Last Tuesday, I discussed the importance daily Bible reading had in helping me establish my heart. But communication is a two-way street, and communicating with God is no different. Reading the Word allows us to hear His voice, Him speaking to us. Praying is our end of this conversation. This is us speaking to Him. And our God greatly desires to hear from His children. That’s why Paul admonishes us to:
“pray without ceasing,” (1 Thessalonians 5:17 ESV).
We see in how Jesus responds to the Pharisees it is not the act of prayer that is so important to Him, but rather the heart behind the prayer. In Luke 18, Jesus contrasts two different prayers. One from a man who, in pride, extols His own virtues to God and prays to be heard by men more than by God. Then there was the other man.
“But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’“ (Luke 18:13 ESV).
Jesus said that this man went away justified. And He, God, would know. Then we read the Lord’s prayer to learn how to pray a Kingdom-focused prayer. And Peter tells us to cast our burdens on Him, for He cares for us. But it is so easy for my prayers to become rote. I can’t tell you how many times I sat down to eat, uttered a prayer, and as I took my first bite, knowing I prayed but not being able to recall the thoughts or the words I just uttered.
What made a difference for me was to focus on what I was actually doing in prayer. I was approaching the throne of God, and He was giving me His undivided attention. He, the Creator of the universe, the all-powerful, all-knowing God, was listening to me with His angels standing in dead silence as I spoke to my Protector and Provider.
When I pray, my presence is in the throne Room of God. It is an awesome image I have in my mind, and I always see myself bowed down to His feet in humble submission as I pray. I know He hears every word I say in prayer. I know He has all the time I want to spend with Him, speaking my heart to Him. He never glances at His watch as I pray. It is never too early or too late to talk to Him. He will hear me when I speak to Him for 30 minutes just as intently as when I speak to him for 30 seconds.
Before you pray next time, read Revelation 4 and 5 to prepare you for your next conversation with the Almighty, and then let that image burn into your mind’s eye so you can see it as you kneel before the throne. I can honestly tell you that now, I eagerly wait for my prayers to the Lord. When I know I am about to go before the throne of God, a deep anticipation builds within me as time draws near.
For me, this anticipation has happened because I have established my heart to walk through what is actually happening as I pray. Sometimes I am overjoyed, wanting to share an awesome experience with my Creator. Sometimes, my heart hurts, and He is the first One to whom I turn to share my pain. And yes, sometimes I can’t even lift my eyes to heaven when I plead with Him to be merciful to me, a sinner, because I just lost a battle to the carnal man.
If you can start to see God sitting on His throne, in all His glory and majesty as you pray to Him, it will affect everything about your prayer. I know it does mine. And your prayers will become your personal standing meetings between you and God where you have access to the most powerful being in existence. You will fiercely covet your time with Him in prayer.
When you can see God as you pray and not just utter rote words in His direction, your life will change. Couple this with the daily Bible reading we discussed last week, and you will start to see Him work on your heart. It cannot help but happen. Next Tuesday, I look forward to sharing another thing I do to help prepare my heart for Kingdom living.
Some of the hardest things to do as a Christian:
Let God control our lives.
Revere God when our prayers are not answered the way we want.
Trust God when we suffer due to no fault of our own.
Believe God when we don’t understand what is happening or we don’t know what will happen.
See others who are blessed more than we are without envy.
Turn the other cheek.
Wait on God.
We must have faith that when we do the things above, it will always lead to God’s glory and Him transforming us into the image of His dear Son.
“For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” (Romans 8:29 ESV).
“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18 ESV).
I’m finishing up the book of Numbers in my daily Bible reading. One thing that amazes me is when God sent men into battle, He was with them in a way that proves God’s presence with them.
No man fell in battle when God was with them.
Not one.
Isn’t that amazing? No arrow, spear, or sword found its mark on the Israelites. Listen to what Moses writes after 1,000 men of war from each tribe went against Midian, killing all its men:
“and said to Moses, “Your servants have counted the men of war who are under our command, and there is not a man missing from us.” (Numbers 31:49 ESV).
