2020-02-07
Good Morning Dear Ones,
This morning, I’m led to write about the ideal attitude we should have about and in prayer. This is done as I continue providing supporting Scripture for the book of Colossians and examine our vertical relationship with God and horizontal relationships with other humans. 1 THESS 5: 16-18, With it understood that God wants us to be always-reverent toward Him, we are told, “Be joyful always, pray at all times, be thankful in all circumstances. This is what God wants from you in your life in union with Christ.” Devotion to prayer is the product of a life of obedience to God. We wake up to the fact of our dependence on God for all things of importance. When a storm (literal or figurative) approaches, we pray to God, the only One Who has the power to bring us through it. This life of devotion to God causes us to learn to count blessings and remain positive in our faith in God’s Son, Jesus Christ. We recognize that all that is good and kind in this life comes from Him. Our reliance on Him is in our best eternal interests.
PR 3: 5-7, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Never rely on what you think you know. Remember the Lord in everything you do, and He will show you the right way. Never let yourself think that you are wiser than you are; simply obey the Lord and refuse to do wrong.” We humans do have the tendency to turn to other people or to think we know what is best for us. However, often we find ourselves at a crossroads and don’t know which way to proceed. Only God has the amount and type of wisdom that we need. His timing and way to allow a problem to be presented and/or solved is perfect for maximizing what we learn from the experience. PS 37: 3-6, “Trust in the Lord and do good; live in the land and be safe. Seek your happiness in the Lord, and He will give you your heart’s desire. Give yourself to the Lord; trust in Him, and He will help you; He will make your righteousness shine like the noonday sun.” Trusting the Lord is not always easy; it is learned behavior. He will catch you as you fall back. When things are too rough for us to carry on, He may well take your hand and lead you. He may well even pick us up and carry us on his shoulders, until we can continue along the way on ourselves. I have seen the Lord’s help during my lifetime, even experienced it for myself. During the years I lived in MN, there have been tornados. On one such occasion when my husband was away on a business trip out of state, it became dark with an eerie green glow at 12 PM. I could hear deep-throated growling of the wind and creaking of our roof beams. Reports of damage seen were being reported on my portable weather radio, and sirens went off. I hurried downstairs and got into a small luggage place under the steps. The house shook, and I prayed that safety would be the end of this situation. Wails not unlike a banshee could be heard, and I kept on praying. Then it grew quiet again. A few minutes later I came out of my hiding place and went back upstairs. I looked out of the window to see all kinds of branches and other debris laying around, which had blown in from the golf course that bordered our home. Later, I learned that the wailing I had heard was due to a siphon backup protector that hadn’t been closed on our front garden hose. It took me a week to pick up all the refuse that had come into our yard, but thankfully, God saved us from any more serious damage to the house. We learned that some neighbors had sustained holes in their roofs and shingles that had been lifted off.
Finding happiness in the Lord is finding real peace and happiness-the kinds that last. My daughter, who was formerly an ER nurse, told me there is a great difference between the grief of families that lose loved ones who are families of faith and families that don’t share our faith. To the latter, there is a hopelessness that is deep, emotionally painful, and powerful. It takes them longer to reach acceptance of what has happened than a family of faith, if they ever do. On the other hand, families that believe in gaining eternal life and a heavenly reunion with the Lord, their ancestors, and more recent loved ones who have gone to heaven before them, and the Lord. This grief is with that knowledge and healing that comes more quickly. Each person heals after a loss at his own rate and in his own way. Faithful families are never left alone and hopeless; they can feel the comforting presence of the Lord.
PRAYER: O Lord, we recognize our need to depend on and trust in You. Through placing the Holy Spirit in us, You open the depths of Your wisdom to us. You cause us to know of our need for You. IS 55: 8-9, “’My thoughts,’ says the Lord, ‘are not like yours, and My ways are different from yours. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are My ways and thoughts above yours.’” JN 15: 5, “I am the Vine and you are the branches. Those who remain in Me, and I in them, will bear much fruit; for you can do nothing without Me.” As we come to making decisions and having thoughts, we turn to You in reverence and awe, asking You to intervene in lives at this time. When we follow Your wise advice and behave in a way which pleases You, we demonstrate the depth of our own faith and our capacity to love as the Lord, Jesus taught us. When we worry, we show how little faith and dependence on You we have. Your will is for us not to be frightened and worry, but instead, to have inner peace and happiness. In the same gentle way that Christ showed us, we are to treat others with patience and kindness. We were promised, in JN 15: 7 that “if we remain in Him and He in us, that we will ask for anything we wish, and we shall be given it.” Those conditions mean that we know His will and live according to it. PHIL 4: 6-7, “Don’t worry about anything, but in all your prayers ask God for what you need, always asking Him with a thankful heart. And God’s peace, which is far beyond human understanding, will keep your hearts and minds safe in union with Christ Jesus.” PHIL 4: 8 is further advice. “Fill your minds with those things that are good and that deserve praise: things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and honorable.” We acknowledge Your right to our faithful obedience and willingness to abide by Your teaching-in the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: We will look at some definitions and what I call “prayer codes.” These are some things we need to know and in which order is reverent from which they can be followed. This exercise will help us to continue filling the goals set for today’s message. We are never alone when we practice the lifestyle teachings that Christ has laid down for us. It took me until I was in my fifties before I felt God’s constant presence. I’m hoping and praying it doesn’t take you nearly as long as it did for me. Yet, we all mature spiritually at our own individual pace. God knows what is right for us. He loves each person without either holding back or taking too long to deliver these blessings. Praise and thanks be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2019. All Rights Reserved.
<-- Back to Archives