Dear Lord Help Us

A prayer and reminder for when you are feeling anxiety, distress, depression, hopelessness or unhappiness.

DEAR LORD:

Help us to keep our minds on you.

We thank you for the peace that passes all understanding and for joy unspeakable in the midst of struggle, fear and disappointment. We know that our joy in you is where our strength will always lie, and that YOU will keep us in perfect peace, because we choose to bring our minds back to you always.

AMEN.

Resting In Obedience

Jesus decides to wash his disciples' feet to illustrate a principle.

As Christians, when we finally get it we then try to do too much. In John 13:5-10, Jesus begins to wash the feet of his disciples. When he comes to Peter, the disciple in his ignorance rejects Jesus' humble service. When Jesus explains to him that in allowing his teacher to serve him he is acknowledging that they are one. He is showing that we can rest in obedience. Peter, however, goes overboard.

Jesus humbly begins to wash the feet of his disciples.

Peter enthusiastically says that if that's the case, he then wanted Jesus to wash his hands and his head! While it is commendable that Peter was so committed to his relationship with The Savior, all of that was not necessary. In the Christian walk, God shows us often that much of our activity is not necessary, and that we can rest in obedience. He explained to Peter that to be clean for the purposes and point that his Lord and Master was making meant that only his feet needed to be washed. 

Peter's ignorance causes him to reject Jesus' ministering.

There are deeper messages in this passage. For now, I will say that we as Christians try to do too much. The too much is what we perceive as pleasing God, or being a part of God's kingdom. We work hard to think of ways to please God. This is a form of orchestrated sacrifice. The best thing to do is to expend our energies towards learning how to better hear the still small voice of God's Spirit. When we hear what he is saying to us, we can then rest in obedience.

Peter goes overboard in his acceptance of Jesus's ministering.

When we are more experienced in discerning his guidance we can better obey his voice. The Word tells us that obedience is better than sacrifice. When Peter accepted the ministering to him in the way that Christ was determined that it should be done, that was the better way. He suppressed his desire to sacrifice through unnecessary activity. He obeyed his Master. We too can rest in obedience.

Then Samuel said,

"Is the LORD as delighted with burnt offerings and sacrifices as he would be with your obedience?

To follow instructions is better than to sacrifice.

To obey is better than sacrificing the fat of rams."

I Samuel 15:22 (GW)

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The World Has Gone After Jesus

The Pharisees were so disappointed that they could not stop Jesus' ascension to fame.

In John 12:19, the Pharisees were so disappointed that they could not stop Jesus' ascension to fame. They mumbled and complained among themselves about it, accusing each other of having no effect against the rising tide of his popularity. They said, "Behold, the world is gone after him." They must have cursed and stomped their feet at the significance of what was happening. They were losing control, and the very person whose effect they had tried to suppress was becoming more popular everyday.

Today, we worship God through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

Never has any one in history been able to stop the tide of love for Jesus and what he did on the cross for us. Because of his obedience to his Father, we are free today. We will be resurrected to life and don't have to fear the 2nd death. Our eternal destination is secure. Today, we worship God through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. We honor and respect him for his sacrifice on our behalf. Without him we would have no hope. Yes, the world truly has gone after Jesus, and we are still going after him today, just as God desired.

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Christian Poetry About God As A Deliverer

The Dear Deliverer Poem About God As Helper

The Dear Deliverer

Oh God, did you set up my deliverance
Decades ago?
Oh Father, did you set the stars to turn
In my favor?
You always come through,
No matter what the challenge
Or fear.
You help and deliver,
Free and clear.
To my heart and my soul,
You are dear.

©2018 SJHolland

You Are Here: Tired Of Praying & Weary III

Guilt is debilitating and useless, and comes from the influence of the devil.

 I know how it is to weep your heart out because of distress over a circumstance. I know how it feels to be overcome by struggle, fear or tragedy. Breaking down in tears is a relief, but it is also horrifying and exhausting. We often feel guilty for being human, though we ARE human. God acknowledges this by coming in human flesh to experience what only humans can, and dying for our human frailties.

When we feel tired of praying and believing in prayer, guilt tries to set in. We feel like we should be able to do better, fix things, make something work out, not grieve, not feel trauma, not feel bad. Guilt is debilitating and useless, and comes from the influence of the devil. If we are ever guilty of anything at all, there is always the answer of accepting a washing that makes us whiter than snow, through what Jesus did.

There is no level of black guilt that cannot be covered by Jesus' sacrifice for us. All we need to do is ask to realize what is already there for us. Feeling overcome and tired, and not feeling like praying anymore is nothing to feel guilty about. It is human. God knows that we are human. He created us.

After we have accepted how we feel, and have called upon the Holy Spirit to pray for us (see You Are Here: Tired Of Praying & Weary) , we should as devoted, growing Christians, desire to get our prayer life back on track. Sometimes it helps to change up how we pray, the words and scriptures that we use, the times of day, the subjects, etc. At the same time, we should continue to thank God for specific things that we have asked for. Don't keep asking, begging and pleading with God for the same thing. You ask him once and you have it. You ask according to his will and it is done. Plain and simple. I John 5:14-15 says If we ask anything according to his will, we know we have the petitions that we desire of him.

Sometimes it helps to change up how we pray, the words and scriptures that we use, the times of day, the subjects, etc.

The next step is to crush the fear that things will not work out, that nothing will ever change, that we will never be happy. When the desire to beg and plead for that same thing tries to rule you again, stop the thought and thank God for the answer. Thank him that it has been done, according to his will. Our faith in his will is what puts us in a position to receive his answers to our prayers.

Now move on and petition or ask God for the next thing, leaving it at the Cross. From then on, thank him for it until you recognize an answer,

however and whenever that should come.  
 

You Are Here: Tired Of Praying & Weary

You Are Here: Tired Of Praying & Weary II
You Are Here: Tired Of Praying & Weary IV

 You Are Here: Tired Of Praying & Weary V

Our Thank-Yous Are From The Lord

...we remember, however, that what we do we do unto God,

Remember,

whatever you do unto God

does not require a thank you from man. 

Sometimes we do something for someone and forget about it. Whether it was voluntary or requested, when we remember what we did we may think so-and-so did not thank me for what I did. Maybe the person forgot to thank us, or maybe they were not aware that it was us who did it. Maybe it was done jointly with another person, and that person received a thanks, but we did not. We may feel left out, unappreciated or unacknowledged at the moment we realize that we were not thanked. 

It is nice to receive a thank you from others. It is good to be appreciated, for a job well-done or a gift given, by relatives, friends and others. When we remember, however, that what we do we do unto God, we don't feel so deprived when we are not thanked. When we remind ourselves that we are always aware of the presence of our God, and that he sees what we do with pure hearts, we don't have to solicit thank yous from others.

The Bible, that lamp unto our feet and that light unto our paths, reminds us that:

Whatever you are doing, let your hearts be in your work,

 as a thing done for the Lord and not for men. 

 Colossians 3:23 (WNT)

Whatever you do, do it readily, as to the Lord and not to men;

(BBE)

Whatever you do, do it from the heart for the Lord and not for people.

(CEB)

Whatever work you do, put yourself into it,

as those who are serving not merely other people,

but the Lord.

(CJB) 

Whatever you do, do it enthusiastically, as something done for the Lord and not for men,

(CSB)

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart,

as though you were working for the Lord and not for people.

(GNT)