Perfected Prayer

     The verses I want to share with you today are some of my favorite verses in the entire Bible. Many times we don’t know how or what to pray. We feel helpless in our struggles, hopeless in our suffering. God is there with us, in the midst of it, with His understanding and compassionate heart.

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. Romans 8:26

      What a beautiful picture of a loving God. He intercedes with wordless groans. Years ago we used this verse in a confirmation class. One girl said the Holy Spirit took her words to God and explained to Him exactly what she meant. I can’t think of a better way to interpret that verse. It gets better. Here are the next two verses:

And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.  Romans 8:27-28

     Trust the Holy Spirit with your prayers, even when or especially when, you don’t know how to ask or what to say. He will bring your requests to the Father through the powerful name of Jesus and do His will. His perfect and pleasing will.  Jesus is not Santa Claus, giving us what we want.

     Notice in the verses above the words, “in accordance with the will of God” and “called according to His purpose.” He works all things together for good for us as we trust Him to know what we need most. Sometimes in the midst of our greatest suffering, in our times of despair and unanswered questions, we meet Him in intimate ways. We learn to lean on and learn from our Father in heaven.

     Allow the Holy Spirit to perfect your prayers and bring them to God as He groans along with us, as He understands the deepest parts of our hearts.

Dear Father,

The Holy Spirit sits with us through our darkest hours and in our highest highs and everything in between, sifting our prayers and bringing them to You through Jesus. We can’t see it with our earthly eyes, we can’t hear it with our earthly ears, and we don’t know what to say with our earthly lips. But as we give our prayers to You, they rise as incense to the throne room and heaven sees, hears and shouts for joy at each one.

In Jesus name

Amen

Protected Prayer

     Jesus has set His gaze firmly ahead to what He must do. We see His prayer in the 17^th chapter of John as He prepares for the cross. He prays for Himself to be glorified, and He prays for His disciples including this verse:

I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to You, Holy Father. Protect them by the power of Your name, the name You gave Me, so that they may be one as we are one. John 17:11

And he prays for all of us who would believe:

Righteous Father, though the world does not know You, I know You, and they know that You have sent me. I have made You known to them, and will continue to make You known in order that the love You have for Me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.” John 17:25-26

    Jesus has been here. He has suffered, been tempted, experienced sorrow, hunger and so much more. He intercedes for us and protects us with His name. He understands. He sits ready and able to keep us One with Him.

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are-yet He did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 4:15-16

     Feel confident as you pray before the throne of grace. Jesus protects us and intercedes for us and covers all of our sins with His righteousness.

Dear Jesus,

Thank You for becoming one of us. You pray for our protection in the world and grant us mercy and grace in our weaknesses. You understand. You have walked in our shoes and yet had no sin. Impossible love, unimaginable grace.

Amen

Perpetual Prayer

     A special, set-aside time each day to spend with God in private prayer will strengthen your relationship with Him. Relationships take time and intimacy. The Bible goes a step further.

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

And

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians 4:6

     Tucked into these verses are the words, “pray continually” and “in every situation by prayer and petition.” Wow, pray continually and pray in EVERY situation? Is it possible to recognize and honor the fact that Jesus is with us and that His Spirit lives within us every moment of everyday? Can we lift up every circumstance as we move through our days? Praying for protection as we pull out of our driveways? Praying for someone we notice along the way that looks harried or sad? Can we stop to pray for a friend that comes into our mind? Or praise God for the beauty of His creation? Can we ask for help with our anxious thoughts when they begin to take over our minds and our hearts?

     I would say a resounding, “Yes!” and “Amen!” God is our constant companion through the sacrifice of Jesus. The Holy Spirit of the living God lives within us and will calm us and listen to us and keep us in peace as we honor His presence. I don’t know about you, but perpetual prayer sounds like a great way to live, continually surrounded with God’s presence. Can we trust God to be present in every single moment of every single day?

     Private prayer and perpetual prayer in relationship with the real and living God is worth a try. Are you ready? Welcome Him into your presence right now!

Dear Jesus,

You are right here, right now, past, present and future. You are willing to guide us through this life, every step of it, until we walk into eternity. Show us how to pray continually in every situation, practicing Your presence along the way.

Amen

Private Prayer

But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.  Matthew 6:6

     The Bible has much to say about prayer. This week we will take a peek into some of the ways the Word tells us to pray. Do you take time each day to pray with God? Just you and Him? We can ask for His guidance, and give Him our worries. We can cry out for help, or ask for protection for our families. We can  lift up our friends in need. The list is endless of our hopes and fears and questions in life.

     Maybe you are praying for the snow to be done for the year? If you haven’t seen the Youtube video, “Jesus make it warm!” check it out today. It will make you smile. As I was reading through the Gospel of Luke last week I noticed how often Jesus took time to pray.

