4 Ways to Pray About Anything in Every Situation.....By Lynette Kittle

 4 Ways to Pray About Anything in Every Situation

By Lynette Kittle

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” – Philippians 4:6

Over the years I’ve been growing in my understanding of prayer and how God wants to have an ongoing dialogue with me throughout my day, where I am accessible to Him in every aspect of my life.

Through prayer, I invite and involve God into my everydayness. Below are four ways I’ve been learning to include prayer into my daily life.

1. Seize the Moment

Instead of telling people “I’ll pray” when someone asks for prayer, my goal is to take time to actually pray right in the moment, because it’s easy to forget. Also when someone asks for prayer, it reflects openness on his or her part towards God, something that may not be present later on.

Sometimes the simplest of phrases can touch a hardened or hurting heart. Psalm 49:3 reassures me that God can help my mouth speak words of wisdom.

Even if words are awkward and don’t come easy, or if they flow easily, I trust God to give me words to speak that will encourage, comfort, and touch hearts.

2. Let God Lead

Scriptures states as a child of God, I’m to be led by His Spirit (Romans 8:14). Doing so helps me in so many ways such as recognizing when someone is open to prayer, situations where prayer is needed, and how to pray.

In asking the Lord to guide my prayers, I find myself praying in new and unexpected ways and places, trusting Him to lead my thoughts and prayers.

Letting God lead also frees me from things such as feelings of self-consciousness and trying to impress with well-expressed words or phrasing. Psalm 25:6 states that the Lord guides the humble in what is right and teaches them His way.

3. Take Time

When someone asks for prayer through an email, Facebook, or Twitter, take time to respond. Find a few minutes to send or post a thoughtful response to requests for prayer, trusting God to minister through your words.

Even with all of social media’s issues, there are still opportunities to bring a refreshing word.

Like Proverbs 15:23 states, “A person finds joy in giving an apt reply and how good is a timely word!”

4. Be Available

Let God know you are available, willing, and asking Him for opportunities to pray. When you do, commit to being on-call to pray 24/7, along with being open to surprising situations.

Unexpected opportunities in my life have included praying with a stranger outside an amusement park ride, during a Christmas party, on a crowded airliner, in a store’s check-out line, and more.

Like 2 Timothy 4:2 urges, I aim to be prepared in season and out of season, ready to reach out to others.

Living Courageously.....Craig Denison Ministries

 Living Courageously

Craig Denison Ministries

Weekly Overview:

In response to knowing the heart of God we are called to share the wonders of his invisible nature with a world in desperate need of him. God has chosen to use us to reveal himself. He’s filled us with the Spirit and empowered us to proclaim the good news of salvation and restored relationship with our Creator. May you discover this week that you were made to share God’s heart. And may you find joy and passion in God’s longing to use you in powerful and unique ways.

Scripture:

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9

Devotional:    

To live as an authentic disciple of Jesus is to live courageously. Jesus didn’t call us to a life of shrinking back. We’re not commanded to sit on the sidelines. He didn’t call us to to pursue comfort, stability, approval with man, or societal status. He’s called us to love unconditionally, give sacrificially, obey him unreservedly, and to live courageously.

In John 15:19 Jesus clearly says, “If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” To be of God and practice the things of God is in powerful, direct opposition to the things of the world and its ruler, our enemy. For this reason God offers encouragement to those who face trial—to those who live courageously. 1 Peter 4:12-14 says:

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.

God is calling you to a life far greater and more important than comfort and worldly pleasure. He’s calling you to live by faith, believing that true blessing and true pleasure is found in him alone. He’s calling you to step out of your former ways and live in accordance with his will that you might experience fullness of life in him.

For this reason Scripture says in Joshua 1:9, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” In the midst of any trial you can have transcendent, tangible comfort in God. In this midst of any suffering or pain you can find rest in the loving arms of your heavenly Father. And in the face of great opposition you can choose to live courageously. Your God is with you. He will never leave you. Courage comes from acknowledging the reality and power of God’s nearness.

