Praying in Jesus' Name

I've been thinking today about what it means to pray in Jesus' name.  John MacArthur offers a great commentary on this topic, speaking about John 14:14 which says, "If you ask anything in My name, I will do it."  I pray that you may be encouraged to pray in Jesus' name, understanding in full what that means.

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Jesus’ disciples had left everything and were completely without resources. Without their Master, they would be all alone in a hostile world. Yet, He assured them, they did not need to worry about any of their needs. The gap between Him and them would be closed instantly whenever they prayed. Even though He would be absent, they would have access to all His supplies.

That is not carte blanche for every whim of the flesh. There’s a qualifying statement repeated twice. He doesn’t say, “I’ll give you absolutely anything you ask for,” but rather, “I’ll do what you ask in My name.” That does not mean we can simply tack the words, “in-Jesus’-name-amen” on the end of our prayers and expect the answers we want every time. Neither is it a special formula or abracadabra that will magically guarantee the granting of our every wish.

The name of Jesus stands for all that He is. Throughout Scripture, God’s names are the same as His attributes. When Isaiah prophesied that Messiah would be called “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6), he was not listing actual names, but rather giving an overview of Messiah’s character. “I am who I am,” the name revealed to Moses in Exodus 3:14, is as much an affirmation of God’s eternal nature as it is a name by which He is to be called.

Therefore, praying in the name of Jesus is more than merely mentioning His name at the end of our prayers. If we are truly praying in Jesus’ name, we will pray only for that which is consistent with His perfect character, and for that which will bring glory to Him. It implies an acknowledgement of all that He has done and a submission to His will.

What praying in Jesus’ name really means is that we should pray as if our Lord Himself were doing the asking. We approach the throne of the Father in full identification with the Son, seeking only what He would seek. When we pray with that perspective, we begin to pray for the things that really matter, and we eliminate selfish requests

Fix your Gaze Upon Jesus

Matthew 14:22-33:

"22 Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. 23 And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there. 24 But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary.

25 Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. 26 And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear.

27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.”

28 And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.”

29 So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”

31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.

33 Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, “Truly You are the Son of God.”

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I've been thinking about this story lately.  Peter saw his Lord coming and immediately was filled with great faith.  He stepped out on the water.  Notice at this point where his eyes are looking.  Toward Jesus.  But then what happened?

He took his eyes off of Jesus.

Oh my, the winds are great.  Oh, and the waves!  And as he began to look around him, his faith and his footsteps faltered.  He began to look around him at the things of this world, and immediately he lost his faith.  He lost his hope and sense of security.  Suddenly the wind and the waves seemed greater and more powerful than anything else.

How often are we like Peter?

We see God and we have great faith.  Our gaze is fixed steadily upon Him and we believe anything is possible.  But then (typically in our generation, this happens slowly and unconsciously) our gaze turns downward.  Look at those waves.  The wind blows so fiercely!  Our problems seem so big, and for some strange reason, our God seems so small.

We have lost our faith.  Why?  Because we turned our eyes off of Jesus.

My friends, how easy it is to allow our gaze to falter off of the King of kinds. The natural inclination of our flesh is to look at the things of this world.  But we must reject this inclination.  We must fix our eyes upon Jesus.

This is easy to think about conceptually, but what about practically?  How can we turn our eyes upon Jesus each and every day of our lives?

I've been thinking about this question a lot over the past few days, but I would like to give you a chance to think.  How do we fix our gaze upon Jesus?  You are welcome to share your thoughts below in the comments section or share privately through the "Contact" page.  I'm looking forward to hearing from you!

When God Answers Prayer

This past weekend, I had the wonderful opportunity to go on a short mission trip.  We only had one day to spend with the kids which our team has been ministering too for several years now.  We had spent months beforehand praying for these kids and for our time there.  We were all sad that it would have to be so short, but knew that God could work even in times like these.

I learned many lessons during that trip, as I watched God working in ways so beyond my imagination.  Yes, we only had 12 hours, but we saw in that small moment of time just how much God was doing.

As I reflect upon my weekend, I am so wowed by the way that God answered each and every one of our prayers.  I am so humbled to think that God is working through us in ways we never thought possible.  I am so excited to know what God has done in the hearts of these kiddos and I look forward with child-like expectation to see what my heavenly Father will do next.

One of the things that sticks out to me from this trip as one of the (many) lessons God wanted to teach me is how He answers prayer.

I learned that sometimes He answers in a way different then we thought.

Our thoughts are so below His.  While we think and dream and plan, we must realize that God knows infinitely more than we do. And He's been around for a lot longer than we have.  Because of this, sometimes His plans to measure up to ours.  On the surface, it may seem like He didn't even answer our prayer.

