In another blog, I mentioned that prayer is hard work, and indeed it is. For many of us, stilling our minds to quietly focus on any one thing is difficult enough, and when you add the reality of spiritual warfare – with the devil doing all he can to keep us from praying – the task is even more challenging. Today I want to share with you some practices I have discovered that help me stay focused and communicate with God.
My Earthly Father
I had a great father. He wasn’t perfect, and like any father-son relationship we had our good days and bad days, but he was a great dad. My dad went to be with Jesus a little over 7 years ago and never does a day go by without a memory or thought. He left a legacy of doing the right things the right way. Never does a day go by without a thought or memory, and I wish I could be half the father to my daughter that he was to his son.
During this Father’s Day weekend (just like at all other times), my dad will hold a prominent place in my heart and thoughts, but my primary focus will be my infinitely greater Heavenly Father. I have a high view of God as my Heavenly Father because of the lofty view I have of my earthly father.
I understand the concept of “father” is not necessarily a positive impression for some. Maybe your relationship with your father was not good, or maybe your earthy father fell way short in being the man he should have been in your life. If that is you, I understand your hurt and I hope my words today encourage you.
If you, like me, had or have a great paternal relationship, I want my words today to enlarge your heart and bring you to a new height of worship. As good as your dad may have been or is, God is even greater and His presence in your life, as unimaginable as it may seem, does more for you than even the greatest earthly father.
Consider these ways God excels as our Heavenly Father.
He Brought Us into the World
Some fathers play a role little more than a sperm donor while others are guiding influences in their kids’ lives, but all of us owe our existence to a male person somewhere. God, however, not only created all there is generally speaking, He designed you – specially, uniquely, and purposefully. You are His masterpiece. (Psalm 139:13-16)
He Is Our Infallible Authority
God gives us fathers as authorities, but since they are human, their authority is less than perfect. No matter how hard I try as a father, and no matter how badly I want to do it right, the fact remains I fail more times than I succeed. God never fails us. His Word guides us down a perfect path (Psalm 19:7-11).
He Is Our Provider
My dad worked hard to meet our family needs. Looking back, we really didn’t have a lot, but at the time it seemed we had everything. Even more so, God has given to us all that we have and need. James 1:17 reminds us that God has given us everything that is good for us.
Regardless of our relationship with our earthly father, God fills in the gaps and excels as our Heavenly Father in these few ways and many more. During this weekend, let me challenge you to spend some time reflecting on the goodness of God and worship Him for all He is to you and thank Him for all He does for you.
To get your worship started, click on the video below and enjoy this awesome Chris Tomlin song about our Good, Good Father.
Some people have a fear of asking a “stupid question.” I believe the only stupid question is the one raised but not asked. Questions provide a way for us to learn, and as long as we are unwilling to ask, we will remain unlearned. As we read and study the Bible, questions prompt us to dig more deeply to learn and apply God’s Word you our lives.
Ask Questions. Take Notes.
Let me encourage you to keep a notebook and pen handy when you read and study the Bible. Not only can you use them to record truths you want to remember, but you can also write any questions that arise as you read and study.
Three questions can help me understand a Scripture passage’s intended teaching and its specific application to my life at a given time and place. Consider asking these 3 every time you study the Bible.
I hear a lot about “the good old days,” but I have noticed that many people have selective memories about them. Either they remember the days in a better light than they were in reality, or they only remember the pleasant things while conveniently ignoring the more unpleasant parts. While I think it is beneficial to reflect fondly on our pleasant past, if we become so preoccupied with the past that we fail to engage today and look with faithful anticipation toward the future, then we have done God a major disservice.
Don’t Look Back
While we may not consciously think of it this way, when we think our past is better than our present or the potential in our future we fail to trust the sovereignty of God. With only the wisdom that God could have and according to His great pleasure, He brought you into the world WHEN and WHERE He did, and He has brought you to this point in your life to serve His great purpose. Preferring a past that seemed more enjoyable places our wants and pleasures ahead of God’s grand design and His awesome purpose in our lives.
