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Motivation to Pray

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If God in heaven waited to move and work and act and intervene according to your prayers, what would God be doing? I believe this is a great question because God tells us to pray in His Word, and we say we believe in the power of prayer. God certainly doesn’t need our prayers or to hear from us about situations in order to move, but what if He intentionally limited His working and moving based on our individual petitions? Is it possible that we don’t see God move enough because we don’t pray enough? I think most of us are guilty of throwing prayers at God without really trying to develop a more personal relationship with Him.

We want God to work and move and act, but do we want it enough to labor in prayer for a while? Do we want God to move enough that we even pause to listen for the voice of God while we are praying? It takes a lot of faith to carve out some quality time for prayer and to believe that our answers are embedded in the prayers we pray.

God definitely doesn’t want our prayer lives to be about twisting His arm to give us things. Your prayer life is all about you being personal in your relationship with God. And you open up to Him like you would a best friend and share all that’s on your heart and mind and all you need.

James 4:2-3 You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend [it] on your pleasures.

How is it even possible to hold back the omnipotent One? That’s a crazy thought, but also a sad possibility. My advice, just don’t hold God back, but pray as if He is working and moving in our lives and the world depended on it.

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Coming to Nothing

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There are those you see today who are highly successful, intelligent, and extremely motivated who are coming to nothing. Wouldn’t you hate for all of your efforts and energy and time to result in nothing? But this is exactly what the apostle Paul said of the ruling class of his time. I would guess that applies not only to the ruling class then, but today also, and for those whose faith centers on their own abilities and not God’s power. Paul wrote,

1 Corinthians 2:6-8 However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden [wisdom] which God ordained before the ages for our glory, 8 which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

Who are the rulers of this age who live by the wisdom of this age? They are leaders and influencers and pace setters, anyone and everyone who tries to exercise authority over others. I would hate to be under the influence or be caught following someone who was coming to nothing. Think about it, Paul said “your faith should not be in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.” If you want to join the “come to nothing” crowd just believe in only what you can see and only what you can understand and what makes sense. The “come-to-nothing” crowd never steps in faith into the unknown, but they live in the safety of how the numbers add up and count on the odds and projections being in their favor.

If you’re like me, I want to come to something instead of nothing, and it all depends on the wisdom and faith you live by. You can come to something today! You can come to peace and to joy today if you will stop striving and start trusting God. You can come to Hope and renewed strength if you give God your situation. We are not just waiting to come to something at the end of our lives, but let’s come to something today, like a greater understanding of life and who is really in control.

Now this is wisdom, only those who come to Jesus Christ in faith and complete surrender will ever come to something, all others, no matter how great and mighty and well-known they are, will come to nothing.

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Do Not Doubt

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You cannot live expecting God to do something in your life and at the same time doubt He will do anything.  Doubting is an issue in most of our lives and it’s like pulling the plug on all our prayers to God.  When we speak faithless words of doubt it’s like throwing needles at balloons of faith.  People of faith have always been diseased with the plague of doubt.  One reason is because we don’t feed our faith the powerful truths of God’s word.  Wherever faith is not, doubt will surely be present, active, depressing and confusing.  We doubt because it’s just easier, and the old nature fosters unbelief and discredits the power of God.  We doubt many times because we surround ourselves with doubters and faithless people.  We doubt because we hear the doubters voices saying, “You can’t do that,” “Nothing will happen,” “Don’t count on it,” “It will never work.”  Oh what a blessing it would be to silence those voices that will also sing, “Victory in Jesus,” but then pray and live in unbelief.  Listen to what Jesus said can happen when faith is not tainted with doubt.

SCRIPTURE

“So Jesus answered and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ it will be done. 22 “And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”  Matthew 21:21-22

Among the twelve, it was Thomas who doubted Jesus’ resurrection.  While the other disciples lived in the joy and peace of the resurrection, there was Thomas left in his defiance and doubt.  He refused to believe unless he could actually see those nail scars in Jesus’ hands.