But when we really take a look at what He has done, we see that He really has answered our prayer.  And when we remember Who He is and how amazing His plans have turned out in the past, we trust that He knows what is best.  Just think of all the stories in the Old Testament. I'm sure crossing the Red Sea wasn't Moses' idea of fleeing Egypt.  But it was in God's plan.  And looking back so many yeas later, we see that God knew best.

And He knows best today as well.  He may not answer our prayers in exactly the way we were hoping they would be answered, but His ways are infinitely better than ours.

Another thing I learned is that sometimes His answers seem ordinary.

When I first reflected on how well our trip went, sitting on the couch of our room at 10:30 that night, I thought it was a pretty ordinary day.  Or maybe simple is the word I am looking for.  No fire fell from heaven.  No one's life was drastically changed.  But then I started thinking about all the "little" things God had done.  And the more I thought about it, the more I realized how many things God had done!  Some of them were little, and some of them were big!  

For example, during that trip we didn't encounter a whole lot of spiritual attack from the enemy.  So at the end of the day, I thought, this was pretty easy after all!  But the fact that we didn't have to spend all our time waging war with the devil showed me that God was on our side fighting for us!  He had defeated the enemy so that we could work freely and unhindered.  What an amazing God we serve!

So a trip that seemed to be ordinary changed into extraordinary because of what God did.  From this I have learned to look for God in the little things and not to take the seemingly small things for granted. 

I have also been reminded not to just offer a little "Thank You, God" and then move on, but to really ponder what God has done.  We can take so much that the Lord has done for granted instead of giving Him the credit and glory for what He has done.

The Lord also taught me to avoid the temptation of thinking I did it all in my own strength.

Sometimes it's easy for me to fall into believing I could have done it without God--especially when His answers come in ordinary and peaceful ways--like He did with this past missions trip.

In the past, I have fallen into the trap of thinking, "Hey, I could have done that. It wasn't as hard as I thought."  We spend hours and hours in prayer and fail to trust in Him even when He promises to be with us. And then, when He is with us, we believe that we did it all on our own strength... :(  Oh, how sad!

Let us remember, dear friends, how much we cannot do it on our own strength and need Him.

Finally, when God answers prayer, remember to praise!

It's so easy for us to forget to spend set-apart, devoted time to praising Him.  I think of all the many hours that we invested in prayer for this missions trip.  And God answered each and every one of those prayers!  Would we be so unthankful as to not spend at least a fraction of amount of the time spent had in prayer in praising Him?  

We pray so hard for an answer, and then, when it comes, we seem to simply shrug it off. Let us resolve to thank our merciful Savior for the many ways He has answered our prayers. Let us acknowledge His answers for what they are--complete miracles! Undeserved grace and mercy. Bountiful blessings.  Let us praise Him!

If God answers your prayers, do not say a simple "Thank You," and move on to the next request that needs answering. Spend time in praising Him through song and prayer.  Remember how good He is and how gracious He has been to answer the cries of your heart.

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I hope this all didn't sound confusing or disorganized.  These are the thoughts of my heart and I really wanted to share them with you.  I pray that you too would be, as I have been, reminded and challenged to praise the Lord when He answers your prayers and not take credit for yourself, even if it seems ordinary or is different from what you had planned.  God is so good and He does answer prayer! 

5 Watchman Nee Quotes on Prayer

How we need the Lord to enlighten our eyes that we may comprehend afresh the importance of prayer and know anew its value. Furthermore, we must recognize that had Satan not deceived us we would not be neglecting prayer so much. We should therefore watch and discover therein all the various wiles of Satan. We will not allow him to delude us any more in relaxing in prayer.

Prayer is the acid test of the inner man’s strength. A strong spirit is capable of praying much and praying with all perseverance until the answer comes. A weak one grows weary and fainthearted in the maintenance of praying.

Prayer enables us first inwardly to overcome the enemy and then outwardly to deal with him.

We should not open our mouths too hastily upon approaching God. On the contrary, we first must ask God to show us what and how to pray before we make our request known to Him. Have we not consumed a great deal of time in the past asking for what we wanted? Why not now ask for what God wants?

Prayer is work. The experiences of many children of God demonstrate that it accomplishes far more than does any other form of work.

Come and Be Satisfied

“Ho! Everyone who thirsts,

Come to the waters;

And you who have no money,

Come, buy and eat.

Yes, come, buy wine and milk

Without money and without price.

Why do you spend money for what is not bread,

And your wages for what does not satisfy?

Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,

And let your soul delight itself in abundance.

Incline your ear, and come to Me.

Hear, and your soul shall live..."

~Isaiah 55:1-3

These three verses have been on my heart and mind today.  When I read them this morning for my daily Bible time, the Lord convicted my own heart that I often spend my time and sometimes even money for things that do not satisfy, instead of coming to drink at the river of life.

This "wine" and "milk" costs no money.  We do not have to do anything to earn it. We must simply preform two things 1) thirst, and 2) come.  The first is merely to acknowledge our weakness, our need for Him.  The second is, for some, harder. We must actually set down that time waster and come to seek His face.

And when we do, when we come to the waters and eat what is good, our soul will delight itself in abundance.

What is this food and drink talked of here?

Jesus speaks of the Holy Spirit being like water: "On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, 'If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.' But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given,because Jesus was not yet glorified" (John 7:37-39).

Jesus also speaks of Himself as the bread of life: 

"For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always." 

And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. ~John 6:33-35

Other verses in the Psalms too speak of God satisfying us through Himself:

Psalm 36:8 -- “They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house, And You [O Lord] give them drink from the river of Your pleasures.”

Psalm 103:5 -- “[God] Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.”

Psalm 16:11 -- “You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

God offers to satisfy us if we will come to Him.

But what does this look like on a practical level?

First, we must leave all else behind to follow Him. We must no longer spend our wages (our time and our talents) for that which is not bread. Anything besides the Lord Jesus will not satisfy us. Examine the way you spend your time. Is it in doing things that will bear eternal spiritual fruit? Or do you whittle away time on social media, phones, or the television? Do you spend hours reading fictional novels, or doing pretty much nothing with friends all day. Walk away from these things and choose to come to Jesus.

Second, come to Him!  Spend time in His Word. We cannot spend a few minutes each day in God's Word and except to be completely satisfied for the entire day. Your physical body requires that you feed it three or more times a day! It is not satisfied with one quick, five minute feeding. Such is the case in our spiritual lives as well. God's Word is our food (Matthew 4:4) and we must spend time in God's presence (through His Word) to gain a fuller picture of Who He is. When we do, we will experience the joy that is found in His presence!

“Ho! Everyone who thirsts,

Come to the waters;

And you who have no money,

Come, buy and eat.

Yes, come, buy wine and milk

Without money and without price.

Why do you spend money for what is not bread,

And your wages for what does not satisfy?

Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,

And let your soul delight itself in abundance.

Incline your ear, and come to Me.

Hear, and your soul shall live..."

~Isaiah 55:1-3

What a Friend!

I have been meditating on this hymn lately and I encourage you to ponder its words with me:

What a Friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.

Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged; take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a friend so faithful who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness; take it to the Lord in prayer.

Are we weak and heavy laden, cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior, still our refuge, take it to the Lord in prayer.
Do your friends despise, forsake you? Take it to the Lord in prayer!
In His arms He’ll take and shield you; you will find a solace there.

Blessed Savior, Thou hast promised Thou wilt all our burdens bear
May we ever, Lord, be bringing all to Thee in earnest prayer.
Soon in glory bright unclouded there will be no need for prayer
Rapture, praise and endless worship will be our sweet portion there.

I plan to write it out and paste it on the wall of my prayer closet as a reminder when I am in need, when I face trails and temptations, when I am cumbered with a load of care.  He is our refuge and He is our shield!  Can we find a Friend so faithful, Who will share in all our sorrows?  Oh, what a Friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear. What a privilege we have to carry everything to Him in prayer.

Pray About It

This is the question that has been on my heart lately as I see so many of the world's evils.  It's so easy to discuss why we think this should happen, or that should happen. Likewise it is so effortless to complain of the shortcomings of others or the troubles that plague our lives.  But how much do we pray about these things?

What if we took all that talk and turned it into something that made a difference?  What would happen if we prayed about the things we dislike about such and such a ministry, or government leader, or sibling--whatever!  I wonder what would happen...  Certainly it would help more than merely talk.  So I challenge myself--and you-- instead of merely talking about it, to pray about it.

The Antidote for Worry

Worry.

This is something that as Christians we know we shouldn't do, but somehow it just slips in to our lives.  It creeps in unnoticed.  Of course, we have worry under control in most areas.  But there seem to be a few areas that worry is still allowed to dwell uncontested.

For some, it may be the upcoming election and the plight of our country.  For others, their choice of college and a marriage partner.  Or maybe it's something smaller like a college test or a job interview.

