But while in Prison; The Lord Be with You

And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her. Genesis 39:10

When his master heard the story his wife told him, saying, "This is how your slave treated me," he burned with anger. Joseph's master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined. But while Joseph was there in the prison, the LORD was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. Genesis 39:19-21

Father God,

Help me to be as Joseph who refuses DAY AFTER DAY to go to bed with sin or even be near her! Help me when this results in my imprisonment and my exile to know Your presence in a real and profound way. Help me to KNOW your kindness and be granted Your favor in the eyes of those who would seek to imprison me. LORD, be with me that I might not fail You.

Amen

Was He only Joking?

Luke 9:57-62 (New King James Version)

The Cost of Discipleship

57 Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.”
58 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
59 Then He said to another, “Follow Me.”
But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”
60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.”
61 And another also said, “Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.”
62 But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Do you suppose Jesus was speaking figuratively here? Do you suppose He didn't REALLY MEAN that we are to forsake all things and all people who will not walk this narrow path? It is as if we think that Jesus was being tongue in cheek all the time. What hypocrisy! I for one am becoming painfully aware of what this passage means and I have decided it might be best for me to memorize it so that I can do battle against the enemy's continual assault on my mind. I take my Lord seriously because it was no joke that He came down from above and endured the Wrath of the Father for me. How could I spit on Him by thinking that He will overlook my silence just to spare myself reproach? To be honest, even if I wanted to and I honestly have tried to be silent at times, it just seems I CANNOT! There is such a desire in me to proclaim TRUTH that all the gates of Hell cannot stop me. Sorry to those who don't appreciate it, but I serve ONE GOD AND ONE GOD ONLY!

Principles of Powerful Prayer Part 2: A Humble Heart

1. Honesty
2. A humble heart.
3. Declaring the character and goodness of God before His throne.
4. Seeking not your own rights, but rather God's right to rebuke, reprove, and teach you in order that you might become more like His Son, Jesus Christ.
5. Time spent studying the way Jesus and others in the Bible prayed.
6. Declaring and pleading to God His own promises and His own will through prayer.
7. Confidence that if what you are seeking is God's will, then you can boldly claim it and have confidence in its answer. You must not doubt in your prayers.
8. Claim the authority you have over the enemy as a child of God in Jesus name and do it often. Do not be meek when wielding the sword against the enemy.
9. Willingness to wait upon your answer and not act until you are confident that God has revealed His will.
10. Praise, praise, praise!

Principle of Powerful Prayer #2: A humble heart

Ah....humility. How can I teach on that? I haven't it mastered at all. Adrian Rogers used to say the two most dangerous things to ask God for are patience and humility! He just might teach them to you. And, in fact, what little humility I posses has come from complete brokenness derived from NUMEROUS trips to the woodshed. I find it difficult to even suggest in instructing others that I have achieved humility for that sounds boastful and even saying that I don't want to sound boastful sounds boastful. Am I making sense? This is so hard.

If I recognize that God has given me some Spiritual insight that others may seem to lack, I am easily tempted to have Spiritual pride. In fact, for a long time I thought that my self pity and deep sense of guilt was God working in my life and yet, it took a form of pride because I was focused on my self. Again, I just say that this is truly a difficult thing to ascertain.

For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. Romans 12:3

If I have attained any sense of humility and humbleness of heart it came last year, ironically, through my blogging experience. I had been "priding" myself in what I thought was an extra measure of discernment granted to me by God. I was just so certain that I could tell the truth from a lie. Then, as Beth Moore so aptly describes in her study,

Cover via Amazon

"When Godly People Do Ungodly Things" I was "HAD". My mind was thrown into an utter state of confusion. I no longer knew who I was hearing: God or Satan. In my attempt to achieve clarity, I removed myself from blogging for about a month and over the next three months tried to get some grasp on what had happened to me. I was so embarrassed that I did not want anyone to know what happened. I was flabbergasted that "I" could be so duped by someone and God was disciplining me over my "Spiritual Pride" and my sinful tendency to go outside of the proper authorities in my life for Spiritual guidance. Needless to say, after many months of confusion, LOTS AND LOTS OF PRAYER, and LOTS OF REPENTANCE, God began to clarify what had happened and why He had allowed it. The end result was a beautiful thing and one that prepared me for the very trial that my church family and I are going through right now. God was teaching me that I cannot place ANY OUNCE of my faith and confidence in any human being that would supersede my FAITH IN HIM! He was also showing me just how prideful, arrogant, and man pleasing I had become. Who was I to be seeking to teach others anything, when I myself had so much lacking in true wisdom, humility, and knowledge of God.

Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. Colossians 3:22

I have shared this to tell you a few things that I do believe God has revealed to me about Himself through this lesson. First of all, despite my arrogance, I still had a heart to please God and I was classically "ignorant" of what I was doing. Now, I didn't say "innocent" for we are responsible to seek God to reveal in us any evil or wicked way and then repent and obey. At that time I was seeking other people to give me wisdom rather than God. However, Jesus is a long suffering and loving God who intercedes before the throne, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” and He patiently allowed me to be disciplined and suffer through this trial to teach me of HIS GREAT MAJESTY and my GREAT NEED of Him IN EVERYTHING!

"I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. John 15:5

Secondly, He taught me that the best way to guard against Spiritual pride is to continually remind myself through prayer and Scripture where ALL GOOD GIFTS come from. I have learned (the hard way) to continuously be grateful to God for ANY GOOD THING in me for without Him and His gifts I am a self-righteous, wretched, judgmental sinner. (And I don't mean that for pride or self-pity...it is just a fact!) I really don't want people to praise me because my tendency is to turn to pride and I honestly mean it when I say that if they see any good in me it is the Spirit of God and if they see bad it is my quenching of His Spirit and I am happy that they point it out. Now, sometimes my flesh doesn't react happy at first, but praise be to God BECAUSE He has given me His Spirit, it usually doesn't take very long and I recognize that they are right. That comes from Him because my natural tendency is to defend myself.

So I guess my advice to those seeking to have a powerful prayer life goes back to honesty before God about your "stuff". If you don't think you are prideful, then ask Him to reveal where you might be and honestly desire the lesson.

Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm139:23-24

Be warned: It may hurt and it may be confusing, but just cling to His Word in those times and it will produce the right result. It was funny, when I first announced on my blog that I was going to "take a break" and perhaps "quit blogging" in order to hear more clearly from God, I had someone criticize me for being too "pious" and "serious". At first I was upset by this and hurt until God began to teach me that it was just the enemy's last ditch effort to keep me from getting alone with Him. I looked up the definition of "pious" and found that the first definition given was "marked by or showing reverence for deity and devotion to divine". I decided that sounded a lot like Jesus and I was pleased to be insulted in that way. I decided that He was fairly pious when He shut out the crowd and went to a solitude place to be alone with the Father so I was in good company. So let no one tell you that you are wrong for wanting to block out man's interpretations of God's Word so that you can seek His face and His interpretation of His own Word for YOU! My friends, that is EXACTLY WHAT HE WANTS YOU TO DO!

God's Explanation for Global Warming, Homosexuality, and Atheism

Romans 1:18-32 (New International Version)

God's Wrath Against Mankind
18The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
21For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

24Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

26Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. 27In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.

28Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. 29They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

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Principles of Powerful Prayer: Part 1: Honesty

I just started a series on my other blog, One Sacrifice For All Time, evaluating in depth Ephesians 6:10-20 and the Full Armor of God.

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His fight. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints— and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. with regard to the full armor of God. Ephesians 6:10-20

Yesterday, I wrote my first post about Ephesians 6:10. I explained that we have access to the strength of the Lord by boldly declaring war on the enemy through prayer. In response to that post, someone emailed me and asked for more specifics on how I pray for my marriage. I decided after writing her back that this would be a good way to begin writing about what God has taught me with regard to prayer. Everything I have learned about prayer started by my desire to see God heal my marriage. I did not have a particularly bad marriage; just a typical one. I don't plan to focus on marriage in these posts, but rather on the principles that God has taught me regarding prayer by teaching me how to pray for my marriage.

