Reward in Prayer

Do you look forward to a reward? Do you look forward to a reward with such desire that you save to reward yourself? Are you working extra hard so your boss will recognize your work and reward you? Have you ever thought about being rewarded by God?

We often look to be rewarded with money, a trophy, or some gift for our work or service. We compete against rules, standards, and objectives to achieve those rewards. For some, it’s a team competition to achieve specified levels of excellence to be rewarded with a bonus at the end of the year.

Unfortunately, we also see people competing for rewards in relationships. It may manifest itself in gift giving, people increasing their gift to someone in hopes of receiving a larger or better gift from the other person. We see people do something for someone else in hopes the other person will do something for them.

Too often those attempts are done solely out of selfishness rather than out of love. Our motives are wrong. We are solely looking out for ourselves. We want people to notice us, even if we say we don’t. We desire the recognition, even it only in private.

If we desire an everlasting reward, we will pursue it quietly without seeking recognition from people but from God. We will seek God in quiet contemplation and periodic fasting. We will spend time in prayer to seek God’s will for our lives. Jesus clearly tells us that we are to spend time in prayer and fasting without seeking the recognition of others and God will reward us.

Do we spend time quietly in prayer? It is highly likely that most of us don’t or we spend very little time. And we wonder why God isn’t rewarding us. Jesus made a promise, which means God made a promise. If we truly trust God, we are to spend time quietly in prayer or stop expecting a great reward.

This may sound harsh, but it isn’t. Think about this for just a moment. Do we reward our children for not doing something we ask them to do? No, I don’t think so. God will reward us in ways we cannot explain nor imagine, if we will only do what He has asked.

I pray each of us will spend time in prayer. I pray we all seek God’s reward rather than human rewards. I pray we trust Jesus at His word. Spend time in prayer each day. Seek God’s will. Trust Jesus. Look forward to God’s reward.

Matthew 6:16-18 “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

Treasure in Heaven

Where is your treasure? Does it reside in a bank? Is it tied up in your house? Is it your car? Is it jewelry? Is it all of these things? Do you ever wonder why things in this world don’t seem to go right for you? Could it be your treasure is in the wrong place?

I know, some of you have immediately tuned out of this writing or simply stopped reading altogether. In your minds, I’m meddling. You know what? I’m not meddling. Jesus isn’t meddling either. He is stating a truth that no one wants to hear.

Let me ask another question. If your house and car and everything you own were destroyed today, would you be so completely devasted that you couldn’t go on? Sadly, for most of us, we would be devasted. We may not be capable of moving forward again for quite some time.

This is exactly what Jesus is talking about. It’s not that He doesn’t know that we need food, water, clothing, and shelter. He absolutely knows we need it. In fact, He has already promised to provide it. He says to put Him first and He will give us all of that stuff just a few verses down from today’s passage in Matthew 6:33.

You see, by seeking all these things and fitting God in where we decide we can spare the time and, yes, our money, we end up shortchanging ourselves. If we put God first, we not only get Him, but He provides all those other things we need. God is longing to bless us in ways we cannot even imagine, if we will only put Him first.

I’ve heard preachers preach on this topic. I’ve taught it myself in Bible studies. I’ve told people this until I’m blue in the face. Unfortunately, people just don’t listen. Their self-centeredness to satisfy an earthly desire today puts them at the back of the bus for God’s blessings. Why? He’s not first in their life.

Oh, we might say we are putting God first, but we aren’t. How many of us are tithing more than 10 percent of salary? Based on survey’s, not many at all. In fact, it has become somewhat rare to find anyone tithing 10 percent let alone more than that. Is that putting God first? Not in my book and I don’t think it is in God’s either. It’s not all about money, but money is a significant part of it.

I pray we all decide to put God first. I pray we store up our treasure in heaven so our hearts will be there also. I pray each one of us trusts God enough to make Him first in all we do and say. Store up your treasure in heaven. Move your heart from this world to heaven. Trust God to provide more than you need when you put Him first. Step out in faith and give it a try.

