Waiting

But the remainder of the flesh of the sacrifice on the third day shall be burnt with fire. Leviticus 7:17 (KJV)

The following devotional deeply convicted me this morning because the Lord has been saying this to me for months and months (maybe years actually). I know it in my head, but in practice I am a poor player. The one encouragement is the first line, "It may seem and easy thing to wait, but is is one of the postures which a Christian soldier learns not without years of teaching."

Wait on the Lord

"Wait on the Lord."--Psalm 27:14

It may seem an easy thing to wait, but it is one of the postures which a Christian soldier learns not without years of teaching. Marching and quick-marching are much easier to God's warriors than standing still. There are hours of perplexity when the most willing spirit, anxiously desirous to serve the Lord, knows not what part to take. Then what shall it do? Vex itself by despair? Fly back in cowardice, turn to the right hand in fear, or rush forward in presumption? No, but simply wait. Wait in prayer, however. Call upon God, and spread the case before Him; tell Him your difficulty, and plead His promise of aid. In dilemmas between one duty and another, it is sweet to be humble as a child, and wait with simplicity of soul upon the Lord. It is sure to be well with us when we feel and know our own folly, and are heartily willing to be guided by the will of God. But wait in faith. Express your unstaggering confidence in Him; for unfaithful, untrusting waiting, is but an insult to the Lord. Believe that if He keep you tarrying even till midnight, yet He will come at the right time; the vision shall come and shall not tarry. Wait in quiet patience, not rebelling because you are under the affliction, but blessing your God for it. Never murmur against the second cause, as the children of Israel did against Moses; never wish you could go back to the world again, but accept the case as it is, and put it as it stands, simply and with your whole heart, without any self-will, into the hand of your covenant God, saying, "Now, Lord, not my will, but Thine be done. I know not what to do; I am brought to extremities, but I will wait until Thou shalt cleave the floods, or drive back my foes. I will wait, if Thou keep me many a day, for my heart is fixed upon Thee alone, O God, and my spirit waiteth for Thee in the full conviction that Thou wilt yet be my joy and my salvation, my refuge and my strong tower."

C.H.S.

Father,

I am a pitiful waiter upon you. Despite the numerous times you have stood up from your drowsing and calmed the storm, I am repeatedly like the disciples, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" (Mark 4:38b) But, You my Father, my King, my Lord, my Redeemer, my Savior, my Counselor, my gentle Rebuker, my Patient Faithful Father, You always say to me, "Why are you so timid? How is it that you have no faith?" to which I crumple up at Your feet once again in utter shame and amazement at You and wonder, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?" (taken from Mark 4:40-41)

Once again, Father, thank You for Your never ending mercy upon me. Thank You that I can know that these past months of torment and frustration were allowed by You through satan in order to prove me, test me, burn off the dross, and KILL ME, so that the beautiful aroma of Jesus Christ's nature could come through. I am ashamed of the stench of my flesh, but I am grateful that You have not stopped, yet again, to allow the burning of it that something more beautiful would shine through.

AMAZEMENT HAS SEIZED ME YET AGAIN!

Amen

Prayer

Well, it's been quite a while since I've been over here to write. Writing a series on prayer (or at least wanting to) led me into some more house cleaning that God needed to do first. Same thing on my "One Sacrifice" blog. I started writing on Spiritual Warfare, got to the second verse in the passage, and BAM, God stopped me to do some pruning. (You'll have to go over there to find out what I am talking about).

Before I start on #3 of the "Principles of Powerful Prayer", I will just tell you that I may not get this series finished before the end of the year. I hope I do, but God is slowing me down and calling me into a prayer ministry at church and home. I am sensing that He is calling me to a year alone in His Word (actually I think He has been telling me this for a while and I have been in rebellion over it). Please keep praying for souls and please consider adding to my list here. I have a long list on paper that I need to update here and I desire to keep praying for miracles through this blog.

God has temporarily stopped me on #2: A humble heart to reveal how prideful mine still was in some areas. However, just know for sure that declaring God's goodness to Him is definitely the place to start in powerful prayer. I'll be back soon to give you more.

Blessings,

Amanda

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

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!

