Walking With Jesus

Reflecting Christ in Marriage

“As the church submits to Christ, so you wives should submit to your husbands in everything. For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word.” (Ephesians 5:24-26 NLT)

How does the church submit to Christ? A related question may also be: Who is the church? When you think of the “Church” as the Body of Jesus Christ, the sum of every person who has or will ever place their trust in the living Christ, the first question fades into incomprehension. However, one day the Church, comprised of every blood-washed soul, will be entirely united and in full unity and devotion, as one Body submitted to our only Savior and Lord, the Christ, the Son of the living God.

But until that day, how do we, as the Church, submit to Christ? One person at a time! Every day we, individually, renew our love and devotion to our Savior, offering our lives as living sacrifices to be offered in our grateful submission and service to Him alone. That’s essentially how each wife and each husband devote themselves to each other.

Submission isn’t a negative term or concept. I willingly and joyfully submit to Christ’s lordship over my life. Why? Because I know He knows me better than I know myself, He desires only good for me, and He will protect me in ways I can’t protect myself. The only way any of us move forward in our faith is by trusting Him to do in, through, and on our behalf what only He can do, as He enables us to do and be what only we can do and be as His strength is being lived out through us.

Submission isn’t a burden, it’s a safety net. It’s our eternal guarantee that we’ll never walk alone or in our own strength. And in marriage, submission isn’t becoming a limp rag, it’s being more together as husband and wife than either of us dreamed we could become on our own.

A wife’s submission to her husband isn’t yielding to him her personality and leaving with him the right and obligation to make every decision for her, it’s to enter into a partnership of mutual love and devotion that together relies upon and seeks the will of God to be the best they can be together, and individually to maximize their effectiveness to the glory of Christ.

John MacArthur wisely wrote: “The Christian husband displays what he thinks of Christ by the way he treats his wife.” To bully her or abuse her in any way is to disrespect and violate our devotion to Christ. Christ loves us with His whole being, illustrated by His willingness to die in our place. He didn’t die to set us free to be anything we desired, He died to enable us to become what only He knows we can become.

Reflecting Christ in marriage is demonstrated by our undivided loyalty to Jesus and to each other; our devotion to one another’s well-being in every avenue of our lives, individually and corporately; and our willingness to submit to one another in mutual desire to see Christ become famous as we exalt and honor Him individually and together.

It’s interesting to me that Paul writes in Ephesians 5:33: “So again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife mut respect her husband.” The word “love” used here is “agapao” (ag-ap-ah’-o). This is a love that’s not dependent upon emotion to fuel it, but it’s an act of the will, driven by what we know is God’s will. And the word “respect” is “phobeo” (fob-eh’-o), from which comes our word “fear.” But this isn’t a word that denotes being afraid of someone, but in a similar way as we reverence and esteem God, a wife is to hold her husband in high regard, respecting and honoring him.

Which of course begs the question: What if our spouse isn’t deserving of our love and respect? We’ll look at this more closely in tomorrow’s post.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Just the Two of Us?

“Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are His dear children. Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered Himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.” (Ephesians 5:1-2 NLT)

In marriage it’s not uncommon for us to begin our life of marital bliss with tunnel vision. We tend to believe it’s just the two of us who will dictate the type and duration of “OUR” marriage. How naïve we are to believe we haven’t been influenced by culture, entertainment, the media, faith, a previous marriage, and, perhaps the most powerful influence, the homes in which we grew up.

We each have our preconceived notions of how we and our new spouse should function in our lives together. At first, depending on how long the honeymoon lasts, we may push irritating things to the proverbial “back burner,” but sooner or later we’re going to stop catering and start rebelling.

Think about it! We’re two imperfect people, having grown up in an imperfect home setting, in an imperfect world, filled with other imperfect people. It simply doesn’t make sense to expect a “perfect” marriage – but we do! And when the bubble bursts we don’t have a clue as to how to handle it, other than “our” way! Unfortunately, each “our” in that equation is also strongly biased by the influences of their life before marriage.

If we’re believers in Jesus we have opportunity to tap an eternal reservoir of resources to help us, beginning with a picture of the ultimate marriage model found in Scripture – Christ and His Bride, the Church. Do you want to know how to love your spouse? Jesus shows us in how He loves each of us, who corporately comprise His holy Bride.

