Your Answer To Prayer Often Includes Suffering For It

Hebrews 5.7-10 describes, while He lived on earth, anticipating death, Jesus cried out in pain and wept in sorrow as He offered up priestly prayers to God. Because He honored God, God answered Him. Though He was God’s Son, He learned trusting-obedience by what He suffered, just as we do. Then, having arrived at the full stature of His maturity and having been announced by God as high priest in the order of Melchizedek, He became the source of eternal salvation to all who believingly obey Him. MSG

 

Because Jesus honored the Father, the Father answered the prayers of the Son. As we ask anything in Jesus’ Name, the anything that will honor the Son and glorify the Father, the anything that will facilitate the kingdom of God increasing upon earth as it fills heaven, He, Jesus, will hear our prayers and grant us what we asked of Him. (more…)

0 Comments

The Long Road To Knowing God

Matthew 7.13-14 commands, don’t look for shortcuts to God. The market is flooded with surefire, easygoing formulas for a successful life that can be practiced in your spare time. Don’t fall for that stuff, even though crowds of people do. The way to life—to God!—is vigorous and requires total attention. MSG

 

The way to God, to know Him, is vigorous and requires total attention! Of course it does! God is great. He deserves our best effort and deepest pursuit. We must pursue Him. We must pick up the Scriptures, the writings He has generously given to us for knowing Him and how we are to live. (more…)

0 Comments

Church: Make America Great Again

Isaiah 64.7 observes, no one calls on Your name or strives to lay hold of You; for You have hidden Your face from us and have given us over to our sins.

This chapter, like many of the previous chapters, seems to speak to our country and our church today. All of the many things going wrong in our culture has not driven many yet to the point of perpetual prayer. Who is striving to lay hold of God? (more…)

0 Comments

What ‘Food’ Are You Working For?

John 6.27 commands, do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on Him God the Father has placed His seal of approval.

Too many men who claim to be Christians are working for food that spoils. Not enough men who claim to be Christians are working for food that endures to eternal life. (more…)

0 Comments

God Is Recruiting Adventurers

Hosea 11.12 describes, Ephraim surrounds me with lies, the house of Israel, with deceit. Judah still wanders with God and is faithful to the holy ones.

We hear often that we humans don’t like change. Our prayers reflect this disdain, often asking God for protection and safety instead of faith and courage. (more…)

0 Comments

Getting Our Prayers Heard and Answered

Proverbs 28.9 describes, anyone who turns his ear away from hearing the law — even his prayer is detestable.

Nearly everyone prays, even the atheist in his darkest hour. We all pray because we all have times in our life where we have run out of resources to help us, so we cry out to Him Who is outside of our resources and has the power by His resources to help us in our time of need. (more…)

0 Comments

How Comfortable Are You in Your Body?

2 Corinthians 5.6 observes, we are always confident and know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord.

Paul is speaking about our physical body though he is encouraging us about our future body. Paul reminds us that while we live on earth we are not at home with the Lord. Our true destiny, our true residence, our true happiness, is with Jesus where He is living bodily; with Him forever. (more…)

0 Comments

Seeing God Most Clearly

Luke 24. 28-31 records, they came to the edge of the village where they were headed. He acted as if He were going on but they pressed Him: Stay and have supper with us. It’s nearly evening; the day is done. So He went in with them. And here is what happened: He sat down at the table with them. Taking the bread, He blessed and broke and gave it to them. At that moment, open-eyed, wide-eyed, they recognized Him. And then He disappeared.

We take God so lightly, in our narcissism we believe Him to be all about us. As our Creator, we are to be all about Him and He treats us that way! (more…)

0 Comments