 At daybreak, Jesus went out to a solitary place…Luke 4:42

But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. Luke 5:16

One day Jesus was praying in a certain place…Luke 11:1

     Intimacy with God will change our lives. He delights in our company. He will bless and reward us for putting Him first. Let’s go to our rooms and shut the door each day. Take time to spend with the One you love most. He is there waiting to listen, to comfort, to strengthen, to guide, to teach, and to love you with everything He has. After all, He gave up His only Son to die for you. What kind of love is that?

Dear Father in heaven,

Teach us to pray in private. Discipline our hearts to yearn to spend time with You each day. Just You and me. Show us Your purpose for us today. Bless our homes and our families. Comfort the sick and the weak.

In Jesus powerful name,

Amen

Seed x Love = Harvest

Just a reminder on this day of love. Jesus loves you. Are you ready to cultivate the soil of your heart in preparation for the seeds of His Word? Finally, on this Friday, the parable of the farmer gives us hope for a harvest. Not all of the seed is scattered, or planted in shallow ground, or is choked out by the thorns of the world. There is hope for us after all!

“Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.” Mark 4:8

“Others like seed sown on good soil, hear the Word, accept it, and produce a crop-some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.” Mark 4:20

When the Word of God enters, grows and is lived out, there will be an abundance of good fruit. Our hearts will have their own seeds to share and those seeds can multiply over and over again. Jesus tells us that others will recognize us by our fruit. (see Matthew 7) Maybe you know Jesus through the fruit of others around you. Do you recognize this fruit in your own life? I want that seed to grow and multiply in me one hundred times over before I meet Jesus face to face.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23

Notice the fruit listed first? It is love. All of the other fruit comes from receiving the love of Jesus and acting on it. Good soil, good seed, good God. Maybe we can spread some of that good seed around on this Valentine’s Day. The harvest is good.

Dear Jesus,

Let the love we show others come directly from You. We can’t do it on our own strength. Let the fruit of our lives be recognized by others, so they may know we belong to You. You make us unique and unusual in a dark world.

Amen

Worldly Weeds

The Bible tends to hit us right in the heart and forces us to look at our lives and our motives. The parable of the farmer continues today. For some, we have seen, the seed of the Word is taken away as soon as it is heard, just as seed is scattered in the wind. For others, the soil of our hearts is too shallow and when trouble comes, there is no root to sustain us. Today, the seeds have germinated. The seed has sprouted, but the environment around the plant keeps it from bearing fruit. Here is Jesus:

Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain.  Mark 4:7

Again, Jesus explains:

Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word, but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. Mark 4:18-19

I want my desires to be His. His ways are always higher and more beneficial than mine. He fills us with what is excellent and lovely and pure. What are the thorns that stick to you like glue? Are you filled with worries, unable to trust God? Is your mind occupied with striving for more, rather than being content right now? Maybe it is the pleasures and lusts of life that take God away from being first. Let’s pull them out one by one, painful as it may seem at the time to allow the Word to grow in abundance. Those weeds of the world will no longer zap and choke all of our time and energy and God will lead us in the way we should go, in true freedom.

What desires and worries are keeping you from hearing the Word? It is a question to ponder.

Dear Jesus,

Take away our worries, our constant striving, our priorities that take us away from You and Your Word. The Bible gives life, the abundant and fruitful life. Bury the seeds deep, cultivate the soil of our hearts and help us to remove the thorns. We want to bear fruit for You.

Amen

Shallow Soil

Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.  Mark 4:5-6

For some of us, there was a time when the Bible gave us hope. We were filled with joy at the thought of Jesus. We believe it’s enough. Unless we are saturated with the living water of the Bible, the trials and sorrows of life take over and we allow the little faith we had to fall away. It withers and dies, leaving us parched and alone in a difficult world.

Our faith was shallow. The roots never took hold, never grew deep enough to sustain us. There is nothing to hold onto through the dark nights. We ask, “Why?” and we don’t hear an answer. Is that the cry of your heart today?

The Word is able to root us deep as we abide in Jesus. Developing strength and trust and hope and perseverance through knowledge of the Bible will prepare us ahead of time. There will be promises from the Word of God to lift us up and sustain us through the difficult days. Let this Scripture be a prayer for you.

I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways. I delight in your decrees. I will not neglect your Word. Psalm 119:15

We can meditate and consider and delight in God’s Word. Do not neglect it. It will nourish, fill and support us during the desert times.

Jesus, once again, explains the verse we began with today in this parable of the farmer:

Others, like seed sown in rocky places, hear the Word and at once receive it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the Word, they quickly fall away. Mark 4:16-17

Let’s become rooted deep, so we do not wither or fall away. Is the soil of your soul prepared? The living water of the Word is ready. Let’s plant it in our hearts and souls. It will be our miraculous reservoir when trouble comes.

Dear Jesus,

You are the Word. Show us the Words meant just for us today as we seek to dig deeper, to be rooted in good soil, to abide in Your vine and to bear much fruit.

Amen