In the business of life, these areas of worry are sometimes left unnoticed.  I encourage you to pause right now and identify an area of worry in your own heart.  Be honest with yourself.  I know that you know that worry is wrong and you don't like to see it's presence in your life, but identify it nonetheless. This is the first step in removing it from your heart.

Now that you have identified that area of worry, remember His promises. Remember Who He is.

"Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?" ~Matthew 5:25-30

Our God has not left us alone.  He will not abandon us and has not abandoned us, no matter how bleak and impossible the situation seems.

Of all people, the Israelites certianly had some justification in their worry while they were captured in Babylon.  They were God's people, living in the midst of a barbarous nation, far from the land the Lord had promised to give them.  Listen to this passage from Isaiah 40.  You may have heard it before, but read it with new eyes, in light of your own area of worry:

"Why do you say, O Jacob,
And speak, O Israel:
'My way is hidden from the Lord,
And my just claim is passed over by my God'?
Have you not known?
Have you not heard?
The everlasting God, the Lord,
The Creator of the ends of the earth,
Neither faints nor is weary.
His understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the weak,
And to those who have no might He increases strength." ~Isaiah 40:27-29

The Jews were worried that their way was hidden from the Lord. And Isaiah reminded them that the Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of heaven and earth.  His understanding is unsearchable. What reassuring reminders about the character of God!

When you're worried, remember Who God is.

He is greater than anything you could ever face in this life. And He is on your side! He is fighting for you! It is He Who has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."  And He will always, always keep His promises.

Instead of worrying, pray.

Finally, when you are tempted to worry about your life or the state of our nation, pray.  

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." ~Philippians 4:6-7

 Let your requests be made known to God and allow His peace to sweep over you as you remember Who He is.

Guard Your Time With the Lord

“If your brother, the son of your mother, your son or your daughter, the wife of your bosom, or your friend who is as your own soul, secretly entices you, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ which you have not known, neither you nor your fathers, of the gods of the people which are all around you, near to you or far off from you, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth, you shall not consent to him or listen to him, nor shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him or conceal him; but you shall surely kill him; your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. And you shall stone him with stones until he dies, because he sought to entice you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage." ~Deuteronomy 13:6-10

I know you are probably wondering what the passage above is doing in this blog.  I read chapter 13 of Deuteronomy this morning in my time with the Lord, and was struck by this command of the Lord.  The Israelites were to utterly destroy anyone or anything that enticed them away from the Lord.

I began to wonder how this passage might apply to my own life.  Did I guard my own time with the Lord as vigilantly as the Lord commanded the Israelites to do?  Do I immediately destroy every trace of the excuses that would distract me away from His presence?

This reminds me of a story told about John Wesley. He had been invited to spend an evening with Lord Byron, the most powerful man in England. It was a great honor to be invited, as people would wait months and months to get an audience with this man.  As soon as dinner was over, the preacher rose from his chair to leave. His host looked at him in surprise. “Don’t you know that men all over this country wish to gain an audience with me? Why are you leaving so soon?”

John Wesley's simple reply was this: "I don't mean to offend you sir, and feel very honored for this time together. But I have an appointment with the King of the universe now, and I dare not be tired and I dare not be late."

Are we this careful to guard our time with the Lord?

For some of us, the distraction or enticement doesn't come from the outside, but from within.  Our flesh can so easily get in the way. Do we guard our time with the Lord--from our flesh?

Corrie ten Boom said, “Don’t pray when you feel like it. Have an appointment with the Lord, and keep it!”

There are so many distractions.  So many excuses.  So many reasons why we don't get around to spending time with Him.

We know in our hearts the value of spending time with God. We've seen it bear fruit in our own lives. Let us guard this time with a valiantly known to the knights of old.  May no one ever be able to entice us away from the Lord our God who gave His life to take us out of the house of bondage and into the land of freedom.

Pray For Revival

"The coming revival must begin with a great revival of prayer. It is in the closet, with the door shut, that the sound of abundance of rain will first be heard. An increase of secret prayer with ministers will be the sure harbinger of blessing." ~Andrew Murray

"The evangelization of the world depends first of all upon a revival of prayer. Deeper than the need for men – aye, deep down at the bottom of our spiritless life, is the need for the forgotten secret of prevailing, world-wide prayer." ~Andrew Murray

"Nothing would turn the nation back to God so surely and so quickly as a Church that prayed and prevailed. The world will never believe in a religion in which there is no supernatural power. A rationalized faith, a socialized Church, and a moralized gospel may gain applause, but they awaken no conviction and win no converts." Samuel Chadwick

"We can never expect to grow in the likeness of our Lord unless we follow His example and give more time to communion with the Father. A revival of real praying would produce a spiritual revolution." ~E.M. Bounds

"An awakening is ready to burst on the dismal scene when Christians have a deep, profound Spirit of prayer for an awakening." - Lewis Drummond

"Oh! men and brethren, what would this heart feel if I could but believe that there were some among you who would go home and pray for a revival - men whose faith is large enough, and their love fiery enough to lead them from this moment to exercise unceasing intercessions that God would appear among us and do wondrous things here, as in the times of former generations." - C.H. Spurgeon

"If revival depended on you -- your prayers, your faith, your obedience -- would your church ever experience revival?" - Del Fehsenfeld Jr.