You don’t have to be like Thomas, but that means you have to examine your life, words and thoughts for any traces of doubt.  Once doubts set in, they are not going to decrease, and they will continue to increase until you see that doubt is what’s killing the joy and peace in your life.  Don’t entertain an attitude of doubt and don’t be a spiritual skeptic, but believe, believe, believe in the power of God and fight for a strong faith in your life.  Ask God to help you detect any doubts that try to rise up and take the place of your faith.  Start this moment living in faith and get out of doubt!

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The LORD

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Have great confidence in the Lord today!  Many today place their confidence in every other thing except the Lord, maker of heaven and earth.  In the story of David and Goliath, David completely aligned his life with the Lord, maker of heaven and earth, so much so that when King Saul questioned David’s abilities to fight Goliath, David said, “The LORD.”   “The LORD,” was David’s answer.  Think about it!

SCRIPTURES

“Moreover David said, “The LORD (YEHOVAH), who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the LORD be with you!” I Samuel 17:37

David’s confidence and faith didn’t come from a flash of emotion, but it came from a personal relationship with God.  David had killed a lion and a bear and was proficient with a sling and stones, but ultimately David looked to God as the answer.  I can tell you that the Lord wants to be your answer.  He wants to rise above everything in your life that you place your confidence in and He wants us to trust completely in Him.  We have to trust God more than we trust our own abilities and experience.  We have to trust God more than we trust our education and what’s in our bank account.  We have to trust God more than we trust our spouse or best friends.  He must become our answer, because everything else has the possibilities of failure, but God never fails!  He has never lost a battle and He never will.

The Lord may not always do what you think He should do, but He still has never failed those who completely trust in Him.  The next time you sense the call of God on your life to take on a challenge and your abilities come into question, respond as David did, “The LORD.”

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Goliath Coming Up

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The arrogance of the enemy of your soul prevents him from remaining hidden.  In the story of David and Goliath, the Philistine giant came out every morning and evening to challenge any man to fight against him.  We do know that the devil is a master of disguise, but he cannot stay in the shadows because his prideful nature wont let him.  At some point he will appear just like Goliath did against Israel’s army.

SCRIPTURES

“Then as he talked with them, there was the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, coming up from the armies of the Philistines; and he spoke according to the same words. So David heard [them.] 24 And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were dreadfully afraid.“ I Samuel 17:23-24

As Goliath came up to confront Israel’s army, the fear in those solders also came up.  Our enemy will always reveal his ugly head, and because of that, we should be consciously aware of his appearance and prepare for it.  He must show himself because he revels in the fear of man.  He is addicted to fear.  It is his drug of choice, and it’s in abundant supply.  The enemy wants you to see him because he wants you to know your place.  As far as he is concerned, your place is cowering at his appearing and being paralyzed in his presence.  He wants you to shrink back and shake when you see him.  When he appears, it will not be the horned red man with green eyes, but it will be an unexpected situation preventing you from doing God’s will.  He appears at our points of obedience.  He appears when we are about to take a step of faith to let us know we can’t do what we are about to do.  He appears in visits and phone calls and texts that are filled with believable lies, but they are still lies.  He makes sure you know about the consequences of failure.  He speaks as if he knows all things concerning you, but all of this is meant to produce enough fear in you so that you never make a move.

If you are a child of God, you have an anointing on your life that empowers you to not be a supplier of fear.  You have an anointing on your life that when the enemy comes up from the ranks of the Philistines, you don’t shrink back and flee.  When Goliath came up and appeared on the 40th day, there was the anointed one who came up who took him down.  Live in your anointing of the Holy Spirit today, and when the enemy appears, because he often will, you can stand firm and move forward and be a witness to the power of God in your life!

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Hidden Abilities

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We all have our limitations, but you really don’t know what all you can do until you place your complete trust in Almighty God.  Most likely you have had a few people in your life who know you better than you know yourself and don’t mind telling you what you can’t do.  I’m certain you don’t like people telling you what you can and cannot do, just like King Saul told David.

