Lifewords, prayer series, 14 of 30

 

lifewords, prayer series, 14 of 30  Waiting on the Lord IV   Jesus said we are to pray much. In following His example, the Holy Spirit will teach us how to have an abiding prayer relationship with Him, moment by moment. Oh this is the most imperative, the most exciting foundational aspect of our life in Christ and it is the key to all!. Jesus  also taught us, by His habit and by His Word, that we are to establish a time to go into a set apart place and meet with our Father alone. This is the necessity of each day!    An important aspect of our prayer time is learning to "wait on the Lord." The most often used word in the Old Testament for Wait, in the Hebrew, is the word Qavah, which means to hope or wait with expectation! Hebrew words are often a picture of the meaning of the word and in this case, the word has the connotation of a rope bound together. I believe it is the binding together of hope and expectation in looking to our Faithful Lord who will meet us and  who will watch over His Word to perform it. We are not waiting, just to be waiting. We are looking to our King and His Word, confident of His covenant love for us and His faithfulness to His Word. I absolutely love Psalm 59:9.10 O my Strength, I will watch for you, for you O God are my fortress.  My God in His steadfast love will meet me;  God will let me look in triumph on my enemies.   When David wrote this psalm he was on the run for his life.  Saul had sent assassins to kill him. But he does not allow himself to get overwhelmed. He is looking, watching, waiting expectantly knowing God will meet him. Refusing to be moved by the hopeless circumstance he looks to God knowing the God will meet him on his battlefield.  He says, 'my God in His steadfast love (love is "hesed" meaning covenant love!)  will meet me'. That word "Meet" has the connotation of  having an appointment with someone and arriving in advance to make preparation. In other words, God is already ahead of us, on our battlefield waiting to meet us  with provision for victory. We are His covenant Children. Our Father delights to arrive on our battlefield in advance with His provision, protections and purposes. He will meet us. That is what covenant love is. So learn to wait, not just for the sake of waiting, but by looking with expectation to His promises, understanding His absolute faithfulness,  until your faith soars with confidence that will enable you to stand, to defeat the enemy and to walk in God's plan!  Let's master  art of waiting on the Lord, He will strengthen us, He will meet us! My soul waits in silence for God alone.....wait, I say, on the Lord!

Lifewords, Prayer Series, 13 of 30, Waiting on the Lord III

Lifewords, Prayer Series, 13 of 30 Waiting on the Lord III   "For since the beginning of the world men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, nor has the eye seen any God besides You, Who acts for the one who WAITS FOR HIM."  Isaiah  64:4    As part of your daily prayer time with the Lord, make time to master the art of waiting on the Lord. It will be lifechanging for you and the Lord will teach you. Here are some scriptures for you to meditate on regarding waiting and the blessings that accompany our obedience to practice being still and looking to Him for all.    Isaiah 40:31 But they that wait  upon the Lord will renew their strength, they will mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be wary; they shall walk and not faint.   Psalm 33:30 Our souls wait for the Lord. HE is our Help and Shield. For our heart is glad in Him because we trust in his Name   Psalm 130:5 I wait for the Lord. My soul waits. And in His Word I hope; My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.   Psalm 37:3-7 Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him, and He will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light. And your justice as the noonday. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him;   Psalm 40:1 I waited patiently for the Lord, He inclined to me and heard my cry.  He drew me up form the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure....   Psalm 62 My soul waits in silence for God only; From Him comes my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation, My fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.