Lessons from the Jews on Praise ~Part 2

If you remember from the last article, we were in the middle 2 Chronicles 20.  The Jews (led by king Jehoshaphat) had just received an answer from the Lord telling them that they would be victorious, and amazingly, they would not need to fight in this battle.  They believed the Lord and praised Him lifting their voices high in worship.  The next morning here's what happened:

"So they rose early in the morning and went out into the Wilderness of Tekoa; and as they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, O Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem: Believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper.”

And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who should sing to the Lord, and who should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army and were saying:

“Praise the Lord,

For His mercy endures forever.”

Now when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated" (vs. 20-22).

What did they do?  PRAISED!  They praised the Lord, knowing that He would answer. They went out to the place of battle with a song of praise on their lips.  How amazing!

Notice too that when they began to sing, the Lord began to win the victory.  To praise the Lord was the part in the battle that the Jews were supposed to play.  Here's what happened next:

"For the people of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir to utterly kill and destroy them. And when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to destroy one another.   So when Judah came to a place overlooking the wilderness, they looked toward the multitude; and there were their dead bodies, fallen on the earth. No one had escaped" (23-24).

The Jews didn't even have to lift a finger! The Lord fought for them and they had only to "stand still and see the salvation of the Lord."  Think of how amazing this is!  What a great victory the Lord won for them in that day!  He still required obedience (they had to have enough faith to go out to the wilderness of Tekoa) but it was the Lord who fought for them and won the victory.

In addition to that amazing triumph, the people of Israel found so much spoil on their enemies that it took them three whole days to gather it!  What happened next the day?

"And on the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Berachah [which means blessing], for there they blessed the Lord; therefore the name of that place was called The Valley of Berachah until this day" (verse 26).

 They blessed the Lord there.  And after:

"Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, with Jehoshaphat in front of them, to go back to Jerusalem with joy, for the Lord had made them rejoice over their enemies. So they came to Jerusalem, with stringed instruments and harps and trumpets, to the house of the Lord" (vs. 27,28).

They won the victory through rejoicing.  The Lord had made them rejoice over their enemies.  It was praise the whole way through! Praise when they came to seek the face of the Lord.  Praise when He gave His answer. Praise on the way to battle. Praise when they saw Him win the victory.  And praise once they returned back to Jerusalem.

What about us?  Are our lives so saturated with praise?  Continue to meditate on the lessons you have learned from this amazing chapter of the Bible.  What challenges you? In what area might the Lord be asking you to become more like the men and women in this chapter?  I would love to hear your thoughts on how we can apply this biblical account to our own lives!

Lessons from the Jews on Praise ~Part 1

This past Sunday, our pastor mentioned a chapter in the Scriptures that really caught my attention.  During the afternoon, I looked up that chapter, 2 Chronicles 20, and was really surprised by what I read.  I've read it before, but the Lord opened it anew for me this time.  And I pray that He might do the same for you today.

It all begins when "the people of Moab with the people of Ammon, and others with them besides the Ammonites, came to battle against [king] Jehoshaphat" (vs. 1).  Enemies approach.  Foes are lying in wait for them.  Insurmountable foes.  What's a king to do?  Read how Jehoshaphat handles the situation:

"And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. So Judah gathered together to ask help from the Lord; and from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord" (verses 3 and 4--emphasis mine here and thereafter).

These verses alone are worth meditating on.  The Jews had a problem.  And instead of mounting the troops and strengthening the barracks, they chose to seek the Lord.  Imagine what would happen if we took our every problem to the Lord like these people did?

They got on their knees and they sought the face of the Lord.  The prayer of Jehoshaphat is recorded for us.  He recalls to mind the character of the Lord and His promises.  He claims those promises.  Verse 12 ends the prayer: "O our God, will You not judge them [our enemies]? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.” 

