GODPARENTS NEEDED!!!
This was birthed through a couple of conversations with man and woman of God who see what’s going on. Godparents are spiritually responsible for the Godchildren but we have watered down the position to a nice title to give close friends of the family. It’s time to re-establish the standard they are supposed to hold.
Judges 2:10 “After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel.”
There is a generation that is wandering around aimlessly that is in desperate need of guidance. For whatever reason, the generation that came before them did not show them the way that they should go and now they are considered a lost generation. It is said that this same generation will be the one to usher in Christ. With that said, there is a desperate need of those who pray the prayer of Samson’s father, “teach us how to bring up the boy..”. Lord teach us how to bring up this generation!
Spiritual orphans. They have been left by their parents (or the generation that came before them) to fend for themselves. Godparents are needed, like Mordecai, to take them under our care and train them in the way they should go. We can’t complain about what their parents did not do but realize their potential and bring it forth. Raise a generation of Esther’s; they are all being brought to the Kingdom for this hour.
This is more than discipleship; we must embrace them and equip them like our own. We don’t just get them saved but we must raise them, stay with them to maturity.
Mordecai did not know he was raising a queen that would save a nation, he was faithful to what God entrusted to him. We must prove faithful. You don't know what you could be raising up when you pour into a young person. You plant the seed and be faithful and let God handle the results.
We must pray against the Delilah of the Nazarite generation. Delilah caused Samson to become bound in something that led to his premature death. (I know some believe that he died as God purposed but Delilah was his weakness). We must also pray against the Jezebel spirit, one that puts a wet blanket on the fire of a generation. We have to be very mindful of their relationships, at all cost protect their fire.
We are called to rise up a generation that walks with godly character. Training must be strict; there is no room for compromise. Those who had them before compromised and dropped them, crippling most like Mephibosheth. Don’t put them in the hands of just anybody.Let us not raise a generation that does not know God and what he has done. Count up the cost and begin to adopt these Spiritual Orphans. No previous experience necessary, just a heart of the Father and for this generation.
Jan 3, 2009
Jan 1, 2009
2009: The Year of Extreme Obedience
As I entered the last day of 2008 I petitioned God for my focus in the New Year. At the beginning of 2008 my focus was to find God; that He would become personal to me like never before. Looking back over the year I can truly say that I have a personal relationship with my heavenly Father that cannot be shaken. Seeing how He answered that prayer gave me a desire for more of Him. God I want more of you. His response was, “you will find more of me through extreme obedience”.
We were created to be the image of Christ, walking as Christ did. The greatest summary can be found in Philippians 2:5-11. Verse 8-9 says, “he humbled himself and became obedient to death- even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him…” In between humbling yourself and God exalting you is obedience, extreme obedience. Christ’s last words as he hung from the cross were, “it is finished”. He did everything that God commanded Him and created Him to do. When we think extreme, we usually think radical, crazy, or some word like that. God’s definition of extreme is complete, total, fully. When God says extreme obedience, its not that he wants me to go and bum-rush the main office and tell every to repent or go to hell. Extreme in the sense that a majority of those who call themselves followers of Christ only obey what is convenient but he wants someone who will obey all that he commands. Someone who will obey unto death (Phil 2:8), obey in opposition (Acts 5:29), obey in love (1 John 5:3), obey in faith (Heb 11:8), become a slave to righteousness through obedience (Rom 6:16-18).
Extreme obedience does not question what Abba Father wants me to do. He speaks, I act. This is the year to show if we really believe what we confess, the wheat and tear will be separated. The lukewarm will be exposed because everyone else will move forward (or back) but no more standing still. Faith is moving when you can’t see what’s in front of you. Because we have the God who is the creator of the universe and a big brother, Jesus, who overcame the world, what do we have to worry about if they want to do something through us?
We are not given obedience, it must be learned. Even Christ “learned obedience from what he suffered” (Hebrews 5:8). Daily self sacrifice and denial is required. We must partner with the Holy Spirit daily to lead and guide us in all righteousness and truth. The Spirit cannot flow where flesh lives, so it’s apparent that this cannot be the “year of flesh or self”. It is impossible to walk in extreme obedience and walk in the flesh simultaneously. Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live” Romans 6:6 “For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin”
This year, if there is no manifestation and fruit in our lives then we have no one to blame but ourselves. The only way we’ll see fruit is if we do it his way, extreme obedience. As I enter this New Year I enter with a level of expectation as well as humility, believing God for great things but knowing it will take my participation.