Lifewords, Prayer Series, 12 of 30

Lifewords, Prayer Series, 12 of 30 Waiting on the Lord II "I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His Word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord, more than the watchmen for the morning, more than the watchman for the morning."      Especially when there is much to pray about....many concerns, many needs, fears within and fears without, trials abounding, battles raging, impossibilities clouding our faith......it is often the most difficult discipline to practice waiting on the Lord in our prayer time. But it is this time in the secret place of learning to look expectantly to Him,  and being  still in His presence, in awe of His majesty that is the key to an amazing abiding prayer relationship with our Lord. He wants us to learn the art of waiting upon Him.     Sometimes when one of my little ones would get a little too agitated  or worked up, I would have them practice sitting still in a chair and just think about being thankful. They would rather do almost anything else, it was so hard to be still. They would immediately want to tell me all about it and before they could start talking I would say "sh....no talking."   They would say..."but mom I just want to...." No, be still,  I would say, "No talking. Just be still and think and be thankful". They would try to talk three or four more times and I would stop them at the first peep. That would be almost impossible for my son when he was about  five years old.  Soon, his little feet would start swinging. "Stop moving" I would say. Then he would start humming. "Shh, be still" Then he would start clapping his hands or moving his head. Oh how hard it would be for him to be still. Isn't that how we are at times when we come to our Lord in prayer?   I think our Father is wanting us to be still daily. We want to talk. We want to fret. We want to explain. We want to complain. We want to bring one hundred prayer requests. But  I believe that the Father says "Worship Me dear child, and  be still for awhile. Think about Me. Wait for Me. Be with Me. Quiet yourself, trust in Me and My Word. Consider my Works. Consider my Love for You and just be still and wait awhile in my presence.  Remember all of my faithfulness to you, and through the generations. Remember Who I AM.  Bring your racing mind in line with My Word. Allow my love to fill you, My Peace to anchor you. I will come. I am here."     Memorize this verse, and  live like you believe it. It is just as true  and alive for you and I today  as it was the day it was written. Read it and meditate on it until you really Hear it as a living promise for you this day.   "For since the beginning of the world men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, nor has the eye seen any God besides You, Who acts for the one who WAITS FOR HIM."  Isaiah  64:4

Lifewords Prayer Series 11 of 30

Lifewords Prayer Series 11 of 30 Waiting on the Lord   Our daily time of prayer alone with God is such a miraculous exchange. Our weakness for His strength. Our failures for His forgiveness. Our petitions for His answers. Our barrenness for His life. Our fear for His love. In His Light we see Light. In His presence is fullness of Joy. His love is consuming. He is our All in All! One of the most important aspects of an awesome prayer life is that we don't do all the talking! Of course the Lord responds to our cry for help as we bring our petitions to the Father with childlike faith. But God's plan for us as we grow up in our praying is that we learn to be still in His presence, cultivating the art of hearing. It is what the Bible refers to many times as Waiting on the Lord. It is challenging, for our inclination more to DO than to BE STILL! It takes practice and the Holy Spirit is our Teacher in all.    Today, let's ask the Lord to teach us how to wait in His presence in awe of Him, trusting in His matchless Word. He will teach us how to be quiet and to "hear" with spiritual ears. Psalm 37:7 says, "Be still before the Lord and wait." Psalm 130:5 is one of my favorites, "I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His Word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord, more than the watchmen for the morning, more than the watchman for the morning." Be sure to have your journal/notebook with you and your Bible in prayer, for He will meet you in your waiting and He will show you great and mighty things that you do not know!!! Remember Isaiah 40:31, "But they that wait upon the Lord will renew their strength, they will mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." Learning the art of waiting on the Lord brings strength and endurance for every day of the journey.    Waiting is to look to the Lord with expectation, with full assurance that He will meet you, He will fill you afresh with His presence, He will transform you, He will instruct you. Determine daily that before you ask, seek and knock, you will "wait upon the Lord" until you receive from Him. Meditate on His Word, Think about the splendor of Who He is. Listen. Lord, teach us how to Wait on You daily.

