Copy-Paste Prayer
July 16, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Only three weeks to go and my training at the School of Local Church Ministry will be over. This is a new season for me, personally and spiritually. And while I am nervous, I welcome all the changes with great anticipation.
This afternoon as I was reading my Bible, I happened to open 1 Kings 3.5-15, the story when Solomon was just starting out as King of Israel. It was a new season for him also. He was young and he was filling in a huge role his father, King David, left for him. When God asked him what he wanted, he only asked for wisdom.
The story shows a glimpse of what goes on in the hearts of people who are called by God. Like Solomon, everyone starts out with the fear of the Lord in his heart. Finishing the race, on the other hand, is an entirely different story.
I personally want to copy-paste this prayer today as I start my ministry. And on top of that is a prayer for the grace of God to carry me through the difficult times ahead and help me finish strong.
At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”
Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day.
“Now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”
The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both riches and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. And if you walk in my ways and obey my statutes and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life.”
Then Solomon awoke—and he realized it had been a dream.
The Secret to Answered Prayers
March 7, 2011 by · 8 Comments
Anyone can verbalize their problems to God and think they are praying. Effective prayer is when you remind God of His promises and you appropriate those promises into your life.
I know I’ve heard this many times before but just this morning, the Lord refreshed this in my heart like I was hearing it for the first time. Prayer, the preacher said, is not so much about giving God a blow by blow account of your problems. Rather, prayer is when you remind God of His promises and ask Him to fulfill those promises to your specific situations.
To some people, this is like splitting hairs over some technical definitions of prayer. It’s not. The truth is that how you approach your prayers actually spells the difference whether they’re going to be answered or not.
Jesus said that it will be done to you according to your faith (Matt. 9: 29). If you stop for a moment and consider that, it’s actually a very powerful promise. God will give us what we believe He will give us. When we recite our problems to Him, we are not coming to Him in faith. In effect, we are not believing Him to do something; we’re simply grumbling, and complaining, and telling Him how difficult life is.
Confessing His word back to him is totally different. When you have back pains, you don’t pray by telling God how much it hurts. You pray by claiming his promise. It’s like saying, “God, I’m really in pain right now but I’m not gonna dwell on that. I just would like to remind you that in Exodus 15: 26, you said that you are the God that heals me…”
That change in perspective doesn’t change the fact that you’re hurting. Yes, the pain could still be there; maybe it’s not gonna go away very soon. But by changing the way you look at the situation, you create an atmosphere in your life where miracles can happen. Instead of a whiny attitude, you stand in faith, believing God’s word more than your pain.
This is the interesting part. Where there is faith, there the hand of God can move freely. In fact, it seems like God is compelled to move in a miraculous way when somebody believes He will do it.
Question: Is your prayer more of a declaration of faith in God’s promises or a litany of your endless problems?
Recent Comments