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In Ephesians 5:15-18, Paul gives us great direction for living in the moment and preparing for God’s future for our lives. From these verses we can see three perspectives to incorporate in our lives.
Prayer that Connects
We recently completed an election cycle in our area, and our phone rang often with recorded messages from candidates and endorsers of candidates soliciting our vote. While the recording featured the voice of the candidate, and even though the candidate did at one time speak the message to which I listened, it would be misnomer for me to say I “spoke” with that candidate or the candidate with me. The call provided me the “opportunity” to hear a message from the candidate.
Often, our prayers amount to little more than a recording that we replay with God so that we can claim we have spoken with Him Unfortunately, I can think of too many times when I spent the time I allotted for prayer merely reading off a menu of things I wanted to say to God and that I wanted Him to do for me. I want a more meaningful conversation and fellowship with God than some impersonal “pre-recorded” prayer that I offer Him; and He deserves much more respect and attention than that also.
There is a difference in saying a prayer and praying. Today, I want to share with you some elements of prayer that I believe will help you connect with God in a meaningful way and focus on God’s presence in your prayer time.
Praise focuses on the character and nature of God. When we praise God, we declare our recognition of His attributes and qualities that make him worthy of worship. We do well to begin our times of prayer focused not on our prayer needs, but instead on the ONE to whom we pray and His value in our lives. Psalm 150:6
While praise declares our recognition of who God is, thanksgiving expresses our gratitude for what God has done, is doing, and will do. Thanksgiving takes the time to admit that every good and perfect thing we have has come from the Father. We teach our kids to say “please” and “thank you,” and we would be careful to say thank you to God. 1 Thessalonians 5:18
Prayers should include two kinds of confessions. First, we should confess our sins. While the blood of Jesus has provided forgiveness for our sin, the Bible instructs us to continually confess – simply admit – when we sin, knowing the He has already provided our forgiveness. This confession removes barriers that develop when we presumptuously approach Holy God when we are keenly aware of sinful actions and attitudes we have harbored. 1 John 1:9
In prayer, we should also confess our dependence on God. At it’s core, prayer is a declaration that we cannot succeed on our own, and that we need God to guide and nourish our lives. Prayer admits, “I need help. I cannot do this alone.” God loves it when we realize that obvious truth.
Intercession takes place when we bring the needs of others to God and addressing them before we bring our own needs is an act of unselfish love for others. We pray that God would make His presence known in their circumstance, that He would do what He deems best, and that the one FOR who we pray would better come to know the One TO whom we pray. 1 Timothy 2:1
Supplication involves our petition to God for our own needs and burdens. God delights that we bring our concerns to Him, because in doing so we recognize His worth and value and our lack of self-sufficiency. Just as we pray for others, we pray that in our circumstances, God would help us see Him more clearly and grow closer to Him. James 1:2-11 gives us a good understanding of how we should pray about our circumstances.
After we have prayed, it is important that we declare our surrender to God’s answers. He may choose to answer our prayers quickly just as we prayed them, delay an answer, or answer differently than we expected – maybe even denying a request. Submission declares that God’s way is best and is a promise to accept God’s answers and walk in obedience to Him, and is an essential element to praying. Matthew 6:10
I have often wondered how many times I prayed and asked God for something, quickly said “amen” and closed out my prayer, then got up and went my merry way JUST AS God was about to answer me. Prayer is not a monologue or an occasion for me spill my guts before God and then move on. Prayer can instead be a dialogue in which God and I communicate with each other. Jeremiah 33:3
As you pray the next several days, enjoy these elements in your prayer time and focus on communicating with God.
Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it enlightens and educates the person. When we question, examine, and probe, we mine truth that is lying just beneath the surface of understanding. A casual reading of scripture may produce a smattering of “head knowledge” of Biblical content, but probing the Scripture yields truth that can change our lives.