Lifewords Prayer Series 10 of 30

Lifewords Prayer Series 10 of 30    Jesus said in Matthew 6:6 "When you PRAY,  go into your room and close the door and pray to your Father in secret, and your Father,  Who sees in secret will reward you openly."     Oh how our Lord is beckoning us, urging us to daily time with Him in the secret place of prayer. We enter His gates with much thanksgiving and into His courts with much praise. We come by the precious blood of Jesus, humbling ourselves and asking the Lord to reveal areas of sin in the light of His Word. According to 1 John 1:9 we bring our failures, our inadequacies, our sin to Him in repentance and we receive forgiveness and cleansing!  This is the most wonderful miracle of every day and a key to effective prayer! That we can receive the Lord's forgiveness from our failures.  "If we confess our sin before Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us of all unrighteousness." Wow!  When you come into the prayer closet don't bypass this process...............Come to the wonderful Cross of Christ, see your failures nailed there, and allow the power of the Blood of the perfect Lamb of God to cover them. The penalty for our sin has been paid! But we must appropriate this precious blood of Jesus every day and receive forgiveness. Jesus said that we are to ask the Father to "forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us."   Psalm 66:18 says, "if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." Oh but as we allow the Holy Spirit to reveal areas of darkness and sin in our heart and repent,  He will hear and respond to our prayers.  "Bless the Lord Oh my soul, and forget not all His benefits, who forgives all your iniquity....!"     According to Psalm 51 "He will daily wash us from our iniquity and cleanse us from sin" We can't approach God the Father any old way. We come into His presence in prayer receiving forgiveness.  Don't let sin keep you from prayer. Run to Him, receive forgiveness and come boldly to the throne of grace to find mercy and grace to help in time of need, by faith! Every day we can receive mercy for our failures! Who can ascend to the hill of the Lord and stand in His holy place in prayer? He who has clean hands and a pure heart..................Oh Lord thank you for forgiveness!

Lifewords Prayer Series 9 of 30

Lifewords  Prayer Series 9 of 30 Jesus said in Matthew 6:6 "When you PRAY,  go into your room and close the door and pray to your Father in secret, and your Father,  Who sees in secret will reward you openly."    As we surrender all to Him the Lord will teach us to pray, through the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit our Teacher. He will expose and remove the barriers of pride, unbelief, sin and unforgiveness . These four areas must be brought into the light of God's Word every day. If left unchecked, they will hinder effective praying. But when we bring them daily to the victorious cross, trusting in the power of the blood of Jesus to forgive and liberate us, we will be set free into a whole new level of prayer and intercession.      So, we come into His gates with Thanksgiving, We enter His courts with Praise. It is interesting to think about the Tabernacle of Moses, a picture for us today of how we are to approach God in prayer. Remember, the first area right after the entryway to the tent was the Altar of Sacrifice where the animal sacrifices  were made to atone for the sin of the people.  This  is a picture to us, of bringing our sacrifices of Praise  to the Lord as we come into prayer.    Next was the "Laver" or wash basin for cleansing. This signifies to us that when we come into our time of prayer, we must come by the cleansing Blood of our Savior.  We come with humility, asking the Lord to search our hearts and reveal, so that we can repent and receive forgiveness and cleansing according to 1 John 1:9. Daily repentance is powerful and necessary and vital for effective prayer! God's Word says in Psalms that "if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me."  Oh, but the precious, powerful blood of our Savior who is abundant in lovingkindness and forgiveness! He wants us to come to Him, with all of our failures, all of our sin, all of our imperfection. As we come with a humble and sincere heart, repenting for all, we can receive forgiveness and cleansing. We can be confident that the power of His grace and love to forgive us is greater than our sin.There is power in His blood, in the very Name of Jesus!