Heavenly Father, I thank you for your grace and mercy in allowing your people to see a new year. I pray that in this new year, we will walk as your children, obedient to your voice. I believe that if we seek you and obey you will our whole heart that you would give us the desires of our heart, so I pray for a new boldness in our prayers to you. Father, reveal yourself to us in a most intimate way, that we would know without a doubt that your hand is upon us. We walk in extreme obedience to your word, grounded in love and faith. We commit our cause to you and desire no glory for ourselves. Father, you know those who are yours, protect us and we take our light into the darkness of this world and we’ll be careful to give you all honor, glory, and praise, in Jesus’ name, Amen!
Have a great year of Finality, Fullness, and Fruitfulness!! God Bless
-Christ’s Ambassador
We were created to be the image of Christ, walking as Christ did. The greatest summary can be found in Philippians 2:5-11. Verse 8-9 says, “he humbled himself and became obedient to death- even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him…” In between humbling yourself and God exalting you is obedience, extreme obedience. Christ’s last words as he hung from the cross were, “it is finished”. He did everything that God commanded Him and created Him to do. When we think extreme, we usually think radical, crazy, or some word like that. God’s definition of extreme is complete, total, fully. When God says extreme obedience, its not that he wants me to go and bum-rush the main office and tell every to repent or go to hell. Extreme in the sense that a majority of those who call themselves followers of Christ only obey what is convenient but he wants someone who will obey all that he commands. Someone who will obey unto death (Phil 2:8), obey in opposition (Acts 5:29), obey in love (1 John 5:3), obey in faith (Heb 11:8), become a slave to righteousness through obedience (Rom 6:16-18).
Extreme obedience does not question what Abba Father wants me to do. He speaks, I act. This is the year to show if we really believe what we confess, the wheat and tear will be separated. The lukewarm will be exposed because everyone else will move forward (or back) but no more standing still. Faith is moving when you can’t see what’s in front of you. Because we have the God who is the creator of the universe and a big brother, Jesus, who overcame the world, what do we have to worry about if they want to do something through us?
We are not given obedience, it must be learned. Even Christ “learned obedience from what he suffered” (Hebrews 5:8). Daily self sacrifice and denial is required. We must partner with the Holy Spirit daily to lead and guide us in all righteousness and truth. The Spirit cannot flow where flesh lives, so it’s apparent that this cannot be the “year of flesh or self”. It is impossible to walk in extreme obedience and walk in the flesh simultaneously. Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live” Romans 6:6 “For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin”
This year, if there is no manifestation and fruit in our lives then we have no one to blame but ourselves. The only way we’ll see fruit is if we do it his way, extreme obedience. As I enter this New Year I enter with a level of expectation as well as humility, believing God for great things but knowing it will take my participation.
Heavenly Father, I thank you for your grace and mercy in allowing your people to see a new year. I pray that in this new year, we will walk as your children, obedient to your voice. I believe that if we seek you and obey you will our whole heart that you would give us the desires of our heart, so I pray for a new boldness in our prayers to you. Father, reveal yourself to us in a most intimate way, that we would know without a doubt that your hand is upon us. We walk in extreme obedience to your word, grounded in love and faith. We commit our cause to you and desire no glory for ourselves. Father, you know those who are yours, protect us and we take our light into the darkness of this world and we’ll be careful to give you all honor, glory, and praise, in Jesus’ name, Amen!
