Sunday, December 04, 2005
More on Prayer
The talk of prayer in the previous post got me to thinking... When you talk to God does he answer you?
I used to have a pastor at a previous church who commented one day that God told him to do something.
Several of us commented between ourselves, privately, sure he did. God has never spoken to me!
I'll let you in on a special secret, If you want to have a really close relationship with God, if you want to have your prayers answered, if you want Him to answer you, ask God for what He wants you to ask for.
You must tell God that you want to dedicate your life to HIM.
Seriously, when you are in a quiet place with a few minutes , talk to Him, say "Lord I dedicate myself to you. I offer myself as a living tool for you to use according to your plan. I give control of my life to You. I desire nothing more than to live my life as your servant doing Your bidding and serving You and your children.".This is when I usually add "Lord there are so many of your children in our community who have been told that You do not love them because of who they are. It is my heartfelt desire that you use me as a means to reach out to them and tell them the truth of Your great love for them and Your plan for their salvation". You may have a special dream of your own that you might ask him to use you for.
I promise you that if you pray this or a similar prayer, He will listen and He will answer you, maybe not the first night, but he will answer. God did not create you just so you could live a joyous life and indulge yourself in personal pleasures. He created you to serve Him.
His answer may come in the form of new opportunities to spread his word, or in a chance to help the poor or needy or to work to improve the world for your fellow man.
You never know how God will speak to you or how He will answer your prayers. You may think He's not answering, but He may really be saying, not yet, my child, or I have a better plan.
I know Christians who regularly feel his gentle nudge urging them to do something for His glory. One friend of mine says that she frequently tries to "test"these urges to see if it is truly Him or just her own ego.
I have never had that worry. If He really wants me to do something, he will put me in a situation where I will have no doubt. She worries that if something doesn't work the way she expects it to that maybe it was her thought, not his.
At a Bible study a couple of years ago one member said that he would never stand on a street corner with a bullhorn telling people about The Lord. He said that he could not stand to have so many people looking at him and saying, "what an idiot."
I don't feel that way. If I feel that my Lord wants me to do something, I will do it. Even if it doesn't work out the way I would like, I could still be serving His plan. Maybe 300 people may ignore me, but one may listen and be saved, even though I may never know it. Its His plan and I don't feel qualified to judge It's success.
I have experienced some times in my own life where has spoken to me and I had no doubt that it was Him. These special callings have always happened to me in the middle of the night. Sometimes I will awaken from a sound sleep with a feeling that what I experienced was much more than a dream. A couple of times he has awakened me to tell me something.
I said something to Dan about this one time and said, "I wonder why he always does it while I am asleep?" Dan replied," it was probably the only time he could get you to shut up and listen."
Dan is right, After you ask God to lead you, you must have regular quiet times to be near Him so that he will answer. You must be willing to listen..
I have heard many more learned teachers than I say that God knows everything that will happen in your entire life before you are even conceived.
I have always felt that God has a desire for you to do his will and he gives you opportunities to follow him, but if you don't ,God is patient. He will give you repeated chances to follow him, and when you do He rejoices!
Nothing makes your Lord happier than to see you take up your Cross and follow him. But I believe that God gives you free will.
I could go forever once I get wound talking about a life in service to Him, but I'll save some for another post. I will leave you with one more thing. You will never beat the true joy that you will experience when you develop a deep two way relationship with your Lord.
May God Bless you, Deacon Harry
I used to have a pastor at a previous church who commented one day that God told him to do something.
Several of us commented between ourselves, privately, sure he did. God has never spoken to me!
I'll let you in on a special secret, If you want to have a really close relationship with God, if you want to have your prayers answered, if you want Him to answer you, ask God for what He wants you to ask for.
You must tell God that you want to dedicate your life to HIM.
Seriously, when you are in a quiet place with a few minutes , talk to Him, say "Lord I dedicate myself to you. I offer myself as a living tool for you to use according to your plan. I give control of my life to You. I desire nothing more than to live my life as your servant doing Your bidding and serving You and your children.".This is when I usually add "Lord there are so many of your children in our community who have been told that You do not love them because of who they are. It is my heartfelt desire that you use me as a means to reach out to them and tell them the truth of Your great love for them and Your plan for their salvation". You may have a special dream of your own that you might ask him to use you for.
I promise you that if you pray this or a similar prayer, He will listen and He will answer you, maybe not the first night, but he will answer. God did not create you just so you could live a joyous life and indulge yourself in personal pleasures. He created you to serve Him.
His answer may come in the form of new opportunities to spread his word, or in a chance to help the poor or needy or to work to improve the world for your fellow man.
You never know how God will speak to you or how He will answer your prayers. You may think He's not answering, but He may really be saying, not yet, my child, or I have a better plan.
I know Christians who regularly feel his gentle nudge urging them to do something for His glory. One friend of mine says that she frequently tries to "test"these urges to see if it is truly Him or just her own ego.
I have never had that worry. If He really wants me to do something, he will put me in a situation where I will have no doubt. She worries that if something doesn't work the way she expects it to that maybe it was her thought, not his.
At a Bible study a couple of years ago one member said that he would never stand on a street corner with a bullhorn telling people about The Lord. He said that he could not stand to have so many people looking at him and saying, "what an idiot."
I don't feel that way. If I feel that my Lord wants me to do something, I will do it. Even if it doesn't work out the way I would like, I could still be serving His plan. Maybe 300 people may ignore me, but one may listen and be saved, even though I may never know it. Its His plan and I don't feel qualified to judge It's success.
I have experienced some times in my own life where has spoken to me and I had no doubt that it was Him. These special callings have always happened to me in the middle of the night. Sometimes I will awaken from a sound sleep with a feeling that what I experienced was much more than a dream. A couple of times he has awakened me to tell me something.
I said something to Dan about this one time and said, "I wonder why he always does it while I am asleep?" Dan replied," it was probably the only time he could get you to shut up and listen."
Dan is right, After you ask God to lead you, you must have regular quiet times to be near Him so that he will answer. You must be willing to listen..
I have heard many more learned teachers than I say that God knows everything that will happen in your entire life before you are even conceived.
I have always felt that God has a desire for you to do his will and he gives you opportunities to follow him, but if you don't ,God is patient. He will give you repeated chances to follow him, and when you do He rejoices!
Nothing makes your Lord happier than to see you take up your Cross and follow him. But I believe that God gives you free will.
I could go forever once I get wound talking about a life in service to Him, but I'll save some for another post. I will leave you with one more thing. You will never beat the true joy that you will experience when you develop a deep two way relationship with your Lord.
May God Bless you, Deacon Harry
