Renewing Our Minds About Devotion That Pleases God

<<<If you did not read “Renewing Our Minds About Prayer That Pleases God” please read that first, this is a continuation of the theme in that message.>>>

“Fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they shouted for joy and fell face down.” Leviticus 9:24

“The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out.” Leviticus 6:13

For me, 2012 has been all about re-kindling the fire.  It’s been all about renewing devotion to God.  But I’ve been occasionally leaving out a vital part of my devotion to God, and God made it very plain that this was UNACCEPTABLE!  God has been rewarding me in certain aspects of my life, and after slacking off for a few days, God decided to slack off on me too in no uncertain terms yesterday!  I agreed with him quickly, and immediately fixed the problem. And he proved me on this by returning the reward!  I made the connection, but the revelation didn’t come until I was reading the word last night and I really really want to share this with you.  What I want to say is that the fire must be kept burning on the altar, CONTINUOUSLY, it must not go out!  I talked about how we cannot assume that all prayers are pleasing and acceptable to God in the last message.  In this message, I want to talk about our devotion to God.  Our “sacrifices” that we place on the altar, are they really acceptable?  When the sacrifice is acceptable to God, he will light the sacrifice with his fire!   If we consider this, perhaps it will be easier to be devoted to God in certain areas…knowing that our devotion is necessary to truly please him.  Are we like Abel, and giving God the fat portion, and our very best!  Or are we like Cain, and giving him skimpy leftovers as a sacrifice.  The bible says, “Abel also brought a gift-the best of the firstborn lambs from his flock. The LORD accepted Abel and his gift.  Genesis 4:4.

What I am talking about are the areas in our devotion to God, in which we slack off in one area or another.  God did not accept Cain’s offering-and likewise he requires more from us! I remember talking about this with one of my spiritual partners and we concluded that you can only do “your best.”  And I know your first instinct is to readily want to agree with this, but hopefully I can convince you (through scriptures of course) that this is untrue by the time you read the entire message. God rewards CONTINUITY.  He rewards DILIGENCE! Hebrews 11:6.  And in the old testament, in order for the glory of the Lord to appear to them their devotion had to be acceptable. Leviticus 9:5.  If we want to see the glory of the Lord this year, we have to be diligent! No more excuses. God will require more from us this year! For some it’s reading the bible.   For some it’s prayer.  For some it’s praise and worship. Perhaps it’s  thanksgiving or service.  But in the old testament, the Christians brought the sacrifice to the altar of the Lord CONTINUOUSLY as an act of worship before God.  The incense [symbolizing prayer, discussed in the last message] was burned before the God faithfully every morning! Exodus 30:7. This was a pleasing thing to the Lord.  In the old testament, the sacrifice was the very best livestock–the first fruits.  For the saints, we are the offering!  We have to be a sacrifice that is likewise acceptable!

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God—this is your true and proper worship.”  Romans 12:1.

Are we giving him the first fruits of ourselves?  Are we doing it with diligence? God is to be the center of our lives and we have to build the other things around him.  It cannot be the opposite way.  We cannot give him whatever is left and think this is acceptable to him.  God requires more of us! Are we willing to be an acceptable offering?  Will we lay down our life on the altar?  God says this, “will you really lay down your life for me?”  John 13:38.  The sweetest smell, the most fragrant sacrifice, is a life laid down for Christ!  Is a daily death on the altar.  We have to be willing to die daily, so that God can use us through prayer, sharing the word, giving, worship, etc.  The greatest act of love, is to lay down your life.  You show your love for him, not in the physical death, but the daily laying your life down for God.  We show our love for others by laying down our life for  our brothers and sisters  (I John 3:16) through prayer and service. Someone mentioned this song recently, “I give myself away” by William McDowell.  Are we really giving ourself away?  He says, “What would happen if a generation really embraced this?”