Have a great year of Finality, Fullness, and Fruitfulness!! God Bless
-Christ’s Ambassador
Dec 18, 2008
Together we can; One Vision One Voice
In these last days if we desire to see the glory of the Lord then each house/church must be on one accord. Like never before we must pray for the spirit of our leader, whether its your Church Pastor or ministry leader. You are under that particular covering because you believe and trust the God in them so it should be your desire and earnest prayer to walk in the same spirit as your leader. There is a lot of shifting and shaking in the body of Christ, those leaders who don’t obey the Spirit of Christ in them are being removed from position to make way for the obedient ones. God desires to move mightly in these last days but first he must get the wrong people off the bus and the right people on and in their proper positions. As we catch the spirit of our Leader then we will begin to see things that they saw in the church in the book of Acts because we will be in one accord with one vision and voice. Desiring his spirit means we will gain a greater passion to see the vision of the house fulfilled so we will be more willing to spend ourselves on behalf of the ministry. (Christ did this even to the point of death because he had the spirit of his covering, God, even to the point of death.) As we submit and lift the burden off of our Leader then we are able to push him God-ward so he can intercede for us in a greater capacity as well as continue to receive vision and direction from God.
When God was revealing this to me in prayer a few nights ago, the Holy Spirit told me to look up to see the position my Pastor was in and said that is the position we are to take; he was laying prostrate on the altar. We are not just to position ourselves this way to pray but also symbolizing us turning our backs on everything else that would divide us from the vision of the house. We are now placing ourselves in a vulnerable position because we cannot see behind us and must rely on our covering to look out for us. We are placing complete confidence in our Leader to lead and cover us.
The Holy Spirit took me to John 3 this morning. After reading the chapter, He showed me how this is what “one vision one voice” looks like. In this chapter we have Jesus Christ and John the Baptist both baptizing and teaching. Both are questioned about some things and their answers parallel. In verse 11 and 32 Jesus and John both say the same thing, pointing to the true testimony. Verse 16 and 36 both Jesus and John point to belief in Christ as the way to eternal life. John had the spirit of Jesus so he was able to speak the same things. The vision was to point people to Christ and they both succeeded. John understood that he played an important role but he was just that a role player, his motives weren’t to use this as a stepping stone to the spotlight. Verse 27-29 he explains that he was just preparing the way and is excited to see Christ go forth. Verse 30 shows the heart of a true disciple, “He must become greater; I must become less”. Now is not the time to rebel against your leader but to submit.
If you have a problem submitting to your Leader than its either pride or unbelief, both of which are a sin. If you don't believe in your Pastor/Leader or the vision then go somewhere where you do. If you want the spotlight....sorry God doesn't want prideful people. Submit first and let God do the elevating. This isn’t a one man show; the head requires a body to do anything. Christ, the head, requires the body (us) to fulfill his vision. Your Pastor or Leader requires you to fulfill the vision that God placed inside of him. Together we can; one vision one voice
When God was revealing this to me in prayer a few nights ago, the Holy Spirit told me to look up to see the position my Pastor was in and said that is the position we are to take; he was laying prostrate on the altar. We are not just to position ourselves this way to pray but also symbolizing us turning our backs on everything else that would divide us from the vision of the house. We are now placing ourselves in a vulnerable position because we cannot see behind us and must rely on our covering to look out for us. We are placing complete confidence in our Leader to lead and cover us.
The Holy Spirit took me to John 3 this morning. After reading the chapter, He showed me how this is what “one vision one voice” looks like. In this chapter we have Jesus Christ and John the Baptist both baptizing and teaching. Both are questioned about some things and their answers parallel. In verse 11 and 32 Jesus and John both say the same thing, pointing to the true testimony. Verse 16 and 36 both Jesus and John point to belief in Christ as the way to eternal life. John had the spirit of Jesus so he was able to speak the same things. The vision was to point people to Christ and they both succeeded. John understood that he played an important role but he was just that a role player, his motives weren’t to use this as a stepping stone to the spotlight. Verse 27-29 he explains that he was just preparing the way and is excited to see Christ go forth. Verse 30 shows the heart of a true disciple, “He must become greater; I must become less”. Now is not the time to rebel against your leader but to submit.
