Sunday, July 12, 2009
How Can Prayer Move The Hand Of God?
Our church has been diving deep into the discussion of prayer and asking the question... Are some people's prayers more amplified then others? We looked to the Bible for our answers and concluded that checking our motives as we pray is very important. In James 4:3 he writes You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. We also learned that the Holy Spirit led prayer life will help us to see our needs in a whole new light. When we love God with all our hearts, mind, soul and strength, our deepest desires change in our hearts; they're desires that God has placed in our hearts and it is His desire to give them to us as Psalms 37:4 says Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart.
I believe that this discussion left us with an enhanced understanding of how our prayers really do move the hand of God but more importantly, move our hearts closer to Him which leads us into a more intimate relationship with our Father in Heaven!
Monday, July 6, 2009
Just Keep Hanging On!
The day awoke my spirit with the glorious sunshine streaming from the heavens into my Eastern window. As Scott and I stepped outside, we were welcomed by a breeze that tickled our ears as if to whisper for us to enjoy Gods creation and worship amongst it.
Our plan had been changed this weekend for our Church meeting and we decided to meet on Sunday morning rather then our regular meeting day and time on Saturday nights. As it turned out, Mark was the only attendee this morning so we decided to spend our church meeting out on the boat where God drew us out into earlier this morning! Once we settled into the quietest corner we could find on the lake; we dropped anchor and pulled out our Bibles to discuss…
Who is asking?
How does Jesus describe our position w/God? Matt. 7:7-11
Are we in the position of the “righteous” in James 5:16? Why or why not?
What impact does agreement in asking have in Matt. 18;19?
And Who was asking in Matt. 15:21-28 How did she overcome the problem?
We went deep into the discussion of how our heavenly Father wants for us to be in a relationship with Him through our prayers and he wants us to trust Him with our needs. As a Father we are aware that our ways are not His ways so our prayers may not be answered in the way we think but that we need to grow in trusting Him and lean not on our own understanding. We went further into discussion of how God shapes us through adversity and walks with us through it! This is difficult as all of us know but it comforts me to know that we are not alone going through it!
After we wound down our discussion, we spent the remaining afternoon in fellowship as we took turns pulling the boys (including Mark) on the inner tube.
It was fun watching them enjoy the thrill of being whipped around the water with tight turns and tossed into the air following turbulent wakes! A symbol of how we feel sometimes when life throws us into a tailspin of pain and trials! Mark and the boy’s put faith and trust in Scott that he wouldn’t put them in harms way and continued to hang on through all the bumps and turns. That’s just how God our Father wants us to handle our turbulent situations; with child like faith and trust. He’ll get us through it – just keep hanging on!!
Our plan had been changed this weekend for our Church meeting and we decided to meet on Sunday morning rather then our regular meeting day and time on Saturday nights. As it turned out, Mark was the only attendee this morning so we decided to spend our church meeting out on the boat where God drew us out into earlier this morning! Once we settled into the quietest corner we could find on the lake; we dropped anchor and pulled out our Bibles to discuss…
Who is asking?
How does Jesus describe our position w/God? Matt. 7:7-11
Are we in the position of the “righteous” in James 5:16? Why or why not?
What impact does agreement in asking have in Matt. 18;19?
And Who was asking in Matt. 15:21-28 How did she overcome the problem?
We went deep into the discussion of how our heavenly Father wants for us to be in a relationship with Him through our prayers and he wants us to trust Him with our needs. As a Father we are aware that our ways are not His ways so our prayers may not be answered in the way we think but that we need to grow in trusting Him and lean not on our own understanding. We went further into discussion of how God shapes us through adversity and walks with us through it! This is difficult as all of us know but it comforts me to know that we are not alone going through it!
After we wound down our discussion, we spent the remaining afternoon in fellowship as we took turns pulling the boys (including Mark) on the inner tube.
It was fun watching them enjoy the thrill of being whipped around the water with tight turns and tossed into the air following turbulent wakes! A symbol of how we feel sometimes when life throws us into a tailspin of pain and trials! Mark and the boy’s put faith and trust in Scott that he wouldn’t put them in harms way and continued to hang on through all the bumps and turns. That’s just how God our Father wants us to handle our turbulent situations; with child like faith and trust. He’ll get us through it – just keep hanging on!!
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