I didn't really realize it until I started typing the email response, but I have learned the following principles with regard to powerful prayer:

1. Honesty
2. A humble heart.
3. Declaring the character and goodness of God before His throne.
4. Seeking not your own rights, but rather God's right to rebuke, reprove, and teach you in order that you might become more like His Son, Jesus Christ.
5. Time spent studying the way Jesus and others in the Bible prayed.
6. Declaring and pleading to God His own promises and His own will through prayer.
7. Confidence that if what you are seeking is God's will, then you can boldly claim it and have confidence in its answer. You must not doubt in your prayers.
8. Claim the authority you have over the enemy as a child of God in Jesus name and do it often. Do not be meek when wielding the sword against the enemy.
9. Willingness to wait upon your answer and not act until you are confident that God has revealed His will.
10. Praise, praise, praise!

Principle #1: Honesty Before God

Let me speak especially to you who desire to find peace with God and salvation through the precious blood: you will do well to make your confession before God very frank, very sincere, very explicit. Surely you have nothing to hide, for there is nothing that you can hide. He knows your guilt already, but He would have you know it; therefore, He tells you to confess it. Go into the details of your sin in your secret acknowledgments before God. -Charles H. Spurgeon in Prayer and Spiritual Warfare.

I have previously shared in my testimony that honesty is required for answered prayers. One of the most awesome things about God is that no matter where you are in your maturity with Him, He always hears and answers honest prayers. I am not talking about being arrogant or insolent in your prayers because we know that He will not hear that, but even the sinner's prayer will be heard if it is an honest cry for help. If it were not so, then we would all still be lost souls. When we are completely honest before God about our weakness, our failures, our needs, even our sinful attitudes, we open up the channel for Him to respond in love at our deepest level of need. He will not harshly rebuke the honest heart, but rather will gently lead you into all truth.

I have sinned and done wrong since the day I was born. But you want complete honesty, so teach me true wisdom. Wash me with hyssop until I am clean and whiter than snow. Psalm 51:5-7

Lord, you are searching for honesty. You struck your people, but they paid no attention. You crushed them, but they refused to be corrected. They are determined, with faces set like stone; they have refused to repent. Jeremiah 5:3

I cried to Him with my mouth, And He was extolled with my tongue. If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear. But certainly God has heard me; He has attended to the voice of my prayer. Psalm 66:17-19

So as simple as it seems, we must be sure that we are not trying to hide anything from God when we approach Him in prayer. Obviously, we cannot hide anything from Him, but often in our attempt to not admit our failures or our feelings; we do try to keep the truth from God. Sometimes, when I know that my feelings are wrong, I have found the following approach in prayer to be best.

"Father, I know that these emotions I am having are wrong and are not from Your Spirit. I know that You would have me not to judge this person in this way. I am asking You to change my heart with regard to this matter because at this moment I am honestly not feeling love toward them. I am not understanding what You are doing in this circumstance, but I want to understand. Either way, I will submit and wait until You move and reveal Your glory."

But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. James 1:5

I can honestly say that anytime I pray in that way, something supernatural happens and over time God begins to open my eyes to see the person or situation from His perspective and gives me supernatural love or wisdom regarding it. So, please, just be honest with God; there is no other way to see your prayers answered and your heart changed.

God bless you and come back next time to dive into principle #2: A Humble Heart

Amanda

Because of the Brave

It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1

Many souls have gone before us! Well more than 1000 souls have given their lives for our freedoms and liberties! Let us remember them as we celebrate this weekend. Let us not only remember the soldiers who gave us freedoms in this country, but also let us remember all the many men and women who have gone to the stake burned for the cause of Christ, those who were stoned, tarred and feathered, used as torches to light the parties of tyrant dictators because they refused to deny their true King and their true Home!

This 4th of July as we celebrate our nation here on earth, I ask you to examine your own heart. Are you living a life that exemplifies that you are a foreigner and stranger in this land? Are you sounding the battle cry to save your fellow brothers and sisters from the destruction to come? Are you dying to your own selfish desires and sacrificing all to see your loved ones, your neighbors, and even your enemies saved from the clutches of the enemy?

Even if America loses every liberty we have always known, we can sing this refrain:

"I can live in freedom! I can dream my dreams! Freedom's price was paid because of HIM who died for me!"

Jesus we thank you for all the soldiers who died for us! We honor them and we apologize to them and their families and most of all we beg your forgiveness for not standing up for the freedoms for which they and You died! May we seek from this day forward to confess our sins to you daily, to ask for your Spirit that we might receive our daily marching orders, and to rise from our humble position underneath your authority to proclaim to the enemy that he is defeated and we are more than conquerors in You!