He Hears You

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.

1 John 5:13-15 NIV

I can know that I can have eternal life and I can know that God hears me. First of all, eternal life is not simply immortality. Immortality without God is hell. Eternal life is about completeness, wholeness, joy unspeakable, life in God's presence. Part of that we begin to experience now is the beginnings of eternal life. Since we are still in our corruptible bodies we await the time we will be in the Lord's presence without hinderance, knowing him as we are known by him. Sometimes we forget or lose site of the truth that we have access to eternal life, in part, now. John wrote that we might know that.

Secondly, I think it is truly amazing that God hears me. The kicker is of course if we ask anything according to his will. When my wife and I first started seeing each other seriously I had to, of course, consider her two sons. They are both men now and I am very proud of them and how they handle themselves. At one time is was a bit rough between one of the boys and I. I remember praying, "Lord, what good does this do? How are you glorified in this? Is this your will?" I firmly believed it was God's will that we had at least a civil relationship, but, I prayed for a godly encouraging relationship of trust. The Lord heard those prayers and I remember my son saying, "Man, I really wanted to hate you, but you were so nice." God is so gracious and faithful. 

Eternal life and answered prayer meet in faith as we seek to love one another and live holy, righteous lives in Jesus' Name. 

Thank God for His Favor

Thank you for your favor upon us! Open our eyes to see your favor upon our lives! Show us your favor and establish the work of our hands. Praise be to you in us today!

The Word of the Day is Mercy: God Listens to My Cry for Mercy

Thank you, Lord, for your mercy. Thank you that we can call on you for mercy all day long. Praise you because you listen to our cry for mercy and in the day of trouble you will answer us!

He Is Able to Do More

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Ephesians 3:20-21 NIV

More than we ask or imagine...I heard a NBA coach once say, in response to a question by a court side reporter about the obvious number of free throw calls in his teams favor, "Well, I think we should of got more calls." The reporter was kind of stunned and didn't know what to say. That is how I am when I read these verses. God is able to do more than I ask or imagine. 

Well, OK, Lord strengthen us in such a way that we can't even imagine. Provide for us in ways that we don't even know how to ask. Be glorified in our actions in ways we can't begin to measure.

Ever Praising God

Blessed are those whose dwell 
   in your house

   they are ever praising you.

Psalms 84:4 NIV

I praise God because a few weeks ago I asked a co-worker how he was doing and he said not so good because his brother was given two months to live. I asked him if I could pray with him and we prayed right then and there. This past week he told me his brother has had a complete turn around, the doctors say he is doing better and went back to work. He thanked me the prayers and gave glory to God. 

Appeal to Answered Prayer

Do you remember an answered prayer? 

I like to pray that God would give me at least one redemptive conversation or moment (something I can do for others in his Name). Last Thursday, as I was walking back to my classroom from the office (it's just under a half mile from my room to the main office) I ran into one of our Building & Ground workers. I have known him for several years and it's always nice to hear how his family is doing. When I asked him how he was doing he told me that he honestly wasn't doing to well because his younger brother, a heart transplant recipient, went into the hospital the day before and was told he had two months to live. I listened and then asked if I could pray for him and he said yes. So, I did.  If you can, say a prayer for his brother.

The thing is, I normally don't walk that way back to my room, but because another worker was doing something I went through that wing. That's what is called a God-incidence. 

Tell us and answered prayer or God-incidence from your life.

The Answer Is No

“Will the Lord reject forever?
   Will he never show his favor again? 
Has his unfailing love vanished forever?
   Has his promise failed for all time? 
Has God forgotten to be merciful?
   Has he in anger withheld his compassion?”

Psalms 77:7-9 NIV

Praise be to God alone, the answer is no! In Christ he will not reject us. He will show his favor. His unfailing love will appear again and again. His promises are yes in Christ to us. His mercy is everlasting and his compassion is new every day! Praise be to God alone!

God Hears

The poor will see and be glad—

   you who seek God, may your hearts live! 

The Lord hears the needy

   and does not despise his captive people.

Psalms 69:32-33 NIV

I've heard politicians tell us that they hear the needy. They don't care about anything besides getting re-elected. They promise everything, but deliver little, if anything. 