What did His love look like? Sacrifice! He literally laid down His sinless life on our behalf. How does that translate for us? Paul said it well in the verse above: “Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do!” Jesus died for us, but before that He spent three years showing us how to live, how to treat each other, how to pray, how to laugh, cry, celebrate life’s victories and deal with life’s disappointments together.

Life was never meant to be lived anonymously, in solitude, separated from others, even as a couple in marriage. Everything Jesus taught was in community, with the express intention of it being applied in the adventure of life as His follower. That’s how we live, love, learn, serve, share, experience joy, sadness, life, death, healing, wholeness – virtually everything we are or ever hope to be has a context that includes others we love and by whom we’re loved.

There are needs our spouse can’t meet, needs we can’t meet in our own lives, needs that can only be met in community, in the Body of Christ, His Church, His Bride. Imitating Christ and living a life of love is a life-long process learned and practiced in fellowship with other people who are also learning. None of us ever get it perfectly in this life, but by God’s grace and with His help, we get better at it over time.

If you’re married, I pray your goal is to build a marriage that is healthy, strong, loving, and lasting. A marriage that is a positive influence in the lives of your children, grandchildren, and others who are watching. We don’t always realize there are others watching our lives, our marriages, our walk with Jesus, but there are many.

Some are hoping we will fall and fail, and many of us have; but most are rooting for us, praying we’ll do well and influence a lot of others positively. For those watching, what is your life, marriage, and walk with Jesus modeling for them? Remember, it’s not just you and your spouse, or even you and Jesus, it’s you in community with the Body of Christ. We’re in this life together!

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Who Decides?

“At that time the highly valued slave of a Roman officer was sick and near death.” (Luke 7:2 NLT)

Great problems can lead to great outcomes, it just depends on who’s deciding the outcome. In the story above a Roman officer has a slave who is very ill and, upon hearing Jesus has healed others, he enlists the help of some “respected Jewish Elders” to intervene on his behalf.

These Jews intercede on the officer’s behalf and Jesus begins to walk with them, but as they’re on their way some friends of the officer share a message with them that surprises and delights Jesus in ways that He’s not been delighted before. You see, this Roman Centurion is a man under authority, who has been given authority. So?

He understood in ways that many of us do not, that the solution to problems is knowing who has the authority to address them. He made the connection that sickness, as well as any other problem we have in this life, is subject to the authority of Jesus. So, he sends his friends to tell Jesus not to bother coming all the way to him, just say the word from where He is, and my servant will be well.

Ron Hutchcraft nailed it in a recent devotional when he wrote: “Amazing faith is all about authority and what authority will decide the outcome in your situation. Amazing faith believes that Jesus will decide the outcome and nothing else! The disease will not decide it, the boss will not decide it, the economy will not decide it, the election will not decide it, your enemies won’t decide it, the odds won’t decide it, the devil won’t decide it – Jesus will decide it!”

So, it begs the question: “With what problem are you wrestling in this season of your life?” I realize that some who read these posts are my contemporaries. What does that mean? It means you’re nearing your last lap around the proverbial track. A cold could turn into a life-threatening illness; a fall could break a bone that could compound and lead to the end of your life. Does that scare you? I hope not.

The reality is, regardless of your age, you could walk out the door in the morning and never return. Life is fickle and doesn’t always pay much attention to age or physical condition when it strikes. What’s my point? Simply this. Whether your 21 or 91 be ready to meet Jesus when you close your eyes each night.

To me, realizing I’m much closer to the end than the beginning stirs my heart to do as much as I possibly can to love well those in my spheres of influence. I want Jesus to decide my outcomes, in this life and beyond. How so? By preparing as best I can to set my house in order before I die. I don’t want there to be any doubt in anyone in my family that I love them, and I want them to serve Jesus.

Since I pay the bills and keep track of who to call in different situations, I’ve made sure when I die my wife doesn’t need to be worrying about any of that. From the moment I die I’ve left instructions as to who to call and what service they bring to the table. I’m writing letters to each of my kids, their spouses, my granddaughter and significant other people in my life, letting them know how much they mean to me and how much I want them to serve Jesus.