Not a man missing.
That’s why, later under Joshua, when 36 men died before the small city of Ai, it sent the Israelites into full lament. 36 losses in any other circumstance would be a resounding victory. But when God wasn’t with them, they had no divine protection.
“So about three thousand men went up there from the people. And they fled before the men of Ai,
and the men of Ai killed about thirty-six of their men and chased them before the gate as far as Shebarim and struck them at the descent. And the hearts of the people melted and became as water.
Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the LORD until the evening, he and the elders of Israel. And they put dust on their heads.” (Joshua 7:4-6 ESV).
No man lost his life in battle when God was with the Israelites. No matter how fierce the battle was, men were safe when God was their shield.
We are in a fierce battle against the forces of darkness. God arms us and protects us with His armor. He is our shield, and King Jesus is the Captain who leads us in battle.
When we fight in His army, He knows how to protect us. The enemy cannot- hear this- CAN NOT defeat the servants of our sovereign King Jesus.
But when we fight the battles of life without Jesus, we are as vulnerable as the 36 men who fell at the hands of the people of Ai.
The enemy will try to scare us, engender fear, and paint a hopeless picture in our hearts. The enemy does this for one reason. The powers of darkness have no power over us when we are in the presence of our Creator and Savior. Evil’s only hope over us is if we separate ourselves from our Lord. Then, we become easy prey for the evil one.
Numbers show us tangible evidence of the power of God. Let us take up the whole armor of God and remain safely in the Lord’s presence.
If we do, we will be eyewitnesses of our God’s final victory over all enemies, and we will stand safely at His right hand as we witness Him casting all His enemies into the Lake of Fire.
I love this. In my daily Bible reading, the stubborn, complaining, short-sighted people with a short memory regarding God gets it right on this occasion.
Moses reminds them about the time when they revered and feared God. He reminded them about the time when they encouraged Moses to speak to God for them, and they would do all He spoke to Moses.
This attitude touched God’s heart.
“And the LORD heard your words, when you spoke to me. And the LORD said to me, ‘I have heard the words of this people, which they have spoken to you. They are right in all that they have spoken.
Oh that they had such a heart as this always, to fear me and to keep all my commandments, that it might go well with them and with their descendants forever!” (Deuteronomy 5:28-29 ESV).
My takeaway: I need to approach God in reverence.
I need to seek His purpose for me.
I need to have a heart that fears God and loves Him with everything in my being.
For God also says to me, “Oh that you have a heart as this always, that it might go well with you forever!”
My Lord and King Jesus, help me have this heart.
Father, finish your work in me to create me in the image of your dear Son.
May the Spirit rest in me and give me wisdom, discernment, and understanding that I may have a heart that touches God’s heart.
God made man and set him in a perfect paradise to live in His presence forever.
But man separated from God, and sin tarnished the paradise and relationship man was intended to share with His Creator.
Man grew further away from His Creator and began to seek after his own selfish interests.
God watched man drift away from Him so far that, without His intervention, man would be hopelessly lost.
So God chose one man from among an idolatrous nation and started from scratch to create a nation, and He would begin to redeem all nations back to Him.
God grew this nation, revealed His holiness to them, and taught them how to represent Him and His character to others.
He taught them how much they needed Him, and He provided a system of blood sacrifices to show the cost of their sins.
As they struggled to stay faithful to Him, God promised to send a Savior Who would carry their burdens and free them from the shackles that bound them.
But when the Savior came, they rejected Him and put Him to death.
In doing this, the Savior did the one thing that had to be done to redeem His people from the bondage they were under.
The Savior became the sacrifice and the appeasement to God for our sins.
He rose from the dead to conquer death.
The Savior did what we could not do. He brought grace to save all nations.
He became the only way to the Father and began to restore the Edenic relationship that we had lost.
He became our King and High Priest to restore our place in God’s presence forever.