I have to plug intercessory prayer here, because this is an area I implore the saints to  absolutely not slack on, because the eternal cost is too great!   God has hidden his face from the unrighteous. Isaiah 59:2.  But God says they are like lost sheep without a shepherd. Matthew 9:36.  They are like the blind, they cannot see what they are doing!  The deception of sin, is that eventually you don’t even see your sin.  But we can’t just judge them.  We have to have compassion on them and pray!  We have to remember how our sins once blinded us…and  stand in the gap in prayer for them because God will not hear their prayer.  God says, “I looked for someone who might rebuild the wall of righteousness that guards the land. I searched for someone to stand in the gap in the wall so I wouldn’t have to destroy the land, but I found no one. Ezekiel 22:30

God will not hear everyone’s prayer, this is why he needs us to pray to rebuild the walls of righteousness in our land. If MY people, who are called by MY name, will humble themselves and turn from evil ways, and SEEK my face, I will heal the land. 2 Chronicles 7:14. I keep thinking revival, but there cannot be revival if the saints do not turn from unpleasing ways and pray. And there can definitely be no revival without prayer. We must pray for those whose sins separate them from the father and keep their prayers from being heard. Who may stand on his holy hill? He that has clean hands and a clean heart! Psalm 24:3. That’s us saints! The bible says, if our hearts do not condemn us, we can ask for anything and it shall be done! I John 3:19. We cannot merely love in words, but in actions and deeds. I John 3, says that if we have the resources to provide a need and do not give it, the love of God is not in us. So, we have to share the material things we have with others. If the greatest expression of love is laying down your life to others, we should also lay down our lives by giving it over to God in prayer.

So I touched on prayer a little bit, but let’s talk about all the aspects of our devotion and the God’s expectation about diligence. Because I believe that the power of God is released with diligence. Let’s explore the scripture on this…

PRAYER: 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says “Pray Continually”. The Parable of the persistent widow in Luke 18 implores us to always pray! Hebrews 11:6, says that “God is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” Is this not clear?..God rewards those that diligently SEEK him!

PRAISE: Through Jesus, therefore, let us CONTINUALLY offer to God a sacrifice of praise–the “fruit of lips” that confess his name. Hebrews 13:15. How about in Luke 24:53, “And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God!” Now that was the last chapter and last verse in Luke, and we all know what happened next in Acts! The power of God rained down! Their prayers and praise led to revival! Acts 2:42-43 says, “They DEVOTED themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. And many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles.” You want to see some signs and wonders, get DEVOTED to praise and prayer!

READING THE WORD: Deuteronomy 6:17, ye shall DILIGENTLY keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he hath commanded thee. Joshua 1:8 says “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” But even more, we have to keep his word so that we do not sin against him (Psalm 119:11). 2 Peter 3:14 says, “Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be DILIGENT that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.”

THANKSGIVING: “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus,” 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18. “Always giving thanks to God the Father for everything,” Ephesians 5:20. The worst thing we can do is offer murmuring and complaining instead of thanksgiving.  Murmuring and complaining is sin, and we are advised to do all things without them. Philippians 2:14.

SERVICE: 1 Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, ALWAYS abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. Romans 12:11 “Not lagging behind in DILLIGENCE, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.”

I have to end with this…this is the most important part here, and hopefully this revelation will inspire change. I was thinking about why we are not diligent in certain areas, because I know we have the ability to be diligent. Folks are diligent with their studies and careers, and even growing their hair! So I though, what makes them diligent with those goals.  And it occurred to me that it’s because there is a prize or a reward! That’s what drives dilligence! We cannot be devoted  if the gospel is not our prize. Paul talks about a runner who runs a race, to “a prize that will not last.” He says to if you are going to run this race (like you want to win),it requires strict training. You cannot win a marathon race without DISCIPLINE! But Paul says we run the race for the “prize that will last!” The crown of life!! This too requires discipline.  We can’t get it for nothing! Train up yourself to do it! If you are a sleepy prayer warrior set the alarm 10 times per prayer session,lol! But see, if we are going to have any chance at this, the gospel has to be the prize. Your eyes have to be set on the crown of life!

2 Peter 1:10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give DILIGENCE to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall.

There are a ton more scriptures I found about DILIGENCE, but this is already too long. So I am going to end here. I wrote this because God has impressed upon me, that he requires more from us! And he wants us to be diligent. “Do your best” is not in the bible, but “Be ye perfect” is….not that you will ever reach perfection…but we press toward the mark!! If we can be diligent about silly things, like going to the gym or watching our favorite program, or our hair…why can’t we be dilligent concerning these things! We have to present ourselves as a living sacrifice upon the altar. Let’s give him the Abel-kind of offering! Let’s not assume that just anything is acceptable to him…but let’s give him the fat portion and watch and be amazed when he lights the fire to it! Leviticus 9:24. And when he lights it, let us keep it burning continuously. Leviticus 6:13.

