Pray Appropriately

Have you ever wondered if God is really listening to your prayers? Do you sometimes think that your prayers are going unheard? Have you asked yourself if you are praying “correctly?” Do you think you might be worrying too much about how to pray?

We’ve all seen someone during our lives who has prayed in public and seems to go on forever. We likely have sat in the pew and wondered if he or she was ever going to finish. It gets to be a distraction with our mind wondering all over the place.

Don’t misunderstand me, there are certainly times we should spend more time in prayer than we do. There are times when we find ourselves in such distress that we need a long conversation with God, pouring our hearts out, crying tears of sorrow or frustration or perhaps anger before God. There may be times when we have a big decision before us and we need to spend more time with God, not asking, but listening for His guidance.

But there are also times when prayer should be short and to the point. There are times when we should not babble on and on. There are times when our prayer should be a quick prayer that simply says, “God you already know what I need, and I trust You.”

How do we know when to pray quickly or spend a lengthy time with God? First, public prayers should not be long. Get to the point and move on. Otherwise, you begin to lose the attention of those who are praying with you. You may wonder why that is important. When we pray as a community with all who are present coming together as one, we bring more of the body of Christ together. This brings more power to the prayer.

So, when should we spend a longer time in prayer? When we are alone. When we are wrestling with a tough decision. When we are in distress over a situation. When we are at a loss and longing for God’s guidance. These prayers should include our understanding of the issue we face, the request for God to intervene, and listening for God to respond. It is that last part that often trips us up. We ask God for what we want and let it go at that. We, too often, don’t spend enough time listening for His guidance or His answer to our request.

I pray we all spend time in prayer. I pray we go to a private place to spend quality time with God. I pray each of us will carry on a two-way conversation with God. Spend time in prayer. Spend time with God. Listen for God’s guidance. Trust God to provide the solution. God loves you.

Matthew 6:6-8 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

Live At Peace

As we look around us, we can find many things wrong from our viewpoint. As we watch the news, we can quickly get upset at what we see. Our culture has taught us to be very judgmental. Have taken time to simply look back over a single day at your thoughts or what you have said?

We are called to be at peace. So why do we find ourselves in such upheaval? Why is it we find ourselves upset, angry, frustrated, anxious, or confused? Could it be we are worrying more about others than we need to?

Sure, we are to care for others. We are to wish the best for others. We are to support others. Perhaps the actions of others baffle us, but we are not to be upset. Perhaps we see people making bad choices and desire to help them, but we are not to be judgmental of them. Perhaps someone offends us, but we are not to strike back. Perhaps we are hurt by another person, but we are not to hurt them in return.

Why do you suppose Paul is telling the church in Rome to be at peace, to not react negatively in return? First, negative actions are not representative of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Second, being angry at someone else saps us of our positive energy. Third, remaining calm and at peace allows us to think clearly and rational. Finally, it is the peacemaker that is called a child of God (Matthew 5:9).

This is not to say that we must agree with everyone. It is possible to disagree with someone and not be angry. It doesn’t mean we don’t correct someone for clearly doing wrong. We can make corrections without being scornful. We call this education or training.

How are we to go about this? It is an attitude change, a change that doesn’t take place in the snap of our fingers. We must work on choosing our words carefully. We also must work on our tone of voice. Do you know that you can say all the right words and still be ineffective and viewed as wrong? It comes down to the tone you use when you speak.

There will be times when the other person is being completely unreasonable and won’t listen to a calm, reasonable point of view. But that doesn’t relieve us of the responsibility of pursuing peace. It does not give us permission to be angry. We are told to be peace with everyone as far as it depends on us.

I pray we all reflect on our tone and our words. I pray we pursue peace with others. I pray each one of us refuse to allow disagreements to drive us to anger. Pursue peace. Choose your words carefully. Moderate your tone of voice. Seek to understand. Live at peace.

Romans 12:18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

Breaking Our Chains

We all find we are shackled by one thing or another. Our chains may be physical, but it is far more likely they are mental, emotional, or spiritual. God has the power to break those chains, regardless of what they are. So, how do we go about convincing God to break them?

