7.28.2012 PRAY BIBLE...

OR DON'T PRAY AT ALL!

GOD ANSWERS EVERY SINGLE PRAYER...

jeremiah 33.3
CALL TO ME
and I WILL ANSWER you
and will tell you great and mighty things,
which you do not know.

HE EITHER SAYS 'YES', 'NO' or 'NOT NOW'

the last answer does not include information on how long. some times He wants us to persist in prayer.

matthew 6.7
ASK and it shall be given you
SEEK and you shall find
KNOCK and it shall be opened to you
for everyone who asks receives
and he who seeks finds and to him who knocks it shall be opened.'

luke 18.1
now He was telling them a parable to show that AT ALL TIMES they ought to
PRAY
AND NOT LOSE HEART

in approaching God in prayer there must be an ABSOLUTE ACCEPTANCE OF WHATEVER HE WANTS

Jesus said, 'pray, then, in this way,
our Father who art in heaven
hallowed be Thy name
Thy kingdom come
THY WILL BE DONE
ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN'. matthew 6.10

'and this is the confidence which we have before Him, that, IF WE ASK ANYTHING ACCORDING TO HIS WILL, HE HEARS US.
and if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask,
WE KNOW THAT WE HAVE THE REQUESTS WHICH WE HAVE ASKED FROM HIM. I john 5:14-5

the only place where we can clearly find out WHAT GOD WILLS IS IN HIS WORD. time for self-examination and reflection is essential.

example: i know the bible says, HUSBANDS LOVE YOUR WIVES... i'm good! no prayer needed here!! wait, in first corinthians 13 we learn that love is patient (not wrathful) so one way i can know that i am loving my wife is that i am not angry at her. but right now i know that i am angry at her and hiding it (or not) and i'm not able to stop being angry. i come to God and say something along the line of
Lord, You say for me to love my wife
right now i am realizing that i am angry with her
help me to see what a deadly sin anger is (matthew 5.21f)
help me not to be angry with her...oh i'm thinking i may even hate her..
oh God have mercy upon me and change my heart...give me a new heart...
i can't forgive her for x, help me to forgive her Lord..
help me to love her (an you sit before the Lord and wrestle in prayer you may experience a release and a change of heart, of inflowing feelings of repentance, regret, willingness to let go of the anger..
you could come away with a hard, cold heart..
you could come away somewhat softened.

often it is a process. often it takes time. but the old saying is a living reality whether experience immediately or not...PRAYER CHANGES THINGS. if its not immediate God may give grace enough to enable you to be honest with where you are at with your wife...it may even lead to prayer together over it...more power...

this is totally manufactured and only represents one of a myriad of ways in which the Spirit of God may work in any situation. the big thing is total transparency and openness with Him (secret: He knows all you know and more...all the junk that's below the line of your conscious recognition..the vast subconscious! where all the vilest of our sins and their wicked, slimy roots reside, thrive and flourish)

GOD IS NOT A COSMIC VENDING MACHINE THAT WE 'OPERATE' TO GET WHATEVER WE WANT, but that is how we often treat Him by the way we approach Him in prayer...or worse, with demands.

someone's in some kind of fix.
we dash off, 'GIVE peace, comfort, safety'. many times if God 'gave' those things it would be the worst possible thing! His purposes would remain thwarted and His will denied. say there is fear and anxiety involved, rather than dash off a spiritual drug prescription, isn't if much better to grapple with the sin involved say in fear and anxiety. make no mistake
FEAR (except if it is of disobeying God) AND ANXIETY ARE ALWAYS SIN no matter what the circumstance may be.

look up the different places where people are commanded by God not to fear/be anxious philippians 4.6-7
pick one out that kind of matches the situation at hand.
admit to God that you are fearful.
ask for His help to trust Him through the situation rather than doubt Him. (jeremiah 17. 5, 7-8)
etc.

prayer is not getting what we want but rather
discovering what God wants in any circumstance by 
letting God search your heart through bringing bible verses and passages to mind, by
crying out to Him to align us
to what He wants in that situation..
to act, to be in accordance with the His word, and, if need be,
to change our hearts of stone into hearts that will be who He wants, to do what He wants...ezekiel 36. 25-7 (this last area is the one i cry to Him most about for i am increasingly aware of how little aligned my heart is to His.

oh God take from us the spirit of anger, bitterness, questioning You and demandingness toward You. forgive us for sitting in judgment on You and thinking we know better. oh give us absolute brokenness before You, willing to do whatever..illuminate my mind and soften and change my wicked heart before You oh Lord! help me totally submit myself to You even to the walking through the inky blackness inhabited by accusing, blaspheming demons..or satan Himself appearing as an angel of light to deceive and draw me away from Your revealed will in the bible (isaiah 8.20)

also...instead of forging ahead..wait upon the Lord. discern where your heart is. be still and know that He is God and let Him examine your heart. in every area, for every command in the bible WHEN YOU SENSE A GAP between where you are in your heart and where you are on the outside (putting on a mask, playing a part) wrestle with God asking Him to change your heart.

for example, don't keep saying 'thank you Lord' on the outside with a pasted on smile, when inside you are rip roaring mad, full of ingratitude and anger...but cry out, Lord help me BE grateful to You in this and in whatsoever You bring. God is more interested in making me completely new, absolutely transformed (romans 12.1) from what i WAS to what i AM right now.