be yourself, show some class, and you will impress the right-thinking people in the audience who were horrified that the speaker would take advantage of you in that way.

The Lord Jesus was on trial. People were hurling lies at him.  “… many false witnesses came forward… At last two witnesses came forward and said, ‘This fellow said ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days.’’ The high priest turned to the Lord and said, ‘Do you answer nothing? What is it these men testify against you?’ But Jesus kept silent.” ( Matthew 26:59-63)

Jesus kept silent. And when on the cross people were accusing and taunting Him, jeering at Him and spitting upon Him, the Lord prayed, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” ( Luke 23:34)

Blowing up the Fourth of July..... by John UpChurch

 Blowing up the Fourth of July

by John UpChurch

I nearly blew up the Fourth of July. Well, not the holiday, just the block party we had when I was a kid. For a couple of years when I was young, the residents of our neighborhood would congregate at an open lot on the corner. Many of the families would bring bags and boxes of giant bottle rockets, roman candles, sparklers, fountains, and other color-shooting fare. They’d dump them on a ratty blanket and sit in the grass. Most of them took turns launching the flaming orbs into the air, littering the ground with the paper and cardboard of spent fireworks, and filling the night with acrid smoke.

It was glorious, and I wanted to make a huge splash (cue the dramatic music).

Before descending upon the second—and last—of our block parties, I scanned the aisles of the fireworks tent not far from our house. Just shooting flaming balls or seeing a pretty sparkly pop in the sky wasn’t enough. I wanted to go big. There’d be nothing mundane for my moment of greatness this year.

And that’s when I found the perfect Chinese-made, powder-stuffed wonder. I have no idea what it was called, but it was a green plastic tube longer than my hand with fins sticking out from either end. The packaging promised showers of sparks as it rose into the sky, a loud report (code for explosion), and an unforgettable display of color. Some might say spending three bucks on one moment of awesome is a bit excessive. I just saw it as a small price to pay for a green wonder.

When we arrived at the party, I plopped that bad boy on the blanket and waited. The dozen or so puny pops and whistles made me all the more eager to get to my pièce de résistance. Everyone seemed to be enjoying the lightshow, but they didn’t know what real excitement awaited them.

Finally, my time came, my moment of triumph. Although I was too young to do the lighting (so said my parents), I marched with my firework contraption to the middle of the road and placed it exactly in the center. This green wonder needed the perfect launching pad, after all.

I hurried away when the host of the party lit the fuse. To this day, I have no idea what happened exactly. I followed the instructions on the wrapper, and yet the green wonder’s shower of sparks weren’t enough to get it off the ground. Instead, it limped across the road with a pathetic whimper and shot toward the blanket full of fireworks.

Neighbors scattered. People screamed. God had mercy. At least, that’s the best way I can explain how a shower of sparks and flame didn’t set off any of the other fireworks or burn anyone.

Intersecting Faith & Life: Too often, I’m just like I was back then on that Fourth of July: I want my service, my gift, my moment to be more awesome than anyone else’s. I compare what I’m doing with what you’re doing or he’s doing or she’s doing to see how I stack up. That’s exactly the point where things go boom.

But freedom in Christ begins with a humbling. We’re meant to keep our eyes on Him, so much so that we aren’t able to compare ourselves with others. One person may preach the gospel to an entire nation, and another may work with gospel-saturated hands in a tiny community. One may write books that sell millions of copies, and another may have a blog that ten people read.

We don’t need green wonders to make a big splash. We need to surrender to the One who made us. That’s what sets us free.

For Further Reading
Romans 9
1 Corinthians 3

A Prayer for Unity in Our Nation..... By Debbie McDaniel

 A Prayer for Unity in Our Nation

By Debbie McDaniel

“I in them and you in me--so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” John 17:23

Often in times of greatest need, we may find ourselves giving way to the stress and strain by battling one another, and forgetting who the real enemy is. Harsh words spoken, friendships broken; we choose sides and draw lines. Feelings get hurt. Betrayal runs deep. It gets harder to forgive and keep moving forward. And sometimes we get stuck, right there in the muddy mess of it all.

Yet it’s in those very times of tension and struggle, that we need, more than ever, to come together as one, unified, and strong.

And we can be assured, it’s in those times, that Satan is fighting the hardest. For he knows that’s when we have the greatest potential to make a difference in this world.

He knows that we’re stronger together as we encourage one another on. He’s aware that we’re courageous and brave when we’re covering one another in prayer. He understands that the unity of believers through the power of Jesus Christ, is a force that can’t be reckoned with. For it’s hard to tear apart a cord of three strands, which can’t be easily broken.

That’s why he’s determined to fight harder. And he’s there, in the midst of it all, cheering on the battle. He loves it when we target one another. He laughs at evil, riots, and violence. He gains momentum when we forget that he’s the cause.

Don’t be unaware.

His schemes are cunning and cruel. He’ll twist words and truth, trading them for lies, and stirring up fires.

Let’s say “No more.”

Let’s choose to set aside our differences and look to the greater purpose in this life. To honor Christ as King. We’ll never agree on everything. And that’s never been the goal anyway.

Let’s choose to live out the Truth that says, “Let all that you do be done in love.” 1 Corinthians 16:14

All that you do. All that you say. All that you stand for. Let’s do it with love. For perfect love, which comes from Christ, casts out all fear. And that is what gives us power to move forward, propelled with His strength, surrounded in peace, eyes on the One who gives us breath each day, filled with greater unity in our land.

May God bless us with His peace and unity in our Nation.

Dear God,

We are needy of you. We’re aware, more than ever, of our own weaknesses, and of the struggle with dark forces that try hard to divide us and gain more ground. We say “No more.” We stand our ground. We ask that you would fill us with your Spirit of love and unity among believers all across this nation. We ask that you would help us to set aside our differences and look to the greater cause, the cause of Christ. We ask that you would help us to truly live a life of love. We know that this is only possible through the power of your Spirit, so we ask that you would move across our land in fresh ways. With fresh filling and awareness. Turning your people back to you. Drawing others to come to know you. We thank you that you are

In Jesus’ Name,

Amen.

United we stand, in the love of Christ.