As we finish this week on sharing God’s heart, find courage today to boldly love others. Take time to receive God’s unconditional love and grace that you might share him with a world who desperately needs transcendent comfort and peace. Live courageously today and see heaven come to earth around you. Seek life and love in God alone. May your time of guided prayer be filled with encouragement from the Holy Spirit and the word of God.

Guided Prayer:

1. Meditate on the call of God to live courageously. Reflect on his promise to be with you always.

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9

"But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls." Hebrews 10:39

“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” Psalm 23:4

2. Assess your own life. In what ways are you seeking worldly comfort over living courageously in God? What fears do you have about sharing God’s heart that are winning out over courage from God?

“And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.” Luke 8:14

3. Go to God with your fears and receive encouragement in him. Take time to rest in God’s presence. Ask him for his perspective on that which hinders you from sharing his heart and living courageously. Journal his response.

“For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” 2 Timothy 1:7

When you choose to respond to God’s call in faith, know that he will fill you with courage and boldness. The disciples were not naturally courageous people. Prior to the coming of the Holy Spirit they were weak, selfish, and cowardly. But in God they were made strong. In God they accomplished the impossible. In God they were used for eternal purposes that bore fruit you and I are still experiencing. Decide today to partner with God in seeing his kingdom come to earth through your life. Decide to jump in and be an active part of the spiritual awakening happening all around us. Decide to get off the sidelines of the Christian life and share God’s heart with all those he leads you to. May your day be filled with boldness and courage in the Holy Spirit.

Extended Reading: Luke 8

Choosing To Forgive: The Step We Trip On.....SHARON JAYNES

 Choosing To Forgive: The Step We Trip On

SHARON JAYNES 

“Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” Colossians 3:13 (NIV)

At a Saturday college football game, I was doing what I like doing best — people-watching.

My seat was on the end of a long row of blue bleachers, and there was a steady flow of fans up and down the concrete steps. After a while, I noticed that four out of five people tripped on the step right in front of me. At halftime, I measured and discovered that the step was about a quarter inch higher than the others. So the people tripped.

I’ve learned that forgiveness is like that step. It’s just a little bit higher than anything else we practice as Christians. Unfortunately, it’s the one step a lot of us seem to trip on the most, myself included.

Growing up, my home was rife with anger, heartache and pain. After my parents and I came to Christ, a lot of forgiveness had to take place, as you can imagine. Trust me; it didn’t come all at once but in stages.

The decision to forgive happened in an instant — like a pellet sinking to the bottom of a glass of water.

The revision of emotions happened over time — like a pellet sinking to the bottom of a glass of thick oil. It was a hard, high step.

Still, despite how hard forgiveness can be, Jesus tells us it is at the very core of the Christian faith. It’s a foundational theme in Jesus’ teachings. For example, in Mark 11:25, He said: “And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins” (NIV).

Throughout Old Testament times, God’s people offered animal sacrifices for the forgiveness of their sins, according to God’s instructions. But their sacrifices were never enough to cover all their sins — every new sin required another sacrifice.

Centuries later, God sent His Son, Jesus, to die as the final sacrifice for the forgiveness of our sins. His sacrifice was enough to cover our sins: past, present and future. I love how author and pastor Brian Zahnd describes Jesus’ forgiveness as “grace that takes the blame, covers the shame, and removes the stain and the endless cycle of revenge.”

But we aren’t merely recipients of forgiving grace through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross; we are also called to be givers of that forgiving grace.

When something triggers the hurt in my heart all over again, instead of giving in to the hurt that can so quickly turn to bitterness, I have to remind myself that I have already forgiven that person. Then I ask God to help me deal with my very real emotions. I also remind myself of Paul’s words in Colossians 3:13: “Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”

“As the Lord forgave you.” Let’s allow that to sink in for just a moment. When I remember how God has fully forgiven me for everything I’ve ever done to wrong Him, that makes it easier to forgive those people who’ve hurt me. God’s forgiveness of me drives me to forgive others.