If you have a problem submitting to your Leader than its either pride or unbelief, both of which are a sin. If you don't believe in your Pastor/Leader or the vision then go somewhere where you do. If you want the spotlight....sorry God doesn't want prideful people. Submit first and let God do the elevating. This isn’t a one man show; the head requires a body to do anything. Christ, the head, requires the body (us) to fulfill his vision. Your Pastor or Leader requires you to fulfill the vision that God placed inside of him. Together we can; one vision one voice
Dec 17, 2008
Heart Surgery
Heart surgery. As I went into midnight prayer last night I heard, “it’s a heart issue”, from the Holy Spirit. I wasn’t sure what he meant at the time but before the night was over I knew exactly what he meant. As I quieted myself before prayer the Holy Spirit asked me a simple question that brought not only a new level of humility but also a reality check. He asked, “What did you do today that made you any different then someone who does not believe in God?” Running through a list of things in my head; walked with a passion for young people, showed kindness towards my fellow man, vision building for the ministry, etc. As I went through the list, there was not one thing that I relied on God for. I can say that I did but a person who does not believe in Him could have done any and everything I did today. The only thing I did that a non-believer would not do is pray and read my word. How many days of our lives do we live where there is no point in the day where we truly have to rely on God and that shows a distinction between us and a non-believer? “Without faith it is impossible to please God” Faith is doing something that we ourselves cannot do but Christ working through us or on our behalf; there can be no other explanation. The other night E said something that has been resting in my spirit ever since, “because it pleases the Father”, relating to everything that we do in life. But if we can’t please the Father without faith and true faith is doing things we can’t do in our own strength, then are we truly pleasing the Father? I know this is not an easy pill to swallow but it is one that must be forced down none the less. I don’t want to get to heaven and find out that I didn’t please my heavenly Father.
As I struggled to swallow my pill, I realized how off I was in so many ways. Not just in what the Lord dealt with above but even in my prayers. I used to say, “I humble myself before you…” or some version of that but I realized it’s not in me to humble myself. I am humbled when I come in the presence of a holy God. When we say that we humble ourselves, how do we do that? Or is that just another religious saying? If we truly want to be humble before God then we must look at Him in the proper perspective; He’s God, creator of the universe, savior of the world, the one who knows me inside and out and still loves me. That’s humbling.
And the surgery continued….For about the last month I have been quoting 2 Chronicles 16:9, the Lord looks to strengthen those whose hearts are totally committed to him, believing I was totally committing my heart to him. WRONG! How can you have a heart that is totally committed to Him when you walk in pride, unforgiveness, perversion, etc? Once again, the Lord showed me where I was wrong in my prayers. I have been asking God to remove the pride, unforgiveness, perversion but He reminded me of His word in Ezekiel 36:26, “I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” We keep asking God to remove the seeds but he wants to remove the root! So tonight I laid myself on the operating table and let the surgeon, God, remove my heart of stone with its pride, perversion, and everything else and put a new heart into me. Now in order for the transplant to be successful I must stay in intensive care, ceasing any activity that would attempt to rush the recovery. I have to watch what I intake (fasting) and go through physical therapy (the word and prayer) so the body won’t reject the heart. Why do we let the body or flesh decide to accept or reject the heart? We’ll get a new heart but our flesh decides for us that it wants to continue the same lifestyle we had before which will create the same problem. The importance of physical therapy is because in it our thinking is changed renewed. We learn how to care for the new heart. There will be things we cannot do anymore but it’s saving our lives. Then after a full recovery I can begin to work towards living a life where my heart is totally committed to him. His grace is sufficient.
Do you seek to please the Father? How bad is that desire?
To him who has an ear, let him hear what the spirit is saying.
Dec 8, 2008
Closing the book on 2008
I was sitting here tonight and I began to reflect on the prophetic words spoken over me this year and which ones have come to pass already. I have kept these prophecies posted on my vision board to be a constant reminder of God’s word. On January 19, 2008 it was spoken that I would be licensed in to ministry in the next year. I found out about two weeks ago that I will be ordained on January 18, 2009 (exactly a year to the exact day). It was also spoken on that night that 2008 was ministry and 2009 was marriage. In my initial receiving of that word I thought ministry meant licensing but through the course of the year the Lord has shown me that ministry has nothing to do with a title. I truly gave birth to ministry on this year, my purpose in the Kingdom. A year where there were a lot of changes in the natural from jobs, relationships, and etc ministry consumed me. 2008 was a year to give birth to ministry, I can truly see where God began to birth ministry in me and through me. It was half way through the year before I realized that I had already began walking in ministry because my mind was clouded by a title. I went into this year with no New Year’s Resolution, my only desire for 2008 was to know Christ.
