Day 3: Where Prayer Begins | In Jesus’ Name

Where Prayer Begins | In Jesus’ Name.

My notes:

Prayer is wrapped in praise – should be bookend-ed in praise.

How do I answer the opening question?  “What do I think God is like?”

I have all the right answers – but if my prayers – the way I pray – is an indicator of how I view God, then I really wonder I honestly view Him.

I find that many of my prayers are very “request” based for me and my family and to a lesser degree, other people.  There are not a lot of other topics besides my “list.”  This is worrisome.

I can honestly say that I don’t view God as a “genie in a bottle” so I wonder where this pattern comes from.  Is it just a rote habit I need to break?  Do I feel entitled?  Definitely something that will take some prayer and introspection.

Take Aways:

I started listening to Bill Johnson’s (Bethel Church) “2012: A Year of Promise” (highly recommend) where he casually mentioned during the course of a story that he reads the Psalms every night.  This is something that speaks to me and I can take a hold of.

  • Read Psalms before praying -> David knew how to always give thanks to God for who God is, for what God had done, and for what God promised to do.  Great model of thanksgiving and praise.  This will set my heart on His Goodness and remind me of his mercy.
  • Make a “God Provided/His Mercy” list – create and keep a running list of God’s mercies and provision in my life – answers to prayers, unexpected blessings, all the things that I so quickly forget when the attack is on.  Reminders of God’s faithfulness and character.

While I am to live a conversational life of prayer with God (See Day 1) – there needs to be a specific, set-apart time of prayer and meeting with Him.

This was a good devotional for me.

Running After Papa…

“Pray for all people”… even politicians?

I’m doing a devotional produced by our church and for the first four days, our memory verse has been 1 Timothy 2:1-2 from the New Living Translation:

I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people.  Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them.  Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity.

OK.  That verse, by itself, is enough for this post… but I’ll continue.

It’s election time here – the Republican primaries have begun and the every night there is some sort of “Live Breaking News” and some political pundit projects and declares a “winner” with 3% of precincts reporting – just to be first to declare a winner (and they don’t really even care if they’re correct)… I frankly hate the election season for exactly that reason.  Why don’t they just wait until it’s completely counted and tell us ONE TIME instead of hundreds of times a day… but I digress…

The point is this – regardless of my political point of view or my likes or dislikes of government officials and those running our country – God calls me to “…pray for all people.  Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them.”

Paul has laid out the foundation of our prayers for other people – God to help them; intercede for them; give thanks for them.

“Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority…” – say what?  It’s easy to ask God to help our leaders.  It’s the last two ways that are the doozies.

“Intercede on their behalf…”  What does that mean? The Message translation puts it this way. “Pray every way you know how…” That implies some thought, preparation, work, commitment and time. That means the President, Vice-President, his Cabinet members, the Senate, the House, the Judges (all of them), my boss(es) at work, the principals at my kids schools, our city governments, our school leaderships, the coaches of my kids teams, their teachers, the police and other emergency responders, our military leaders, – ALL OF THEM.  “… pray this way for all people.”

“give thanks for them,” seriously? Dude – that’s hard.  It’s easy to give thanks for the ones I agree with.  It’s hard to give thanks for the others – especially the ones I violently disagree with and would never support in any campaign or election.  But God calls me to give thanks for them.  Jesus died for them too and God is still bigger and stronger than any government or any country or any World Order.

This is the command of our Lord.  Our obedience to his commands will bring blessing and Paul doesn’t fail to tell us that that is.

“… that we can live peaceful and quiet lives…” – that’s something I can get on board with.   That’s an outward blessing and benefit God provides for us.

Obedience to God’s commands doesn’t just do something for us – it does something in us.  When we obey – when we do the hard things (and believe me, praying for ALL politicians the way described in this verse is HARD!) we become “…marked by godliness and dignity.”

God, help me to live out 1 Timothy 2:1-2 and to earnestly, honestly pray for everyone – especially in this time of heated debate and season when opinions and judgements are easily formed.  Help me to pray for our leaders – our current ones and our new ones as the elections continue this year.