Who is Like God?

From the book of Micah whose name means “who is like the lord?”

Micah 7:18
Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but DELIGHT to show us mercy. You will have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot!

No one is like this! God delights to show mercy to those who humble themselves. He treads underfoot the sins of those that repent. He can’t wait to forgive! He cant wait to restore his sons. He cant wait to tread upon our sins. It brings him great joy to do it! He is waiting as we come from afar off, waiting with a robe and a ring!

Jonah knew this God! Thats why he ran from giving the word to the sinners in Ninevah. He said “I knew you were a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God that relents from sending calamity.”

The Bible says that “God corrects the ones he loves” but he is slow to punish…he gives us time to get it right!!! Who is like this God? He is good, his love endureth forever (2 chronicles 5:13). He is a good God. His correction is evidence of his abounding love. His correction is evidence of his love. The two cannot be separated.

Create in me a clean heart: Part 1: The Warning

Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, people of Israel?  For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live!  Ezekiel 18:30

Christians, we cannot survive off the good we have done yesterday.  In Ekeziel 18, God gives a proverb.  He states that the wicked man that turned from evil and idolatry, will be justified.  But the righteous man that turned to idolatry and the ways of the wicked will be guilty.  He says, “None of your good will be remembered.“  You cannot glory in the days when your heart was steadfast on the things of God.  You cannot be complacent with the fervency in which you used to share the gospel of God…and the zeal in which you used to serve the Lord.  We need to turn away from the idols of self!  God’s hand has been heavy upon the saints, just as he has been with the children of Israel.  God has been the very source of the infliction upon the saints.  Because the hearts of the saints have turned away from God, and have been in hard pursuit of other things.  But to these, God says, repent and live!  Get a new heart and a new spirit!  You cannot rely on yesterday’s salvation.  But “work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” Phillipians 2:12.  To do such will require you to renew your hearts and minds.  It will require you to fear the Lord with a reverent spirit and turn away from the Gods of self.

Some people will even read this is declare, I am not idolator!  And vehemently claim to seek God’s kingdom first.  But God showed me something about idolatry, and I want to share this with you.  Let’s first define an idol, because I don’t want anyone to think that I believe that God doesn’t want you to have desires for anything.   Idolatry is having an “inordinate affection” for something.  In the natural, we define inordinate means “exceeding reasonable limits”; “unregulated”, unrestrained in feelings or emotion, ” “disorderly.”  Now here is the revelation, imagine the heart as a container with a definitive amount of space.  When you fill the space with all desires for things to the point where they are ebbing over, there is no more room for God!  The heart that was intended to delight in the Lord;  Psalm 37:4, is now spilling over with this inordinate, unregulated…unrestrained stuff!  So now instead of delighting in God, the heart is delighting in this stuff!

And God can’t get in there…your heart is crowded with YOU!    So now, we have a picture of this heart, thats crowded with… I don’t need to name it [you claim yours and i'll claim mine! ]…And it becomes so filled so not only does it bring you pleasure just thinking about it…but it’s all we can talk about.  See because out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.  Matthew 12:34.  If God was on your heart…if he was the desire of your heart..you would speak about him.  You would tell people about him…you would “name-drop” in random conversations, to strangers, to friends…you name it.  You know what I’m taking about.  Remember when you first got saved…it’s all you could talk about…you shamelessly bible thumped poor unsuspecting friends and family members! But now, God says “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they worship me in vain…” In Matthew 15:8-9.  God lists several popular  “idols” and states that they are coming out of your mouth…but they derive from your heart, and these things make you unclean!   Don’t think they are coming out of your mouth?  Have you listened to your prayers lately, are you praying for God’s will or more stuff for YOU? 

The surest sign of having idols, is that you are extremely unhappy without them.  Because you have filled all your heart up with it, and when it’s taken away…you have nothing left.  Your love for God has been so overwhelmed by your own desires, that the delight you once had in God isn’t enough to satisfy you.   The space that’s left for God is so minimal in comparison to the portion given over to your idol.  You are discontent!  The contentment in God alone is gone.  But Paul says this,  “Put to death  therefore what is earthly in you:  sexual immorality, uncleaness, inordinate affection, evil, and covetousness, which is idolatry”( Colossians 3:5).  One translation, describes covetousness as excess!  In other words, get rid of all YOU that is spilling over in excess!  You do that by putting God back in his rightful place on the thrown of your heart.  You got to clean your heart out of YOU.    You are still holding on to stuff…Let it Go!  Let it go!   Let it go!  Stop hoarding but let it go….and allow something amazing to happen!

