The Best Way To Experience Results From God

People ask Christians to pray for them when tragedy, fear, trauma and other challenges strike. They have not given God the time of day (and we remember when we hadn't) and they desperately want something for nothing. 

We have mercy on them because the Love of God is shed abroad in our hearts. We also remember how it felt to be in that selfish and fearful frame of mind. We remember when we wanted something for nothing. 

While Our Father will listen to and sometimes honor our requests on their behalf, the best and most effective way to experience results from God is through building a personal relationship with him through Jesus Christ. 

It is faith that moves God, not desperation, piggy-backing on others prayers and attempted exploitation. That sounds brutal but the truth can be brutal. 

The Word is also quick, powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. It is piercing even to the dividing asunder of the soul and the spirit and of the joints and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12) That is brutal. The Word tells us the truth about the human condition. 

The Word also shares that what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul. What does it profit a person to always receive answers to prayers prayed on their behalf when they don't know God for themselves? Their end is coming, maybe sooner than they think, and their end is perdition.

We should also pray that Our Father sends his Holy Spirit to bear upon them so that they come into the knowledge of the truth. Let us also pray that God gives them a hunger and thirst for righteousness that they might live in the Resurrection of Life. 

Our prayers should also include the request that The Father of Lights will open up an opportunity for us to share Jesus Christ with them.

Our Prayers For Others

When we pray consistently for someone, God will often give us something that he wants us to do for that person. If so, it will be something that is consistent with how he wants to answer our prayer. It may be something that we'd never think of doing for that person. 

It may be something that we are reluctant to do. It may be something that is difficult or it may be fairly easy. It may be something that aligns with what we are already doing in our lives or it may cause us to stretch a little. It may be something that will obviously bless us in our journey, or maybe not obviously. 

When we pray for someone, though we may know some things about them, we don't know the extent of their needs. We don't know what it will take for God to answer our prayers for them and for his will to be done in their lives. Just be prepared to obey the Holy Spirit's surprising request and prompting. When God uses us in his plans for people that we pray for, we can be assured that it will not only bless them but us as well. 

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Praying For Those Who Irritate Us

Do you ever have annoyed, frustrated or angry thoughts about anyone? Do the attitudes or behaviors of some people send you into a fit? Are you tempted to have ill will towards those who have misused or mistreated you? 

Have you ever had fleeting or lingering thoughts of wishing problems or misfortune on others? Do you ever find yourself fussing and arguing with yourself about the life that someone lives? I could go on and on and if you profess to have never had any of these types of thoughts or feelings, then you are probably not human. 

I have been on a track for a couple of years now where the Holy Spirit reminds me to stop and pray for these persons. You see, it's not just a matter of us crushing the offending thoughts. While that is an intense and worthy process, it's not enough.

Crushing these thoughts essentially buries them but they are not dead. They are like seeds that can sprout again. God gets to the root of the problem so it can be killed. He wants us to do more than bury unpleasant thoughts about others and generate benign thoughts about people who incense us. 

Our Father God does not want us to suffer any more thoughts that sprout from roots of malevolence. He wants us to be free of malignant thoughts, no matter how mild or fleeting they are. It's a matter of immediately confessing and accepting forgiveness through the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ, Our Savior, and then stopping to pray for the person. It doesn't have to be a long, intense prayer. It can be brief but it should be heartfelt.

When we turn our growth over to God we begin to recognize opportunities to grow. The Holy Spirit prompts, prods and pricks us when a chance is available to do it God's way. It begins from within, where the roots that need to be purged are. God is precise. He wants it all dug out, every offensive thought that hinders. That still, soft voice of his Spirit will remind us. All we need to do is obey, like I did this morning.

The way that God does it for me is to say in my spirit, Did you pray for her?, during or after a hostile thought. He'll say in my spirit, Have you prayed for him?. He won't say I'm wrong for the thought or that I know I should not have been thinking that.

My Father understands why I had the thought and I sense his loving kindness and his mercy. Now, when thoughts like that come, I end up stopping what I'm doing and praying for the person. If I can get on my knees I do. I offer a quick prayer of forgiveness for myself and blessing for the person.

We should forgive the persons for whatever it was that made us offended, vindictive, judgmental. They may not even know us but we know of them and God is not pleased with our thoughts. He wants better for us. Sometimes, the source of our rancor is in our minds or we are just in a bad mood. At other times, our spiteful thoughts can be justified because of real, hurtful events and experiences. 

Whatever the source of these types of troubling thoughts, we don't have to suffer brushing them under the rugs of our minds where they can trip us up later. We can go further and be cleansed of them. Rather than pretend that you never have thoughts like these, submit to God and allow His Holy Spirit to help you. It will make all of the difference in your spirit, attitude and growth. Be pruned! Be purged! Be strengthened!