…Running After Papa…

Day 2: “Our Prayer” | In Jesus’ Name

“Our Prayer” | In Jesus’ Name.

My notes:

The prayer Jesus modeled for the disciples (and us – including me).  I should consciously follow the model here.

“It is a powerful truth that should define how we (I) live in the present.”

All too often, my prayers start off with “Dear God, please …” and immediately go in request mode – usually for me and my family – on occasion, I pray for others… (just keeping it real here)  How often do I adore Him?  How often do I just focus on the fact that He is God and I’m actually speaking to THE creator of the universe?  Where is my reverence?  Where is the “fear of God” – which Proverbs says is the beginning of wisdom (Prov 9:10, Ps 111:10)

If I paraphrase the model Jesus set forth for us – it looks like this:

  1. God is first
  2. I am to be about His business
  3. I can trust him to provide for me and my family
  4. I have been forgiven – therefore I forgive others (Eph 4:32)
  5. I do not want to be any part of ANYTHING against Him and His will.

Another area for me is not only “how” I’m praying, but “how often” I’m praying – or I should say, how often I’m NOT praying.  I need to re-read yesterday’s devotional.

God help me today to pray continually and in those prayers follow the model you gave us.  In Jesus’ name.

…Running After Papa

Day 1: First Things First | In Jesus’ Name

First Things First | In Jesus’ Name.

I’ve started the new Gateway Devotional (a little later than most…) but thought I’d share the resource and walk through it with any of you who are looking for a great way to start the year.  It’s 28 days and includes original worship songs, content, and memory verses.

A few points that really hit home from today’s devo:

  • Before I do anything… ANYTHING (else), I need to pray.

How often do I just run off and do?  This would imply that I should never react to the world around me, but respond to it only after I pray.  Good advice, or would that be God advice?

  • Prayer forms the foundation of the Christian Life

If prayer is the foundation of the Christian life, how solid (or shaky) is my foundation?  Back to the first point – if I am to pray first, then respond – that would be the correct way to “build” my life.  If I’m not in lifestyle of praying first, then what kind of foundation am I “building” my life on?

Am I on a firm and strong foundation or a weak and shaky foundation?

  • I am to live a lifestyle of prayer

To me that means I’m to LIVE IN CONVERSATION with God.  It’s not a requirement or works-mandated, pray 10 times-a-day, some dry and rote performance oriented repeated prayer.  It’s exactly how I live life with my wife and children – I talk, listen, share, think and interact “…without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17) with the LORD.

Jesus help me pray continually so that I respond to the world around me and not react to it.  Help me to stay in conversation with you that my life is built on a firm foundation of prayer and becomes a lifestyle and character trait of who I am.

In Jesus Name,

Running After Papa….

Waves (James 1)

James 1:6 NIV “But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.”

A few weeks ago, in the midst of some very big “asks” with the Lord, this verse stayed top of mind for a few weeks.  The New King James translates it as “… let him ask in faith, with no doubting…” and the root word for what the NIV calls “believe” and what the NKJV calls “faith” is pistis.  I’ve written about this word a few times, the most recent being Faith & Doubt (Mark 11) and Faith: What is it? so I won’t expound on it here.

I’ve really begun to look deeper into the example James uses.  What are the characteristics of waves and how do they apply here and to my life?  How do they describe the state of my being when I doubt?  Carrying the example out, how does believing make me less like a wave?

Waves Are Random

When I say “a wave”, what do you see when you close your eyes?  Most of us see some sort of wave on a body of water.  That’s about as much similarity as we can state.  Wikipedia has a fairly extensive discussion on the many types of waves and forms of waves across all types of mediums (water, sound, light, etc…)  You can read it here.  Let’s keep the discussion of waves in context of waves on a body of water.  Even with that, there are no clear definitions of what a wave looks like.  They have a pseudo-form, but can vary greatly from a slight series of rings that ripple out from a small pebble tossed in a very still pond, to a 20-foot (or greater), life-threatening whitecaps out on the ocean.  Both are waves.  While I assume there is a technically a definite beginning and end of a wave, it is clearly not easy to accurately identify for the casual observer.  The one constant is that they freely move up and down, back and forth, in and out, and constantly change shapes – often times spilling out or falling over (as in a whitecap).