We don’t usually get to choose our problems, but we can choose who we’re trusting for their outcomes. The first step for anyone is to yield their life and allegiance to Jesus by confessing their sin and receiving the free gift of salvation through Christ alone by faith alone. Once we’re walking with Jesus, we know we’re never alone and we’ll never be dependent upon our own resources to receive a positive outcome.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Life’s Most Frightening Storms

“Then Peter called to Him, ‘Lord, if it’s really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the water.’ ‘Yes, come,’ Jesus said. So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. But when he saw the strong wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink. ‘Save me, Lord!’ he shouted.” (Matthew 14:28-30 NLT)

These are some of the most fascinating and unbelievable words in the Bible to me. How does a man walk on the water? It’s impossible, right? But since I believe the God of the Bible can do the impossible, I believe this scenario happened just as it’s written – but it still baffles me. Why?

Consider the context. This is following the feeding of the 5,000 men and their families, a miracle of unparalleled effect on the disciples. How does anyone but God multiply enough food to feed, conservatively 20,000 people, from five loaves and two fish and still have 12 baskets full leftover? Can you begin to imagine how pumped they were as they made their way across the water?

Then the sudden storm, with “strong wind” and “heavy waves.” And then, perhaps as the lightning brightened their surroundings, they saw someone walking on the water. The Bible then says: “In their fear, they cried out, ‘It’s a ghost!’” But Jesus assured them it was Him, and that’s when Peter asked to come to Him on the water.

Think about that for a minute. Have you ever been in a rainstorm with the wind howling? It’s not easy to hear anything but the wind and rain. They had to have been shouting at the top of their lungs. And remember, the boat is still rocking, battered by the heavy waves when Peter is trying to get out of it. But he climbs over the side, gets his balance, and begins to walk toward Jesus.

Can you feel Peter’s heart pounding? Can you even begin to imagine what was racing through his mind? But as long as his eyes were locked on the eyes of His Savior, he made progress, but the second he got distracted down he went. The Bible says: “Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. ‘You have so little faith,’ Jesus said. ‘Why did you doubt Me?’”

How like us in the frightening storms we face in our lives. Physical, emotional, mental, financial, relational and spiritual problems rock us like we’re in a boat on a stormy sea, and we’re looking everywhere for Jesus. “God, where are You? Why are you letting this happen to me?” Seeming oblivious to His ever-present Spirit who resides in each of His blood-bought children.

To me the question is never “Where is Jesus?” The question to me is – “Where am I?” Am I being so distracted by the storms of life I’ve lost sight of Him? Am I so discouraged by “my” circumstances that I forget the Lord of “my” life? Did you catch Jesus’ question when He rescued Peter? “Why did you doubt Me?” What’s the clear implication?

Every storm is designed by God specifically for each of us to grow in our faith. For those just starting out on their faith journey it may be a minor “scrape” or “bruised knee.” But for those who have walked with the Lord a while we may hear words like: “It’s cancer!” or “I’m leaving you!” or “We’re foreclosing!” or “You’re fired!”

Two things to never let the storm cause you to lose sight of: Jesus is always close by, and He’ll always be reaching out to rescue you. Does that guarantee that bad things won’t happen to you? That He’ll prevent the storms of life from sinking you? Not necessarily. But it does guarantee that He won’t let you drown.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Praying For Children Moving Away From Home

“For the angel of the Lord is a guard; He surrounds and defends all who fear Him.” (Psalm 34:7)

*May this powerful devotional by Sylvia Gunter guide us as we seek to release our children and grandchildren to the watchful care of our Savior. Blessings, Ed (used with permission)

It is humorously said that God could not be everywhere, so He made mothers. From the earliest times when we sent the children off to Grandma’s, to camp, or to a night at a friend’s house, we have to admit a wrenching relinquishment of our watchful care into the hands of another. There comes a time when that young person has to be turned over completely to the care of God. And He is enough for our mother’s heart.

Pray this way:

Father, I come boldly to Your throne in Jesus’ name for mercy and grace. I worship You and thank You for (my child). In Your sovereign power and love, You loaned (our child) to us to enjoy for a season. I put into Your hands, where there is only safety. Thank You for Your direction in their life that has led them to this new place in Your purposes.

You are Lord of heaven and earth, King of kings, Most High God. You are the Commander of the armies of heaven, and You are by (my child’s) side. Your Word says that they have mighty angels accompanying them, fighting those who fight against them (Ps. 34:7, 35:5-6, 91:11-13). Thank You for protecting (my child) by appointing angels around them at all times to guard them in Your perfect peace, righteousness, and purposes. Your shield of victory and safety in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ defends them everywhere they go. Provide for them a place of invisibility and immunity to spiritual attack under the shelter of Your almighty wings.