God has truly ignited a fire in my spirit, one that cannot be quenched. I know that as I, without shame or apology, burn for Christ that those in my circle of influence have no choice but to be set a blaze. If you choose to remain lukewarm then I suggest you steer clear of me. Since October God has been dealing with me about being lukewarm it will not cease until I am continually burning for Christ and consuming everything that is not Him. His word begs us to choose whether we’re going to be consumed by him or walk away from his. The time has come to choose and if he has to choose for you then he said he’ll spit you out (basically putting you on the cold side).
I used to consider myself someone who likes to have control of his life but this year I lost that control. There were times when, in the past, I would have lost my mind (losing my car, my job, relationships) but I was unaffected by them. God was faithful and the ending was/will be better than the beginning. I truly understood that if I would seek first God’s kingdom and righteousness then everything would be taken care of. Out of work for three months?!! Then take a job where I’m making less money than I’ve ever made period. God’s grace is sufficient. God had to size me down in the natural so he could build me up in the spirit. Like my Pastor said on Tuesday, “what’s your spiritual weight class?”
In 2007, I attempted to do things my way concerning marriage and there was still some residue coming in to 2008. I believe I blogged about it but to make a long story short: My promise and I made plans to move her to Greensboro with me to move forward with the engagement and marriage. The entire time there was no peace about everything but we were still moving forward. Then in March the Lord intervened before we made a huge mistake. The Lord was gracious in moving us out of our own way and during the next five months He….He….did what only He can do. He made all things new because we resolved to love Him more than anything he could ever give us. Now we are no longer anxious about getting engaged and married but we are embracing godly courtship with a new reverence for God and each other. We both have given birth to ministry and without a doubt we are not the same two individuals we were in March or the same couple. We have since established prayer points for our relationship as well as biblical standards for our relationship that breaks down everything from spiritual things to communication to physical touch. There may be some who think us extreme but we make no apologies. We have seen the fruit from those who have been impacted by our desire to walk in Kingdom principles as well as the fruit from walking in disobedience. We knew from the relationship’s conception that this was so much bigger than us and we are transparent about what God is doing. If you would like to see our prayer points or even our standards please feel free to e-mail me, mr.egaines@gmail.com.
To say God is faithful is an understatement. The only thing I can think to respond when someone asks who is God, I give them the same answer he gave to Moses, tell them, “I Am that I Am”. “I am therefore, Christ’s ambassador, as though God were making his appeal through me. I implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God” Become consumed by the Lord’s fire.
God has truly ignited a fire in my spirit, one that cannot be quenched. I know that as I, without shame or apology, burn for Christ that those in my circle of influence have no choice but to be set a blaze. If you choose to remain lukewarm then I suggest you steer clear of me. Since October God has been dealing with me about being lukewarm it will not cease until I am continually burning for Christ and consuming everything that is not Him. His word begs us to choose whether we’re going to be consumed by him or walk away from his. The time has come to choose and if he has to choose for you then he said he’ll spit you out (basically putting you on the cold side).
I used to consider myself someone who likes to have control of his life but this year I lost that control. There were times when, in the past, I would have lost my mind (losing my car, my job, relationships) but I was unaffected by them. God was faithful and the ending was/will be better than the beginning. I truly understood that if I would seek first God’s kingdom and righteousness then everything would be taken care of. Out of work for three months?!! Then take a job where I’m making less money than I’ve ever made period. God’s grace is sufficient. God had to size me down in the natural so he could build me up in the spirit. Like my Pastor said on Tuesday, “what’s your spiritual weight class?”