When I doubt, I am like a wave.  I am not clearly defined and morph and change with the pressures and obstacles of life.  But when I believe – when I ask in faith – I am fortified to stand firm – with definition of who I am in Christ and more importantly, who Christ is in me.

1 Corinthians 16:13 NLT “Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong.”

2 Corinthians 1:21 NLT “It is God who enables us, along with you, to stand firm for Christ.”

When I believe – when I ask in faith – I am positioned and permanent to display Christ in me.

Waves Are Reactive

Waves exist because of a reaction to something else – some outside force – be that an object, the wind, a current, a shift in it’s foundation (i.e. an earthquake).  The height, shape, speed, spread, and intensity of the wave is determined by the force acted upon it.  Waves are a reaction to the world around it.

When I ask in faith – when I believe and not doubt – I am confident in God’s plan and not reactive to the world around me because I know who He is and that His heart is for me.

Jeremiah 2:11-12 NKJV “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.”

When I believe – when I ask in faith – I am purposed and peaceful and not moved by the world around me.

Waves are Running

Waves are always moving from point to point – constantly moving and being moved by the forces around them.

When I doubt – I too am constantly seeking and constantly moving – looking for an answer, looking for relief, looking for some way out or away from whatever I’m reacting to.  This is not God’ s plan.  I’m to ask in faith.  I’m to learn to be confident and trust in His will for me.

Psalms 37:5-9  

5 Commit everything you do to the LORD. Trust him, and he will help you.
6 He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn, and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun.
7 Be still in the presence of the LORD, and wait patiently for him to act. Don’t worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes.
8 Stop being angry! Turn from your rage! Do not lose your temper— it only leads to harm.
9 For the wicked will be destroyed, but those who trust in the LORD will possess the land.

When I believe – when I ask in faith – I am planted in God’s peace and power and can rest in who He is

Ask in faith.  Do not doubt.

Running After Papa…

A New Blessing

On my runs for the last couple of weeks, God’s been working on a blessing that I’ve been speaking and praying over myself and my family.

It started a few weeks ago when I was praying for Kayla and her studies at college. It’s been weird having her away this year.  In praying for her, I began to pray for her studies and tests, and God began to take me down a road of remembering all the words I’ve spoken over my own life… such as – “I can’t ever remember anything!” I believe that our spoken words have power and they have the potential to plant in fertile soil and take root and grow – regardless if it’s a good word or a bad word.  As those words are planted and reinforced, that crop begins to grow and manifest in our lives.  (See one of my earlier posts, “Overcoming – Updated (Rev 12:11)” to read about the power of our words).

Given that, I prayed against the curses I’d spoken over my life and began to pray the opposite and over the last few weeks, God has transformed it into a blessing I (A.) want to document and (B.) want to share.  I originally was praying it over my kids and their studies, but God soon showed it was applicable to all of life – jobs, friends, school, studies, relationships, encouraging others, ministry, comforting others, etc.

I began to think about our minds and Christ’s mind.  Because Jesus was a perfect man, he had a perfect mind – uncluttered with the world, unadulterated by sin, and free to perform perfectly.  Just as a curiosity… I wonder if he had a photographic memory?

A New Blessing

I speak over my family (by name) and I that we have the mind of Christ (1 Cor 2:16) according to Your Word; and with that mind, Lord, I pray and speak over us the ability to:

  • RECEIVE all the information presented to us.  Open our eyes to see the details, open our ears to hear that we receive everything clearly and without ambiguity all that is being communicated and transmitted and spoken and read. Let us also receive the context in which it is being communicated so that there is no confusion or misunderstanding.  Once we’ve RECEIVED the information Lord, I ask that we would be able to…
  • REASON (see dictionary.com) the truth from non-truth.  Let us actively engage our minds and spirits to know the truth of the information we’ve received, separating fact from fiction, truth from lies, blessings from curses.  Once we’ve REASONED the truth Lord, I ask that we…
  • RELATE truth to truth for a bigger view, larger context, greater vision, and expanded understanding of the truth.  Once we’ve RELATED the truth Lord, give us the ability to…
  • REMOVE the misinformation, the lies, the half-truths, curses, non-encouraging, trivial and non-important information we received so that we…
  • RETAIN the “good stuff” for the duration of its purpose – be that a test, a meeting, for a time and place of encouraging a friend, or for a lifetime of service and growth for your purpose.  At the appropriate time Lord, I ask that we have the ability to…
  • RECALL that information, that truth, that detail, whatever is needed and exactly when it is needed – instantaneously – for the purpose, time and reason we retained it.  And finally, when and if the need arises, give us the ability to
  • RECREATE the exact and specific details, context, and setting of the information received.  In Jesus’ name… Amen.

Running After Papa…

Amos Observations

A few verses jumped out at me this morning in my reading/journal time.  I found myself in the book of Amos.  Honestly, that’s not a book I find myself in unless I’m doing one of the “read through the bible” reading plans.  But today, a few verses jumped out that I found myself writing and commenting on.

Amos 3:3 “Can two people walk together without agreeing on the direction?”

What a simple, yet powerful thought.  If I am going to walk with Christ – I must first agree to walk in His direction – meaning I have to walk in the direction He is walking, not walk in a direction toward Him.  What direction am I walking?    Did I agree on the Lord’s direction or did I just start “walking” without even checking.  I am very prone to just start walking… perhaps that’s why I find myself not where I thought I’d be in my relationship with Him sometimes.

Additionally, the Lord will only walk in one direction – His direction… the direction of truth and righteousness… the right (correct) way.  He will never vary or divert off that direction.  All other directions are wrong… that just hit me…  all other directions are wrong!

Lord – I choose to agree with you and your direction today… Where do you want me to walk?

Amos 3:7 “Indeed the Sovereign LORD never does anything until he reveals his plans to his servants the prophets.”

Amos 4:13 “For the LORD is the one who shaped the mountains, stirs up the winds, and reveals his thoughts to mankind.  He turns the light of dawn to darkness and treads on the heights of the earth.  The LORD God of Heaven’s Armies is his name.”

God is POWERFUL and mighty!  He does not need my permission to move or act.  Yet, he reveals his thoughts to man before he moves.  If I can’t see God moving in my life, could it be he has no one to reveal it to?  Am I available to hear Him – to be revealed to –  or is my life too cluttered with less important things?  Am I able to hear Him?  Am I prepared to hear his plans?

Amos 3:10 ” ‘My people have forgotten how to do right,’ says the LORD.”

What a sobering verse.  What a horrible place to be.  I never want to be identified by the LORD as that kind of person.

Amos 5:12 “For I know the vast number of your sins and the depth of your rebellion.”

Another sobering verse.  I am of vast sins and deep rebellion…. and God knows it and knows all of it.

Even with God’s love and redemptive plan of salvation through Jesus Christ, he still requires obedience – not as a way to earn salvation – not as an entry requirements – not as anything we could do that would require he “owe” us.  God requires obedience as a bi-product of a changed life, a redeemed heart – a transformation of a dead in my sins being to a forgiven being and new creation- to save us from the calamity and consequences that follow a life of poor choices, vast sins, and deep rebellion.

Amos 5:14 “Do what is good and run from evil so that you may live!”

 

… Running After Papa

Day 27 – New view of Omnipresent

If you’ve been following my experiment, you know that one of the words that God spoke to me that’s really rocked my world is about God’s ever-present, presence and that He doesn’t “come and go”, but I open and close myself to His already here presence.

While on my vacation, I’ve been working on a paper for a class I’m taking and the topic had to do with the theological messages in Genesis chapter 1.    While I was running today, I began to realize that God being omnipresent has a greater meaning that being everywhere at one time… God is everywhere outside of the bounds of time. God is everywhere at all time.