See, “When you delight thyself in the Lord, he will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4.  God has no problem giving you your desires when your delight is in him.  But why would a jealous God give you something that you have already exalted above him?  Do not believe the lies, God can be the most satisfying thing to you!?  Oh yes, he can fill that heart container all the way up all by himself!!  You don’t neet those desires to complete you and make you happy.   No, in his presence there is FULLNESS of joy!! Psalm 16:11.  If you don’t have it, get deliverance!  Your own life is a testimony…didn’t he fill you before?  You were content, lacking nothing!  When you delight in God, something supernatural begins to take place.  You will ask for nothing except that will please him.  You will begin to seek God’s will.  You will start to pray for what you need and less of the things you want.  In the Lord’s prayer, he said “give us this day our daily bread.”  He didn’t say “Give me this mansion,  but daily bread!!”    Because he delighted in the Father…he asked what his father desired…and guess what, the things that he asked were granted!   All the “greater works” Jesus was able to accomplish were possible!  He was one with the father, and he answered his prayers. God has promised to give us the desires in our hearts that are lined up with his will.      If we delight in the Lord, imagine all the good we can do for the Kingdom!

PLEASE READ PART2!   Don’t miss the blessing!

Create in me a clean heart: Part 2: The Blessing!

Delighting in the Lord is not just another way to get what you want from God.  But I believe that if you stay there long enough, the very nature of your prayers change.   You become more like him, and your prayers become like his.  And you don’t desire anything that will pull you away from him.  You want only that which pleases him.  And I don’t doubt that many WILL get those very things their hearts desire.  I don’t doubt it one bit, because God promised that people who give up things in this life(homes, careers, relationships), will receive them one hundred fold in this life (Matthew 19:29).   Because they didn’t idolize these things above God, but deserted these things so that God and his gospel can be number 1!  They delighted in him alone, and counted those things as worthless.   AND EVEN IF the desire never comes to past, it wouldn’t matter!  Because God is the satisfying enough!  See when you delight in the Lord, prayers get dangerous and the Amen’s get few an far between.  I know I wont get any amen’s from this scripture:

“Two things I ask of you, O LORD; do not refuse me before I die: Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, “Who is the LORD?’” Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.” Proverbs 30:7 – 30:9

I’ve been reading through the book of 2 Chronicles, and it’s amazing, how even the good good kings had trouble getting rid of the idols, the “high places,” the “asherah poles,” and the “baals.”   How easily they forget God and disowned him when they got too much.  Or when things didn’t go well, the sought other God’s instead of seeking the Lord.  If you read 2 Chronicles in one pass, it’s the same story…over and over.   The King  would do evil in the eyes of the Lord, and worship idols.  Then seeing the affliction God put on the people, the son becomes King…repents, and cleans out the temple and tears down the high places.  But we he passes…his own son becomes King and then the idols get erected again! And it dawned on me, are the saints not like this?  Pursuing the Lord, and then forgetting him to pursue our own.  But every story had one of two of the same endings!  There are the King Mannasah’s who humbled themselves when God brought destruction…repented and turned their hearts back to God.  Then there were the King Ahaz’s who refused to listen, and instead erect more and more idols!  For every King in 2 Chrorincles who did evil and erected idols, AND who refused to repent, he was delivered over to the hands of his enemies!  There wasn’t one King that had a different fate.  Shall we choose the same fate, or shall we repent and live?  Will we get a new heart and a new spirit as the Lord commands?  Ezekiel 18:30, or will we follow worthless idols and ourselves become worthless (2 Kings 17:15).  We must do like Hezekiah, the godly son of Ahaz.  We must clean the idols out of the temple (2 Chronicles 29:3-19.  The temple is your heart!  Remember the heart container that I talked about earlier?  It’s time to clean it out and get a pure heart!  It’s time to hand yourself the eviction notice!!! He said,  “Now sanctify yourselves, sanctify the house of the Lord God of your fathers, and carry out the rubbish from the holy place.” Do you not know that you are the temple of God? 1 Corinthians 3:16.  Oh yes, It’s time for revival in the house of God !!!