Our first step is to recognize we are in shackles. This may sound obvious, but far too many people are chained to their vices, faults, or deficiencies unknowingly. Oh, they may recognize there is a problem, but not really see it for what it is. Perhaps they discard it as simply the way it is and live with it.

Once we recognize our issue, we must be willing to give it up. I’m not talking about something as obvious or simple as deciding to rid ourselves of a bad habit. It goes far deeper than that. We must have the desire to truly change from the inside out. We must be ready to make a drastic change. We must be ready to stop being who we are and ready to be who God wants us to be.

Once we’ve gotten to the point of giving ourselves up, we must ask God to break those chains. We must believe that God can break them. Our faith may be small at first, but it will grow as we see Him work. As our faith increases, we trust Him more, asking Him to remove larger and tighter chains. Ultimately, we find we are free of the shackles, we are liberated, and we feel light as a feather.

I know. Many of you are saying, “You don’t understand. You don’t know my situation.” You’re right, I don’t. Yet, I do know God has the power to free you. I do know that God has the ability to break your chains. Remember, He is the Creator of all things!

It is often our lack of faith that holds us back. It is our desire to continue to wallow in the pigsty that keeps us there. We say we want to change, but we don’t really. It must be a soul-searching exercise. It requires us to get on our knees in tears with a desire we have never had before, reaching out to God with a deep, heartfelt desire to change. It is at that moment that we can ask Him to break the chains that bind us.

I pray we all fall to our knees before God. I pray we turn to God with our entire being. I pray each one of us will ask God to break the chains that bind us, setting us free to follow Him. Empty yourself of yourself. Open your eyes. See the chains that bind you. Ask God to remove your shackles. Be set free, truly free. Trust God. See your faith grow.

Psalm 107:10-11, 13-14

Some sat in darkness, in utter darkness,

prisoners suffering in iron chains,

because they rebelled against God’s commands

and despised the plans of the Most High….

Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,

and he saved them from their distress.

He brought them out of darkness, the utter darkness,

and broke away their chains.

Free From The Law

Are there laws you think are silly? Perhaps there are laws you wish you could ignore. Are there laws you disobey? There are some laws that seem to contradict themselves, aren’t there? I’m sure we could pick apart many laws, if we got started on it.

The Jews had laws that were given to them by God. They started with the ten commandments and were added to over the years. The Jewish Rabbi’s then put hedges around those laws in an effort to keep the people from breaking them.

What do I mean by a hedge around a law? An example is the law that they were to rest on the Sabbath. The Rabbi’s defined work as walking more than 100 steps from their home. Now, isn’t that a bit silly? If you are a shepherd, how do you not walk more than 100 steps to talk care of the flock? The Rabbi’s put rules in place to enforce the letter of the law rather than abiding by the spirit of the law. The intent of this particular law was to encourage people to take a day of rest to allow the body and mind to relax and prepare for another week of work.

Have we become like the Rabbi’s? Have we put hedges around the commands of Jesus? The two greatest commands according to Jesus are to love God and love your neighbor. He said all the Law and the Prophets hung on these two commands (Matthew 22:37-40). In other words, Jesus is saying that when we do everything in the spirit of love, we are following the law.

I believe this is also the point Paul is trying to get across in today’s passage. When we are buried in the baptism of Jesus Christ, we die to the law. We rise in love. We are to love as Jesus loved at all times in all situations. It is through our love for God and one another that we are to act, respond, and speak.

Notice that Paul says we must die to bear fruit. Isn’t that the same as happens when we plant fields of grain? The seed goes into the ground, it dies to itself, and grows into the plant that bears fruit. This analogy is used often to represent our lives. We die to our own wants, desires, and preferences in order to grow into the person God intended us to be and bear the fruit He intended us to bear.

I pray we all give up our legalistic points of view. I pray we die to our own wants, desires, and preferences. I pray each one of us live by the two greatest commands. Die to self. Love God with all your heart. Love your neighbor. Live a life free of the law.

Romans 7:4-6 So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. For when we were in the realm of the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in us, so that we bore fruit for death. But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.

Spies Among Us

Have you ever been spied upon? Has someone infiltrated your workplace or your group of friends to gather information for someone else? How did you feel? How do you think you might feel if it happened to you?