If God created time (clearly shown in Gen 1:3) then he is not relegated or bound by it.  When I say I serve an omnipresent God – I know now that he is in every physical place at every point in time.  God is in my past, in my present, and in my future…

Something I’m still working through… but wanted to get it down for review…

P.S. Along this same line of thought I began to think.  If darkness is the absence of light and evil is the absence of good, then what if eternity is the absence of time?  Perhaps I have such a hard time comprehending eternity, because I’m trying to define it by something it is mutually exclusive of.

 

Day 24 – Crutches & Thinky-ness

II Cor 10:3-5 (NIV) “3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

This verse is all about how differently we “war” that the world does.  We war over our thought life… we war with our mind.  I’ve heard too often people chide that Christianity is a crutch for people who can’t think for themselves.  I’ve heard it said that  faith is where people turn when they can’t think or reason.   Clearly, people who say this haven’t read the scriptures as the Bible is full of context and richness on just how “thinky” our faith is.

  • Phil 4:8 – “… think on these things…”
  • Rom 12:2 – “…renew your mind..”
  • II Cor 10:5 – “… take  captive every thought…”
  • Col 3:2 – “.. set your mind on things above..”

And that’s just of the top of my head… I’m sure the list is fairly substantial.  Anyone who has read the New Testament, can’t possibly think that Paul believed his faith to be a crutch and that Paul wasn’t an intellectual…

I just read chapter 2 of John Maxwell’s “Thinking For A Change” where he dissects the affects of good thinking.  Good thinking changes your beliefs which changes your expectations, which changes your attitude which changes your behavior, which changes your performance, which changes your life.  Dr. Caroline Leaf’s book “Who Switched Off My Brain”  presents the scientific evidence behind and the practical application of Romans 12:2 “renewing your mind.”

11 Cor 10:5 in The Message version is really enlightening to see this passage from another angle:  “We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ.”

“… every loose thought and emotion and impulse..”… where do those come from?  The mind.

John 15:2-3 (NLT)  He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. 3 You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you.

I’ve often taken this passage in the context of being an “unfruitful” person being cut off.  If I’m not exhibiting the fruits of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23), if I’m not being fruitful in my gifts and call of the Lord (Rom 12:4-8), etc.  But what if what gets cut off and pruned isn’t people, but attitudes, pride, fear and other influences of my thinking and understanding?

Jesus said that he didn’t come to abolish the law but to complete it.  What does that look like?

Jesus’ teachings clarified and redefined what mankind had made of the Law – a bunch of rules and regulations that were not motivated by anything other than fear and pride.

Jesus changed the attitudes and motivation. The motivation behind his teaching is out of love for Him, love for God, and love for others – based and rooted in relationship.

What attitudes, perceptions, and influences need to be cut off of my life because they don’t bear fruit?

What motivations need to be pruned in order to be more fruitful?

Running After Papa…

Day 21 – Coincidence? I think not….

Interesting day today.  I just finished reading Caroline Leaf’s book, Who Switched Off My Brain?, which is an amazing and fascinating study on how we detox our toxic thought life and how our brain works in general.  Dr. Leaf goes to our church and her premise verse in this book is

Romans 12:2 “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

This is one of the foundational scriptures I started this experiment with.  Dr. Leaf’s book is a layman’s explanation of the science behind how we can actually renew our minds – our thoughts, our memories, our recollections.    The book is a fairly easy read – I read it in 2 days – most of the read was while we were driving to Destin, FL  for our vacation – thanks Honey for driving for so many hours!

Once we got here, I started another book that I’ve had for years and read many moons ago.  It’s a book by John Maxwell, entitled Thinking For A Change.  By coincidence (…uh… yeah…..right….) one of his foundational verses is:

Phil 4:8 (NKJV) Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy —meditate on these things.

It’s amazing – this is the other verse I started this experiment with.   I am excited to see what God is going to speak over the days off on my vacation.

I love when God coordinates things like this… It excites me to know he thinks about the little details of my life and drops in those little unexpected surprises.  A very good friend of mine calls them “God kisses”…

Thank you Lord for caring about the little details…

… Running After Papa