Do we pray alone? Well, it is good to pray by ourselves, and also in secret, because this is required to maintain the intimacy of our relationship with God, but are there also times when praying together is called for? The answer to this question is a resounding “Yes!” There is power in joining together in certain prayers, whether we are physically together or scattered around the world as we are praying. When a unified prayer is offered by many it carries much weight before the throne of God.
This morning let’s explore why Peter was grieved when Jesus asked him three times if he loved Him. I am also considering Peter's response; "Lord, thou knowest all things." This is a powerful moment and fuels Peter's ability to answer his calling.
Do we love Jesus without wavering? Do we love Jesus as much as He would like for us to? This is what I am dwelling on this morning. I am asking myself if my faith is sufficient, and my love for Christ deep enough. I am also contemplating how I could possibly face failure, and if Jesus could still love me?
We say that we believe in Jesus Christ. This is what I am contemplating this morning... do we simply acknowledge Him, or do we really believe in Him for who He is? This sounds like a dangerous question, but it is one the Jesus Himself asked His apostles when they told Him that they believed. Listen to their words and the answer Jesus gave them...
Proverbs tells us that words are sweetness to the soul, but for this to be true our words need to be gracious. Bitter or hurtful words have quite the opposite effect, and harm the spirit of both the person who utters them and the one to whom they are directed. We know that hurtful words generate hatred and anxiety, and we know that these two negative feelings not only harm our bodies and mental health, but our spiritual well-being as well. So how do we receive the words of others, and deliver, or respond to them with our own?
As Christian’s we like to refer to ourselves as the children of God, but before we first believed we were something quite different. The Bible refers to those who live in the flesh and carry out the desires of the body and mind as being children of wrath. And, if we are honest with ourselves, we must admit that even as Christians there are still those times when we find ourselves slipping away from righteousness and back towards wrath. Yes, even after we have come to believe we can find ourselves behaving less like children of God and more like the children of wrath once again. So, let’s ask ourselves a very important question today, “Which of these children are we right now?”
When we are called by God do we respond with reservation in our voices? Do we tremble as we step forward? Or, does our fear prohibit us from stepping forward at all? These are the things we will contemplate this morning. In order to gauge our own willingness to serve God with total confidence in His provision, we only need to look at the life of Jesus. He chose to live a life of nothing and had nothing. God provided for Him... He sent the Magi with gifts that might sustain Him in His youth, and thus began God's provision. Jesus received as He needed... all this He did that we too might receive riches in glory.
What happens when our faith is at risk? Have you ever contemplated the effect that we have on those around us when we slip into negative behavior or sin? How about the impact we have on our church, and Heaven? Even though our Christian walk seems totally personal... it isn't. Our faith has a ripple effect that touches all those around us, and beyond.
This morning as I read a devotional reading by E.M. Bounds, he stressed the importance of humility in respect to our ability to pray. I especially enjoyed reading his observation that "To be clothed with humility is to be clothed with a prayer garment." Are we clothed in this way as we enter into our prayer closets, or otherwise begin to pray? Do we think that we can be arrogant before God, or demand anything of the creator of all things? Let’s think now about our demeanor as we come before God, or attempt to pray in the name of Jesus.
When we are preparing to do something that frightens us or we are disheartened by events in our lives, have we forgotten that we are not alone? If we know who our God is, that He is all powerful, and that He goes before us, then these emotions, our fear and dismay, are signs that our faith in Him is not as strong as we have thought. Giving into fear and dismay are signs that we do not believe He will help us as He promised, or that we don’t believe He is able. So trust in our Lord, and know that these emotions that we are feeling are fed by the dark one, and aren’t right or true. In hard times lean on our Lord and know that He is able and there always.
Our trust should be in the Lord, but more than that, all of the confidence we exhibit is comprised of Him. If we trust in Him and exhibit His confidence, then we will be truly blessed. The doubt we once had will be gone, and the fear will have been overcome by the confident nature of our Lord. Oh, what a blessing this would be.
Does our faith suffer when we are struggling or when we find ourselves wanting? If it does then we need to learn a lesson from the Apostle Paul because he discovered the secret of remaining faithful regardless of the circumstances he was facing. We often believe that secrets are difficult to uncover, but in this case it is a simple one… the solution is that we trust in God to provide, to help us do all things, and that we trust in Him always.
We frequently say that all things are possible, but do we really believe it? If we hear someone praying an outlandish ask of God do we believe that He is able, or willing, to give it to them? Well, all things ARE possible, but quite often we throttle our prayers by only praying for those things that we know are possible in the physical world. I have been guilty of this before; how about you? Let’s think back on our prayers today and count the times we have asked the Lord to give us something we thought was impossible in the world. Can we think of even one time when we truly stretched our faith in prayer?
Although we are Christians, can we remember the last time we made peace in a bad situation? Perhaps we never have, but if by chance we can remember such a time, then we are truly blessed. If we are peacemakers then God promises us a blessing, but what will that blessing be, and in the moment when God reveals it to us will it be everything we imagined? In that blessed instant of unimaginable grace will the gift of holiness we receive allow us to see the brilliant glory of the great I Am, and hear Him call us sons?