In Jesus’ name, I bind all works of the adversary that would try to claim ground as they move out into the world on their own. Protect their life from all allegiance or service to false gods, unclean spirits, or bondages of other people. Satan has no legal claim on this precious blood-bought child of God. All jurisdiction around their life is sealed by a hedge of the blood of the Lamb.

Lord Jesus, You have all authority in heaven and on earth, and on the basis of their position as a joint-heir with Christ, put the cross between them and all evil spirits that would try to invade, infiltrate, harass, or ensnare them. Lead them to refuse all works of the kingdom of darkness.

Bind them to the knowledge of the truth and righteousness that will not let them fall into the devil’s trap. His malicious intention is to take them captive to do his will. Preserve them unbound and unharmed by evil. I dedicate (my child) to please and serve You and do Your will in this new place. Jesus in us is greater than the spirit of the world.

Heavenly Father, thank You for a place for (my child) to live (work, go to school, etc). I claim it as a place of spiritual safety and protection. Cleanse their place (apartment, room, etc.) by the blood of the worthy Lamb of God. Clean out every evil spirit that wants to claim ground there. In Jesus’ holy name, I renounce all evil words and works and refer them to the cross of Jesus. Jesus has given us power over all the power of the enemy. The Lord has all authority there.

Establish the character of Jesus Christ in (my child). Make them sensitive to the Holy Spirit with quick conviction of sin and godly sorrow to repentance. Make (my child) strong in You and courageous, not having a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound, disciplined mind. May they know that they can do all things through You who gives them strength. Form in them integrity, great wisdom, and keen discernment. Call (my child) up higher to be a man or woman of God, mighty in Your spirit.

Set a watch over their heart and mouth by Your mighty power. By the same Spirit who inspired Daniel to purpose in his heart not to defile his body, send them peers and friends who will also not bow down to the gods of pleasure and defilements of this age. Strengthen them not to compromise with the world, the flesh, or the devil. Shield them from mockery and ridicule. Draw them to Yourself to trust You, serve You only, and set their life apart to You. May they not be people-pleasers, but seek to please You.

Lord, I pray all this on the basis of Your Word, which strongly promises, “I have chosen you and have not rejected you. So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand… Though you search for your enemies, you will not find them. Those who wage war against you will be as nothing at all. For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, ‘Do not fear; I will help you’” (Isa. 41:9-13).

Your kingdom come, Your will be done, in (my child’s) life today as You purpose it in heaven. I plead Your mighty name above all names, Amen.

Excerpted from Prayer Essentials For Living In His Presence, Vol 2,. © Sylvia Gunter 2000. click here to learn more and order

An achieve of past devotinals is available on our website.

Are You Living Forgiven (Part 2)

“For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people.” (Titus 2:11 NLT)

From the outset, let’s be clear, Paul is not advocating the salvation of all people in the verse above, he’s saying the salvation Jesus earned for us on the Cross is available to all people. Then in the verses following Paul outlines some very practical advice for how to live like we really believe and understand we’re forgiven.

Listen to the Spirit as Paul writes: “And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures.” What’s the implication? Forgiven people repent! They turn from their old ways and, by God’s grace, learn new ways to live that honor and magnify Jesus in and through their behavior. What do “godless living and sinful pleasures” look like?

Usually, it entails thinking and acting in ways that elevate your good feelings but don’t advance the Kingdom of God. What does that mean? It means the first battle we face as a child of God is to learn to think differently. We don’t automatically default to “what we loved to do” like we did when we were lost. It means making the Bible a part of our new daily habits. It means learning to ask God for direction and beginning to take to heart what salvation and new life in Jesus means.

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

It essentially means we have a new Owner and CEO of our life. We no longer give orders, we take them, and, over time, learn to follow them. Why is that important? Because the underlying issue with which we wrestle as a human being is “who do I trust?” As horrible as we once were at running our own life, we still are hesitant to turn over the reins of control even to God. We have to learn to trust Him!

Learning to live forgiven involves letting go of guilt, shame, and constantly living in a frenzy trying to figure out how to be good enough to please God. Lay it to rest! How can you do that? By understanding you have no goodness apart from Jesus. By realizing your sin debt has been paid and you’ve been set free to live a wholesome, pure, godly life to His honor and fame.