“And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.”     I Samuel 17:33

”You are not able.”  How do you like that word of discouragement?  What Saul did was what many will do today, they will “size you up.”  When those around you try to calculate your abilities, they look on the externals of your life.  King Saul figured in David’s age and experience to determine David’s abilities.  David’s physical size was no match for this 9 foot 6 inch tall giant of a man.  David had no prior military experience, but fighting was all that Goliath knew from the time he was a young man.  Saul didn’t see what gave David the edge against Goliath.  He only saw what he could see with his eyes, but David had hidden abilities just like every child of God.

Hidden abilities are always hidden until a step of faith comes and displays not what you can do, but the power of God in your life.  Your hidden abilities are not under the restriction of your age, experience, intellect, or education.  Your hidden abilities are tied to your one ability to trust God.  When you trust God, then God’s abilities are revealed through your life.  Did you get that?  All you have to do is completely trust and focus on God and then God will supply what you need to take down giants!

God gives us the ability to walk on water and to heal the sick.  God gives his children abilities to sing in the midst of suffering and to love instead of hate.  If all you ever do is live in your own abilities, you will never know or really talk much about the greatness of God.  But when you build your faith in God and then approach moments like David to put faith in action, then you will see what God can do through you.  The apostle Paul was the one who said, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”  Philippians 4:13

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Fear Stops Here!

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In the epic story of David and Goliath, there is a very important lesson for every child of God to learn and live by.  The lesson is that what makes everyone else fearful and afraid, doesn’t have to effect you the same way.  David teaches us that fear should stop here, with you and me.  It should not transfer from us to those around us.  While the hearts of the men in Israel’s army melted at the presence of Goliath, and fear was passed from one man to the next like a viral disease, hear what David said,

“Then David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.”  I Samuel 17:32   

While fear spread through Israel’s ranks for 40 straight days, when fear came to David, it didn’t phase him nor pass through him.  Goliath was a monster of a man, but David knew about the greatness of the living God.  David’s courage was not out of ignorance or self-determined arrogance, but it was out of complete reliance on the power and presence of Almighty God.  When you know God is with you, you have the power to stop fear in its tracks.  When you walk with God in a daily walk and experience Him in your life, you are much more able to keep your focus on God when fear comes knocking.

This may be exactly what you need in your life right now, to declare in faith and by the power of God, “Fear stops here!”  It should, you don’t have to receive it or spread it no matter what the source of that fear happens to be.  This only happens when you keep your focus on who God is, just like David did.  This only happens when you right-size what is coming against you with the living God who walks with you.  Fear stops here for those who are anointed by God to live different and to believe different than the rest of the world.  That means you believe God can win any battle and stop any opponent.  David believed God could stop Goliath because he had already experienced God in his encounters with the lion and the bear.  God is ready to be victorious in your life if you will keep your focus on Him and keep believing in Him.  Don’t transfer fear onto those around you, but transfer courage and faith in the living God.

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Be Weak

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Who would ever go around telling people how weak they are?  Most of the people I know want to talk about their strengths, talents and abilities, because we take pride in those areas.  But what are the areas you are weak in?  I’ve heard a song that speaks to this weakness and it says, “I can’t even walk without You holding my hand.” Could it be that of all the things God is doing in your life, he is intentionally making you weak, so that you will be strong?  The apostle Paul prayed for God to remove the thorn from his flesh 3 times.  Evidently this thorn, whatever it was, had a weakening affect on Paul, or at least initially he thought it did.  Is there anything in your life right now that you feel is weakening you and you’ve asked God over and over to remove it?  Some people have a history of rebellion they wish could be wiped away.  Some have needs they feel are hindering their life.  Some people have physical disabilities they want God to heal or take away completely.  There are even people who want God to remove other people from their lives because they think they are holding them back.  But what if making you weak is God’s plan?
You can ask and ask and plead with God to remove certain things from your life, and at times He will, but you can believe at times He will also give you the same answer He gave Paul.
        “My grace is sufficient for you, My strength is made perfect in weakness.”  2 Corinthians 12:9.
To which Paul replied,
“Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”  “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake.  For when I am weak——then, then, and only then I am strong.”  
Perhaps what God is doing in your life right now is making you weak.  You can fight against it and you can fervently pray, but when you surrender completely to what God is doing, you can experience His perfect strength.  God’s plan for your life has always been to save you and then to indwell you and then to live His life through you.  That happens in the moments we come to the place of saying, “I can’t” and God says, “I can, let me.”
“For when I am weak, then I am strong.”  

