I have been struggling with in the area of prayer recently. I actually have been for a while. A while back I felt I needed to pray more (and knew I did). I was doing pretty good for a while, and as of late, have been struggling more and more. Oh, you know, I'd say a prayer here and there throughout the day, and when I got in bed, tried to pray, but then I would fall asleep before barely starting. I know it's no excuse, but it seemed like every day I'd be like "I'm going to pray today (not just saying a prayer here and there, but really praying)," and before I knew it, it would be bedtime. I got so frustrated. Well... A couple days ago on Tenth Dot I read
Colossians 1:3-12 which is a prayer of Paul for the believers. What did he pray about for these believers?
- He thanks God and prays for the strength of the believers faith.
- He thanks God for their love.
- He prays for the power of the Gospel from their testimony.
- He prays for them to grow in the knowledge of God's will.
- He prays for them to grow in spiritual wisdom and understanding.
- He prays that they will live a life worthy and honoring to God.
- He prays that their lives will bare spiritual fruit.
- He prays that their faith will have endurance.
- He prays for them to demonstrate patience.
- He prays for them to be thankful.
It then challenges us to pray these ten things for a brother or sister in Christ. So, the next day as I was doing my devotions, I figured I should do that. I just started praying, and having a long (and overdue) conversation with God. I honestly felt like I was talking to someone right next to me. I felt so happy and joyful as I lifted up my friends and family in prayer. Sometimes people might say "Prayer is boring though," or "Oh, I don't really have time for 'long prayers,' I'll call out to God throughout the day, 'thanks for making the light be green,' or 'thanks for making it so warm out today, God,' but nothing 'real big.'" Well, that wasn't exactly how I thought, but it was what I was doing, however. Let's look at what God's Word has to say about prayer.
Matthew 5:44c
Pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.
Matthew 6:6
But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. (Notice that it says when thou prayest. Not if you pray, but when you pray.)
Matthew 21:22
And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.
Matthew 26:41
Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
1 Thessalonians 5:17
Pray without ceasing.
We also see the results of people's prayer in the Bible.
Jonah 2:1-10
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Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish's belly, 2. And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou
heardest my voice. 3. For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me. 4. Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple. 5. The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head. 6. I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O Lord my God. 7. When my soul fainted within me I remembered the Lord: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple. 8. They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy. 9. But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord. 10.
And the Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land. There's more, but that is just one I found. So, we can see the power of "a real prayer." A while back I read Wrestling Prayer by Eric and Leslie Ludy. Very good book. If you have not read it, I highly suggest you do.
So, I am working on prayer right now. Working on not just saying a prayer here and there throughout the day, and then trying to pray when I crawl in bed at night super tired. *yawn* =) If you think of it, please pray for me in this area, that I would be more diligent in the time I spend in prayer each day.
(I started this last night and am now finishing it. I read the Tenth Dot for today, and thought it was good and went along, so I added it. =D )
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For a number of very obvious reasons it’s a very good thing that I’m not God! Apart from all the gimme reasons, here’s one that should leave you with yet another sigh of relief. On my throne room would hang a sign: All who enter here had better be bringing pizza…or had better plan to leave without their head attached!" I know, it’s a little crude and a bit long for a small wood sign but hey, if I was a deity, that’s how I’d roll. Unlike you and me who can get tired of people knocking on our door asking for help, tired of our kids constantly saying “dad” or “mom” for the umpteenth million time, tired of that friend that always brings us down, tired of that phone that rings off the hook…God never tires of hearing from His children. Well, at least not in the way that you and I tire. Look at the sign posted at the doors to God’s throne: “Please approach this room boldly!” Wow! The Almighty God of the universe has opened His throne room to the public, and not just so we can come sneaking in like we’re the hired help, rather, so that we will come boldly! into His presence and seek His help: Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. — Hebrews 4:16 How do you approach God in prayer? Of course, don’t confuse boldness with arrogance, or with the demanding name-it, claim-it attitude some have. But don’t cower in to God’s throne room, either. God opened up the passage way for us to commune with Him not so we’d apologize for walking in, but rather, so that we’d remember that OUR DADDY wants us to seek Him. He wants us to find Him. He wants us to ask for His help. He wants to meet our needs. And He wants us to ask with confidence, believing He will answer. James reminds us what doubt gets us: But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt…that man [the one who doubts]…should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does — James 1:6-8 And what does God command us to ask for in His throne room? He says we can ask for AND FIND mercy and grace to help in time of need. And I think it’s interesting that it’s not specifically stated that it’s our need. But when there is a need for mercy and grace, God’s throne room is open for the asking. And thankfully God’s supply of either, can never run out. God’s grace and mercy are there for us, not because of who we are, but because of who God is. Take time today to pray for God’s grace and mercy about a particular need. Maybe it’s yours. Maybe it’s the need of someone else. But as you pray, thank God that He opened up His throne room and invited you in. Thank Him that He offers mercy and grace in abundance. Thank Him that He supplies all our needs. Most of all, thank Him that you have a Daddy that cares enough to hear and respond to His children’s needs. Pray boldly, right now! --www.Tenthdot.com-- ---
Now, the other day I posted about surrendering our all to the Lord, and letting Him have control of our whole life, not just parts. I said how sometimes I wonder if I would be willing to give something up if God so asked me too. I feel like I have surrendered everything to God. I've said, Lord, here's my life, do what You will for Your glory. I say to myself "oh, I'd be willing to give something up if God asked me to." But is there more?