In 2007, I attempted to do things my way concerning marriage and there was still some residue coming in to 2008. I believe I blogged about it but to make a long story short: My promise and I made plans to move her to Greensboro with me to move forward with the engagement and marriage. The entire time there was no peace about everything but we were still moving forward. Then in March the Lord intervened before we made a huge mistake. The Lord was gracious in moving us out of our own way and during the next five months He….He….did what only He can do. He made all things new because we resolved to love Him more than anything he could ever give us. Now we are no longer anxious about getting engaged and married but we are embracing godly courtship with a new reverence for God and each other. We both have given birth to ministry and without a doubt we are not the same two individuals we were in March or the same couple. We have since established prayer points for our relationship as well as biblical standards for our relationship that breaks down everything from spiritual things to communication to physical touch. There may be some who think us extreme but we make no apologies. We have seen the fruit from those who have been impacted by our desire to walk in Kingdom principles as well as the fruit from walking in disobedience. We knew from the relationship’s conception that this was so much bigger than us and we are transparent about what God is doing. If you would like to see our prayer points or even our standards please feel free to e-mail me, mr.egaines@gmail.com.
To say God is faithful is an understatement. The only thing I can think to respond when someone asks who is God, I give them the same answer he gave to Moses, tell them, “I Am that I Am”. “I am therefore, Christ’s ambassador, as though God were making his appeal through me. I implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God” Become consumed by the Lord’s fire.
Dec 3, 2008
REBEL!!!!!!
“Jesus was a rebel, a renegade, outlaw, a sanctified troublemaker but he never sinned, nah.
In our day, rebel means sinner but everyone is sinning so it’s no longer rebellious to sin. Jesus was a rebel who was counter-cultural.
You’re just a conformist….if you’re breaking commandments….everyone has done that. If you really want to be a rebel read your Bible because no one is doing that. That is rebellion that is the only rebellion left.” –Rebel album (Lecrae)
“Lukewarm people call “radical” what Jesus expected of all His followers” –Francis Chan
I’ve realized that I never fit in with the lukewarm Christian, even when I tried. When I was in the world I never fit in with those who were rebellious towards God, though I tried my best to blend in. As God has been dealing with me concerning the state of His church and believers, I’ve realized that I too had been lukewarm, trying to do just enough to get by. A lukewarm Christian is no Christian at all. I’ve resolved to die empty and that means being what the world or lukewarm Christians may call “radical”. When I played basketball it wasn’t worth playing when I played halfhearted; it was fulfilling when at the end of the game I was exhausted. At the end of this life, I don’t want to have to look back and wish I would have went harder. If Christ lived a lukewarm ministry, chose to remain comfortable, chances are he would have gotten down off the cross because that would have been too extreme. He might have even refused to get up there in the first place. God loves hard, his feverant love for me has set me ablaze to ferverantly love him back.
Call me radical. Call me extreme. Call me deep. But one thing you will not call me is lukewarm. Lukewarm people are offended by those who are “radical” because it reveals their lack of zeal for the things of God. I’m living this life without apology. Chief sinners are no longer rebellious, it’s the norm. if you really want to rebel against something rebel against the low standards the world and some believers have placed on a relationship with Christ. Burn with the light of Christ without shame.
In our day, rebel means sinner but everyone is sinning so it’s no longer rebellious to sin. Jesus was a rebel who was counter-cultural.
You’re just a conformist….if you’re breaking commandments….everyone has done that. If you really want to be a rebel read your Bible because no one is doing that. That is rebellion that is the only rebellion left.” –Rebel album (Lecrae)
“Lukewarm people call “radical” what Jesus expected of all His followers” –Francis Chan
I’ve realized that I never fit in with the lukewarm Christian, even when I tried. When I was in the world I never fit in with those who were rebellious towards God, though I tried my best to blend in. As God has been dealing with me concerning the state of His church and believers, I’ve realized that I too had been lukewarm, trying to do just enough to get by. A lukewarm Christian is no Christian at all. I’ve resolved to die empty and that means being what the world or lukewarm Christians may call “radical”. When I played basketball it wasn’t worth playing when I played halfhearted; it was fulfilling when at the end of the game I was exhausted. At the end of this life, I don’t want to have to look back and wish I would have went harder. If Christ lived a lukewarm ministry, chose to remain comfortable, chances are he would have gotten down off the cross because that would have been too extreme. He might have even refused to get up there in the first place. God loves hard, his feverant love for me has set me ablaze to ferverantly love him back.