Their eyes were upon Him.  And He certainly answered their prayers. The Lord spoke to a man named Jahaziel, a Levite, and said:

"Thus says the Lord to you: ‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s. Tomorrow go down against them. They will surely come up by the Ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the brook before the Wilderness of Jeruel. You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem!’ Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord is with you.” (verse 15-17).

The answer came. The Lord had heard their cry and He would be true to His character. He would deliver them. They had only to stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.  He would fight for them. And He would win the victory.  Immediately upon hearing this the people, led by their king, bow before the Lord and worship Him.  Then the Levites "stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with voices loud and high" (vs. 19).  What amazing times of rejoicing and worship! Here's what happens next:

Just kidding.  =D  Tune in next time to hear the rest of the story.  If you can't wait that long, you are welcome to read the story in 2 Chronicles 20 for yourself.  But if you don't look the story up, you'll find all the details in the next article.  Until then, meditate upon the lessons we can learn from seeking the Lord and praising Him for His answer.

Praising Him Before the Answer Comes

I was studying Isaiah 42 this morning and verses 10-13 really caught my attention and taught me an important lesson about praise:

"Sing to the Lord a new song,

And His praise from the ends of the earth,

You who go down to the sea, and all that is in it,

You coastlands and you inhabitants of them!

Let the wilderness and its cities lift up their voice,

The villages that Kedar inhabits.

Let the inhabitants of Sela sing,

Let them shout from the top of the mountains. 

Let them give glory to the Lord,

And declare His praise in the coastlands.

The Lord shall go forth like a mighty man;

He shall stir up His zeal like a man of war.

He shall cry out, yes, shout aloud;

He shall prevail against His enemies." (Emphasis mine)

Isaiah is calling the people to praise. Why? Because the Lord is going to do something! He hasn't even done it yet, but the people begin to praise Him.

I believe this is true faith.

Bringing our requests before Him, laying them at His feet, and then praising Him!  Why can we praise Him before He answers?  Because "this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him" (1 John 5:14-15).  Because "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).  Because "whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him" (1 John 3:22). 

There are many other instances in the Scriptures of where men and women praised the Lord for answering their prayers when as yet they hadn't seen His answers with their eyes. But they knew their Lord and they trusted Him.

One of my other favorite examples is in Psalm 71. I read this at a time when I was waiting on the Lord for some answers and beginning to doubt if they would ever come.  But the Lord was very gracious to me as I read the prayer of the psalmist, specifically verses 12-14:

"O God, do not be far from me;

O my God, make haste to help me!

Let them be confounded and consumed

Who are adversaries of my life;

Let them be covered with reproach and dishonor

Who seek my hurt.

But I will hope continually,

And will praise You yet more and more." (Emphasis mine)

The writer of this psalm cried out to the Lord, and, before He even gave the answer, this man said, "I will praise You yet more and more."  More and more?  Wow, that's amazing!  Here's a man who hasn't even received the answer to His prayer yet, but he is resolving to praise God even more than he has ever done in the past?  Wow--that's really inspiring!

So today, let us be like the psalmist.  Let us be like Isaiah.  And let us be like the countless thousands of other Christians who have gone on before us with shouts of praise.  We serve a God of miracles, a God who is generous beyond our greatest imaginations, a God Who is faithful even when we are not.  Let us praise Him today for all that He is!  Truly, He is worthy of our adoration.

"Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name." 

 ~Hebrews 13:15

Praising Him When He Answers

Monday morning found me praying with a group of friends for something that to me seemed absolutely impossible. I asked for something that God alone could accomplish.  At the time, it seemed completely beyond reach except by the supernatural power of God.

And He answered.

He is so good and so faithful.  He poured out abundant mercy upon me, although I did not deserve the answer and the ones I interceded for did not deserve the answer, yet it came.

And then, I found myself thinking.  Oh, this wasn't really that important, I began to think.  It wasn't like I was explicitly saying that God hadn't done it, but I began to question how miraculous His answer actually was. My heart wandered to all the reasons why this answer was propelled by human means. I also looked back and wondered if the answer was that significant after all. Maybe it wasn't that important...

I began to doubt.

Not to doubt that the answer had come, but to doubt the character of my King in giving it to me.  

I began to dismiss God's answer as commonplace.

Instead of recognizing it as the miracle it was (and still is), I discounted 1) its significance, and 2) its former impossibility.

God answered my prayer in such a marvelous way. And it should have built my faith in Him. But it didn't.  I cast it aside as "normal" and "worthless" instead of praising Him for the wonderful way He should His mercy to me in answering it.

Have you ever done that before? I myself have been guilty of falling into this trap all too often.  But this week, the Lord stopped me. He reminded me of what I had prayed for and what He had done.  And when I really stopped and forced myself to think about it, I was amazed!