My prayer is that we come become before a Holy God, humble ourselves, and seek a new heart and a new spirit.  May we be like David, and say “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit in me!!”  Psalm 24:3-6 says

“Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord?  Or who shall stand in his holy place?  He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart, who hath noth lifted up his soul unto idols, nor sworn deceitfully.  He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.  This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face.”

May we seek God’s face and not his hand!  That we may turn away from idols!  God I humbly come before you, asking that you grant each willing person reading this a clean heart, a renewed spirit!  Present us with cleans hands, washed by  your blood! So we may into unto your holy hill…that awesome place of worship!  May we stand in your presence in worship, righteous and blameless!! Psalm 15:1.

I begged God for a word share with you,  for those who are willing, and he gave me this: “Be glad, O people of Zion, rejoice in the LORD your God, for he has given you the autumn rains in righteousness. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before.”  The very first scripture he showed me for this message was Psalm 24:3-6, and that verse echoes the same thing, he will give you the blessing of righteousness!  It’s yours!  May he shower you with his abundant righteousness!!!

Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and showers righteousness on you!  Hosea 10:12.

Renewing Our Minds About Prayer That Pleases God

Did you know that God treasures  the prayers of the saints so much, that they come up him as a sweet swelling incense?  David,  in Psalm 141: 2, writes “Let my prayer be set before you as incense.”  In Acts 10:4, God spoke to his faithful servant and  told Cornelius that his prayers and gifts to the poor came up as a memorial before him.  In Revelations, we discover that God keeps the prayers of the saints on his altar in heaven…

“And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up before God out of the angel’s hand.”  Revelation 8:4

“And the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.”  Revelation 5:8

Prayer is not just something we “ought” to do as Christians…it is an offering before God.  It is how we please God and delight in him.  In the bible, there are several mentions of prayers that please God.  These prayers are a fragrant incense before him.  We should know that there are prayers that are malodorous, displeasing and offensive to God!    Psalm 80:4.  We know that God is pleased with prayers for the poor from God’s words to Cornelius.  There are other stories of God being pleased with prayer–such as the story of Solomon in I Kings 3, when Solomon asked God for the wisdom to judge and lead his people, instead of asking for riches and wealth!  And God granted him everything that he hadn’t asked for…because the bible said that what he had asked pleased God.   The secret to prayer that pleases God is so simple….It’s praying God’s will!  Did not the Lord model this in the Lords prayer when he said “Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

We should have the humility to come to God and pray for his will–for he will delight in this prayer.  If we come to him dictating what we should have, or demanding, this may not be a sweet smelling incense.  It may likely be better if this type of prayer is not prayed.  Not saying that you shouldn’t ask for anything…God says ask..and it should be given to you!  Matthew 7:7.  But the caveat is in I John 5:14-15, which says that you must ask anything…according to God’s will!!  Faith is not a blank check to cash in on your desires…but we must have the humility to come before God humbly and ASK ONLY that his will be done.  It may very well be that the desires in your heart are God’s desires.  The surest thing to pray is God’s revealed will…and its what’s in the word of God.  That is fragrant incense!  This is prayer  that God will hear!  The bible says that the effectual prayer avails much! James 5:16.  The effectual prayer is a I John 5:14 prayer…it is a prayer according to God’s will!  Any other prayer is ineffectual, a waste of breathe.  An ineffectual prayer does not yield results…and potentially offensive to God.    Here’s how….

Then the LORD said to Moses—Take fragrant spices—gum resin, onycha and galbanum—and pure frankincense, all in equal amounts, and make a fragrant blend of incense, the work of a perfumer. It is to be salted and pure and sacred.” Exodus 30:34-35.

The Lord gave Moses specific instructions for the incense that Aaron was instructed to burn every morning.   In fact he told him to add nothing more too it!!   In Exodus 30:8-9 God says don’t add anything…none of these extra things because it will be “strange incense”…in other words…it stinks!  But the incense should be salted, pure, and sacred!  Our prayers should be this way before a holy God.  A pure prayer is a heartfelt prayer desires God’s will revealed to his children through his rhema word and written word.  It is a prayer that is is after  the things of God’s own heart.  It not a strange incense of our own plans mixed in with a little bit of God’s will.  Prayer is our ministry to God.  It shouldn’t be about us…but his gospel.  Our food should be to do the will of our father!  John 4:34.  It’s okay to pray for desires, these desires may be things God placed on your heart…but let’s place first things first….but I urge you…FIRST OF ALL….