I’m sure most of us have watched a movie that involved someone spying on someone else. Usually, it’s the good guys spying on the bad guys so they can rescue somebody or stop a catastrophe or get back stolen information. The typical “save the world” scenario.

The real-world reasons for spies are more nefarious and disruptive. The reasons include identity theft, stealing money, stealing secrets, identifying ways to disrupt someone’s plans, and gathering information to prepare for battle.

Our enemy, Satan and his demons, are no different. Much like God uses people to carry out His plan, Satan uses people to carry out his. He has people infiltrate our fellowship to disrupt our worship of God. Not simply our Sunday worship, but our individual worship on a daily basis. Their goal is to pull us away from God. They see our safety, joy, peace, contentment, freedom in Christ, and they want to take it away.

This tactic is nothing new. We see in today’s passage Paul telling of this happening in the first century. Satan has long been an enemy of God’s and he continues to be to this day. We need to be aware of his schemes and his desire to lure us away.

We have the ultimate protection available to us. Jesus will both protect us from Satan’s schemes and reveal them to us. You might wonder how we can tap into this wonderful protection. We do so through prayer, faith, and listening for the Holy Spirit to speak to us.

Our struggle is not simply against other people. It is also against the forces of evil that pervade this world. These evil forces are often unseen, but the driving force behind the events that trip us up. We are told they even exist in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 6:12).

It is a wonderful thought to know that we have God on our side, and He will provide us all we need to overcome evil. Jesus has won the war. He has secured our victory. As we trust Him and hold on to Him, we win the daily battles we face. We will identify those who attempt to infiltrate our tribe of followers and be equipped to remove them.

I pray we all reach out to God in prayer. I pray we ask Him to identify the false believers and spies attempting to infiltrate our ranks. I pray each one of us trusts God as our protector. Spend time in prayer. Listen for the Holy Spirit. Trust God. Trust Jesus.

Galatians 2:4-5 This matter arose because some false believers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves. We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you.

No Condemnation

Being condemned is not something any of us look forward to. Rather we look forward to being rewarded. We desire getting the pat on the back. We seek those atta-boys and atta-girls. We like to be told we are doing well.

Our self-esteem is built up when we are told we are doing well. It makes us feel good. It is the gas that feeds the engine to cause us to continue to move forward toward a goal. We gain positive energy from the encouragement of others.

There is one encouragement we can take with us at all times. If we are in Jesus, we can no longer be condemned by Satan. We are set free from death. We are promised an eternal life with God. It is a promise that won’t be broken.

Yet, Satan will continue his attacks. He will do everything he can to discourage us. He will put obstacles in our way. He will attempt to confuse us. He will tug and pull at us to go in a different direction. He sends doubts our way. He doesn’t want us to be in Jesus. He wants us to trip and fall. His desires to chew up as many people as he can. We are told that he is a roaring lion looking to devour us (1 Peter 5:8). He will use every trick in the book, then make up new ones to pry us away from Jesus, our Savior.

But God has made a promise. If we accept Jesus as our Savior and hold on to Him, we are free. He has taken us out of the prison Satan would put us in. Only we can put ourselves back into that prison. We hold the key as long as we hold onto Jesus.

Isn’t it comforting to know that Jesus has broken the chains of the Mosaic law? Could you imagine having to periodically sacrifice an animal for your sins? We no longer have to concern ourselves with that. Jesus was the perfect sacrifice, the lamb of God that takes away our sins (John 1:29). No, it doesn’t mean we can do whatever we want and suffer no consequences. It does mean we can ask for forgiveness and God will forgive us.

When you begin to feel discouraged, remember that Jesus has reserved a place for you for eternity. Take heart that Jesus has released you so that you can freely follow Him. The restraints were crushed when He was crucified for each one of us. The promise of eternity was sealed when He rose again. Death has been conquered.

I pray we all find encouragement in the promise of eternal life. I pray we look to Jesus for our salvation. I pray each one of us lives in the freedom provided by Jesus. No condemnation. Freedom to follow Jesus. You have been set free. Eternal life is promised. Be encouraged. Allow your soul to be lifted. Follow Jesus. Trust Jesus.

Romans 8:1-2 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.

