In All Your Ways . . .

Last Sunday's sermon was about how to know the will of God. The main passage was Proverbs 3:5-6, which I'm sure, we are all very familiar with. Later I did a little digging and found a treasure. I was really looking forward to sharing what I'd found in Sunday School this morning (we always discuss the previous sermon in S.S.), but it just didn't work out. So that leaves me with no other choice but to share it with you! ;0)

A Switch-Back

If you've been following my blog lately then you've probably noticed that I've been learning a lot about prayer and faith. There were a couple of things that I had felt like God wanted me to pursue . . . and so I did. Both of them looked very impossible, but that's where faith comes in. :0) About 3 weeks ago, someone very near and dear to me (who shall remain anonymous), told me that sometimes God has us pursue things just for the journey, and that He doesn't really intend for us to have them.

Like An Apple Tree

I was in special need of some comfort this morning . . . so where did I turn? It might seem strange to you, but I turned to the book of Song of Solomon. There I find not my mighty, conquering King, but the Lover of my soul. There I find a love and a Lover that surpasses all else. There I find . . . an apple tree. :0)

O For A Closer Walk With God

This morning's hymn was new to us, but I really liked it and thought I'd share it with you. It was written by William Cowper (1731-1800), a friend of John Newton. He was inspired to write this hymn after reading the verse that says, "Enoch walked with God."

Valiantly!

I really like Psalm 60:12 (and 108:13 ;0) . . .

"Through God we shall do valiantly: for He it is that shall tread down our enemies."

I decided to look up the word valiantly yesterday and found that there are two words translated "valiantly". The one used in this verse is the one most commonly used. It has to do with strength, wealth, army, and influence. I also found that it is the same word that is translated "virtuous" in the books of Ruth and Proverbs. I knew that virtuous had to do with strength, but valiant adds a whole new dimension. :0)

The other word for "valiantly" is pretty cool too. It means to strengthen, to be strong, to be courageous, to overpower. It seems to be most often translated "be strong", as in "Be strong and of a good courage", Joshua 1:9. At least once it is translated "prevailed", as in when David "prevailed" over Goliath.

You are probably wondering where I am going with this . . . hang on, I'm almost there. ;0)

So with this word we have the idea of strength and courage, of prevailing and overpowering . . . Well, look at the verse I came across today as I read in "Mighty Prevailing Prayer" about wrestling with God . . .

" There is no one who calls upon Your name, who rouses himself to take hold of You..." Isa. 64:7

The word for "to take hold" is this same word for valiantly. What does it mean to be strong, to overpower, to prevail against/over God?? I'm sure this verse, this idea, contains an important secret to prevailing prayer. A secret that I want to discover. A secret that yields mighty results for His kingdom and His glory.

Oh may the Lord no longer be able to say that there is no one who calls on His name, no one who rises to take hold of Him!

Say What???

Before I get started, I must issue a disclaimer. :0) I have this question on my heart that I have to ask. I think it has something to do with my spiritual gift, which I am still trying to understand. Anyway, I hope that you will be patient with me, and maybe share your thoughts too. :0)

There is a particular word that has lately caught my attention. It's a good word . . . But I really wonder at the way it is thrown around. It is the word "holy". As an expression of exclamation this word is frequently thrown out, but it is always paired up with one of a multitude of other words. The thing that gets me is that the object it is paired up with is often anything BUT holy. This got me thinking about other words that we use to describe God that we might be causually throwing around . . . "awesome" came to mind . . . And the question that came to my mind is . . .

Does the flippant use of these words have any affect on the way we view our God, or the way the world views Him? In other words, have we lost the concept - or at least lowered it - of His holiness because we so casually use the word "holy" to describe so many other things? . . . or the word "awesome"?

Any thoughts?

Perseverance In Prayer

(part 4 of a continuing series of posts from reading "Mighty Prevailing Prayer")

"It is not enough to begin to pray, nor to pray aright; nor is it enough to continue for a time to pray; but we must pray patiently, believing, continue in prayer until we obtain an answer." ~ George Muller

It is all too easy to faint and lose heart, but if we faint not . . . that is when we reap our reward. At the same time, though, we don't want to persevere in prayer for something that God doesn't really want us to have, only for Him to give it to us and send leaness to our soul.

