Category Archives: Prayer Challenge

Prayer Thoughts 11/7/2016

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Isaiah 40:31 (NASB)
31 Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.
2 Corinthians 1:3 (NASB)
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,

All of us have gone through periods of spiritual dryness – times where we have feelings of being far away from God. Our initial reaction may be too long for the times of closeness, the pleasurable sensations that can result from the special grace of God. Our reaction may be to pray for the closeness, the return of the sensations of His sweet grace. We must be careful not to chase after the feelings, but to seek after Him alone. And so, He takes us through a time where we must wait on Him. It is a time of purification where we can draw even closer.

What does it mean to “wait for the Lord” during these seasons? Are we to simply give up and let the time pass? I believe it is a time where our prayers become times of silence, of listening. It is a time to be patient, to persevere. Never forget that His Spirit lives within us. Listen for that still, small voice inside that waits for us to quiet ourselves so we can hear Him. Let your joy be the trial. Wait for Him patiently, always attentive to His leading, for only He can satisfy. His mercies are ever present and He will comfort if we are willing to follow only Him.

There are now 15 people that have joined the prayer challenge in November to pray daily that God would reveal the good works that He has prepared for us. If we wait for the Lord, He will reveal them to us.

Join us this Tuesday night at 7pm for a time of prayer. If you are going through a season of spiritual dryness, come and spend some time in silent prayer, as you wait on the Lord. You will be encouraged as your brothers and sisters in Christ pour out their praise, thanksgiving and supplications to the Almighty God who loves us all.

Always praying for the glory of God,

Prayer Challenge 11/1/2016

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Ephesians 2:10 (NASB)
10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

Does the idea that God has created specific activities for us to accomplish in His kingdom terrify you or excite you?

I have to admit that I have been on both sides of these emotions in my life. The whole idea of sanctification is that it is a process that begins when we are called into His kingdom and doesn’t end until we see Him in Glory. However, the rate at which we become more like Jesus varies depending on how willing we are to allow the Holy Spirit to direct our lives.

I’ve been thinking and praying about my personal sanctification road recently. One of the unique things about it is that when we become Christians, God doesn’t just make us aware of the sins that we have and will commit in our lives. I’m not sure any of us could survive that. As we work on our road to holiness, He makes us aware of our sin over time. It can leave us like Paul, who said that he was the chief of all sinners. It wasn’t that he hadn’t made amazing progress in sanctification, it only meant that God still had a lot of work to do and Paul’s list of sins didn’t seem to diminish because God was continually making him aware of new ones that he had to work on.

Sanctification is a step in our progress to glorification that requires our participation. If we don’t participate, we can quench the Holy Spirit and not make the progress that He wants us to make. Why do we do that? For most people, it is the fear of the unknown. We would rather do good works in His kingdom that we want to work on, not something that might be challenging or something that we are not prepared for. We often hear the term “getting out of our comfort zone” when it comes to accomplishing works for God’s kingdom. It occurred to me as I was thinking about it, that maybe we ought to rather look at it as “getting into God’s comfort zone”. That’s what sanctification is all about. Releasing our hold on our lives and giving it all over to Him. The latter describes the safe place we yearn for, because He will never forsake us.

Sanctification is also something that is typically years, even decades in the making. And because it happens over the long term, I probably don’t give it the attention that it needs. In fact, let’s do a thought experiment. Think about someone that you knew 20 years ago that you knew pretty well and they knew you. If you met them today, after all those years, would they be able to discern the difference in you as you have become more sanctified. How about 10 years, 5 years, or to make it more difficult, even just last year. Would they see progress in your road to holiness?

Let’s consider another experiment. What if you were to ask your spouse or your best friend if they see any difference in you over the last six months? What would be their response?

Which brings me to my challenge for all of us. Let’s pray daily over the next month asking God to reveal the good works He has in mind for us in the coming year. Tell Him we are ready to get into His comfort zone. And that we are excited about what He has in store for us.

Will you join me?  If so, comment on this post and let me know.

Always praying for the glory of God,