Cry Out To God

Have you strayed from God? Do you feel like you are trapped? Does it feel as though you are a prisoner, trapped in a situation with no way out? Are you on the verge of giving up? Does your situation feel hopeless?

We all experience a situation at some time in our lives that feels as though we have hit a wall, or the situation is hopeless. Perhaps we blame ourselves for not seeing it coming. We might blame someone else for tricking us into it.

We might feel the same about our relationship with God. We may be in a situation right this moment that is dark and dank and utterly miserable. It feels as though God has abandoned us. We may even believe it is because of our negligence or disobedience that has caused Him to leave us. Yet there is always an opportunity to repent.

God has the ability to break our chains, release us from the prison we are in. He is waiting for us to return to Him. He has the power to bring down the walls with a crash, leaving nothing but rubble. He may choose to take them apart one piece at a time.

What are we to do? We are to fall on our knees. We are to repent of our wrongdoing. We are to cry out to God for help. Our hearts need to turn to God. As we turn to God, honestly seeking Him with a desire to turn away from our sin, He hears and answers our plea.

We are to believe God has the ability to lift us out of the muck and mire. Our hearts and minds are to trust God. After all, we can see many dire situations in which God rescued His people, pulling them out of extreme situations safely.

I pray we all turn to God. I pray we trust Him to lift us up. I pray each of us will put our faith in Him each and every day. Cry out to God. Repent of your sin. Trust God to rescue you. Ask God to break the chains that hold you. Believe God has the power to release you. Put your faith in God.

Psalm 107:10-14

Some sat in darkness, in utter darkness,

prisoners suffering in iron chains,

because they rebelled against God’s commands

and despised the plans of the Most High.

So he subjected them to bitter labor;

they stumbled, and there was no one to help.

Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,

and he saved them from their distress.

He brought them out of darkness, the utter darkness,

and broke away their chains.

Pursue Life

Do you desire to find peace? Are you looking to know what it is like to be content? Are you willing to leave behind your past and step into an unknown future filled with good? Do you seek a life of pure joy?

I believe we all would love a life of pure joy. Honestly, we see people pursuing it every day. They seek it in their jobs. They seek it in relationships. They seek in new toys. Unfortunately, they are looking for it in all the wrong places.

To find the pure joy we all seek, we must turn from seeking it in a worldly fashion. We must stop chasing the American dream. This world is full of illusions and false promises. Yet, there is One who makes promises in truth and His promises are fulfilled.

If we truly want to love life or have a life worth loving, we need to forsake this worlds desires. That doesn’t mean we don’t work. It doesn’t mean we don’t have relationships. It doesn’t mean we turn our back on the world in a physical sense. It does mean we stop allowing the world and its desires be our driving force. Rather we allow God to be our driving force.

When we allow God to be our driving force, we find the intangibles we can’t find in the world. We find eternal life in the here and now and in the future. We discover that He does really keep His promises and leave behind the disappointment we find in this world.

Does it mean it’s all unicorns and rainbows? No. Jesus promised that we would have hard times in this life. Haven’t we all seen and felt that promise come true? After all, we live in a world that has been corrupted by Satan. The pain and suffering we experience here and now is just a foretaste of what living apart from God for eternity will be.

Yet, we can also experience a foretaste of what spending eternity with God will be in the here and now. We can experience the fulfillment of His promises. Jesus has promised us life, if we will follow Him. When He speaks of life, it is eternal life. In fact, He typically used the Greek word for eternal life, even though it is simply translated as life in our English Bibles. So, go seek the eternal life Jesus promised. Take Him at His word. You won’t be disappointed.

I pray we all seek eternal life. I pray we take God up on His promises. I pray each one of us will share the life Jesus promises with others. Seek God. Seek eternal life. Experience God’s promises. Ask Jesus to fill you. Follow Jesus.

Psalm 34:12-14

Whoever of you loves life

and desires to see many good days,

keep your tongue from evil

and your lips from telling lies.

Turn from evil and do good;

seek peace and pursue it.

Praise and Curses

Have you ever been to the ocean? Did you swim in it? Did some of the water splash into your mouth? If it did, did you notice the saltiness of it? The water in the ocean tastes significantly different than fresh water coming from a deep well, doesn’t it?