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

Make Me a Channel of Blessing

Is your life a channel of blessing?
Is the love of God flowing through you?
Are you telling the lost of the Savior?
Are you ready His service to do?

Refrain

Make me a channel of blessing today,
Make me a channel of blessing, I pray;
My life possessing, my service blessing,
Make me a channel of blessing today.

Is your life a channel of blessing?
Are you burdened for those that are lost?
Have you urged upon those who are straying,
The Savior Who died on the cross?

Refrain

Is your life a channel of blessing?
Is it a daily telling for Him?
Have you spoken the Word of salvation
To those who are dying in sin?

Refrain

We cannot be channels of blessing
If our lives are not free from known sin;
We will barriers be and a hindrance
To those we are trying to win.

Refrain

Words and Music: Harper G. Smyth 1873-1945

Father God,

As you have led me to these old hymns and lyrics, I am convicted, humbled, burdened, and challenged by their words. Father, I pray that you would make me a channel of blessing to others. What a glorious privilege it is that we have to be part of your work here on earth. Too often we shy from it; wincing in the light and scurrying back to darkness for fear of personal rejection. Father, please forgive me personally for all of those times. Father, please have mercy on ALL of us collectively in the body of Christ for falling victim to satan's schemes. Forever burn on our retinas the image of lost souls eternally burning in hellfire and brimstone that we might not be insensitive to their plight. Father, please convict us of unknown sin in our lives that we might confess it, be cleansed, and be made ready to be a channel of blessing to others. Lord, I lift up to you ALL THE NAMES on this blog (and all those not represented here) that NEED SALVATION. Lord, many of them, obviously ALL OF THEM, do not know that the building they are in is on fire. They do not know that the path they lead, which seems so right, leads to death and destruction. Father, please fill me with your Spirit that I may be more like Christ; full of Grace AND Truth as I seek out the lost and try to tell them the Truth. Father, if I speak with all knowledge and have not love, I will be as a clanging cymbal and they will not desire to come out of the darkness and into Your glorious light. Father, I plead with you as your daughter that while you have burdened me with knowledge of You and Your word to take to the world, that you would infiltrate my thoughts, my words, and my actions with your abundant love and grace so as not to forever offend others away from You, but rather convict them of their great need for Your grace to save them. I sincerely plead this on behalf of myself and ALL who are burdened to win the lost to Your kingdom. May satan no longer triumph over us with fear of offense, with fear of personal rejection, and with fear of 'messing it up', but may we be so confessed up, cleaned up, and filled up that ALL THINGS be possible through Jesus Christ in our lives.

Giving YOU ALL THE CREDIT AND PRAISE FOR ANY GOOD IN MY LIFE,

Amen

"Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman to the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from My mouth, warn them from Me. When I say to the wicked, 'You shall surely die' and you do not warn him or speak out to warn the wicked from his wicked way that he may live, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. Yet if you have warned the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered yourself." Ezekiel 3:17-19

A Friend Comes at Midnight

A Friend Comes at Midnight

And He said to them, “Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within and say, ‘Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you’? I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs. Luke 11:5-8 (New King James Version)

Hello everyone out there. I'm sorry I have negleceted this blog in postings, but rest assured not in prayer. I have prayed for the people listed here and I can't wait when the answers start pouring in about salvation so we can begin gloryfying or great Father for His love and hearing of our prayers.

I hope that this will be my last week back in the work force, and I will be back home with my little bugaboo with a refreshed attitude of gratitude about being a SAHM and homemaker. I have so many ideas floating around about organizing and running our home.

I would like to encourage any of you out there to continue to seek the Lord for the lost and please leave their names here. I really hope that by the end of 2009 I have at least 1000 souls in need of salvation represented on this blog. Sometimes I think we don't see great movements of God in our lives because we don't EXPECT great movements of God in our lives. I am expecting HIM to answer our prayers on this site and save our loved ones (and our enemies).

The signs of the end times are EVERYWHERE, and it won't be long before the chapter on the church age and the age of grace is closed, and the door is forever shut. We must seek out the lost with great urgency and share the good news of Jesus Christ with them before it is too late.

meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains, that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak. Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one. Colossians 4:3-6 (New King James Version)