Well, that night I read a part in Set Apart Femininity by Leslie Ludy, and I thought it went along pretty well with the topic I discussed! It seems recently that has been happening to me a lot. Every time I read something, or see it somewhere, I hear it, or see it, or read it either that day or the next day. God works in amazing ways sometimes to try and get your attention. (Really, the whole book is kind of on this topic, but I just decided to share this part with you since I read it right after posting the last post.) It was really long, so I am going to split it up into a few posts. This is 'part 1' (as you can see by my blog title). If you haven't read Set Apart Femininity, I hope this section of the book will make you want to read it, and if you have read it, well, that you will be all the more glad that you read it in the first place! =) And if there is a guy reading this, I'm not saying that you can't read what I wrote below, but this book is specifically written for girls. =) (And if you read what I wrote, you'll see what I mean. lol)
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Carnal Christians profess Christ as their Redeemer, but their actions and decisions are for the sake of their own interests and for who they are in themselves, rather then for God's interests and for who He is. Their minds are still the workshops of the devil, for he can persuade countless numbers of professing Christians to try and be Christians without Christ. -Ian Thomas
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There are some who would have Christ cheap. They would have Him without the Cross. But the price will not come down. -Samuel Rutherford
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Tell me in the light of the Cross, isn't it a scandal that you and I live today as we do? -Alan Redpath (Set Apart Femininity, pg. 57)
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Last week I opened a letter from a distressed college student named Jennifer. "I just can't seem to have intimacy with Jesus in the beautiful way you describe it in your books," she wrote. "I'm sick of living this half-Christian, half-worldly life. I go around saying I'm a Christian, but my Christianity is not based on a passionate relationship with Jesus. I want to find Him, but I don't knot how."
How many countless thousands of young women echo Jennifer's despair? Our Christianity is based upon the idea of who Christ is, not upon an actual, personal experience with Christ. We may have moments of intimacy with Christ-like during a worship service or reading an inspiring Christian book. But we don't abide with Him moment by moment throughout the day. And if we were to be totally honest, we'd admit that we often feel frustrated with God because He makes Himself so distant. We pray, and He seems not to hear us. We read the Bible, and it is just a blur of spiritual-sounding words. Why, we wonder, does He make being a Christian so difficult? If He really wants a relationship with us, why is He so hard to access?
Christ Himself gave us the answer. "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him" (John 14:21).
Jesus Christ reveals Himself to those who follow in His steps. He draws near to those who build their entire lives around His pattern. If we feel far away from Him, it is very likely that we aren't truly building our entire existence around Him; that we are living for more for self that for the glory of His name. (pg.68)
James 1:22 says, "But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves." It's not enough to merely read God's Word and esteem it good. Until we actually begin living out what His Word says, we only deceive ourselves into thinking we are living a real Christian life. We might have a form of godliness, but it has no power to actually work in our daily lives (see 2 Timothy 3:5).
We can complain all we want about the fact that God seems so distant, but the reality is that He is not far from anyone who actually seeks Him (see Acts 17:27). He is ready to manifest Himself to anyone who doesn't just hear His Word, but lives it.
The moment we actually deny our self, pick up our cross, and follow Jesus Christ, is the moment we are surrounded with the power and presence of His Spirit-not just every once in a while, but every moment of every day.
We might admire women like Amy Carmichael and Gladys Aylward, but we will never showcase that kind of radiant, set-apart femininity unless we are willing to deny ourselves and follow Christ as radically as they did.
There is a sacred decorum of set-apart femininity, a pattern for daily living that marks a young woman as a true daughter of the King. When it comes to our clothes, words, actions, thoughts, pastimes, and pursuits, we must be, as Amy Carmichael put it, "dead to the world and its applause, to all the customs, fashions and laws of those who hate the humbling Cross." (pg. 69)
We must be consumed with honoring Christ far above meeting our own selfish desires. Not out of duty, but out of delight. Loving Him with such ardor that we relish the opportunity to lay everything we possess at His feet. I love how Amy Carmichael expressed it:
We must look upon the world, with all it's delights and all its attractions, with suspicion and reserve. We are called to a higher Kingdom, we are touched with a diviner Spirit. It is not that He forbids us this or that comfort or indulgence; it is not that He is stern, demanding us to follow a narrow path. But we who love our Lord and whose affections are set on Heavenly things voluntarily and gladly lay aside the things that charm and ravish the world, that, for our part, our hearts may be ravished with the things of Heaven that our whole being may be poured forth in constant and unreserved devotion in the service of the Lord who died to save us.
The sacred decorum of a set-apart young women might be labeled extreme and unnecessary to others, even other Christians. Mary of Bethany lavished her most precious possession upon Christ, pouring every bit of earthly treasure she possessed upon His head. It was an extreme act-a ridiculous outpouring that others viewed as wasteful. But to Christ, it was a beautiful, fragrant offering.
And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of
spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head. And there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, "Why was this waste of the ointment made? For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor." And they murmured against her. And Jesus said, "Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on me. For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have not always. She hath done what she could: she is come
aforehand to anoint my body to the burying. Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her." (Mark 14:3-9) (
pg. 70) When it comes to pouring out all we possess in radical abandon to the King of all kings, there is no such thing as being too extreme. Nothing we offer to Him out of a heart of loving devotion is ever a wasted sacrifice. What about you?
Are you willing to lay aside the things that charm and ravish the world so that your heart may be ravished by the things of heaven? Are you willing to live out the sacred decorum of set-apart femininity even if others labeled you as extreme? If you are, prepare to experience the power and presence of God in your life like never before. Prepare to discover a passionate, daily intimacy with Christ that far exceeds your hopes and expectations. Prepare to join the ranks of heroic, set-apart women throughout history. The answer to Jennifer's heart cry-and the cry of countless other disillusioned young Christians-is right here. If you love Me,
says the gentle whisper of His Spirit, keep My commandments. Deny yourself, pick up your cross, and follow me. (
pg. 71)