I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. This is good and pleases God our Savior, for he wants everyone to be saved and understand the truth.   – 1 Timothy 2:1-3

Praying for salvation for others pleases God.  This is God’s will.  This is what is on his heart.  What is on our hearts?  Is it the same?   This is a delight to him.  Do you know what else is a delight to him?  When we long to spend time with God in prayer in communion and fellowship with him…when it’s not just another task…but we long to be in his presence…that is delighting in him!!  When God is more satisfying than all of these cares..that is delighting in him.  When he is more satisfying than anything!   When nothing else matters…that’s delighting in him.  When we yearn to spend time in prayer with God…it’s like being in love!  You can’t wait to talk to that person!  You can’t wait to please that person!  That person is number one!  But we don’t want to spend time with God, and when we do…we don’t want to please him by praying for what he wants.  We want to pray for what we want.  If married people treated their spouses like this…they would be divorced!  But yet, it is how we treat God.   Because God has yet to be more satisfying than a boyfriend or a girlfriend, friends, jobs, houses…you name it.  So we focus on those things and ignore God.

But David knew something that we don’t realize.  He knew that If you delight thyself in the Lord, God will give you the desires of your heart.  Psalm 37:4.  He knew that God looks at the heart…to see if anyone would really seek him!  He knew that everything was meaningless in comparison to delighting in God and being in his presence.  He said, One thing he desired of the Lord…One thing!  Now that is some help for us with christian ADD!  One thing is to dwell in the house of the Lord, and inquire in his temple!    Yes, David said may his prayers be as incense before God.  Psalm 141:2.

May we want nothing more than what God wants for us.  May the desires of our hearts be the desires of his heart.  May our prayers be effectual…a sweet smelling fragrance to our father…May men turn their hearts to god…about all else…may we yearn to seek him in prayer…may he be the desire of nations. Haggai 2:7

Victory is in your praise!

“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds.” 2 Corinthians 10:4

Did you know that one of the greatest weapons of your warfare is praise!  Yes, victory is in your praise!!   It’s no wonder to me that the MIGHTIEST warrior in the bible, was a musician…yes David!  If you go back into the book of Samuel and read  some of these stories of the battles he and his “mighty men” fought are downright out of this world!  I believe that David experienced so much victory in life because he lived a lifestyle of worship (Psam 34:1). No matter how dangerous or difficult a situation he was in, David praised the Lord!  No matter how troubled he was, he yet praised the Lord!    No doubt, David knew that praise was a powerful weapon!

One psalmist wrote, “May the praise of God be in their mouths,  and a double-edged sword in their hands.” Psalm 149:6

Why is praise a weapon?  Because when you praise God…you draw him to your situation.  You invite God in to handle your battle.  Psalm 22:3 says that God inhabits the praises of his people.  After Paul and Silas had been beaten and jailed, they praised God at the midnight hour…and there was a great shaking of the prison!  And the shackles where loosed from them and they were freed!  See, praise can loose you from your situation!    Praise takes us into the throneroom were God is.  In fact, Psalm 100 says that we enter his courts with thanksgiving, and enter his gates with praise!  If you want to get into the holies of holies, praise him!  No matter how bad the situation is, praise him!  Don’t wait for the circumstances to get better, praise him in your low place…from your prison.  When you take a blow from the enemy, praise God anyhow!

Elisha–a man who demonstrated one of the greatest manifestations of God’s anointing on the life of a mere man–knew that sometimes the anointing depended on getting into the throneroom through worship.  In the book of 2 Kings 3,  Jehoshaphat  and Joram (son of Ahab) were headed to battle with Moab and called upon  Elisha to get a word from God.  But who did Elisha call in, a musician to get him into the throne room where he could get a word from God!   The bible says when the musician played, the hand of the Lord came upon him and he was able to get the word from God to lead them into victory!  Worship allows you to push pass the issue and see God!