In teaching His followers to forgive, Jesus identified no exceptions — no loopholes that let us off the hook from forgiving. He mentioned no crime too heinous, no abuse too perverse, no act too vile, to warrant holding on to unforgiveness. Sister, we can trust that Jesus knows just how deeply people may have hurt us. But He also knows how deeply destructive unforgiveness can be to a human heart.

When we choose to forgive, we not only live out a foundational tenet of our faith, but also we put a stop to the endless cycle of revenge — releasing the burden of bitterness and making the world beautiful through grace. I want to be a part of that. Don’t you?

Friend, the step of forgiveness may be a bit higher than some of the other steps in our faith journey, but by the power of the Holy Spirit, we can do it.

Father, I’ll admit I’ve tripped on the step of forgiveness. Help me to pick up my spiritual feet just a little higher to forgive others quickly and completely. Help me not to trip over my own sin of unforgiveness but to walk the path without stumbling. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

The Church What Is It All About.....Dr. Charles Stanley

The Church What Is It All About

Dr. Charles Stanley

Colossians 1:18-24

Church buildings are plentiful in our country. Locating one may be easy, but wisely deciding which to join involves more effort. God's Word gives us some specific instructions in this matter.

First, let's explore the original biblical meaning of the word "church." The term ecclesia meant a group of people who are called out of the world's system by God's grace for the purpose of assembling to worship and serve Christ. Ephesians 5:29-30 further specifies that believers are the body and Jesus is the head of such a fellowship. Under His leadership, we can enjoy the unity and purpose that He intended.

God's design for this sacred gathering involves worship, instruction, encouragement, evangelism, and ministry to those in need, both within the fellowship and outside its walls. A healthy, vibrant congregation is possible only when members rely fully on the Holy Spirit's guidance. The work of the church is to be done in His power, in humble, prayerful submission to the Lord.

To help you determine whether a church is following the design laid out in Scripture, here are some important questions to ask: Do they believe God's Word is infallible and inerrant? Is the church disciplining her people? Does the fellowship have some kind of missionary or evangelistic program?

Joining a congregation is an important decision, as a fellowship of believers is one tool God uses to mature and encourage His children. Those three questions can be helpful in discerning God's will. Listen for His Spirit to warn or direct as you prayerfully investigate your options.

A Stubborn Intolerance for Joyless Christianity...by Alex Crain

 A Stubborn Intolerance for Joyless Christianity

by Alex Crain

"Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation." - Habakkuk 3:17

Should one's relationship with the infinite and personal living God be joyless? Francis Schaeffer didn't think so. Yet there he was, a joyless man. Technically, he was theologically sound, but there was no denying that he had become a completely joyless Christian man. If that had continued, no one would be speaking of Schaeffer or his writings, or his legacy today. Thankfully, he was stubbornly intolerant of joyless Christianity.

In True Spirituality, Schaeffer tells how the spiritual reality, which would become the hallmark of his life, came about only after a time of great personal crisis. It was 1952. Schaeffer had become a Christian from agnosticism years before. After that, he had been a pastor for ten years in the U.S. and was now a missionary in Switzerland living with his wife and young children. Over a period lasting several months, Francis worked through the disturbing gap that he saw between the large amount of Bible data he claimed to believe and the lack of genuine spiritual joy in his life.

One significant and challenging question that caused Francis to ponder long and hard is recounted by his wife, Edith, in her book, The Tapestry, p. 356 ff.)…/p>

"I wonder what would happen to most of our churches and Christian work if we woke up tomorrow morning and everything concerning the reality and work of the Holy Spirit, and everything concerning prayer were removed from the Bible? I don't mean just ignored, but actually cut out—disappeared. I wonder how much difference it would make?"

Apparently, during that period, it was making no difference in Schaeffer's life. His doubts had cut the nerve of faith. And over those months as he walked in the mountains, Francis re-thought the doctrines of the Bible, the reality of the Holy Spirit, and each of his reasons for being a Christian.

At last, he declared...

"Gradually the sun came out and the song came... I saw again that there were totally sufficient reasons to know that the infinite-personal God does exist and that Christianity is true.

