Once we pray about something in our lives are we at peace with it, or do we continue to fret and feel anxious regarding it? Do we offload our burden in prayer, or continue to carry it? Once prayed for, do we trust that God will work this thing for our good, or do we remain anxious and pursuing our own will in whatever we have asked of Him? Are we able to pray as Jesus did then release our desire into God’s hands, and say “not my will but yours be done.”
Prayer heals us; it heals our physical illnesses, and it heals our spiritual sickness. The answer of prayer can be seen in the lame walking again, and it can also be witnessed in the forgiveness of sin. What is our need today? Is our body, or the body of a loved one, in need of prayer? Are we desperately in need of salvation, or the forgiveness of sin?
It is hard to stand silent when we are being disparaged by someone. We are tempted to confront those who do this to us, and yet we have two examples of this happening in scripture that we should use as our guides when this occurs to us. The most obvious is Jesus as he stood accused before the chief priests, and again before Pilot. Even unto death He did not quarrel or defend Himself. The second was King David as Shemei, a relative of Saul, cursed him in front of all his men. This man chased after David and derided him, while throwing stones and dust at him, but David did not retaliate. All of us have been in such situations, and I ask that we each reflect on how we behaved.
There is a saying we use when someone gets so focused on the details of a thing that they can’t see the bigger picture; we say “They can’t see the forest for the trees”. Well, something similar can happen to us as we pursue our faith, but in a very different way. Our faith, unlike things in the world, is all about our individual faiths, all about the details, the trees, and very seldom about the forests. One of Satan’s greatest ploys is to distract us from pursuing our own faith by convincing us that the world’s salvation, predicaments, or pleasures, should be our primary focus. Have we fallen victim to him in this way?
When we, the faithful believers in God, and Jesus Christ, are suffering through some bodily illness, fatigue, failure, or perhaps are being set upon by worldly suffering and calamity, do we hold tight to our faith? Do we continue believing, not as we did previously, but by growing stronger and stronger as we lean more and more on our Lord? Job gives us encouragement that should sustain us in the midst of such tribulation. Are we listening to him, and applying his resolve and faith to our own suffering? Can we prosper in faith, even when we are failing bodily?
How is it that we hear God speaking to us, and do we obey him when He does? Sometimes it is in a gentle breeze that guides us when we are still enough to perceive it, and at other times a low whisper that requires us to be silent, but we occasionally hear him in a loud clear voice. However we hear Him, we first, and always, must be listening. Sometimes He might get our attention with a storm, by violently shaking the earth, or with a raging fire but even then His voice will usually be gentle and low. Like Jesus did to Saul we might be knocked down, or blinded, but His voice, even when it comes in a more normal volume, will be clear and calm as He speaks, and as He directs us into a new life, just as Saul was as he became Paul. However, the real question in all of this is this… what do we do with what God tells us? Do we obey, or just wonder if that was really Him?
As Christians we spend time in church and in faith based activities with other believers. We also find ourselves surrounded by the fallen world, and sometimes it can feel like both of these activities are having the same effect on us. The hectic nature they share, the imperfect humanness that is there; they wear on us, so let’s ask ourselves a couple of questions today… how much time do we spend alone with God, and do we allow this quiet time to restore us?
We face the greatest lessons of Christ, and our Heavenly Father in the hard, and tempting moments of our lives. We learn the commandments and how to obey them when we come face to face with the temptation to disobey them. A man in the desert alone is not tempted to commit adultery, just as a child who is given his fill of candy isn’t prone to steal it. It is only when David stood on his roof and saw Bathsheba that he was made to face his desire to commit adultery, and it is when a child stands penniless before the candy counter that the thought of stealing crosses his mind. What were, or are, the circumstances that have led each one of us to learn such hard lessons regarding one of God’s commandments?
Quite often we miss seeing the inward pain that people are enduring in their lives. There are those who suffer excruciating physical, mental, emotional, and yes, spiritual pain, from sources that we can’t possibly see by simply looking at them. Haven’t we met an old friend on the street, and in the exuberant joy of seeing them again taken their hand or hugged them, only to have them wince in pain and tell us they hurt somewhere, or perhaps we asked how their family was doing and witnessed tears and sadness in their eyes as they told us of a lost loved one? It is the same with spiritual pain. So how do we recognize it, and how should we react to it? We are directed to those who suffer by the merciful hand of God who sees their hearts.
We say that we pray every day, and that might be true, but is our prayer a momentary request, or is it a fervent plea? Do we step into, and out of, our prayer closets unchanged by the experience of having knelt or laid prostrate before God? Are our prayers from the depths of our hearts and being drawn as if by a pump from the deepest wells of our souls? Once again, do we walk from our place of prayer a changed person, or simply pleased that we can mark this item from our list of tasks?
What gifts do we have that do not come from God? We like to think that our skills, abilities, characters, and even our faiths in Jesus, are from us, but they are not, however, the way in which we use them is of us. We can choose to use them well, or for dark and self-serving purposes. So, how have we each decided to use the gifts that we have been given in our lives? Have we convinced ourselves that our abilities come from our own efforts, and are manifest by in hard work and self-developed talents? Do we believe that our faith comes from within us, or from God whose Spirit abides in us all?
Let’s consider our bodies today, and ask ourselves if we protect and honor them in the ways we share them. First of all let’s ask ourselves who, or what, we should share our bodies with, and ask ourselves if by doing so we remain holy in the process. There is scriptural mention of seven specific ways that one can share their bodies… physically with their spouse, with someone whom they are not married to, someone of the same sex, an animal, and then three spiritual ways… with God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit who come to abide within us. Three of these ways are sinful, and four are sanctioned by God. So let’s ask ourselves who we allow ourselves to become one with? With whom, or what, do we share our bodies, which we know are the temples of God?
Who are the various enemies that we face today? Is our enemy a person who threatens or taunts us, a situation in life that we are struggling to overcome, or perhaps a spiritual enemy, Satan, as he or one of his minions, tempts us, and that temptation begins to distract our attention away from God? Is one or more of these detractors our enemy today, and how strong are they actually? Are they able to overcome us without our first bowing down to the one power each of them attempts to wield against us… doubt? Do we allow their assaults to distract our attention from Jesus Christ, or turn us away from God our Father? Nothing else can destroy us; so if we use the threats of men to bring us closer to God, a dire circumstance in life to strengthen us in our prayer closets, or those things that tempt us as a means of reaffirming us in our faith, then what power do our enemies have, and aren’t we able to turn their hatred into our love for them in spite of their harmful intentions towards us?
God is our defender and provider, but He is also a healer of people and nations. Whether it be from pandemic, invasion, or our own sinfulness, He can save us, restore our wealth, and rebuild those things we have lost. Our God is merciful and good in his provision, and true to His Word in delivering on His promises. In every age He has healed, and now in this unfaithful age we are living in, we need His healing touch once more.
There were times when Paul was prepared to go into a place, and the Holy Spirit stopped him, and directed him elsewhere. There was a need for him where he wanted to go, but it was not God’s will. Has there ever been a time when a similar opportunity presented itself in your life, and yet the Spirit stopped you? Within the will of God there are many roads, but all of them are not ours to travel. How ready are we to change our plans, and go in a different direction, when the Spirit speaks to us? Are we argumentative when our will to act is overruled by God’s will for us to stand down?