Call me radical. Call me extreme. Call me deep. But one thing you will not call me is lukewarm. Lukewarm people are offended by those who are “radical” because it reveals their lack of zeal for the things of God. I’m living this life without apology. Chief sinners are no longer rebellious, it’s the norm. if you really want to rebel against something rebel against the low standards the world and some believers have placed on a relationship with Christ. Burn with the light of Christ without shame.
Nov 20, 2008
Simple Question
Last night during my small group the Holy Spirit asked what is the first thing that pops in your mind concerning the purpose of prayer? My first response was intercession, because I have been reading a book on intercession but the Holy Spirit said go a little deeper. “Source” was the next thing that came to mind. This week I had not been faithful in denying the comfort of my bed and getting up to seek the Lord and it has shown. He showed me the example of a cell phone, I plug up my cell phone every night before I go to sleep so that it will have enough power to last through the next day. I can remember days where I did not plug it in to charge it up and how I spent the next day screening calls so I didn’t waste my battery. Or I was constantly looking at the battery life to see if it was going to cut off in the middle of the day. Talking is the way I see things about myself and so I was talking about it, I realized that I really have not been connecting to the source but even worse been relying on my own strength to make it through the day. I was telling God, “I don’t need you, I can make it”. That’s a scary place to be. I said that I want God to be my source, I don’t want to be able to make it through a day where I didn’t tap into my source.
I tried to justify it with the cell phone example: well what if I didn’t talk on the phone that much the previous day (I didn’t totally spend myself on Christ’s behalf) so I have some power left from yesterday. The Holy Spirit said what if an emergency happens and I need all of your energy, but because you’re not fully charged you’ll give out when it’s most critical. Even on the other hand, God did not give the Israelites manna to hoard for the future, they had to use it or lose it. We can hold on God’s power for a future date. He gives it to us to spend in that day. That’s a lack of faith on our part that Christ won’t provide for us tomorrow. (This is convicting even in my writing but it must be exposed!)
This morning as I was reading from one of my books, The ministry of intercessory prayer (Andrew Murray), the chapter that I began to read this morning was “Is Prayerlessness Sin?”. CONVICTION!! I couldn’t even get through the entire chapter. Not tapping in to our source of power will always result in failure or defeat. Defeat and failure are always due to the loss of God’s presence. God’s presence comes through prayer. Look at 1 Samuel 12 with Achan, defeat followed the absence of the presence of God.
Lord, help me to truly see you as my source and not just a resource. Show me that it is IN you that I live and have my being, you are the source of my strength. Father I repent for acting as though I can make it in this life without you and neglecting your work on the cross. I pray that I plug in to you every morning when I rise and every night before I lay down, that I may always have your presence, peace, and power.
Have you made God through prayer your source for living?
I tried to justify it with the cell phone example: well what if I didn’t talk on the phone that much the previous day (I didn’t totally spend myself on Christ’s behalf) so I have some power left from yesterday. The Holy Spirit said what if an emergency happens and I need all of your energy, but because you’re not fully charged you’ll give out when it’s most critical. Even on the other hand, God did not give the Israelites manna to hoard for the future, they had to use it or lose it. We can hold on God’s power for a future date. He gives it to us to spend in that day. That’s a lack of faith on our part that Christ won’t provide for us tomorrow. (This is convicting even in my writing but it must be exposed!)
This morning as I was reading from one of my books, The ministry of intercessory prayer (Andrew Murray), the chapter that I began to read this morning was “Is Prayerlessness Sin?”. CONVICTION!! I couldn’t even get through the entire chapter. Not tapping in to our source of power will always result in failure or defeat. Defeat and failure are always due to the loss of God’s presence. God’s presence comes through prayer. Look at 1 Samuel 12 with Achan, defeat followed the absence of the presence of God.
Lord, help me to truly see you as my source and not just a resource. Show me that it is IN you that I live and have my being, you are the source of my strength. Father I repent for acting as though I can make it in this life without you and neglecting your work on the cross. I pray that I plug in to you every morning when I rise and every night before I lay down, that I may always have your presence, peace, and power.
Have you made God through prayer your source for living?
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