Or how about in the third book of Judges, when the Israellites had been taken over by Moab, they cried out to God and he sent Ehud, a left handed man,  to deliver them!  It is no coincidence that Ehud’s name means “He that praises.”  Or…how about in the book of 2 Chronicles 20, the King of Judah, Jehashophat found himself the target of 3 armies… the Ammonites, Moabites, and and the Meunites. During this time, Jehosophat was ruling over Judah in accordance with God’s laws. King Jehoshaphat sought the Lord for direction and help against their enemies. The prophets told Jehoshaphat that he would deliver their enemies over Judah. So on the battlefield, Judah which means “praise”… praised the Lord and worshiped him. And guess what happened…their enemies were so confused by their praise that they annihilated themselves!  Praise will confuse the enemy!  Or how about when Joshua lead the Israellites into the promised land, did not their shout cause God to tear down the wall of Jericho.

Many people pray, but not everyone will praise and give thanks to God during their situations.  But prayer and praise should go together.  If you really want to get into God’s presence..set the atmosphere of praise before you pray in his holy spirit!  Something will loose and break forth!  And really, this is the model that Jesus himself gave for us for prayer.  In the Lord’s prayer…he began and ended his prayer to the father with praise!  I have noticed that there are a lot of hidden messages in the bible, because God conceals a matter so we can search it out. Proverbs 25.2  Jesus says this,  Matthew 11:25, he says to the father…I will PRAISE you as a hint!  “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.  What has God revealed to children that we don’t know?  Matthew 21:16, “Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?”  See children know, when you need your parents to do something for you, you cry out!  You shout!  When we need help from our Father we should cry out!  David knew they same thing, and he said that praise silenced his enemies.  In psalm 8:2, he says ” From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.”

The weapon of praise is a weapon of warfare made mighty through God for the pulling down of strongholds!  So the the next time you are in need of victory, don’t get in a rut of despair.  Has the enemy have one of your love ones in his grasp?? Been praying for salvation for someone?…Cry out to God with your praise!  Shout out to God with a voice of triumph! Psalm 47:1   But we should know that it’s continual praise, that produces a victorius life. Psalm 34:1, David says, “I will bless the Lord at ALL times, his praise will CONTINUALLY be in my mouth.”  How did the saints transcend into the power evident in the pentecost, well where where they when the book of Luke ends…” And they stayed CONTINUALLY at the temple, praising God.”  Continual praise precedes the manifestation of God’s ultimate power! So if you’re now a worshipper, listen to the words of Fred Hammond and “Let the praise begin!”

*Remember to praise him in spirit and in truth! John 4:24 True praise should satisfy God…it’s really one of the few things we can offer him!

We have neglected the greater work…prayer!

“I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me and what I have been doing.  He will do even greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.  And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.  You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”  John 12:12-14

What are the “greater works than these” that Christ says we shall do?   Now we know that Jesus had an amazing ministry on earth, but he promises us an even greater ministry.  And he tells us what it is right in the next line…it’s the “Asking in his name.”  The greater work is prayer!!!  How can we bring in the souls as Christ commissioned us?   It’s in the petition of prayer!! Because God has gone to the father, he has given us the holy spirit to help us pray.  And it is through praying in the holy spirit (Ephesians 6:18), that the power of God is released to bring in the harvest of souls.  Matthew 9:37-38 says this “The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few.  PRAY ye therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborer’s to his harvest.”  See when we pray, God will send out the laborers!  People will feel impressed to go out to different places to preach the gospel.  Our prayers will burden them to do God’s work.  In fact, the greatest first missionaries (Paul and Barnabas)  were sent out from a prayer meeting in Acts 13. We can see from the scripture above from John…when we do the greater work of prayer, God promises to do anything we ask when we ask in his name!!

The enemy knows this!  He knows the power of our prayers!!!  So, being the master of deception…he thinks on how he can keep the harvest of souls for being gathered by the saints.  So he does it by bringing in a false gospel.  As gospel of prosperity.  So that the saints are continually looking for their next breakthrough or promotion…while souls are perishing.  And God warns us of this scheme in  Mark 4:19.  He warns that the seed, which is the word (the gospel) will fall among thorns, but the the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth,  and the desires for other things choke out the word and make it unfruitful.  He does it by roaming to and from the earth, causing suffering among the saints so that they may lose their faith and turn from doing the greater work. I Peter 5:8-9.  The enemy keeps the saints preoccupied with their troubles, success, or personal desires…so no one is planting the seed on ground where it can multiply.  The scariest thing about deception is this…no one knows they are being deceived!  [**discussed in detail in The Frustrated Chritian Series].  So they go on and on…from one blessing to the next, one frustration to another, while the souls are perishing!

