Monthly Archives: September 2016

Seek First His Kingdom

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Matthew 6:31-33 (NASB)
31 Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’
32 For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
33 But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Matthew 6:33 (TLB)
33 and he will give them to you if you give him first place in your life and live as he wants you to.
Matthew 6:33 (NLT)
33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

As I read, thought about, and meditated on these verses, I had to ask myself these questions.

1. Do I seek the kingdom of God above all else?
2. Do I seek the kingdom of God above all else in my prayers?
3. What does it really mean to seek the kingdom of God?
4. Do I truly trust that God will give me everything I need, if I seek His kingdom above all else?
5. Is He always first place in everything that I do?
6. Is everything that I do always living as He wants me to?

As I thought about my prayer life, I asked myself these questions.

1. What gives me the most joy when I pray?
2. Do I struggle with certain aspects of prayer? (listening, praise, repentance, thanksgiving, waiting on God)
3. Do I always believe that God will answer my prayers of supplication and am I always okay with His answers?
4. Do I pray with faith in or out of frustration with God regarding my circumstances?
5. Am I satisfied with my relationship with God through prayer?
6. Am I afraid to ask God to change me?

Take some time this week to meditate on these verses and ask yourself these questions or others that come to mind.

Prayer Thoughts 09/26/2016

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Genesis 17:1 (KJV)
I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.

1 Peter 1:16 (NASB)
because it is written, “YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.”

In the book, “A Guide to True Peace: Or a Method of Attaining to Inward and Spiritual Prayer”, by Francois Fenelon, he writes:

“Prayer is a guide to perfection, and the sovereign good; it delivers us from every vice, and obtains for us every virtue; for the one great means to become perfect, is to walk in the presence of God. It is only by prayer that we are brought into and maintained in his presence; and when once we have fully known Him, and the sweetness of His love, we shall find it impossible to relish anything so much as Himself.”

Psalm 23:1 (NLT)
The LORD is my shepherd; I have all that I need.

It is only through prayer that we can establish the type of relationship expressed in Psalm 23. I have all that I need. Prayer isn’t about just about asking and getting from God, although He does want to hear our desires, it is first and foremost a means for God to change us. It brings us to a point where we are fully dependent on Him and our greatest desire is to be holy as He is holy.

Prayer is often referred to as a spiritual discipline. Many cringe when they hear the word discipline, because it brings up images of work and even suffering. While prayer is a spiritual discipline, I’m beginning to view it as a spiritual blessing. It is, as Fenelon said, a guide to perfection, the perfection that God wants for all of us.

Come and pray with us on Tuesday night at 7pm. Join us as we walk before God, on the sanctification road to perfection.

Always praying for the glory of God,
Chris McKean

Pride and Humility

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John 5:19 (NASB)
“Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself…
John 5:30 (NASB)
“I can do nothing on My own initiative…
John 5:41 (NASB)
“I do not receive glory from men;
John 6:38 (NASB)
“For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.
John 7:16 (NASB)
“My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me.
John 7:28 (NASB)
Then Jesus cried out in the temple, teaching and saying, “You both know Me and know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself…
John 8:28 (NASB)
… and I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me.
John 8:42 (NASB)
… for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me.
John 8:50 (NASB)
But I do not seek My glory…
John 14:10 (NASB)
The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works.
John 14:24 (NASB)
the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.

It has been said that Humility is the root of all holiness and Pride is the root of all sin.

Jesus was the perfect example of humility. God humbled Himself and became a man. He gave up everything and became nothing for us. We are nothing and yet we desire glory for ourselves.

Quote by Andrew Murray from his book, “Humility: The glory of the creature.”
“Humility, the place of entire dependence on God, is, from the very nature of things, the first duty and highest virtue of the creature, and the root of every virtue. Humility is simply acknowledging the truth of our position as creature, and yielding to God His Place. Humility is not a temporary sentiment, awakened only when we think of God, but the very spirit of life.”

Are you humble? Ask yourself, assess yourself each day. Ask your mentor, your accountability partner, your prayer partner. What we say and do gives others a clue about our state of humility. Others can see pride in us and they can see false humility too. Ask God and be ready for His answer.

Humility is a state of self that relies completely on God, allowing nothing of ourselves to desire renown for ourselves.  Our glory dies and His glory is exalted.

Always praying for the glory of God,

Prayer Thoughts 09/19/2016

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Psalm 45:6-7 (NASB)
6 Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of uprightness is the scepter of Your kingdom.
7 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of joy above Your fellows.

We do not truly honor God by merely obeying Him. We glorify Him the most when we enjoy Him fully.

How do we enjoy Him fully?

It begins by developing a relationship with Him that He started within us. It comes in sacred moments, where we are aware of our deep need for God. Without constant communication, we become unconscious of our deepest needs, we become accustomed to things the way they are and resistant to the holy path that He wants us to follow. When we become aware, that is when answers come and guidance is given.

It is easy to fall into a rote cycle of prayer. We pray for that which we already own through Christ, yet it is neglected and unused. Sometimes we resist the Spirit and pray for things that can never be ours. And sometimes we pray for that which we must do ourselves through faith.

Praise God that He wants us to enjoy Him forever. As you pray this week, remember the joy that is yours through Christ Jesus.