Someone said it’s like deciding between paying our own sin debt by trying to be good enough or accepting the payment Jesus has already made on the Cross. The essence of what they said was: “Trying to earn our own salvation is like trying to drain the ocean one teaspoon at a time or accepting that the work has already been done by Jesus.”

The hymn writer said it well when she wrote: “Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe; Sin had left a crimson stain – He washed it white as snow.” Because of who Jesus is and the forgiveness He has purchased on our behalf, we should be the most joy-filled, grateful, and God-focused people on the planet. As God’s children we should be enthusiastically applying every ounce of energy the Lord gives us to exalt and honor our Savior.

Living forgiven isn’t dependent upon who we are – how smart, talented, where we live, what we do for a living, how we grew up – none of that matters except to the extent we allow the Lord to use it to forge us into the person of God Jesus died to enable us to become. He’s done everything necessary to provide everything we need to be everything He desires us to be.

The biggest decision we have to make is who will we trust to rule our lives – Jesus or Satan. “Whoa,” you might say, “I’m not letting Satan rule me!” Here’s the truth – to not allow Jesus to rule, by default, leaves your heart open for Satan to move in. To say “No” to Jesus is to say “Yes” to the devil.

If you’re not certain you’ve opened your heart and life to Jesus, please click Ron Hutchcraft’s link and make certain today that Jesus is Lord of your life. Then you can begin to learn how to live forgiven.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Are You Living Forgiven?

“He replied, ‘You are permitted to understand the secret of the Kingdom of God. But I use parables for everything I say to outsiders, so that the Scriptures might be fulfilled: “When they see what I do, they will learn nothing. When they hear what I say, they will not understand. Otherwise, they will turn to me and be forgiven.”’” (Mark 4:11-12 NLT)

To many, including me, the verses above have been among the most troubling in Scripture. They seem to imply that Jesus used parables to further confuse and prevent those who were unfamiliar with Biblical instruction from opening their hearts and lives to Him. In fact, Jesus used parables to simplify the truth and make it more understandable, so, why the apparent contradiction?

Suppose you meet someone who is middle-aged but has never darkened the doors of a church. He knows nothing about Christianity. The only time he’s heard the name of Jesus was someone swearing. So, being a good Christian, you say to him: “Hey, buddy, I’d like you to come to the Ekklesia on Sunday. We’re going to enjoy some koinonia, talk about the Parousia, and we might even share the Eucharist. What do you say?” How do you spell dumbfounded?

Why would anyone expect someone unfamiliar with these Christian terms to respond to an invitation like that? That’s exactly why Jesus used parables – to make things more simple to understand. The term “secret” in the verse above literally means “mystery.” To whom is something a mystery? To anyone who doesn’t know its meaning.

Jesus was a mystery to me until I responded to an invitation to attend church and began to listen to the Word of God explained in ways I could understand. As William Barclay put it: “This word mystery has in Greek a technical meaning; it does not mean something which is complicated and mysterious in our sense of the term. It means something which is quite unintelligible to the person who has not been initiated into its meaning, but is perfectly plain to the person who has been so initiated.”

And regarding these words of Isaiah 6:9-10 Barclay says: “If we read this, hearing not a tone of bitter exasperation, but a tone of regretful love, it will sound quite different. It will tell us not of a God who deliberately blinded men and hid his truth, but of men who were so dully uncomprehending that it seemed no use even for God to try to penetrate the iron curtain of their lazy incomprehension. God save us from hearing his truth like that!”

Unfortunately, when we profess forgiveness of sin and new life in Christ, yet, still live like the devil, ignoring the clear instruction of God’s Word and defying the life-transforming presence of His Holy Spirit in our hearts, we teach contradictions to those in our spheres of influence. We complicate the Gospel by speaking with our life “words” that contradict the words of our mouth and that violate the Scriptures by making Jesus to be someone He clearly is not.

The best way to influence those we most want to come to Christ is to live a consistent life of purity of heart, mind, soul, and strength. But how is that even possible? It’s not! That’s the point, but the Lord can live it out in and through us each day when we yield our life and allegiance to Him.

It’s the only way some stubborn, God-defiant, person can catch a glimpse of the reality of who Jesus is and what He’s capable of doing in the life of a very ordinary, very lost, very ignorant-of-Christ and His Church person like me and you before we came to the Lord.

