Category: Business

He’s There, even in Unanswered Prayer!

In Matthew 28:20 Jesus tells us that He will be with us always, even to the end of the world.

If we take Him at His word, and we should, then we know that He truly is always with us, even when things are dark or perplexing or just plain wrong.

Jesus is always with us.

If you are like me, I think to myself, if He was with us, (since He is the perfect one) wouldn’t my life be perfect?

Ahh – wouldn’t that be nice!

I heard a testimony recently of a woman who had been through great trauma. And the person she was talking to was asking her to remember the pain and ask Jesus to show her where Jesus was at that moment of her pain. She realized that He was right there with her….sustaining her.

Then you think, but why would a loving God allow such trauma, abuse, evil, and ugly things to happen? I understand that, I really do. The answer is this: to truly give mankind FREE will, ALL mankind has to be given free will. We are all born sinners and we all have to make the choice to serve Jesus or Satan. Whether we realize it or not. Even not choosing Jesus is a choice for the enemy. And people who make wrong choices affect those around them!

That gives us life’s circumstances…….

As believers, we have our requests and we pray and we ask the Lord for certain things, and they may be rightful and good, but they may not always come. OR they come far, far down the road. Or yet again, they come in a way we could have never imagined. Why is this?

Well, I will tell you what I think. 😊

As a parent, when your child asks for ice cream every morning at 8 am, are you going to give it to them? No. Why? Because they need to eat a healthy breakfast and have a good start to the day. You, as a parent know what is best and know things your child doesn’t understand yet.

I will give you an example of when I asked for something and was told no. When I was first married, we looked at a house and we wanted it. However, it didn’t work out. We were so bummed! It was nice, it was a desire and a need, and we couldn’t figure it out. However, just a few months down the road, a better house came available that put us on a much better road for our future. We had no way of knowing this, but God, our father, did!

Have you ever went through something that didn’t turn out like you thought it should, and looking back you can see the hand of God guided you? Think about how much you learned! Now, think of all the people you have been able to help withstand similar situations because of your testimony.

Ahh – testimony…..what you are going through may not even be about you. It may be for someone else. Perhaps, the Lord has decided He can trust you with this test because He wants to put people in your path that can learn from it. Hmmmm – think about that for a minute.

God is not a sugar daddy, no, He is a good father! A good father will lead His child into a balanced life, not giving them everything they ask for, but provide for them and show them the way to live a faith filled life.

Here is the thing – because we do have free will, there are people in the world that have not just rejected Jesus, they have embraced the enemy and they don’t fight fair. So there will be trials and tests and if we never have to test our faith, how will we know it works? How will we be strong? David would have never had the confidence to take on Goliath had he not already killed a lion and a bear.

I would much rather go through a test in a controlled environment than to be out there on my own. Controlled? If you are a believer, and totally submitted to Him, NOTHING can come that He does not see! This is why you keep your ear tuned to His voice and you stay in prayer and the word. Stay under His control!

Paul says whether in plenty or lack, (we could say – whether his desires/prayers are answered the way he wants or not)he knows how to be CONTENT…why? Because the Bible says we can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens us.

How will this happen? By staying in the word, in prayer and in fellowship with Him. We must listen to Him. When things go awry, go to Him. Stay planted. Ask Him where you missed it, or ask Him if it is just not His timing! (Boy is that one a doozy! Our timing is rarely His!)

He has a plan. And in every situation, circumstance and happening, God is right there with you. When the answer is no, He is there. When the diagnosis is grim, He is there. When the time is not now, He is there. When the situation is bleak, He is there. It is in those moments we dig deep and go further into Him. He will never leave us nor forsake us! This is where we learn! This is battle practice! I say practice because with Christ we ALWAYS WIN! Then, we pick up the spoils of war and go and deliver others using the same weapons used against us, but now against our enemy the devil. YES!

So do you have any unanswered prayers….situations that don’t look like it should currently? Glory to God you are being trained for bigger and better things. The good news is, His word will not lie and if you STAND and not back down, you WILL have the things you desire when you pray according to His will and word. (Just always pray HIS will because our will ALWAYS gets us into trouble! Right?)

I see God today. I see Him in the waiting of the last nine months on the sale of my home as I have deepened my faith and learned to trust His timing. I have had to practice being content and choose joy!

I see God, as I pray the prayer of agreement and declare healing in my body. As I declare His healing scriptures and I feel His presence. I am thankful that things are as good as they are and getting better every day! I see God in my finances as I pray for debts to be cancelled and as undue and unfair money situations come to steal from me – I see God for He always provides! ALWAYS! I see God for He is always with me! Look at your situations – where is God….SEE HIM!

Will I receive the answers I want to my prayers? Yes, I believe so. I believe it so much, that twenty years from now, if something hasn’t manifested I will still be believing and trusting. Hebrews said there were some that died in the promise, believing. Yes, that is how it is supposed to work. We should always be believing, standing in faith for something. He’s a good, good God.

When we get to heaven, there will not be one person there who hasn’t had to go through something – the Bible gives us plenty of examples of that.
Jesus Himself went through the ultimate test and His father had to look away for a moment, but because Jesus bore that as well – we do not have to. God is with us. He will never leave. He’s right there….even in your unanswered prayers!

Check out this song by Rita Springer- Our God is With Us

Our God is With Us

Presence vs Presents

There is a popular worship song written by Amanda Falk that says:
“Your Presence is all I need, It’s all I want, all I seek, Without it, without it there’s no meaning” The song goes onto declare “I will exalt You Lord, no other name be lifted high.”