Matthew 6:19-21 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Truth of God

Are you receptive to hearing the truth? Will you adhere to it when you hear it? Does hearing the truth upset you? Are you accepting of God’s Word? Do you accept it as the truth and follow it like a child does their parent?

We hear many people making claims of truth. It may be politicians claiming an opponent did something, a company making a claim about their product, or the news media claiming they are reporting the news accurately. Unfortunately, not all who claim they are telling the truth are actually telling the truth.

There is one source that is the truth and that is our Bible. It tells us the truth about God. It tells us how He has been working in this world from the beginning. It provides us guidance for living our lives. The Bible tells us how we can spend eternity with God.

We can choose to read theological books that will provide explanations of the Bible in various forms. They may provide in depth word studies of each word, phrase, verse, and chapter of the Bible. Or, they may provide a higher level explanation regarding concepts and the nature of God.

Yet, we don’t have to read the theological books to accept the Bible as truth. We have the option of accepting it based on our faith and belief that God is God. It is our choice. It is also our choice to not believe the Bible is true. But God calls us to believe in Him.

Jesus claims to be the Son of God. God claims to be the Creator of all creation. Jesus says He has sent the Holy Spirit to be our Helper. Are we willing to accept these claims as easily as we accept the sun will rise tomorrow?

Jesus tells us in today’s passage that we are to accept God’s kingdom like a little child. What does He mean by this statement? When we tell a young child the sky is blue, does the child argue with us? No, they accept it as truth. That is how God expects us to accept the truth of His Word. It doesn’t mean we are not to attempt to better understand it. We can dig into His Word to better understand it just like scientists can explain why the sky appears to be blue. What we are not to do is claim God is false.

I pray we all accept the truth of God. I pray we will believe in His kingdom like a little child. I pray each of us will go forward with confidence in God’s Word. Trust God’s Word. Believe God is the Truth. Accept God like a little child. Put your faith in Him.

Mark 10:14-15 When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

True Worship

What do you consider important? Who do you consider important in your life? Do you worship that object or person? Why is it we seem to put people we don’t really know on a pedestal? Why do we put things above people?

Sometimes it seems our world is upside down. We chase after new and more expensive things. We listen to every word our favorite star, whether sports, actor, or political as if they are God. And our world, specifically the media, continues to feed our desire to worship something or someone above God.

We often want to deny it. If we happen to admit it happens, we claim it is short term and we have corrected our behavior. Yet, have we really? My experience is that I will recognize one small area of my life that I was not turning over to God and I will change that while continuing in the same way I always have in others.

As I observe the world around me, I see a continual lack of worshiping of God. I’m reminded of Jesus’ words in Matthew 15:8 “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.” He was quoting from Isaiah, which means this has been going on for thousands of years. We, as humans, continue to try to do things our way and continue to fail to truly worship God.

We are told many times that we are to give up trying to do things our way and to follow God’s way. That means we need to worship Him with our entire being. If we are worshiping Him in that way, we no longer struggle to do things our way. Unfortunately, we don’t want to give up our way for God’s way.

This is the point that Paul is making in our Scripture for today. We are to be a living sacrifice for God. This is a new concept for the Jews, but the base concept for us as Christians. The Jews brought their sacrifice to the altar alive but killed it and burned it on the altar. In one sense, we are to die as well, but we are to die to ourselves, giving up our wants for God’s desire for our lives. We are to live for Him rather than our own selfish desires.

When we give up our entire being for God, we are truly worshiping Him. You see, worship isn’t just a few songs, a prayer, a sermon, and tossing a few bucks in the collection plate. It’s living every day to Him rather than ourselves. It’s seeking Him in everything we do.

I pray we all truly worship God. I pray we humbly submit to God’s will. I pray each of us will release our selfish desire and seek God’s desire for our lives. Be a living sacrifice for God. Let go of your selfish desires. Seek God’s will for your life. Truly worship God.