Forgiveness leads to transformation of heart, mind, soul, and body, or it’s not from Jesus. If you’ve had your sins forgiven, please live like it. You’re the only Bible some people will ever read.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

When It Seems Nothing Is Happening (Part 2)

“So we are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord. For we live by believing and not by seeing.” (2 Corinthians 5:6-7 NLT)

In our journey to become more like Jesus we traverse many treacherous and troubling landscapes. There are times we pray and almost before the words pass our lips, we feel assured of the answer. But there are other times we pray and pray and pray and it seems heaven is silent and we’re certain God must be about more important matters.

Child of God, may I assure you of this one thing – YOU ARE at the top of God’s agenda! God loves you as if you were His only child. Had you been the only person on earth who needed a Savior, Jesus would have died just for you. When He died you were on His mind and in heaven your name is written on the palm of His holy hand.

Photo by Syed Qaarif Andrabi on Pexels.com

To pray and not believe God is listening is like standing in the rain without any cover, believing somehow the rain is going to miss you. God hears, perceives every thought, every sigh. The Spirit is able to interpret even the deep longings of our heart and convey them accurately to the Father. The problem of silence from heaven is not an issue with God’s hearing, it’s an issue with our faith.

There are those who ask me why I pray, usually because of prayers I’ve made known to others who haven’t seen any apparent answer. And I’ve explained, “I don’t pray simply to get answers, I pray to connect with the heart of God, so that I might hear His voice and submit to His authority in my life.”

As surely as I live and breathe, I’m certain that some of the answers of the prayers I’m praying right now won’t be answered until I’m dead and gone. Does that mean nothing is happening now? I don’t believe that for one second. He’s always working!

We don’t pray to get God to work, we pray to align ourselves with His activity so we can join Him in that work. “Well, we know it’s His will to save people, why aren’t the people for whom I’m praying getting saved?” In my understanding of the Scriptures, our prayers don’t save anyone, even ourselves. Our prayers unleash the power of the Holy Spirit to stir in the hearts of those for whom we pray, but ultimately, salvation is between them and God.

That said, I firmly believe that God works powerfully to answer those prayers, so, if someone isn’t yet saved, as many for whom I pray every day aren’t, one of a couple things is happening: either they aren’t ready, or Satan has such a hold on their lives that they just can’t hear the Spirit’s voice.

I believe that’s especially true of those who are a part of religious or non-religious cults who hold beliefs that lead them either to not understand the truth of who Jesus is or they’re deliberately choosing to believe lies. Either way, Satan has erected strongholds in their hearts from which only the Holy Spirit can deliver them, but they must give Him access.

Jesus said of the young demon-possessed boy, when the disciples were unable to cast out the demon: “This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.” Regardless of what you may believe about prayer, it’s an act of faith. I don’t pray to get answers. I pray to get closer to God, and, if in the process, people are saved, healed, delivered, or in any other way blessed and helped, all praise goes to the only One who deserves glory, praise, honor, and credit.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

When It Seems Nothing Is Happening

“Then Jesus said to the disciples, ‘Have faith in God. I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, “May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,” and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart. I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours. But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too.’” (Mark 11:22-25 NLT)

Have you ever tried to bargain with God? “God, if You’ll do this, I’ll do that.” Though I was not a soldier, I’ve heard it said that there are no atheists in foxholes. Whether that’s true, I suspect there were a lot of those kinds of prayers that left the lips of frightened soldiers in the midst of battle.

Do you not understand, if you’re a believer in the living Christ, you’re in the midst of a major battle between the forces of good and evil, and Satan takes no prisoners? His mission is to “steal, kill, and destroy” your life, not only on earth, but throughout eternity. If you’re not walking with Jesus, you’re serving Satan. It may not look like it or even feel like it, but it’s nonetheless true. How do I know that?

Jesus said in Matthew 11:30: “Anyone who isn’t with Me opposes Me, and anyone who isn’t working with Me is actually working against Me.” What’s my point?

Prayer is a conversation. Sometimes we make requests of God and sometimes He makes requests of us. Prayer is a multi-dimensional process between an earth bound, fallen person, and an all-knowing, all-loving, all compassionate, all-powerful, and just God. Is it safe to say there are things that He knows and understands that escape us?