This day, let us remember to give thanks to the Lord for the ways He answers prayers.

We pray so hard for an answer, and then, when it comes, we seem to simply shrug it off.  Let us resolve to thank our merciful Savior for the many ways He has answered our prayers. Let us acknowledge His answers for what they are--complete miracles!  Undeserved grace and mercy.  Bountiful blessings.

I did not deserve the answer I received Monday.  But the Lord, in His great love and His abundant grace, answered the cry of my heart! He heard my supplications!  Pause for a moment and consider the wonder of this.  And let your heart turn to praise.

Secret Prayer

"The man who has gotten God’s word in the prayer closet neither seeks nor expects encouragement from men for the delivery of that word. The Spirit himself bears witness of the approval." ~Leonard Ravenhill

"I am perfectly confident that the man who does not spend hours alone with God will never know the anointing of the Holy Spirit. The world must be left outside until God alone fills the vision…God has promised to answer prayer. It is not that He is unwilling, for the fact is, He is more willing to give than we are to receive. But the trouble is, we are not ready..." ~Oswald Chambers

"The secret of praying is praying in secret." ~Leonard Ravenhill

"Shut the world out, withdraw from all worldly thoughts and occupations, and shut yourself in alone with God, to pray to Him in secret. Let this be your chief object in prayer, to realize the presence of your heavenly Father." ~Andrew Murray

"It would revolutionize the lives of most men if they were shut in with God in some secret place for half an hour a day." ~Samuel Chadwick

Be Diligent to Seek Him

Over these past few weeks, I have been learning an important lesson. Not a lesson I hadn’t heard about before, but one that I had somehow lost in the business of life.

It’s a lesson on denying my flesh in order to seek the Lord.  You see, recently, I have been super busy with work and school, and somehow my relationship with Jesus seemed to take the back-burner. And then the Lord opened my eyes to how I was gratifying the desires of my flesh instead of denying myself and spending time with Him.  I often found myself sleeping in—because my body needed it, I told myself.  While being well-rested is important, I had allowed my flesh to gratify its desires under the guise of “Oh, I need the sleep.” As a result, I wasn’t getting up early to seek the Lord, and I drew further and further away from Him.

And you know what I found?  In those few weeks, the more I drifted away from Him, the more I didn’t want to seek His counsel or spend time in His presence. The more it became a duty and not a pleasure. I found that the more I allowed my flesh to take a hold over my life, the more it did!

What have I learned from all this?  It is so important to stay close to the Lord, to stay sensitive to His Spirit so that we do not drift away from Him. It can happen so quickly if we let down our guard even for a moment.

We have to be intentional about seeking Him. It doesn’t just happen.  We must be diligent to seek His face if we desire His wisdom and guidance.  We must deny our flesh and take up our cross in order to offer ourselves as living sacrifices.

Hebrews 11:6 says God is a Rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.  We must be diligent to seek Him.

Jeremiah 29:12-14 says, “Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.” Let us seek Him with all our heart, and we will find Him.

Be encouraged today, my friend, and may you learn from my example the importance of seeking Him with our whole heart.

Meditate on Him

"I will love You, O Lord, my strength.

The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;

My God, my strength, in whom I will trust;

My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised;

So shall I be saved from my enemies."

~Psalm 18:1-3

As I memorized these verses this morning, I was struck by their beauty and their expressiveness.  They speak such of the wonders of Who He is.

I could have merely read over these verses and continued on.  But I paused to marvel at their fullness.  The Lord is...

• My Love
• My Strength
• My Rock
• My Fortress
• My Deliverer
• My God
• My Strength
• My Trust
• My Shield
• The Horn of my Salvation

This is our God.  He is so beyond our greatest imaginations--so much more fulfilling than anything we could ever imagine.

It is so easy to get caught up in our day to day lives and forget the wonderful omnipotent God we serve.  We know, in our heads, that He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords--that He is the Lover of our souls--but sometimes the understanding slips from our heart and we fail to live our lives in light of all that He is.

We must set our hearts to seek the face of the Lord--through meditating on His Word.  His Word reveals to us the character of the Lord--for it is His love letter to us!  You see the verses above.  Maybe you recall other passages that speak of the wonder of all that He is.  

When you come across them in your daily Bible reading, do not simply pass them by. When you memorize them, do not simply internalize them and put them aside.  Rather think on all that He is. Mediate on the different aspects of His character.