Come and pray with us on Tuesday night at 7pm. It will bring you joy and it will honor God.

Always praying for the glory of God,
Chris McKean

Pray for guidance

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Heavenly Father,

I praise you as the creator, author of all things, sustainer of creation, and our Father who has called us into your kingdom.

May I accept your guidance when I pray for it, even if it isn’t what I expect.  Give me more faith each day, so I can live out my life only walking in Your way.

Forgive me when I

say I believe in You, yet doubt your promises,

say I trust in You, yet worry,

say I love you, yet don’t obey,

say I believe You have all the answers, yet I don’t ask for Your help in prayer.

Always praying for the glory of God,

Chris McKean

Your unchanging love

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Heavenly Father,

It seems that we live in a time of confusion, where we doubt our beliefs and and believe our doubts.  We see many that seek to worship other than You, who would rather divide instead of sharing Your peace.  It seems that this is a time that is worse than any other, and yet, as I read in Isaiah this morning, I am reminded that we always live in these times.

Instead of focusing on the times, may I focus only on You.  I pray that you would make it hard for me to do wrong and easy to do what is right in Your eyes.

I praise You for who you are, the unchanging God of the universe.  I give thanks that your love never changes, realizing that if it did, you would not love us long.

I pray that I would follow you today and leave the worries of the world behind.

Always praying for the glory of God,

Chris McKean

Prayer Thoughts 09/12/2016

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Psalm 103:8-12 (TLB)
8 He is merciful and tender toward those who don’t deserve it; he is slow to get angry and full of kindness and love.
9 He never bears a grudge, nor remains angry forever.
10 He has not punished us as we deserve for all our sins,
11 for his mercy toward those who fear and honor him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth.
12 He has removed our sins as far away from us as the east is from the west.

Spirit of the living God,

breathe on your people and your church and fill us with your presence. Revive us, give us a living hope, and increase our faith. Make our souls hungry for You and You alone. Give us fullness of life, set us free from fear, doubt and conflict. Teach us to forgive and treat each other has you have treated us – slow to anger, abounding in love, and merciful towards our brothers and sisters in Christ. Give us joy in Jesus our Lord and Savior.

Amen.

Come and pray with us on Tuesday night at 7pm. The time spent will refresh your soul.

Always praying for the glory of God,
Chris McKean

Prayer 09/09/2016

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Heavenly Father,

May it never be custom that brings me to You in prayer, but my deep sense of need.  May my prayers not be a worship of the lips, while my heart is far away.  May my prayers come from moments when I forget myself and think only of You.

God, forgive the emptiness and self-serving nature of my prayers.  Please listen not to my words, but to my heart.

I know that you want me to be holy, set apart only for You.  Why am I so easily distracted from You?  Fill me with your Spirit today.  I pray that I will listen only to Him.

You have done it all.  May my thoughts, prayers, and deeds reflect a thankful heart for the salvation that You have given to me.

I pray this in the powerful name of Jesus,

Amen.

Prayer meeting notes 09 06 2016

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Romans 2:4 (NASB)
4 Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?

Romans 2:4 (TLB)
4 Don’t you realize how patient he is being with you? Or don’t you care? Can’t you see that he has been waiting all this time without punishing you, to give you time to turn from your sin? His kindness is meant to lead you to repentance.

Romans 2:4 (MSG)
4 Or did you think that because he’s such a nice God, he’d let you off the hook? Better think this one through from the beginning. God is kind, but he’s not soft. In kindness he takes us firmly by the hand and leads us into a radical life-change.

I should put these versions of the Roman’s verse somewhere I can read them every day. There is probably nothing that makes me more critical of others than a weekend with a large family gathering. I guess I expect family to have more grace than friends, neighbors, or even strangers. I forget that it is how I respond that is important. In fact, it isn’t so much what we do, but why we do it. If the motivation is right with God, then our actions will generate the right response.

Martin Luther once said that neither we nor God need our good works, but our neighbors do. I think his definition of neighbors include friends, strangers, and even family. Even if he didn’t mean that, I’m pretty sure that God does.

And it doesn’t help to just work harder. It doesn’t last. Paul was telling the Romans that. We have to go to the throne and repent and let God change us. Then we can love our neighbors first and our actions will be what God wants.

Always praying for the glory of God,

Chris McKean

Prayer Thoughts 9/5/2016

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Psalm 100:3 (NASB)
3 Know that the LORD Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

All of scripture and all the laws and commands contained within it are pointing towards this verse. God wants us to know Him and who He is, to worship Him knowing that we are His.

Everything we do and all that we are, reflects our knowledge and worship of Him. I often get that backwards, though. Service becomes the focus, doing becomes the measurement.

Even the commands of God become the focus. Take the great commandment. When we begin to think, even a little bit, that sharing our faith is something that is God needs us to do, we’ve fallen into that trap. We share our faith with others because of our love for God. It demonstrates that because we know Him and who He is, we can in a small way, thank Him for what He has done.

We can’t do that unless we know Him and we can’t know Him unless we spend time developing that relationship. Our faith can’t grow unless we fellowship with God. It’s out of that fellowship that our love for Him can overflow into others in our life.

It all comes back to God, which is where He wants it.

Come and pray with us on Tuesday night at 7pm. God is calling you, will you answer?

Always praying for the glory of God,
Chris McKean