Can that be one of the reasons it seems He’s not working when He really is? Could it be that our own fallibility and inability to fully comprehend who we are may be a factor in our lack of understanding who He is? But the reality is, I believe every prayer we pray is heard and taken to heart by God.

Jesus could speak the words in Mark 11 with full confidence because He knew beyond any shadow of doubt that if He’d asked the Lord to move a literal mountain into a literal sea, it would have happened, just as surely as when He said: “Lazarus, come out!” and Lazarus walked out of his tomb. And you may be thinking, “Sure, God the Father will always respond to Jesus. He’s His perfect, sinless Son.”

Yes, of course He will. But have you forgotten about Elijah and the prophets of Baal, when Elijah called out to God to send fire from heaven to burn up his offering? So, yes, absolutely God hears and answers prayer. And I can hear a thousand questions arise: “Then why didn’t He ___________ when I prayed?” Each of us have lifted prayers to the Lord and nothing happened, at least nothing we could humanly discern.

Can it be the work God is performing isn’t always FOR us, but WITHIN us? What’s God’s ultimate goal for each of His children? To be conformed to the likeness of His Son! In 2 Corinthians 4:4 Paul speaks of Satan, the god of this world, blinding unbelievers to the message that Jesus was and is the exact likeness of God.

Then in Romans 8:29 Paul explains that God’s plan for us is that we be conformed to the likeness of Jesus. So? So, that takes a lifetime, but will still not be accomplished until we get in His presence in heaven. So? So, there are things that God doesn’t immediately give answers to, in order to build our faith and enable us to become more like Christ.

This is too rich to stop now, so, let’s pick this up in tomorrow’s post.

Blessings, Ed 😊

What Happens When We Pray?

“Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may Your name be kept holy. May Your Kingdom come soon. May Your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us today the food we need, and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.” (Matthew 6:9-13 NLT)

Have you ever asked yourself: “Why should I pray, nothing ever happens. I can’t see any evidence that He even hears me.” There are prayers that I’ve lifted to the Father for more than thirty years that haven’t yet been answered. Do I get discouraged? Yes. Am I tempted to stop praying? Never! Why not, you may wonder.

Louie Giglio gives us insight into why we should never give up praying when he wrote: “If only we knew what was happening when we pray, we would never cease to pray.”

One of the reasons prayer frustrates us is because, too often, our attitude as we approach prayer is wrong. We see prayer like a teenager asking his/her dad to have the keys to the car to go cruising. No specific reason other than to drive around with friends and see what they can get into. Our requests are too vague.

It would be different if that same teen came to mom or dad and said: “May I please borrow the car for a few hours? I have to go to the library and study for an exam I have tomorrow.” Or, “The Prom is coming up and I’d like to ask someone, but I’d like to make sure it’s okay if I use the car on that night.” Specific requests with specific expectations.

That’s one kind of prayer, but that doesn’t encompass our whole reason for praying. Notice in the verses above Jesus “modeled’ how we should pray. The focus of all our prayers is to worship and honor our heavenly Father. Our desire through everything we do, say, or think, should be to exalt the Lord and submit to His authority in and over our lives.

There is a sense in which we come to God as a slave comes to their master. Yes, of course, God is our Father, but Jesus painted a clear picture, not only through His words, but His sinless life, that His whole purpose in being in a human body was to honor and exalt His Father in heaven. When we lose sight of to Whom we’re praying, it’s a very short step to lose sight of why we pray.

Answers are not the primary purpose of prayer! If all I needed from prayer were answers, why begin in worship? Why recognize God as our Provider? Why declare our allegiance to His holy Kingdom? Why seek Him for forgiveness and depend on Him for the resource of strength to help us forgive others? Why pledge our dependence upon Him to enable us to avoid temptation and not give in to the lies of the evil one?

Of course, He invites us to ask Him for anything, but it’s always in the context of His will and purpose, not only for His Kingdom, but for our individual lives. We shouldn’t always and only ask God for answers any more than answers would be the only thing for which we’d engage another person in conversation. What kind of relationship would we have with our spouse if the only conversations we had were making requests or demands?

No consideration or interest in who they are or what’s going on in their lives, just barging through the door and barking out: “Is dinner ready yet?” Or “Why isn’t the dryer fixed yet?” Our heavenly Father is far more than our spiritual “genie,” and to only go to Him with requests, even good, God-centered requests, is to ignore our need of Him as our Father and Friend.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