God is not like that. God hears. He does not need your vote. He does not need your money. He does not need your affirmation. He just needs your trust. 

He will not despise your prayer for help or ignore your cry for release from captivity. Call upon him. He will answer you in the day of trouble. 

From Shame to Radiance in the Chaos

I will extol the Lord at all times;
   his praise will always be on my lips.
I will glory in the Lord;
   let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
Glorify the Lord with me;
   let us exalt his name together. 
I sought the Lord, and he answered me;
   he delivered me from all my fears.
Those who look to him are radiant;
   their faces are never covered with shame.
Psalms 34:1-5 (NIV)

David didn't call on God from a comfortable cozy little nook in the palace. Saul was seeking to kill him because of jealousy. He was running for his life. In the midst of chaos David sought God and found him. God heard David and answered his prayer. He felt no shame and the radiant glory of the God who saves us reflected in his life. 

Father, hear our prayers from the chaos in our lives. We look to you to answer and deliver us. Change our shame to radiance. Praise be to you in us today.

Ask Anything...

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him

1 John 5:13 -15  (NIV)

What's the point? The point is that we know we have eternal life. The point isn't that we know the secret faith formula to get whatever we want. 

To know we have eternal life is to know we are in Christ, receiving his love and loving others with his love puts us securely in his will. If we seek his will and pray accordingly, his word says he will give us what we ask. Since Christ loves us enough to die for us, he surely listens to our prayers. 

OK, so let's get real here. I have prayed and not gotten what I have asked for. It is easy to say, "Well, that wasn't God's will then." Maybe. I have prayed for people's salvation and they seem to reject God and I know it is God's desire that all men be saved (I Timothy 2:4). I think we must consider that God's will is ultimately that we are made new in the image of Jesus Christ and sometimes waiting in him to answer prayer shapes our faith in ways we cannot perceive or imagine. He may hear us but may be doing something we just don't understand or see. 

Faith is believing that God loves me and is working out everything for my good according to his will and in his faithful timing. 

Father, help us to pray and wait upon you to work you will in our lives. Praise be to you in us today!

WHAT MATTERS IS THE TRUTH

 O Lord, how many are my foes!
   How many rise up against me!
Many are saying of me,
   “God will not deliver him.”
But you, Lord, are a shield around me, O LORD;
   you bestow glory on me and lift up my head.
To the LORD,and he I cry aloud,
   and he answers me from his holy hill.
Psalms 3:1-4 (NIV)

It doesn't matter what people say, what matters it the truth. The truth is that God is our shield, he will deliver us, and he will answer us from his holy hill!

POWERFUL AND EFFECTIVE PRAYER

"And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." James 5:15-16

I kind of assume that you, like me, want to be that righteous man or woman whose prayer is powerful and effective. That said I am reminded of a few verses. 

I Corinthians 1:30 tells us that we are in Christ and he is our righteousness.  

Ephesians 31:12 encourages us that, "In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence." 

Hebrews 10:10 bluntly says, "And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of body of Jesus Christ once for all." 

Do you get my point? God makes us righteous. If we are righteous in God's eyes, because he paid the price to redeem us, we are righteous. 

The enemy wants to condemn us. God has redeemed us and made us righteous in Christ and from that position we need to pray! From that position we can pray. We pray knowing that God hears our prayers because Jesus made a way for us, he is our Way.

Just pray. Because in Christ God makes it powerful and effective. 

Father, help us to pray knowing we are righteous in Christ and therefore you hear our prayers. Praise be to you in us today!

GOD'S ANSWERS ARE AWESOME AND RIGHTEOUS

You answer us with awesome and righteous deeds, God our Savior, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas, who formed the mountains by your power, having armed yourself with strength, who stilled the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, and the turmoil of the nations. The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders; where morning dawns, where evening fades, you call forth songs of joy.

Psalms 65:5-8 (NIV)

Two things this Psalm makes me think. One, how do I look for God to answer my prayers and two, do I sing songs of joy?