 

How Do We Pray When Damage Is Inevitable?

We are never without recourse in a time of trouble.

Sometimes I just feel overwhelmed when I want to pray for those in catastrophic situations. Despite changes that can avert destruction, there is what seems to be inevitable in projected reports. There is the history of recurring events. Lastly, but not least, are the prophecies in the Bible about what will occur as the time for Jesus' return nears.

I wonder sometimes what the use of praying is. What good will it do in circumstances like this? This makes me feel like we are sitting ducks, and that there is nothing that we can do. We are never, however, without recourse, and that recourse is still prayer. There is never a time when prayer will not help.

First of all, if we have faith that God can do anything, we pray that absolutely no damage will be done. That's it! We pray that somehow the storm will be turned away from human harm. We pray that it will miraculously abate, dry up and dissipate.

Next, if we can't bring ourselves to pray that, because we find it incomprehensible to believe, we pray that damage will be minimal and no lives will be lost. We pray that everyone will find safe shelter and that homes will remain standing.


Finally, if that type of prayer does not resonate in the face of a catastrophic event, we pray that the hearts of everyone who does not know him will be turned to Jesus. We pray this for those who are in the eye of destruction and for everyone involved.

All of these prayers really can be combined into one cry to God for help:

Help Us Lord!

Help Them Lord!

Have Mercy On Us Lord!

Deliver Them Lord!

Dear Jesus My Savior

You said you would never leave nor forsake those who love you.

Help those in this terrible situation come
to love you in all circumstances.

I know that you are at the right hand of Our Father,
always praying for us.

Dear Father God

You said Fear thou not, for I am with you.
Be not dismayed, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you. I will help you.
I will hold you up with my right hand of righteousness. 

 For I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand saying
"Fear not, for I am with you".

(Isaiah 41:10,13) 

Help those in this destructive situation come to love
and rely on you in the same way. 

Have mercy on them and everyone involved,

friends, relatives, neighbors, co-workers,

first responders, medical personnel,

city/government officials,

clergy.

So in writing this encouragement to help others, I talk myself into victory.

Victory in faith.

Victory in spiritual action.

Victory in prayer. 

I Believe In Prayer, No Matter What!

You Are Here: Tired Of Praying & Weary II

Hope has fled, but we know that hope is our only hope.

I believe that most people are crying out for help, because they pray and pray and don't seem to get any relief about the most important things in their lives. I wrote the first You Are Here: Tired Of Praying & Weary from a heart of understanding, because this has happened to me for so long about many things. Though I can certainly see the hand of God in my everyday life, I am often just tired of various other things.

I know the feeling of not believing that you can go on praying another day. I know how it feels to not feel like praying, when deep inside you know that is your only hope. And what does that say? That hope has fled at that moment. That is when we are between a rock and a hard place. Hope has fled, but we know that hope is our only hope. Only the Spirit of God can untangle that heart condition and send what we already know, the repairing Blood of Jesus, flowing again through our paralyzed consciousness.

Only the Spirit of God can untangle the heart condition.

That is why we must rely on this Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit. It is the same Spirit that raised Jesus Christ of Nazareth from the dead. It is the same Spirit that resides inside everyone who has accepted Jesus as Savior.  It is the same Spirit that brings The Word, the Bible, to life within us, and brings about the changes that we need to live renewed lives. This is the Spirit that has promised to pray for us when we are just too tired and weary. So don't give up on your prayer life. You have a faithful Helper.

 

God bless you and your entire family today.

May He have mercy and save the souls of each and

every one who does not know Him.

Most of all, may he increase your faith in your prayers

and your desire to pray.

In Jesus' name and according to God's will I pray,

Amen.

You Are Here: Tired Of Praying & Weary

You Are Here: Tired Of Praying & Weary III

You Are Here: Tired Of Praying & Weary IV

You Are Here: Tired Of Praying & Weary V 

Remember To Pray For Those In Prison

Was watching a program on the Justice Network, and thinking so many prisons, so many people in prisons everywhere, always a chance for work related to prisons. It is unfortunate, but he truth is that jobs in the prison industry have a bright future. Bright future jobs are industries where job stability and growth are guaranteed, because of the increasing need of the products and services.

Behind that thought, I began to think about the brutality of prison life, and how depending on where the prisoner is sent, he/she will be treated like a human being, or like an animal. Then I thought of the many prisoners who are incarcerated for crimes that they did not commit. I can only imagine how it must feel to live in such a horrible, unjust situation.

I am asking you to remember prisoners when you pray. Pray for those who have committed crimes, and especially those who did not. Don't forget about the incarcerated, when you petition God.