Lifewords Prayer Series 8 of 30 God's Word and Prayer

Lifewords  Prayer Series 8 of 30    Jesus said in Matthew 6:6 "When you PRAY,  go into your room and close the door and pray to your Father in secret, and your Father,  Who sees in secret will reward you openly."   He is urging us to come, compelling us to meet with Him and learn how to pray well.  Prayer was the priority with Jesus.  Having  laid aside His deity and living on this earth as a man, completely yielded to the Holy Spirit, He lived in a continual, prayer relationship with the Father. He also spend much time alone with Father in prayer,  often before the dawn, at times all night long. He taught His disciples more about prayer that any other topic. Much prayer and much time in God's Word is the necessity of the day for every believer now. We must be transformed in His presence and we must bring His will to this lost world through prayer. He said ask. He said seek. He said knock. This is the condition for receiving, finding and doors opening. And He said ask in faith, believing. He said men ought always to pray, and not faint.   We come with thanksgiving, we come with praise. (Psalm 100:4,5) We come by way of the Cross, receiving forgivness for all.  (1 John 1:9) We pray to The Father in Jesus Name.  Jesus said, "whatever you ask in My Name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son, If you ask me anything in My Name, I will do it." (John 14:13) Jesus is our example in prayer, the Holy Spirit is our Teacher. The classroom of prayer is praying!  Uncovering hindrances to effective prayer will  enable you to remove them.  As we surrender all to Him, the Lord will remove the barriers of pride, unbelief, sin and unforgiveness. Lord, teach us to Pray!

Lifewords Prayer Series 7 of 30, God's Word and Prayer

Lifewords  Prayer Series 7 of 30 Concerning our daily, secret time of prayer with the Lord, we come with thanksgiving and praise, we repent of sin and receive forgiveness by appropriating the blood of Jesus,  and we ask the Holy Spirit to fill us and direct our praying. Another vital aspect of our prayer time and the secret to receiving answers to prayer lies in how we apply God's Word during prayer. Be sure to have your Bible open, your pen and your journal during your prayer time because your study and meditation on God's Word is key.      Remember, our time with the Lord is an exchange. It is not us just coming with all of our petitions! Time in God's Word and prayer go hand in hand. I love reading about George Mueller, a man who received answers to his prayers daily and saw impossible things happen in the lives of the orphans he cared for in his orphanages in Bristol, England. He always prayed with and open Bible. He constantly filled his petitions with God's Word.  God's Word fueled His faith for miracles. Describing his devotion time George Mueller wrote this;    "The first thing I did, after having asked in a few words the Lord's blessing upon His precious Word, was to begin to meditate on the Word of God, searching into every verse to get a blessing out of it; not for the sake of the public ministry of the Word nor for the sake of preaching on what I meditated upon, but for the sake of obtaining food for my own soul.  The result is that after a few minutes my soul has been led to confession, or to thanksgiving, or to intercession, or to supplication; so that, though I did not, first give myself to prayer but to meditation, yet it turned into prayer."   He continually testified to the power of God's Word and prayer, mixed with faith, as surety for answered prayer.     Oh Lord, thank you for your Living Word!  If we are to be a people of effective, faith filled prayer, we must be people who delight in daily reading, thoughtful meditation,  diligent study, and obedient application of God's Word. Meditate in Psalm 119 this week! And always, always, have your Bible open in your prayer time.

Lifewords, Prayer Series, 6 of 30

lifewords  prayer series 6 of 30   The Lord has instructed us in Matthew 6, "When you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and the Father, who sees in secret, will reward you openly." His purposes in our lives and in this earth come to pass through prayer. Prayer and intercession give birth to God's will, He set it up that way! Oh the privilege and responsibility we have to be men and women of intentional prayer!  He said first Ask, then you will receive.  He said first seek, then you will find.  He said first knock, then the door will be opened. Let's become experts in asking, seeking, knocking, confident in His promise to respond!    Prayer is the necessity of every believer. It is continual fellowship with the Father throughout our days and during the nights, and it is also a specific time to meet with Him  daily in the "secret place". Do you sense the Lord drawing you into more time in prayer and His living Word? He is drawing His people and giving special grace to pray. And in His presence is fullness of Joy! In His presence we are transformed! In His presence we receive all that is needed and more. In prayer we take our place as His sons and daughters to push back the forces of darkness and release His will into our lives, our families, His Church, our cities, our nation and the nations of the world.    He is beckoning, urging us to come meet with Him in the secret place daily. Cultivate a prayer lifestyle that goes beyond just bringing your list of prayer requests. Make a daily appointment with Him. Jesus daily met with the Father in solitary places, often before the dawn, often all night long. Come with thanksgiving, come with praise, come with a heart of worship. And when you come,  ask Him to search your heart and reveal sin and any area of darkness, repent and receive forgiveness according to 1 John 1:9. Invite the Holy Spirit to fill you afresh, surrendering all to His Lordship. Remember Psalm 66:18 that if we regard iniquity in our heart the Lord does not hear us but as we are transparent and humble before Him, the power of His blood cleanses us and His ear is open to our cry!  Let us daily come boldly to the Throne of Grace to find mercy and grace to help in our great need!