Dig Deeper into God’s Word
In last Wednesday’s blog, I shared with you 7 Practices to Help You Meditate on Scripture. Today, I want to share an effective probing tool I learned from my pastor during my teen years, Jimmy Corbitt. Jimmy is now the pastor of Bethany Baptist Church in Bolingbroke, Georgia and continues to lead believers to grow in their faith.
One effective way to probe a Scripture passage involves using the letters of the word “speck” to ask five questions about what we read. A Bible passage may answer one, two, or any number of these questions, though very seldom would you find an answer to 4 or all 5 of them. Consider these 5 SPECK questions as you read your study passage.
The name New York Yankees is one of the most recognized sports franchises in history. Even those who are not baseball fans probably know the team of Mickey Mantle, Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, and Yogi Berra. The famous Yankee pin stripe uniform has not changed much since 1912. It remains one of the most recognizable uniforms in the sports world. There is another feature to the uniform you may have never noticed, and this feature has a spiritual significance for our lives.
While the Yankees were the first team to place numbers on the back of jerseys, they have never put the players names on the back of the jerseys like other teams have. Some speculate that the reason they refused to put names on the back of the jerseys was to encourage the fans to buy a game program so they can identify the players by their numbers. This was probably true when other teams began the practice of putting names on the jerseys, but the continued tradition points to an even more compelling reason – to emphasize that the Yankees are a team.
For the Jesus-follower, the Yankee jersey can teach us a few things about our Christian walk.
One of the most important
things we can do to strengthen our walk with Jesus is to engage in an intentional regular time of personal prayer, but it is often one of the most difficult challenges in our Christian experience. We WANT a consistent personal prayer time, we know we NEED a consistent personal prayer, but HAVING a more consistent personal prayer time is a more difficult matter.
I’ve been a Jesus-follower for well over 40 years now, and sadly I must admit maintaining a consistent personal prayer time has not become automatic. My greatest challenge is not a lack of desire, but rather distractions both before I start and during my prayer time.
Today, I want to share with you, from the example of Jesus, three ways you can put yourself in a better position to have a more consistent and effective time of personal prayer. We find Jesus’ model in Mark 1:35-39.
I enjoy a tasty meal. In fact, I think I may enjoy tasty meals too much. God wonderfully designed our bodies to break down and use the nutrients in the food we eat to sustain our bodies and give us energy. Before our bodies can use that tasty meal, we have to chew it up and digest it; then our digestive system distributes the nutrients throughout our bodies. When we meditate on the Bible passages we read, we carry out the spiritual equivalent of our body’s digestive process.
Meditate on God’s Word
I owe much of what I share with you today to my friend, pastor of Highlands Baptist Church in Ocala, Florida, founder of FishForMen.Net and blogger Chris Gilliam. You can find his links at the end of this article.
Taking the time to digest the meaning and application of Scripture is not that difficult if you are willing to take a little time, give the passage some intentional attention, and meditate on it. Here are seven practices that help you meditate on a passage of Scripture. Read More
Today we celebrate what we call Memorial Day. This is the day we set aside to remember the most heroic of men and women – those who sacrificed their lives in the defense of and spread of the freedoms that all to often we take for granted. We do well to pause and reflect on the cost at which our liberty was won and is maintained. Life is precious, and life is the currency used to purchase our freedom.
Remembering the Ultimate Sacrifice
As Christians, we also can use this day to remember the One who sacrificed His life to gain our most precious freedom: the freedom from sin. Jesus’ death on the cross makes all other freedoms worthwhile. What good does it do us to have freedom of religion if that religion cannot free us from the eternal chains of sin and death? But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
When Jesus celebrated his final Passover with His disciples, He gave the Seder a new meaning. As broke the bread, He taught them to remember His body which would be broken – beaten beyond recognition – to appease the wrath of God on the sin of mankind. As He passed the cup, He taught them to remember that His blood would be drained from His body; His life would be given, as the substitute atoning sacrifice for our sin to pay our debt to sin. Jesus encouraged His followers to commemorate the meal often.