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

Spiritual Food

What do you live on? How well do you eat? Do you drink protein shakes? Do you drink energy drinks? Do you eat healthy? Do you eat a lot of sweets? Do you eat fast food often? What is your favorite thing for sustenance?

We have more options than we can count to eat. In many of our cities and towns it seems there are more restaurants than department stores. It has become so common to see them all that we don’t even think about it anymore, other than to determine where we want to eat.

Our bodies need proteins, vitamins, minerals, and carbohydrates among other things to keep our bodies strong. As children, our bodies gobble it up to grow and develop into adults. As young adults, our bodies usually continue to run at a higher metabolic rate. As we get into our elderly ages, our metabolic rate slows down and are less efficient in processing what we eat.

Most of us understand our bodies need food and even understand what it means to eat healthy. Yet, a large number of people have no or very little understanding of what they need to feed their spiritual well-being.

As much as our body needs food, our spirit needs food. Obviously, our spirit feeds on a different type of food than our body. Our spirit needs to be fed with the Spirit of God. It needs to feed on the Word of God. That is, if we want our spirit to be healthy.

As with our body, our spirit can continue to run on junk food. That means we can feed our spirit with worldly thoughts, images, and ideas and it will continue to function. Unfortunately, it functions badly. We are lost in a world of chaos.

When we feed our spirit the healthy food of God’s Word and His Spirit, it becomes healthy, strong, and wise. The Holy Spirit is our ultimate guidance counselor and intercedes for us with God. The Word of God feeds our spirit with knowledge and wisdom.

It comes down to us choosing to have a healthy spirit or continuing to run on the junk food of this world. Our spirit, if we will recognize it, wants to feed on healthy food. The healthier our spirit is, the better our lives are. Not in worldly possessions, but with joy, peace, and calm.

I pray we all choose to feed our spirit with God’s Holy Spirit. I pray we feed our spirit with the Word of God. I pray each of us decide to stop feeding our spirit the junk food of this world and feed it healthy food. Tend to your spirit. Feed your spirit what God intended. Make your spirit healthy.

Matthew 4:4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

A Strong Foundation

What do you do when trouble comes? How do you react when things go badly? What is your reaction when what you hoped for didn’t happen? What goes through your mind when it seems all your dreams go down the tubes? Do you trust God?

We all go through tough times. We all have troubles come our way. Sometimes they are of our own making. Sometimes they are not. We live in a broken world, full of broken people. Sometimes bad things happen to good people.

We have a decision to make before those bad things happen. We need to decide whether we will trust God or not. Why is it important to make the decision before bad things happen? If we are not firm in our beliefs, we will fall away when our beliefs are tested. It’s one thing if our beliefs are only tested by something small, such as whether we get a new pair of shoes or not. It is something different when they are tested by the loss of our job.

If our beliefs are not built on a strong foundation, they will crumble under pressure. A strong foundation is needed for a house to stand the test of time. Houses with a strong foundation can last for centuries. Those strong foundations are made of stone, solid stone.

A key ingredient for a strong foundation is it must be solid, yet flexible. It needs to be strong enough to withstand the weight of the house yet be able to move or shift if an earthquake hits without falling apart. It needs to be made of top-grade material.

Our foundation needs to be much the same. That is why God is an awesome foundation for us. He provides us with the strongest foundation. Yet, He also covers us in His grace, which provides us forgiveness when we fall short of being perfect like He is.

God’s love for us is without end. That means there is no beginning and no end. He loves us regardless of what we do. That doesn’t mean He likes it, but He won’t stop loving us. That’s a foundation we can count on.

As our Scripture passage for today states, there is nothing that can separate us from the love of Christ. We need to trust Him and His love for us. We need to build our trust in Him while times are good, so we don’t crumble when trouble comes.

I pray we all make God our foundation. I pray we trust in the love Christ has for us. I pray each one of us builds our trust in God each day. Make God your strong foundation. Put your trust in Christ. Build your relationship with Him. Know you are standing on solid ground before troubles come.

