Tag Archives: Prayer

Let Your Faith Be Seen!

12 Jan

Matthew 9:2 says, “When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, ‘Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you'”.

Charles Stanley, in his Life Lessons Bible, notes that it would be hard to “see” faith if it never worked its way out in meaningful action. He said that if our faith does not affect the way we live or ever get noticed by others, then perhaps it is not genuine faith at all.

As I read that in my prayer time this morning, it excited me. Many things came to my mind about faith. For example, many times we feel led by God to do something that may appear strange to others. As they begin to give us “their opinion” we begin to reason and sometimes even allow the words of others to cause us to stumble.

For the record, the word “opinion” is the view of the other person and their view of the worth or of the value of someone or something. And, according to the Thesaurus, another word for opinion is “judgment”. Just sayin’.

This works both ways. Let’s make sure we are not the ones to cause someone to stumble. After all, our opinions are just that – they are our opinions. If we give our opinion we should make sure that the person we are speaking to understands that even though we are giving our opinion on a matter — it is them who is responsible for following God’s direction. We never want to be guilty of overriding God’s direction to someone. That’s a little scary to me.

On the other hand, if we are the one presenting our situation to another about what we believe God is saying to us, we need to leave the consequences to God (another of Charles Stanley’s Life Principles). We can’t know what God is doing in someone’s life. That’s why we are told not to judge others.

I can tell you, I have done some things at God’s leading that have thoroughly convinced others that I may not be of sound mind. But, I have learned to hear the voice of my Lord and Savior and it is Him I want to please. It is important that we share with others and not hide our light under a bushel. God uses us in ways we can’t know. Others are watching and they “see” our faith in action. Then, they “see” when God steps in and takes control.

Let your faith be seen. Don’t be afraid of what others think. Don’t hide your light under a bushel. Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine. I think it’s wonderful when we have others praying for us and they become a part of God’s miracle in our lives. This is how we share one another’s burdens. This is how our faith grows.

Keep in mind that even Moses looked like a failure in men’s eyes, even as he was following God’s direction to the letter. Those around him doubted him and what he said. But, then they “saw” his faith through the works of God.

Ask God today to help you show your faith to others. And, ask Him to help you to encourage others and to be careful of any words of doubt you may speak.

Obviously, all things we hear are not from God. But, let’s not be too quick to judge. That’s why we need prayer and God’s Word to speak to our hearts and show us the truth.

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What Does Acknowledge God Mean?

4 Jan

Acknowledge God in all you do and He will direct your path. What does that mean exactly?

To me acknowledging God means to keep Him in mind with everything you do. Make it a habit to think of Him often. A conversation with God does not have to be a formal, lengthy discussion each time you pray. Simply keeping Him in the loop is what is important. He cares about everything in our lives. If you don’t think God is concerned with details, take a few minutes to read Exodus 25 & 26. God instructs Moses to have the Israelites bring offerings to Him and to make a sanctuary for Him. He describes in detail, down to the color of yarn for embroidery, and the kind of wood to use, how He wants this accomplished.

I remember long ago when I first read these Scriptures. I actually questioned God about why all the detail was necessary. I was young in the Lord and hadn’t read the Bible much yet. I was truly kind of bored about what I was reading and wanting to get to some more interesting things. As I asked God about this He plainly spoke to my heart that He wanted me to know that He is concerned about the smallest details of my life. Wow! How many times do we neglect to go to God with something because it seems too small?

God is the Master of the Universe, King of Kings, Lord or Lords, yet He cares about me – even the small things that are important to me are important to Him. That is true, unconditional love. God wants us to know that everything about us is important to Him. We can go to Him with anything and everything. We may not have anyone else we can feel that safe with – but we have God.

If you don’t have one, find a place where you can kneel when you need to and just “be” with God. I don’t mean for a formal time of prayer. I mean just a place where you can go, sit or kneel, just feel His presence. Know He is there. Feel safe. Feel loved.

Of course, God is with us everywhere. But, sometimes, I need to stop everything and go to my special place, and just acknowledge that He is there and that I trust Him and love Him and that I need to feel His presence. He is faithful. He always meets me there.

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Get To Know God

1 Jan

God wants us to know Him intimately. The way to do that is by spending time with Him. If you’re like me, you’re in a hurry to get your day started because there is so much on your “list” to do. For some reason the things that should be the most important in my daily routine are the things that feel to me like they are taking up “project” time. I’m talking about eating right, exercising, and yes, talking with God.

Goodness! It’s even hard to admit that. I just always have so many things to do and to sit still and eat, or sit still and talk to God and read His Word, or heaven forbid – go outside and walk around the block – well, just sayin’. It’s the fast paced world we live in, I suppose. Or, possibly just bad habits.

I’ve been trying to be more disciplined in these areas. Especially my time with God. For almost 90 days now I have missed only a few quiet times with the Lord. I have gone from feeling pressured to do it to feeling incomplete if I don’t do it. Somehow, God adds time to my day when I spend my first minutes of the day with Him. And, the prayers I’ve seen answered as a result – amazing!

I’m still working on the exercise thing and the eating properly routine. But, I’ll get there. I know I will because when God comes first, all these other things are added – so says His Word.

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God Talks Back

31 Dec
Not only is God a good listener, He is a wonderful conversationalist! Many people tell me that God doesn’t talk to them. God tells us in His Holy Bible that His sheep know His voice! If you are a born again Christian, that means you are one of His sheep and you hear His voice.
 
You don’t have to be a seasoned Christian to hear God speak. Some don’t realize God is talking to them. They think it’s their conscious (sometimes it is). Or, they think they just had a great idea. Then, at times, they wonder why they had a particular thought.
 
God’s voice is generally small and quiet. If we are not familiar with His Word (the Bible), we may confuse His communication with other voices we hear. God gave us a conscious and He gave us common sense. He also gave us Christian friends who can offer us their opinion. Then, there is our enemy, satan, whom the Bible tells us comes to steal, kill and destroy. He is quick to feed us bad thoughts and ideas to get us out of God’s will.
 
God gave us His Word so we could learn about Him. He wanted us to know that throughout all of time men and women  have been just like us. Sometimes we obey God’s Word and sometimes we don’t. As we read God’s Word we learn about how God dealt with His people – how He taught them to walk uprightly. We also learn from those stories how God rewards us and yes, how He disciplines us. Sometimes we see how God punished those who rebelled against Him.
 
So, even though we may be a new Christian and have the ability to hear God, we must spend time with Him in prayer and in reading His Word so that we can learn His ways, thus identifying His voice more clearly.
 
If someone gave you a new car – just handed you the keys and said, “It’s all yours!” – You may find yourself in great danger if you tried to drive without some sort of training. If you decided to hop in the car anyway and take your chances, you could get into a lot of trouble – possibly even die. I know that sounds a bit drastic, but we can’t assume every voice we hear is God. We need to spend time getting to know Him. As we do we will learn to discern God’s voice from all the others.
 
Are you willing to give Him some of your time?

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