The psalmist says, "I have set the Lord always before me" (Psalm 16:7).  Have you and I?  Is He the One in Whom my soul has its greatest delight?  Is He the one waking passion of our hearts?  Let us meditate on the wonder of Who He is.  Let us get to know Him better through pondering His Words to us--for it is through knowledge that love is allowed to grow. 

Meditate on His Word today, my friends.  Think on Him.  Abide in His love (John 15:7).  So that you might learn to say with all your heart, "I will love You, O Lord, my strength."

"I Will Instruct You"

"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will guide you with My eye." ~Psalm 32:8

The Lord is speaking here.  Think on His words for just a moment.  He is offering to be our Teacher, our Good Shepherd, our Guide.

"Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer,

The Holy One of Israel:

“I am the Lord your God,

Who teaches you to profit,

Who leads you by the way you should go."

~Isaiah 48:17

He has promised to teach us.  But there is something that we must do first.  We must come to Him and ask Him to teach us.  This verse in Isaiah says it perfectly:

"Many people shall come and say,

'Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,

To the house of the God of Jacob;

[Then] He will teach us His ways,

And we shall walk in His paths.'

For out of Zion shall go forth the law,

And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem."

~Isaiah 2:3

Although Jerusalem may be far away for most of us, we can approach the holy presence of the Lord through prayer and hear His Words spoken to us through the Scriptures.  It is there that He will teach us.  There that He reveals His wisdom to us.

I love the way Charles Spurgeon puts it: 

"'I will guide thee with mine eye.' As servants take their cue from the master's eye, and a nod or a wink is all that they require, so should we obey the slightest hints of our Master, not needing thunderbolts to startle our incorrigible sluggishness, but being controlled by whispers and love-touches. The Lord is the great overseer, whose eye in providence overlooks everything. It is well for us to be the sheep of his pasture, following the guidance of his wisdom."

We are given God's Word and the Holy Spirit.  Our Lord is faithful to teach us, but are we faithful to listen?

Do we sit at the Master's feet, waiting for but a word of His command so that we might immediately obey His command?  Do we love our Lord so much that even the faintest desire of His heart becomes our life mission?  Are we truly the servants of the Lord Mr. Spurgeon talks about?

Do we seek Him for counsel and wisdom?  Will we be faithful to obey whatever the Lord says?  He has promised to answer us--though His Word or through His Spirit, but we must be faithful to seek Him.

Joshua 1:7-9

"Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. 

This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

~Joshua 1:7-9

Today, as you go about your day to day tasks, meditate on these verses.  Especially think about verse nine in the context of the other two.  What does it mean?  God has promised to be with us and to help us meditate on His words and obey Him.  We do not need to fear, for although the path of obedience and of knowing His Word intimately will not be easy, it is possible through Christ. 

May the Lord bless you today as you grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  May He always be front and center in your life.

Praying God's Word

Praying God's words back to Him is a very powerful thing.  I don't know if it has the power to change the mind of God, but as I pray His words back to Him, I have found that it certainly does have the power to change my heart.

When I bring my petitions before my heavenly Father, my mind is often fixed upon my own problems.  My problems seem so huge and the task of facing them seems so impossible.  

But when I take the time to remember God's promises, He reminds me that He is all-powerful.  He reminds me that He is on my side.  He reminds me that I only need to wait upon the Lord.

Praying God's Words back to Him reminds me to have faith.

When I was sharing with a Titus 2 woman at our church about a particular weakness I was battling against in my own flesh, and this wise lady advised me to pray the Scriptures that applied to my situation back to God.

Before, when I had prayed about the situation, I always left sort of defeated.  Not saying this is always the case when we pray without the Scriptures, but for me in this particular area, I ended my prayers feeling as if it was my duty to obey God's commands on my own strength.  Either that, or maybe I just didn't really pray about the whole situation and kind of fell into the mindset that it was my duty to accomplish this certain thing, and although I was (and am) incapable of doing it on my own strength, I somehow had to.  This was definitely not the right perspective, but, for some reason, I simply allowed it to continue in my heart.

However, as I began to compile a list of verses and really prayed those back to the Lord, I found that He was on my side!  He hadn't given me a command only to leave me to strive to accomplish it on my own.  Not in the least!  It was HE Who was giving me the power, He would would live His life through me.

Praying God's Words gave me the right perspective on the situation.

It changed my heart.  And it can change yours as well.

As you face impossible situations or tasks, as you move toward obeying the Lord in every area of your life, seek out His Word.  Take some time to write out verses that apply to whatever thing you are praying about. And allow God's Word to transform your heart as you pray those words back to your heavenly Father. Remember Whose side you fight on.  And trust.  Trust that He will fulfill the promises in His Word.