"One secret of prevailing prayer is the inner assurance that we are praying in the will of God."

It seems that the secret to knowing the will of God is to be COMPLETELY and utterly surrendered to Him, and to stay in communion with Him. But then you have to be active in your surrender . . .

"God's will is not done automatically by a surrendered person. It must become the passion of your soul to do and ratify God's will in everything."

This makes me think of Jesus, who's ONE passion was to do the will of His Father in heaven. God isn't trying to keep it a secret from us! He wants us to know. :0) I like this quote about discovering the will of God . . .

"Do not bother other people. Lay all questions naked before Him, and He will make plain to you what is His will. When God speaks, His speech is easily understood." ~ Samuel Chadwick

I don't think this is telling us to disregard our authorities, but I find it is all too easy to go to a human for advice instead of to God. Another reason that quote stood out to me is because it is easy for me to question whether I heard Him right. So ridiculous! :0) What a faithful, loving, and patient God we serve!

"Don't give up at the very time God's answer is nearing, at the very time the angels have almost delivered to you the answer for which you have been praying. Instead, your prayer then should be strongest."

"Prayer worth calling prayer, prayer that God will call true prayer and will treat as true prayer, takes far more time by the clock than one man in a thousand thinks." ~ Alexander Whyte

Lord, help me persevere! To see Your will done here on earth as it is in heaven.

Importunity In Prayer

(part 3 of a continuing series of posts from reading "Mighty Prevailing Prayer")

Importunity might prove to be the most awkward quality of prevailing prayer, but it seems to be essential.

"It means utter shamelessness. It includes the concept of great boldness, of urgency, of pressing your request, claim, or demand to the very limits, and it includes determination to persist in that urgent boldness until it receives the answer."

To have such boldness and determination in our prayer means that we must know the mind and heart of God on the matter. Sometimes this comes from a promise in scripture, sometimes from His whisper to your heart, and sometimes from just knowing the heart and nature of our God.

Does it seem strange that we should have to pray so hard and long for something we know God wants to do? We have to remember that we are in a spiritual battle and that we humans aren't robots - God doesn't always get what He wants. But there is a refining process that takes place in the delay. It may not be the right time, or maybe our motives aren't completely pure, or maybe we need to learn patience.

"Importunity in prayer is prayer for God's will to be done. It must be wholly unselfish . . . Importunate praying does not yield to discouragement, weariness, fear, or impatience. It is dead earnest."

I thought this following quote was interesting . . . Especially since I am "guilty" of having told the girls at camp that praying to God is as easy as talking to the person next to you . . .

"P.T. Forsyth warns that we dare not reduce prayer to talking to God or even dialogue with God, "mere walking with God in friendly talk". We will not only lose the aspect of spiritual conflict, of wrestling and prevailing, but we may lose prayer's ultimate reality. We make it conversation, rather than the soul's great action."

I'm not sure exactly what to think. There certainly is some truth there. Maybe conversation with God needs another name, rather than prayer. It seems that prayer is more of a partnership with God and Him praying His prayers through you.

I'll close with these two quotes about importunate prayer ~

"God delights in your holy boldness that will not take no for an answer. God counts it "great faith", and then counts you His friend, for you understand His heart."

"When God's will, name, and glory are at stake, nothing should stop us."

Lord, I want to be Your friend!

Faith In Prayer

The section on importunity was really good (in "Mighty Prevailing Prayer"), but I'll have to come back to that. I need to write about faith . . .

God knew that I needed to read this book. He is SO good to me! :0) You see, God asked me to believe Him for some things . . . And then the testing came and, by His grace, I stood firm. But then the testing doubled and tripled . . . and . I . wavered. Aargh. I didn't want to! I know that God can do anything, and I know that He keeps His promises, He CANNOT lie. . . . But did I hear Him right?? Did He REALLY say what I think He said??

"How often we are double-minded in our praying. We believe that God can answer our prayer. Obviously we have some hope that He will answer it, or we would not pray. But oh, how often we do not really expect God to answer . . . If we are totally honest, however, we would admit we do not feel sure that God will answer the need for which we pray."