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Be Strong

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How strong are you?  Back in my high school days we worked out just about every day to build up strength and stamina. Even after high school, I found myself pumping that iron to stay in shape and to maintain my strength.  That’s probably the story of many others, but the older I get, I’ve noticed that even with working out, I can be strong, but not like the days of my youth. Physically everyone loses their strength over time, but that doesn’t have to be the case spiritually. The apostle Paul said, “Finally, my brothers, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.”  Ephesians 6:10. 

We need this encouragement today because of the hostile environments we enter into and the spiritual wrestling required to survive.  Our mistake oftentimes is that we don’t know who our opponent is, so we end up in major conflicts with our spouse, or with our co-worker, or with our neighbors. Our wrestling is with spiritual forces of darkness in heavenly places.  Our wrestling opponent, Paul said, was not on the human level, but the spiritual.  That’s not to say we don’t come into contact with those who come against us, we certainly do, but even then, we must see our battle is not directly with them.
I love watching the Strong Man’s Contest where those massive men show how strong they are by lifting weights, pushing or pulling trucks, and lifting heavy concrete balls.  It’s possible and very likely to be very strong physically, but a weakling spiritually, and that’s why Paul said, “Be strong in the Lord.” To be strong in the Lord means to walk in love and to be full of faith. To be strong in the Lord you have to know the Lord on a very personal level. To be strong in the Lord means you are a person of prayer.  To be strong in the Lord you must be filled with the Holy Spirit.  To be strong in the Lord you must be completely covered with the armor of God.  Let me ask you, what does it matter if you can win physical battles and intellectual debates if you lose every spiritual confrontation?  God has equipped you to win every spiritual wrestling match against your unseen enemy. Spiritually, you are not someone who should be pushed around and knocked down, but it happens, and it has happened to me more times than I want to admit.  So what do you do?  You get back up, and you go again.  You learn the enemy’s strategy and you renew and gain strength in the Lord. You are strong, but your source of strength is not in you, it’s in the Lord. Starting today, be strong in the Lord!

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Because He Lives…

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Just take a moment to fill in the blank, “Because He lives, I can __________ __________!”  This truth has to be more to us than the familiar lyrics of an old gospel song.  Because Jesus lives and death couldn’t keep Him and the grave couldn’t stop Him, there is power to live your life by.  His resurrected life enables us to do what we could not otherwise do.  Not only that, but because of His life, we are able to have a life.  What I mean is that we exist, only because He exists.  Think about it, if God somehow stopped existing this moment, so would every form of life, including human life.  The apostle Paul said,

The reality of our lives is that we are God-sustained and not self-sustained.  He is the One who gives us breath and keeps our hearts beating.  He is the One who holds all things together.  Because He lives, and only because He lives, I can face tomorrow.  I can get up in the morning.  “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”  Because He lives, I can go beyond my natural abilities and do what only can be done in His power.  I can love those who are not so loving.  I can forgive those who have wronged me.  I can walk where God wants me to walk.  I can endure what life throws at me.  I can love my neighbors as myself.  I can be the witness He wants me to be.  I can survive the fiery storms and I can walk through the valley.

Because He lives, I can face the giants that threaten.  God is your enabler!  Yes He is, because otherwise you would have quit a long time ago.  The reason you are still going and giving and loving and haven’t become bitter and angry and isolated is because of God.  His life means everything to the disciple of Christ.  Because He lives, you can go to bed tonight and have sweet rest.  Because He lives, you can live in complete confidence that He sees you right where you are, knows where you’ve been, knows how you feel and knows what you need.  Because He lives, I can believe and know that everything is going to be alright.  Because He lives, I can lift my head up and march on in the name of Jesus!  March on!

 

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