Lifewords, Prayer Series, 5 of 30

Lifewords  Prayer series 5 of 30  Entering His Gates with Thanksgiving and His Courts with Praise   Interestingly, the first item in the courtyard of the Tabernacle of Moses, was the brazen altar, on which the sacrifices were to be made to atone for the sins of the people. It is a picture for us today as we approach our Father in prayer.  We are to present our bodies a living sacrifice, exchanging our will for His. As we come into our time of prayer, we bring a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, understanding that Jesus is the Lamb of God, and His death and shed blood on the Cross provided the atoning sacrifice for sin once and for all for all people!   Our life of prayer must be saturated with much thanksgiving and praise and worship. Remember, Psalm 100 says, "I will enter your gates with thanksgiving my heart and into your courts with praise."  As we come into our secret time of prayer, and all day long, we should give thanks to the Lord with all our hearts, remembering His wonderful deeds and His faithfulness and love. Regardless of circumstances or how we feel, we can  decide to praise to His Name! He is our Redeemer, our Shepherd, our Provider, our Rock and our Fortress and our Deliverer, our God our Rock in Whom we take refuge, our Shield and our Salvation, our Stronghold!  He is worthy to be praised. We can learn how to praise our Lord by spending time daily in the Psalms! True Thanksgiving, praise and worship are  expressed by words and actions.  Lord we will give thanks to You with our whole heart. We will recount all your wonderful deeds.  We will be glad and exult in You, We will sing praise to your Name Oh Most High! (From Psalm 9)

Lifewords, Prayer Series, 4 of 30

lifewords  prayer series 4 of 30 Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with Praise   Remember Jesus said in Matthew 6, "When you pray, go into your room, and close the door, and pray to your Father who is in secret. And the Father who sees in secret will reward you openly." He is beckoning us to amp up our daily secret time with Him where He will meet with us teach us how to pray well. Much daily time in prayer is the necessity of the day and the key to God's purposes coming to pass.   Especially in regard to this daily, secret time of prayer, I love Psalm 100:4,5, in which David declares "I will enter His gates with thanksgiving in my heart, I will enter His courts with praise..."  In other Words, when we come into God's presence, the first thing is  expressing thanksgiving and praise and worship. The Tabernacle of Moses was to be a place where God's people could come and meet with Him. It was a tabernacle made with hands where God's presence was, and it was a picture of God's ultimate plan to dwell in the hearts of His people. It was really a tent, and inside were particular areas and items that point to our life of worship. People entered through the "gates" and came into a courtyard area. They were to come into the gates with thankful hearts, declaring His faithfulness! As we come into our daily time of prayer, there is away to approach God and that is with Thanksgiving and Praise! Oh how much we have to thank Him for. He is worthy of all our praise. He is our Redeemer, our Shepherd, our Healer, our Provider, our Victory, our King, our All in All and so much more!   Oh that we would be a thankful, praising people, acknowledging the goodness of God! He is worthy of our praise. Praise must be expressed! Praise keeps our faith airborne. Praise keeps our focus on His faithfulness. God inhabits the praises of His people. Thanksgiving and praise should always precede and follow our petitions! Begin the day with a thankful heart, and continue as David expressed in Psalm 119 to express our praise seven times a day and allow His praise to continually be in our mouth. Use the Psalms to express your praise.  He is Worthy!