From what I see in scripture, to doubt God is to contend with Him and to judge Him unfaithful. Jesus often rebuked "little faith", which worries about the provision of food and clothes, and is afraid when it sees the storm.

Hebrews tells us that we are to live.by.faith and that we cannot please God without faith. But what is faith? Is it believing that God can do anything? According to Hebrews 11:1, faith is a lot more than that. Faith is the CONFIDENCE, the assurance, of things HOPED FOR, and the PERSUASION, the conviction, of things NOT SEEN. In other words, faith is seeing what you can't see with your physical eyes. Being convinced of His ability AND His desire to do something. And it means keeping your eyes on Him for all you're worth.

"Doubt, anxiety, fear, and worry focus primarily on circumstances, but faith focuses primarily on God . . . Faith is not blind to the needs. Faith faces reality but sees reality as measured by God, not as measured by man . . . Faith is God-conscious, God-focused, and God-believing . . . Faith is highly specific. It claims definite answers from God . . . It believes for God's answer for the need before you."

Lord, no more doubt. I want YOUR kind of faith. Real faith.

PS ~ 30 more chapters . . . ;0)

Desire And Fervency In Prayer

Someone let me borrow "Mighty Prevailing Prayer", by Wesley L. Duewel. WOW! God is calling me to a whole new level of death to self through it!

I didn't realize I had been protecting myself from desiring anything too much, from being fervent and passionate about the things that are in God's will. Either because I wasn't sure if the desire was in God's will, or because it didn't feel right to have such strong desires, or because I didn't want to feel the pain. Desire hurts. And honestly, I don't like hunger.

"As long as it makes little difference to us whether our prayer is answered or not, we will not prevail."

"Mighty answers to prayer can be costly, but they are worth all the cost. Learn to hunger if you would prevail."

He quotes E.M. Bounds:
"Prayers must be red hot. It is the fervent prayer that is effective . . . To be absorbed in God's will, to be so greatly in earnest about doing it that our whole being takes fire, is the qualifying condition of the man who would engage in effectual prayer."

Lord, teach me to pray!

PS ~ I still have 34 more chapters to go, so you just might hear from me again on this subject. ;0)

His Masterpiece

For we are His workmanship, 

created in Christ Jesus for good works, 

which God prepared beforehand, 

that we should walk in them. 

Ephesians 2:10

This verse, I'm sure, is very familiar to all of us, but as I have been studying it I have found some really cool things . . . at least I think they are cool. :0)


I think the typical understanding of this verse says that God created me in Christ Jesus to do good works for Him, which He planned for me to do, before the world began. I just have to stay close to Him so that He can show me what they are.


Let's take a closer look at a few words . . .

• "workmanship" - this is talking about something that is made, a workpiece or masterpiece. And I believe this Greek work "poiema" is where we get the word poem. This word is in the nomitive case, which means it is the subject.
• "created" - this word means to create or produce from nothing, or to create and form in a spiritual sense, speaking of regeneration or renewal. This word is in the aorist tense, which means that it has "no time zone". The emphasis is not on when it took place, just that it really happened. It is in the passive voice, meaning that the subject is receiving the action - we are being created by God. And, not to confuse you, but this is a verb that is acting like a noun, which is also in the nomitive case . . . which means it is the subject.
• and then, of course, there is the word "en", which I like so much. :0) This word is speaking of the idea of resting in someone or something, abiding. It is used twice in this verse . . . of our being created in Christ Jesus, and of the good works that we are to walk in. 
• I guess I should probably mention that "God" is the subject as well. Yeah, Greek is very different from English. :0) They can have lots of subjects in one sentence. I think part of it is just to place extra emphasis on these words.

If I haven't lost you, you are probably wondering what I think is so cool. :0)  Well, I guess it all comes back to "sourcing". (I am not a Greek scholar by any stretch of the imagination, so if I am reading too much into this, please let me know.) I am seeing that I am His masterpiece, being created (or produced) as I rest in Jesus, with motion towards doing good works. The "for" good works is not the word that means "because" - He created me because He wants me to do good works for Him. No! He created me to be in relationship with Him, and as I am "en" Him there will naturally be motion towards doing good works. I am not doing good works for Him. I am resting in Him and He is doing them through me. 

Now, isn't that cool? ;0)