I don't believe I can coerce God into answering my prayers let alone answering them a specific way. But, I maybe I don't see what God is doing sometimes because I am not looking. For example, I always pray that God will bless my family and I often miss that we have never gone a day hungry without a place to live, and we are fairly healthy despite the fact we aren't heath nuts. God is good but I don't always "see" it. 

Sometimes being thankful for the "little" things helps me see the "big" things God is doing or wants to do. Or, it a least allows me to have the faith to wait on him. 

May you be thankful for all God does do and your eyes be opened to what he is doing.

Father, thank you for all you are doing in my life whether I see it or not. Praise be to you in us today! 

Motives and Answered Prayer

"What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because  you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on what you want." James 4:1-3 

It's too bad James doesn't just tell you what he's really thinking! Again, James doesn't mess around, he just gets right to it. Have you ever prayed and didn't get an answer, or at least not the answer you wanted? Here is another self-check from James. 

Are you in strife? Striving is different than trying really hard to do the right thing. Striving in the flesh is not the same as seeking to do God's will with all you heart, soul, and mind. What is being described is someone who is having issues, quarreling, with everyone around them. For some people, everything turns out to be an argument. James uses the words "kill and covet". Those are pretty strong descriptors of someones actions and motives. You see, there is a difference between telling someone you know you like their car and you'd like to have one yourself and coveting it. Think about that...

I sometimes struggle with the idea of having pure motives. I am not sure I can ever have entirely pure motives. But, God knows that I am by dust. He knows I am human. He knows I have a sinful nature. The issue is if I am seeking God about what I am asking for and trying to put others needs before my own. 

Self-check question of the day: Am I coveting or caring (for others needs above mine)? 

Father, help us to seek you and seek to serve others. Build your kingdom through and in us! Praise be to you in us today!

A FEW GOOD THINGS

Praise awaits you, our God, in Zion; 
     to you our vows will be fulfilled. 
You who answer prayer,
     to you all people will come. 
When we were overwhelmed by sins,
     you forgave our transgressions. 
Blessed are those you choose and bring near to live in your courts!
We are filled with the good things of your house,
     of your holy temple.
Psalms 65:1-4 (NIV) 

God is good. He hears our prayers, forgives our transgressions, brings us near to live in his courts, and fills us with the good things of his house. 

So, if you have a need, pray because he hears.

If you have sinned, confess your sins because he forgives your sins in Christ.

If you feel distant from God, draw near to him because he draw us near to him.

Father, thank you for these good things you give us. Praise be to you in us today!

THE POINT: CHRIST IS

"The point of what we are saying is this: We do have a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by man." Hebrews 8:1-2 

You have a need. I have a need. We need someone to represent us to God Almighty. We need our sins forgiven. We need someone to be interceding on our behalf. 

Christ died for our sins; past, present and future. Christ sits at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven. Do you realize what that means? It means where the battle is being decided, we have the advantage. Christ, is representing us. That doesn't mean everything is easy. It does mean that Christ will keep us in his will and his way. And in the end, he will give us victory. 

Remember Job. Satan had to ask permission to do him any harm. Job suffered great losses to learn that God alone is Creator and Ruler, Righteous and Holy. God blessed him more in the end of his life than before, but, he did go through quite a battle. 

So, remember whom you have in heaven. Humbly and thankfully call on him. 

Thank you Jesus for being our High Priest and meeting our needs in yourself! Praise be to you in us today!

PRAYER IN BATTLE

"They were helped in fighting them, and God handed the Hagrites and all their allies over to them, because they cried to him during the battle. He answered their prayers, because they trusted in him." I Chronicles 5:20

Where's your battle? Is it at work? Is it at home? Is it within yourself? Your finances? Where ever the battle is, cry out to God from the battlefield! 

Sometimes we forget that we are to seek God in the middle of the struggle. You think you have to fix everything first. You try to get yourself together, clean yourself up a bit. In the meantime the battle is still going on around you. Don't wait, pray. Cry out to God. "Lord, give me the strength to do your will. Give me victory!" 

If you are like me, there are days you when feel like you leave one battlefield to fight on another. During one of the early battles of the civil war, General US Grant, rode from skirmish to skirmish urging his men to fight on until they finally were victorious. Sometimes that is what we have to do. Go from battlefield to battlefield and cry out to God for help, for victory, until the battle is won. 

