Friday, January 25, 2013

Finding Real Joy in Prayer

We know that prayer is important and Jesus taught us how to pray as He recited the Lord’s prayer. Thus we know what to pray, but the challenge comes in knowing how to keep praying. According to I Thessalonians 5:17, we are to pray without ceasing, but do you realize that the longest prayer in the Bible- found in Nehemiah 9- is only about 7 minutes long.
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I believe one of the keys to a consistent prayer life is thankfulness rather than the length of the prayer. Paul said in Philippians 1:3, “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you.” Notice that every time Paul thinks of them he thanks God. Do you realize that just a thought of thankfulness toward God is a prayer? That is why we can pray without ceasing.
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But let us focus a bit more on thankfulness in prayer. When you pray for other people, do you just bring requests to God concerning them, or do you thank God for them?
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According to Colossians 3:17, whatever we are doing, we should be giving thanks to God through Jesus Christ. “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.” If we should be thankful no matter what we are doing, we should especially be thankful as we pray.
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Going back to Paul‘s example of thankfulness for the Philippians, we see that his thankfulness for them in prayer actually brings joy. “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy,” (Philippians 1:3-4)”
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I must say that I am more joyful when I remember to be thankful. Do you think that could have an effect on our prayer lives? If you are not finding joy in your prayer life, perhaps it is due in part to forgetting to be thankful as you pray.
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I fear too many Christians pray out of drudgery rather than out of joy or thankfulness. Our prayer life should me more than just praying through a list of requests. It should be a time of thankfulness and joy.
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If you want a joyful prayer life, I would NOT suggest setting a timer so that you get in what you think should be your minimum amount of prayer for the day. A vibrant prayer life is not about meeting a prayer quota. Remember the longest prayer in the Bible is only about 7 minutes long.
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You might go a whole day and never even pray for 5 minutes straight and still have a great prayer life because you have been constantly talking to God for a few seconds at a time all day long. If you were to add up that time it might amount to hours, and you never even set a prayer quota and the whole time was filled with joy and thanksgiving. That is what I believe praying without ceasing is all about as we realize that prayer is about constant fellowship with God. That fellowship must include thankfulness toward Him.
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Imagine if I get up 3hrs earlier every morning and set a timer to pray for 3 hrs straight and then I cease to pray as soon as that timer goes off, because “I’ve put in my time.” That is not a good prayer life. Now if you do pray for such a long time and find joy and thankfulness in it, that is a good thing, but it is not a requirement from God.
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Prayer should not be a ritual, it should be a time of joyful thanksgiving as we cast our dependence on God, bringing our requests, confessing our sins, and adoring Him.

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Give Others a Chance

Have you ever met someone that you do not like? Maybe there was someone at school who was really cliquey and was quite rude to you. Each time you heard that person’s name, you would have negative thoughts about them. You might go years without seeing them, but that old resentment still linged. Then another classmate tells you that they ran into that person and that now years later that same person who used to be rude is really nice. What would your attitude be at such news? Would you be overjoyed, or would you say, that you still don’t trust them because of what you have always thought about that person?
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Do we realize how ungodly it is when we let our dislike for someone shape our image of them? I have a friend who the first few times I met him, I thought he was really rude. Based on my first impression, I did not like him much, but as I got to know him, I realized that I was simply taking his sense of humor wrong and now I really enjoy talking with him and love him dearly. Imagine the friendship that I would have missed out on if I had never gotten beyond my first impressions of him.
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Imagine if you developed a dislike for someone and continued to harbor those feelings for the rest of you life and never gave that person the same chances that you would give to others.
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As Christians, we need to understand that such attitudes of continued bitterness toward others are sinful. In fact, they are very worldly and fall into the category of the works of the flesh listed in Galatians 5. “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Galatians 5:19-21)
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If you continue to harbor bitterness toward another person, words like hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresy, and envy, likely characterize your attitude. That is evidence that your attitudes are not coming from God, but from your sinful heart instead. Let us not forget that, “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9) We can so easily be deceived into thinking that our attitudes are correct as we see the sin in others lives, but let us also remember Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” If others began to focus only on our faults it would be easy for them to never give us a chance either.
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God’s way is much better. It is characterized by the fruits of the Spirit. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” (Galatians 5:22-23) If there is someone that you do not like, replace the works of the flesh with love, joy and peace toward that person. Then be patient and gentle with them. Treat them with goodness, faithfulness, meekness, and self control.
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Let us not forget James 2:8, “If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well.”