Romans 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?

Seeking Truth

How well are you getting along? Are you seeking answers to life’s big questions? Are you stumbling through life from one day to the next? Do you seek greater knowledge, truth, and a way forward? Are you willing to listen to the Truth?

There are many stumbling blocks in this world, not the least of these is our own minds. Satan continually puts stumbling blocks in front us: half-truths, complete falsities, shiny objects to chase, and any number of other things we can think of. How can we recognize these stumbling blocks?

We are told explicitly that Jesus is the Truth and the Life. When we earnestly seek Him, seeking to know who He is and what He has taught, we come to know the truth. We gain insights that we will miss without Him. We acquire knowledge, wisdom, and truth.

Jesus will reveal to us the stumbling blocks Satan puts before us. He will grant us discernment in making appropriate decisions. As we surrender our feeble understanding to the teaching of Jesus, we gain peace, joy, and calm.

As we seek Jesus, asking Him reveal to us His view of the world, our eyes are opened, and we see as Jesus sees. We see with clarity. The scales are removed from our eyes. The rose-colored glasses are removed. The clouds roll away. The fog lifts. We see with the Light of God.

If we are truly seeking answers in this world, we need only to turn to Jesus. If we seek to live a life of abundance, we need only to turn to Jesus. If we seek to have pure joy, we need only to turn to Jesus. If we seek to do what is right, we need only to turn to Jesus.

Jesus is the answer each one of us needs today and tomorrow and for the rest of our lives. Jesus is the Truth and will reveal Himself to us. Jesus is the Life we seek, granting us eternal life with Him and the Father.

Our world desperately needs Jesus. We desperately need Jesus. Will we see that we need Jesus? Will we earnestly seek Him with our whole hearts? Jesus is waiting for us to make the decision. He is waiting to grant us the most wonderful blessing we could ever ask for.

I pray we will seek Jesus. I pray we all turn to Him for the truth. I pray each one of us makes a decision to earnestly, with our whole hearts turn to Jesus today. Seek Jesus. Reject Satan. Seek the truth. See through Jesus’ eyes. Reflect Jesus’ light in this world.

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

Choose God’s Wisdom

How smart are you? How smart do you think you are? Do you consider being smart the same as being wise? What do you consider as wisdom? Do you consider yourself as wise? Do you want to be wise?

There is a significant difference between being smart and being wise. It is one thing to accumulate knowledge and something completely different to be wise. Sure, wisdom relies to some degree on knowledge, but it does not require a degree.

What is wisdom? It is the combination of knowledge and discernment. It is taking what you know and reasoning the best choice. It is the ability to make a decision for the better good after taking into account what you know, looking at the options, and spending the required time thinking through them.

How does God’s wisdom make our human wisdom look foolish? God knows what is best for each one of us. He knows how our decisions will play out in the future. He knows our decision for today will impact our tomorrow and how. God not only knows this for us, but for each person in the world for all time.

How do we tap into this Godly wisdom? As stated in today’s passage, we must become “fools” to become wise. This means that we must lean on God to make our decisions. We must spend time in prayer, accepting that we don’t know everything, and listening for the Holy Spirit to speak to us.

If we are willing to listen to God when He speaks to us, we will end up making decisions others will call foolish. Some of our decisions will be counterintuitive and countercultural. They won’t make sense to most of the people we interact with at the moment, but they will make sense later on.

Once we begin doing this and become more accustomed to relying on God’s wisdom, it will get easier. The first few decisions will be challenging. Our human wisdom will tell us to go one way, while God’s Spirit is telling us to do something different. Unfortunately, we will more often go with our head rather than God’s Spirit. When we do, there is often a price to be paid later. Yet, we can learn from those mistakes and decide to listen to the Holy Spirit for future decisions.

I pray we all decide to listen to the Holy Spirit. I pray we determine to listen for God’s wisdom when making decisions. I pray each of us will seek God and come to rely on His wisdom rather than our own. Seek God. Listen for the Holy Spirit. Reject human wisdom. Choose God’s wisdom. Trust God in every decision.