The word says, "He answered their prayers because they trusted in him." So, cry out to him! That is your mustard seed of faith. Crying out to him. Keep fighting and keep trusting. The victory will come.

Father, we cry out to you from the middle of our battles! Answer our prayers and give us the victory! Praise be to you in us today!

GOT TROUBLES?

"I will sacrifice a freewill offering to you;
     I will praise your name, O LORD, 
     for it is good.
 For he has delivered me from all my troubles,
     and my eyes have looked in triumph on my foes."
 Psalm 54:6-7

I think there are few types of troubles. 

• You can have the "that's just life" troubles. Things like the tires on your car wear down, the three-millionth flush is apparently the most you toilet can flush, your daughter needs braces and her dentist needs a new Porsche. Just life.   
• Then there are the "well, you asked for it" troubles. You choose to say it, do it or avoid it and the consequences are you have to pay the price.  
• Maybe you've experienced the "what mine is thine and thine is mine" troubles. You know, your boss makes a promise to deliver something and you have to make it happen. They leave early and you stay late. You get a ticket, so now that isn't enough cash to buy groceries for the family. 
• My personal favorite, the "open the door, step on the burning bag of crap" troubles. You're minding your own business, trying to do the right thing, and the next thing you know you find your self holding a nasty can of worms. You're coaching your sons baseball team and two parents get in an argument, that come to find out, has something to do with that time the thing happen that one year.  

Whatever the kind of trouble you are in, God can deliver you. Look to him and call on his name. 

Father, help us to look to you and call on you in the midst of all our troubles. Thank you for the countless times you have delivered me! Praise be to you in us today!

GO ON IN! IT'S OK!

"Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." Hebrews 4:16

Our greatest need is to be right with God. Christ, our High Priest, allows us to enter into the presence of God without fear. So come on in!

Knowing that I am right with God, because of Jesus Christ, I can receive mercy and find grace to help me. Mercy is God not giving me what I do deserve. Grace is God giving me what I don't deserve. So, go on in and pray!

Everyday I need God's mercy and grace. In Christ I receive that mercy in grace. I also get to enter into the presence of the Father and ask for help with confidence. Go on in.

I think of David when I think of someone who boldly went before the Father.   "Rise up, O LORD, confront them, bring them down; rescue me from the wicked by your sword" (Psalm 17:13). If you read the Psalms of David you see that he was very straightforward  you might say blunt, in his prayers. That confidence, knowing that God loves us and hears our prayers, is the confidence we can have when we pray. So, let's go on in and approach the throne of grace!

Father, help us to enter your presence with confidence. Thank you, Lord Jesus Christ, for being our High Priest and giving us access to the throne of grace! Praise be to you in us today!

CHRIST REIGNS IRREGARDLESS OF PERCEPTION

""...and put everything under his feet."

 In putting everything under him, God left nothing that is not  subject to him. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him." Hebrews 2:8

Well, this is reality isn't it? We know Jesus is Lord, we just can't see it all the time. I think this is where faith truly comes into our lives. 

You may think there is some magic prayer of faith that will induce God to act quickly. But, his time is not our time. 

You may have heard that there is an exalted state of personal faith where your belief in the greatness, faithfulness and power of God will open the blessings of heaven upon your life. But, God's often tends to dispense his blessings in ways we can't imagine. 

You may think that your faithfulness to Christ warrants some kind of tangible evidence of the reign of Christ in and around you life. But, our righteousness is but filthy rags in God's sight. The truth is that it is never about our goodness but it is always about his faithfulness. Although I do believe that living by faith helps us see God working, our works can never force God to act. 

God acts when he sees fit. His ways our not our ways (yes, I find that frustrating sometimes).  But, his love in unfailing and everlasting. His promise is to work all things for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purposes (Romans 8:28). God reigns. God will and does act when he sees fit and he will not be persuaded to move until he knows in his perfect wisdom, the time is right. 

Father, help us to be still and know that you are God. Open our eyes to see you in our lives today! Praise be to you in us today!