As Christians, do we love one another, or do we divide ourselves so completely in our perceived love for Jesus, that we distance ourselves from each other? I look around Christendom and see one head and many bodies. I see one cup, one bread, and one table, being bitterly contested over and claimed by each body to the point of refusing to serve another family member at the one table that Jesus set and provided for. Is this the way He meant for us to behave?
It is one thing to know what a life of prayer is, but something altogether different to live that life. Being called to prayer and answering that call are two entirely different things too. Every Christian receives God’s call to prayer, but so many will cripple themselves by either refusing to answer that call, or by not knowing how to fully engage in it. Are we participating in a dedicated life of prayer today, or are we limping along, hobbled, and without understanding what praying without ceasing means, or involves?
God hears our prayers; He gives each of them audience and provides us with all those things we have prayed for within His will. The question that we who pray should ask is this... “Do I have confidence that God hears me as I pray and that He will answer me?” Confidence in the Word of God is of the utmost importance to those who pray. Put more simply, we must trust in the fact that God will do what His Word says He will do. But, do you we know what that is?
Are we satisfied with the state of our spiritual lives? Does living water pour from us as Jesus said it would, or are we praying for it, but feel like our words are drawing nothing from us? If this is a true statement regarding where we are in our faith, then do not be disappointed, and have patience as you continue to divine the water that is within you.
Have we surrendered completely to God? Do we consider everything we are, and everything we have, to be His? So often we say these words, but when it comes time to turn all we have over to Him we renege, or have second thoughts. We promise the Lord that He is first in our lives and that everything we have is His; yet at the first sign of true sacrifice, or at His first request of us we falter. In truth, our Father doesn’t need our possessions... He just desires that we not need them more than we need Him.
How often do we view the strife and tumult of our daily lives as an encumbrance to our abiding in Jesus Christ and God when we should not view it this way at all? In the vineyard the wind blows, the leaves rustle loud, and the sound of the storm grows intense, but at the root, the vine never moves, even as the rain continues on unabated. Every storm provides rain that is drawn into us as strength from the wet ground, and what, on the surface, might appear to be a raging flood becomes the watering can of our faith.
There are times in our lives when we are self-assured and as we study the scripture we say to ourselves “Ah Ha! This is the absolute truth, and I will base my faith on it!” but who are we to be so arrogant? Who are we to interpret scripture without the direction of He whose hand guided the pen? Yet, this is what we are inclined to do as we go about building our castles of faith out of sand; gathering it in buckets from shores that are strewn with stone... and we silence the Holy Spirit, into whose hand God has placed the truth about stones, thus covering our ears to the Lord’s voice with our own hands.
How do we behave at home? I am not talking simply about our physical home on earth, but our spiritual home in heaven. We concentrate a great deal on what a good Father God is, but what kind of daughter or son are we? Do we love Him with all our hearts? Do we serve Him and do His will? Do we honor Him, or do we expect Him to honor our prayers and requests without reciprocation? Do we feel that He is obligated to provide all our desires while we do nothing? We know that He is a good father but are we simply like spoiled children?
One of the questions that I hear asked quite frequently is about the Holy Spirit. Every day Christian believers ask about him because they desire to know who He is, and what he should mean to them and their faith; while many Pastors ask about him to determine what side of the fence we are on. Much like Jesus He fascinates and enthralls us; he brings us to a place where we feel the coolness of the inhale, and the warmth of the exhale as God breathes, and yes, the Holy Ghost frightens many of us, and that fear often serves to separate us from one another.
When we recall the parable of the prodigal Son it is easy to forget that there were two sons, the one who squandered his inheritance and yet was welcomed home, and the son who remained steadfastly at his father’s side. Which one of these best describes you? The prodigal son gives us hope in our Father’s love when we are lost, or are frivolous with our faith, but the dependable son never lost his inheritance and never left his father’s side. Who would you rather be? Who would the prodigal son have wanted to be as he travelled the road home?
Our prayers don’t just fade from the memory of God, they have substance, and can be held in the hand, placed in a bowl, and offered up with incense to Jesus, and God. Have you ever thought of that simple prayer you spoke as being worthy of saving? How about the ones you prayed in anger, or heartbreak, remorse, praise, or Thanksgiving? They are all borne in the hands of angels before the throne of God, and He values each one... they are your life, and they are the heart of your relationship with Him.
Where do we spend our time each day? Do we waste it on frivolous pursuits, or in prayer? Do we read magazines about worldly subjects, or the Bible and other spiritually uplifting material? Do we seek out those places God wills us to visit, or do we wile away our time in ungodly places for no good purpose? How we apportion our time, the activities we pursue, and places we frequent determines how our faith will grow, and the fruit it will bear. Do we waste our treasure of time, or spend it wisely?
There are many who study the Bible, and upon reading of the healings and other miracles contained there, they conclude that those occurrences were limited to the early days of faith and that those days must have been the “time of miracles.” These doubters convince themselves that we are not living in such a time today. Friends, there is no biblical foundation for such thought, as a matter-of-fact Jesus taught throughout His ministry by using miracles, just as we see in the Old Testament, and He also taught us that we too will perform and receive miracles today. In short, we still live in this so called “time of miracles.”
There is not a day that goes by that I don’t recognize myself to be a sinner. If this is not a humbling experience then I am certainly not mindful of God, and Jesus. Are you conscious of your sinful nature as well? If you are like me, do you work each day to live a life free of sin only to pray repetitively for forgiveness? If so, then like millions before us we are on the road to perfecting ourselves. I am saying this to you today just as the Apostle Paul confessed this same thought to Timothy (1 Timothy 1:15) when he wrote openly of his struggle against sin to him.