I can’t help thinking of this song in this  Christmas season. As believers and disciples of Jesus, this truly is a great time of year. It is a time when we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior. Traditionally, it is a time of charity and giving.

It all started with God. For God so loved us, that He GAVE His only son, – Jesus (to us) to redeem us from our fallen nature. (John 3:16) And, let’s face it, if Jesus never did another thing for us, His sacrifice for us was enough! To know that we are redeemed by the blood of Jesus…to know that as we accept Him and confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness! (1 John 1:9)

Wow, if we truly understood what all that entailed  for us, we would live a more grateful and thankful life!

So we sing and we say that we need His presence, and that without His presence, life truly has no meaning. However, as we just came off of Black Friday, which in many ways swallows up Thanksgiving, it seems that in 2018, PRESENTS is the most important thing. UGH!

Think about it, when is the last time you saw hundreds of people rise before dawn to seek the “presence of the Lord”?

Have you ever known of a time when that happened nationally? Or even just on a certain day? How many times do we arrive at church on Sunday before dawn to gather with others to pray? Have you ever seen lines outside of a church to get in to seek the presence of the Lord? (I’m not talking lines for a special event, but just to seek Jesus.) Even on the National Day of Prayer – I don’t ever recall a news story stating that “thousands of believers across the nation arose before dawn and flooded the streets and government buildings with prayer groups seeking the presence of God for our families and nation.” Do you?

Yet, how many thousands of people do this very thing seeking “presents” for Christmas.  From Black Friday to the day of, the presents that come with Christmas are generally the focus of the season.

Yes, we have had a few times of prayer in Washington, D.C., and in our capitals across the nation, I am not discounting that. However, in the season where we celebrate the birth of Christ, what if we truly sought HIS PRESENCE more than we seek Christmas presents? Oh if we could only grasp the depth of changes that would come to our families, our cities and our nation if we began to truly seek Him.

You might say, how can that be when we have no way of this happening nationally? We can’t look at it that way. We MUST do our part and as as the changes come to us, to our family, to our church, then it will spill out over the city and the state and then the nation. It has to start with someone…..why not you and me?  It starts with one family and then another, etc.

Psalm 16:11 “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” The word fullness in the Greek means – to be satiated or satisfied. And the word joy is gladness, happy, laughter, pleasure. Friends, there is not one “present” that we can give for Christmas that can completely satisfy and provide joy. Oh, there can be laughter and pleasure, but nothing from this earth will last forever. And let’s be honest, most gifts get tossed before the next Christmas season. But the gift of life, salvation, the redemption of the cross of Christ for which Jesus was born, these are all ETERNAL. Not only eternal, but they will satiate, satisfy, encourage, redeem, give life, hope and peace!

His PRESENCE! Nothing comes close, nothing is worth more, nothing can compare to the presence of our God.

Maybe you are saying you don’t really know how to get in His presence. I was that way at one time. I had to learn. It’s simple, really. Get alone, pick up His word, and read. Then meditate on that word and begin to worship Him. Begin to declare His attributes – something like – You are worthy, You are holy, thank You Lord for all that You have done for me! As you begin to think on Him and praise Him for His glorious deeds, His PRESENCE will come! He inhabits the praises of His people! Praise is like a doorbell for God and He is always home!

So, here is the challenge for this Christmas season – SEEK HIS PRESENCE! It’s wonderful to give gifts – presents – to those we love. Giving was instituted by our heavenly Father!  But, I want to challenge you, every time you go shopping or look for gifts online, I want to challenge you to set aside some time just to seek the presence of Jesus.  If you will do this,  I am telling you, it will be a Christmas season like you have never known!

 

Pastor’s Blog 11.14.18

Last week I mentioned taking  the Lord’s prayer and making it personal.  I like to pray this way, “Father Your Kingdom come, Your will be done in my life, my family’s lives, our church staff, our local, state and federal governments and so on.

1 John 5:13-15 TPT

“I’ve written this letter to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you will be assured and know without a doubt that you have eternal life.

Since we have this confidence, we can also have great boldness before him, for if we present any request agreeable to his will, he will hear us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we also know that we have obtained the requests we ask of him.”

This passage has had a major effect on me over the years. What an incredible insight to understanding the way of our Father in prayer. If we ask anything agreeable to His will He hears us! The condition  for prayer to be received is that it passes the test of the will of God! We learn His will by His word.

Praying for God’s will is the most effective way we can pray. I listen to a lot of prayers that are really people telling God to do their will. It is pretty presumptuous to assume your will is His will unless your mind has been renewed and your spirit is hearing from His.

We can declare the word of God and presume it is His will when it is specific to the context in which it was given, but sometimes people pull promises out of context and try to force the hand of God to move, and He doesn’t. I always like to remind others, and myself, that many times we think He didn’t answer, when in fact, He did, and the answer was no.

2 Corinthians 12:7-10

“And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.

8 Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me.

 9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” NKJV

 

After seeing the effects on a person from “getting what they want” and what it  often does to them, I understand the grace of God is sometimes at work in protecting us from the pride of life, lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eye.

I pray with the Psalmist:

 

Proverbs 30:7-9

“Two things I request of You (Deprive me not before I die):

8 Remove falsehood and lies far from me; Give me neither poverty nor riches —  Feed me with the food allotted to me;

9 Lest I be full and deny You, And say, “Who is the LORD?” Or lest I be poor and steal, And profane the name of my God.”  NKJV

AMEN!

 

Be blessed!