"In going further, I saw something else which made a profound difference in my life. I searched through what the Bible said concerning reality as a Christian. Gradually, I saw that the problem was that with all the teaching I had received after I was a Christian, I had heard little about what the Bible says about the meaning of the finished work of Christ for our present lives.

"Interestingly enough, although I had written no poetry for many years, in that time of joy and song I found poetry beginning to flow again—poetry of certainty, an affirmation of life, thanksgiving, and praise. Admittedly, as poetry it is very poor, but it expressed a song in my heart which was wonderful to me." (from True Spirituality, p. 196 in The Complete Works of Francis Schaeffer, vol. 3 © 1982 Crossway Books, Wheaton, Illinois).

That time of crisis—and more importantly, his rediscovery of the meaning of the finished work of Christ for his present life—settled the crucial issue of spiritual reality for Schaeffer. Francis saw and believed that the finished work of Christ really is the source of the Christian's life. Rather than pursue the trappings of Christian leadership while personally being a joyless Christian, he determined to wait for a greater reality of knowing God. With such a solid spiritual basis for his own life, he went on to become a great source of help for countless others.

Intersecting Faith and Life: Are you stubbornly intolerant of joyless Christianity in your own life?

What would happen if you woke up tomorrow morning and everything concerning the reality and work of the Holy Spirit, and everything concerning prayer were removed from the Bible? Not just ignored, but actually cut out… How much difference it would make in the way that you live?

How can you grow to become a greater source of spiritual help for others?

Further Reading:
John 6:68
Ephesians 4:17
Ephesians 5:18

A Prayer to Be Thirsty No More.....By: Alisha Headley

 A Prayer to Be Thirsty No More

By: Alisha Headley

Jesus said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water I shall give them will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” - (John 4:13-14)

Many of us have a thirst deep in us. A longing to feel whole, to feel complete, to be loved. We strive after things in life such as a spouse, career, children, possessions, or power in hopes that the emptiness and unfulfillment we feel inside will one day be fulfilled. Perhaps you finally obtain what you thirst for, yet the fulfillment only lasts but a moment, and you’re still left thirsting for more.

We live in a fallen world where being fulfilled by other people or things isn’t possible, but we seek so hard in trying to obtain it. In today’s Scripture, Jesus reminds the woman he meets at the well who tried to obtain such fulfillment that she will thirst again running after the water of this world. This woman went from man to man, husband to husband, and five husbands later, she still didn’t feel complete. Her longing and brokenness could never be fulfilled by anyone but the Lord.

Our gracious Jesus tells her it’s because she is drinking from the water of this fallen world. This sin-filled, sickness-filled, hurt-filled, heartbroken-filled, broken, empty world -- will always leave us thirsting for more.  Jesus then goes on to say that the water and life He offers will spring forth water that is overflowing. He promises that those who drink from His cup, will never thirst again.

Unfortunately, many of us too, run to lesser loves to fulfill what God was only intended to fulfill.

What, or who, are you searching for in hopes of feeling that wholeness? Stop searching in all the wrong places and start seeking the Lord and the living water He has to offer. He’s fulfilling, He’s complete, and in this scarce world you will be thirsty no more. Let’s pray.

Dear God,

Lord, how we love you. We thank you for the powerful stories from your Word about real people with real struggles, problems we still experience today, generations and cultures removed.

Thank you, Lord, that we can feel a sense of wholeness and completeness while still walking the messy path in this fallen world. Thank you that we can experience your living water and be thirsty no more.

Lord, we empty our cups out. Our lesser loves: the things or people, the idols we have placed before you; we empty them out before you.

We ask that you would forgive us for turning to lesser loves when we should have been turning to our one true love in you.

Holy Spirit, we ask that you would now fill us with your love, your peace, your truth, and with your perspective as we navigate this world we live in. We ask that you would give us wisdom and prompt us in moments we are searching in the wrong places. We love you so much Lord and know that no one person or thing can give us a love like yours. Thank you for sending your one and only son to free us from this fallen world forever. We look forward to the day we unite with you.

In Jesus’ Name,

Amen.