He calls all men everywhere to partake in His mission and very being.
He works continually to transform us into a new creature fashioned after Himself and the example He left.
He creates a new priesthood, a new nation, and a new people who takes His light into the darkness to overcome evil.
Day by day, we become more like Him, we live more like He lived, we do more of what He did, and we tell others how our Savior can be their Savior too.
And we live for the promise that one day, He will return and transform His followers’ bodies into perfect, spiritual bodies equipped for eternal living.
We believe that Eden will be restored, death will be destroyed, and we will once again walk with Him in His presence.
This is the Gospel that we live, believe, and share with others.
Yesterday, I was talking to my neighbor. We realized early on that we both believe in Jesus as Lord and King, so we have a lot of good conversations when we talk.
A few weeks ago, his house had a major leak, and the insurance company moved his family into a house while the restoration company fixes the mess. I have been checking his mail and helping his family as needed.
Yesterday, when he picked up his mail, we began talking about how God can do amazing things when bad things happen to us. In fact, we shared stories about lessons God taught us during struggles in our lives.
We both said that we didn’t like the struggle, but we were so thankful for the blessings that came through them. We knew if it weren’t for the struggle, we’d miss the blessings.
He recounted an ad hoc trip that he and his wife took to Michigan, where his wife grew up. They visited the house she grew up at, the schools she went to, the church her father was a pastor of, and the summer camp she spent time at each year.
All stops had good memories mixed with struggles. Yet she left their trip down memory lane, knowing each place had a profound impact on her that made her the woman she is today.
Her husband told me she referred to this trip they took together as “trace the grace.”
I love that.
Too often, we focus on the bad things in our past to the neglect of seeing the good that God might have given to help us through the struggles.
Perhaps it was strength or wisdom He gave us from the struggles.
Maybe it was bringing in the right person into our lives at the right moment to be our support.
Whatever it is, hindsight often helps us see God’s goodness in the midst of the pain and struggles we endure.
And hindsight is the best blessing to help us, in our own life’s journey, “trace the grace.”
Jesus taught when He was popular
Jesus taught when He was unpopular
Jesus taught when He was persecuted
Jesus taught when He was victorious
What does it mean to be His disciple?
Jesus sought to live in the Lord’s will when He was popular
Jesus sought to live in the Lord’s will when He was unpopular
Jesus sought to live in the Lord’s will when He was persecuted
Jesus sought to live in the Lord’s will when He was victorious
What does it mean to be His disciple?
Paul was a disciple of Jesus, which is why he could say this:
“Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.
I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.
I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:11-13 ESV).
I’m pretty sure, as much as I have read and studied the Scriptures about living on the new Earth in the presence of God with my immortal, glorified body...
I am not even close to understanding the joy that awaits me.
“For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.” (2 Timothy 4:6-8 ESV).
I am finishing up the book of Deuteronomy in my daily Bible reading. The more I read, the more I see how little has changed between people who lived 3500 years ago and us today.
The problem the Israelites had to struggle with was having a bad heart. Their struggles sprang from a heart issue. Deuteronomy 28:18 says,
“Beware lest there be among you a man or woman or clan or tribe whose heart is turning away today from the LORD our God to go and serve the gods of those nations. Beware lest there be among you a root bearing poisonous and bitter fruit,” (Deuteronomy 29:18 ESV).
This heart issue caused them to turn away from God when they felt like they could live however they wanted without regard for God. Listen to how this bad heart speaks:
“one who, when he hears the words of this sworn covenant, blesses himself in his heart, saying, ‘I shall be safe, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart.’ This will lead to the sweeping away of moist and dry alike.” (Deuteronomy 29:19 ESV).
What a bad place for us to be. Do we say in our hearts, “I will be safe,” while we walk in the stubbornness of our hearts? This isn’t someone who is learning and growing but one who consciously disregards God and feels safe with this choice.
May we have a heart that seeks God and feels safe when we rest in Him and seek a relationship with Him in all we do.