The way we speak can vary as much as the salty ocean and the fresh water from a well. We can be speaking praises one moment and cursing the next. What does this say about our nature? Perhaps it reveals a far deeper issue in our hearts than we like to admit.

Our culture has become a culture of no restraint. It has become a culture all about self. If we don’t like something or someone, we no longer look for a compromise, we simply condemn whatever or whomever we don’t like. We see it on social media. We see it on the news. We see it in our workplaces. We see it in our families. Is it any wonder there is more division in our country than ever?

What can be done? James tells us in today’s passage that we are not to be this way. As followers of Jesus Christ, we are called to a higher standard. We are not to sing praises to God, then curse our fellow human beings. We likely agree with James. In fact, we probably have thought this very thought, but have given up and said, “It is what it is.” It doesn’t have to be that way.

As we saw in yesterday’s message, our words come from our heart. This is especially true when we are caught off guard and immediately react. If you want to know what is firmly planted in your heart, reflect on what comes out of your mouth when someone does something you don’t like. Do you curse the other person, or do you ask God to work in that person’s life? Do you seek to understand why they did what they did, or do you condemn them?

Jesus saw this in the teachers of the law. He called them hypocrites (Matthew 23:25-26). He saw that they were putting on a show on the outside yet were full of greed and self-indulgence on the inside. He told them to clean up the inside first, rather than simply polish the outside for show.

We, too, are being hypocritical when we praise God, ask Him for blessings, and yet condemn our fellow man. We are play acting at being a follower of Jesus. To do what Jesus says, to clean the inside, we need to ask Him to clean it for us. When our inside, our heart, is clean, the outside will shine brightly, and we will reflect Jesus to those around us.

I pray we all ask Jesus to clean us from the inside out. I pray we stop condemning on another. I pray each of us reflect Jesus. Ask God to cleanse you. Ask Jesus to clean out the dirt in your heart. Give up being a hypocrite. Be a true reflection of Jesus.

James 3:9-11 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?

The Fruit We Cultivate

We all like fruit of some type. Some of us prefer the traditional apples, pears, oranges, or bananas. Others prefer tropical fruits such as papaya, mango, passion fruit, or pomegranates. No matter the type of fruit we prefer, we typically want it fresh and ripened properly.

If you know anything about fruit trees, you know the very young, freshly planted trees don’t bear fruit immediately. It takes years of tending to the trees, fertilizing and pruning, for a tree to begin to bear fruit. Continued care is needed for that tree to mature into a bumper crop producing tree.

Perhaps this is why Jesus used the fruit analogy when talking about a person’s heart. Much like a tree whose roots draw in water and nutrients from the ground around it, our hearts and minds draw from the inputs around us. There is a significant amount of those inputs at our discretion, far more than we think about.

Sure, there are environmental factors when we are children that are out of our control. But as we grow into an adult, we largely choose our environment, even when we are at work. We choose to hang around with our co-workers who are telling off color jokes, complaining about everything, judging everyone they see, and generally spewing discontent. We can walk away from them or choose to use headphones or earbuds at most office jobs.

We choose the books we read, the television shows and movies we watch, and the friends we hang around. Our choices are feeding our hearts and minds. Our minds remember far more than we believe or give credit to ourselves. Oh, it might not be brought to our consciousness, but it is the unconscious mind that plays a significant underground roll in what comes out of us. It is the unconscious mind that directs much of our immediate reactions. We say it comes without thinking. Yet we do think, it’s simply unconscious thinking.

Notice it is the unconscious mind Jesus is referring to in today’s passage. He is talking about the deep-seeded memories that we may have forgotten about consciously. Jesus is stating much of our behavior is determined by the piles of unconscious memories written on our hearts and minds.

Will those memories ever go away? No. But we can compile good in our hearts and minds that will overwhelm and reduce significantly, if not eliminate, the control the bad has over us. The good we take in will begin to change our behavior, causing us to produce good fruit rather than bad.

I pray we all decide to take in good. I pray we seek to overwhelm the bad from our past with good going forward. I pray each of us will become a person who produces good fruit. Feed good to yourself. Eliminate the bad influences. Produce good fruit. Reprogram your heart and mind.

Luke 6:43-45 “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.”