BUT…if we pray…It will be like that seed sown in good ground that produces a crop, thirty, sixty, or a hundred times what was sown!!!  Now that is a real prosperity gospel!  Some of us ARE the laborers who will go out and produce the harvest.  But it all begins with our prayers. Our prayers have the power to send the laborers out…they have the power to change the hearts of sinners and bring them to repentance.  When the disciples tried to heal the demon-possesed boy, they asked why they could not.  Jesus told them, ”this kind can come out only by prayer.”Mark 9:29.  The greater work has absoloute power to come to pass….But, “We ask not.” James 4:3.  We ask not, for opportunities for God to use us to witness.  We ask not, for God to position us to meet people who God has readied to receive the gospel.  We  ask not, for the Lord to prepare to send our our ministers to spread the gospel.  When we do ask, we ask amiss…as James says, so that we may consume ourselves on our own pleasures.  But we must remember that prayer that is the greater work.  We should measure our impact as christians by the measure of our prayer lives.  If we do not pray, what use are we doing the greater work of God?   If the salt loses it’s flavor, what use is it?

What drove Jesus to do his greater work was this…compassion!  Matthew 9:35, says that “Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.  When he saw the crows, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” That is when he made the commission for the saints to pray for the lost.  It was his compassion for them that moved him.  When we see the lost, do we shake our heads and point fingers?  Or are we moved to pray for them?  We must be careful not to lose our compassion for sinners because they are perishing. May we, instead pray for them so that we may not be ashamed (Philliians 1:20) but see hundreds and thousands of souls making it in because we prayed!   Because we saw that they were lost and didn’t know the right way!  We can see the right way…but how can the blind see.  Shouldn’t we be a lampstand to the lost?   Matthew 5:14.

The bible says the fervent, effectual prayer of the righteous man availeth much (James 5:16).  There is something about praying in the spirit that realeases God’s hand to work.  When you pray in the spirit, Romans 8:26, says that the spirit makes intercession for us…because we know not what to pray. The scripture goes on to say that the spirit searches mind of God so that we pray God’s will!!  We know from I John 5:14, that when we pray in God’s will…God promise that anything we ask will be done!!  That’s efficient prayer isn’t it?  An effectual prayer is heard and has power with it because it’s in the will of God.

Our prayers to God go up like an incense before him (Psalm 114:2). In fact, in Acts 10:4, God speaks to Cornelius and tells him that “Your prayers and gifts to the poor has come up as a memorial offering before God.”  Not one prayer is wasted…but he keeps them before him as a memorial!  Revelations 8:8 says that God keeps the prayers of the saints on a golden altar before the throne along with the smoke of incense.  God values our prayers so much that that come up to him and he stores them away on his heavenly altar!  How else do we know that God values prayer?  He says that “my house is a house of prayer.”  Matthew 21:13.  Why didn’t he call it the house of preaching?  Or the house of singing and dance?  Because at the thrown of grace…at the altar of prayer…is where his hand is released!  It is where the greater work happens!  And through his spirit he allows us to participate in bringing in the harvest.  He calls us co-laborers in his great work!  1 Corinthians 3:9 says, For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.”  Yes you, are the house of prayer!  You are God’s building!

May we do the work of prayer, in the spirit, and also other kinds of prayers (Epehsians 6:18) and so fulfill the will of God to bring in the harvest.  We all have the ministry of intecession.  We are all called to be prayer warriors.  Any church or ministry will lack power without the vehicle of prayer!  Our ministries are only as strong as our prayer lives.  Paul knew this…that’s why when he writes to Timothy about the church he says…first of all prayer is of utmost importance..!!!

“I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers,intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone– for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.  For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. I Timothy 2:1

God is concerned about salvation, first of all!!  If we can do nothing else.  If are not able to go out an get the harvest, let us atleast pray that the Lord of the harvest send out laborers.  May we be filled with compassion for the lost…those who are like sheep without a shepherd.  May we cry out for them with all kinds of prayers and fasting.  Amen.  Please receive this in Love…whatever I speak I speak into my own life first.