1 Corinthians 3:18-20 Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age, you should become “fools” so that you may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness”; and again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.”

Countercultural

Are you free? How do you use your freedom? Do you humble yourself before others? Are you willing to serve others in your freedom? Or, is your pride overriding your freedom and keeping you prisoner? Do you know pride can make you a captive?

In our culture, we see a lot of pride. Pride in ourselves. Pride in our jobs. Pride in our children. Pride in our standing in society. Pride in what we’ve done. Pride in how much we own. Pride in how pretty we look. Pride in how much money we have. Pride, pride, pride.

Our pride makes us a prisoner. Think not? Take a look at the short list above of things we may be proud about and ask yourself this question, “How much time and effort does it take to maintain our status so we can maintain our pride?”

If we are to follow our calling to be followers of Christ, we must release our pride. We are to be humble. We are to serve others. We are to put others ahead of ourselves. In being humble, we are free. Free to obey God in all He wants us to be and do.

Notice what happens when we don’t. We devour each other. Does that not describe what we see going on in the world? We see arguing, fighting, injustices, discrimination, and all manner of human destruction. This is not the loving and serving of others we are called to by God.

It seems counterintuitive to us that we are set free by humbly serving others. We don’t see the logic in it. Yet God told us in Isaiah 55:8 that our ways are not His ways. Jesus came, God in human form, to turn the world upside down. If we are to be His followers, we also must turn our logic upside down.

When we decide to be followers of Jesus, we are clothed in His image. We are not perfect, but we are to do as He did and follow His teaching. That means often doing the opposite of what we’ve learned in this world. It means being countercultural. Are we up to the task?

I pray we decide to be countercultural. I pray we all decide to be counterintuitive. I pray each on us will humble ourselves and serve others in love. Be a follower of Christ. Love your neighbor. Humble yourself. Serve others. Be free. Trust God.

Galatians 5:13-15 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

Quiet Time

Do you spend time alone? Do you take time to think through your situation? Are you one who doesn’t like to be alone, preferring to always be with someone else, always socializing? Will you take time to be alone with God?

Our hustle and bustle society has us all on the move. Even during a time when many of us are spending most of our time at home or with family, we still keep ourselves busy. We are constantly doing something or talking about something or watching something. It has become second nature for us.

Approximately seventy-five percent of us are considered to be extroverts or lean more that way than toward being an introvert. When we couple that with our culture, we just never sit down to be quiet. Even those who are introverts have gotten in the habit of always being on the go. It is expected by our family and friends.

Yet, this isn’t healthy for us. We need to spend quiet time with God. Though extroverts likely can’t spend much time at one sitting without becoming restless, they can still spend a few minutes sitting quietly reading Scripture, praying, or simply waiting to hear God’s voice.

For those who are introverts, they can spend hours sitting quietly, and should at times. For introverts, the constant going causes anxiety and wears them out. They need to have quiet time to recharge themselves.

All of us need to spend some time with God, whether we are extroverts or introverts. It is only when we do, that we see our anxiety, fear, and worry levels decrease. It is in those quiet times that we get to know who God is. It is in those quiet times that we will hear God’s small voice, His whisper that tells us who He is and what He wants us to do. We discover that God really is in control. We can use that time to pour our hearts out to God. We relieve ourselves of our worries, turning them over to God.

We see that even Jesus needed to spend quiet time in prayer with His Father. We could argue that He was the strongest person, mentally, to walk this earth. Yet He needed the quiet time. So much so that He spent an entire night in prayer on a mountain.

I pray each one of us will find time in our busyness to spend quiet time with God. I pray we will purposely set aside time periodically to be alone with God. I pray we all listen for God to speak to us through His Spirit. Set aside time to spend with God. Be quiet with God. Pray to God, releasing your worries. Be quiet and listen for God to speak. Trust God, He is always there.

Luke 6:12 One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.