Prayer

"Pray without ceasing"                           1 Thessalonians 5:17   NKJV

Prayer is a discipline. It is not easy to carry out regular prayer unless, we dedicate ourselves to this practice. Prayer is communion with God and the devil knows this. Therefore, he will do all he can to distract us from doing this. We have to take the control.

Prayer consists of our adoration to God; our praise and thanksgiving; our confession of sins and intercession. Jesus is our role model. He would get up early and, sometimes climb a mountain to be alone. Has that ever crossed your mind to do? He would pray all night always interceding for situations and interceding for His people. The role of an intercessor is being an Advocate for others, praying on their behalf; standing in the gap and holding people up to the Lord. Jesus still does this, for us.

Whenever we are led down the path of worry, consider that it is a sign from God to pray without ceasing. The more you pray, the less you worry. The more you worry, the less you pray. This is a spiritual principle.

Tony Evans says: 'If you want to gauge your spiritual life, look at the spiritual thermostat setting on your prayer life.'       Tony Evans Study Bile regarding 1 Thessalonians 5:17

How much do you pray? How much time each day, do you spend time praying to God? In other words, how long do you spend in communion with Him? Three questions that no doubt may make you feel uneasy. Some people spend hours in prayer; for others it's just a few words thrown up as they dash around doing something else. Life is busy that is for sure but, it should never be too busy to pray.

If you want to lose weight and get fit, you begin exercising; jogging or going to the gym. As you progress, your body begins to show the benefits of this exercise. Its the same principle with prayer. The more you pray - God shows the way! You begin to move more closer to Him, you begin to hear Him speaking to you, possibly through scripture and, you begin to feel His blessing. This is your spiritual exercise, which incidentally, is more beneficial than the physical type.

The Word says, Pray with ceasing', this means never stopping. The way you do this is having Jesus on your mind 24/7 and just speaking to Him and involving Him in all you do. Try it, you'll never regret it.

Copyright 2022 Grahame Howard.                                

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Absolute Surrender. Part 2

"And the king of Israel answered and said, “My lord, O king, just as you say, I and all that I have are yours.”                                                    1 Kings 20:4  NKJV   

Let us look a little closer to living a life of Absolute Surrender. Jesus spoke to a man who had a son with a mute spirit, that was causing him to have fits. He asked Jesus to help him. Jesus replied 'if you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.' Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, 'Lord, I believe; help my unbelief' (Mark 9:23-24).

This was a faith that brought victory over the devil and the evil spirit was cast out of the child. The man had come to Jesus broken and in great need. He told Jesus that he believed but, went one step further and asked Jesus to help his unbelief. This was Absolute Surrender. This shows that if we come and say, 'Lord, I yield myself in Absolute Surrender to You, my God,' even though we may have a trembling heart and a feeling of no power over the situation but, have a determination that it will succeed, Jesus will meet you head on. He will meet you in the midst of your trembling and the Holy Spirit will set to work.

To absolutely surrender to God takes effort on our part. This is never easy and takes dedication and a close walk with Jesus. Take for instance things such as our moods. Everyone gets grumpy at times but a bad temper needs controlling. It can be the proof of whether the love of Jesus is filling our heart or not. How many times do we feel it easier in church to diligently be happy and holier than, when we are at home with our partners or children. The love of Jesus should be the same wherever we are.

Then of course our love, or lack of it for other people. The one thing that grieves God's Spirit is the lack of love for other believers or unbelievers. We need to ask God to search our hearts and help us put right the lack of spiritual love that we have. Every time we criticise or judge another person, Jesus grieves. He has love for everyone and wants us to be like Him. It is not easy at times, but if we have an attitude of Absolute Surrender, then He will help us achieve this.

Even though we absolutely surrender to God, we will still be spiritually attacked. We need to put on the armour of God (Ephesians 6) and use this prayer as often as we need to:

'Father, let the Holy Spirit have full dominion over me; in my home, in my temper, in every word of my tongue, in every thought of my heart, in every feeling towards my fellow man and let the Holy Spirit have entire possession of me. In Jesus' name. Amen'

                                                                    Prayer by Andrew Murray

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Absolute Surrender

1Now Ben-Hadad the king of Syria gathered all his forces together; thirty-two kings were with him, with horses and chariots. And he went up and besieged Samaria, and made war against it. 2Then he sent messengers into the city to Ahab king of Israel, and said to him, “Thus says Ben-Hadad:  3‘Your silver and your gold are mine; your loveliest wives and children are mine.’ ”
4And the king of Israel answered and said, “My lord, O king, just as you say, I and all that I have are yours.”                                                   1 Kings 20:1-4   NKJV

Ben-Hadad went on the attack to Samaria. He then sent word to King Ahab claiming that all Ahab had was his, silver, gold, his loveliest wives and children. He had claim to them all. Ahab gave in to Ben-Hadad because he was heavily outnumbered. But he said something very profound, '“My lord, O king, just as you say, I and all that I have are yours.” Just imagine how this could change a person's life if they were to say this to Jesus. It is the epitome of prayers, one that we should never avoid; it is absolute surrender.

The great bible teacher and author, Andrew Murray (not the tennis player) wrote:

There is a need to put Jesus first in our lives. He must be No 1. Therefore denial comes into play. We either deny self and follow Him, or we deny Jesus. We can't have both. There are two great powers fighting against each other - the self-nature in the power of sin; and Christ, in the power of God. Either of these must rule within us. It was self that made the devil. He was an angel of God but he wanted to exalt self. He became a devil in hell. Eve was the cause of the fall of man. Eve wanted something for herself and so, our first parents fell into all the wretchedness of sin. We, their children have inherited an awful nature of sin.'                               Absolute Surrender, Andrew Murray

The Holy Spirit is the director of the work of God on the earth. We have been chosen to carry out this work on His behalf. Therefore, we need to have our lives in tune with God. Nothing less will be acceptable. If people are to come into the kingdom. they must see that we, have something that they want and need. They have tried to find it in the world but, it doesn't exist. Only Jesus can satisfy, and we, have the wherewithal to supply this to whoever wants it. However, we must allow ourselves to surrender to God - totally, so that He can fill us to the brim with His power. 

'My lord, O king, just as you say, I and all that I have are yours'. Can you truly say this? Can you surrender your life 100% to Jesus so that He can equip you for the task? If so, why not surrender to Him by saying this prayer by Andrew Murray:

'O God, I accept Thy demands. I am Thine and all that I have. Absolute Surrender is what my soul yields to Thee by divine grace. Amen.

If you have said this prayer, you have dedicated yourself, by way of surrender, to Jesus Christ. You are no longer your own; you are His. Expect Him to take you up on this dedication at anytime of night or day, for the rest of your life.

Copyright 2022 Grahame Howard.                                

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James. - Final Part

 "Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded".                                             James 4:7-8  NKJV

We all fall into sin, sometimes everyday. We try our best but then, find ourselves doing what we know we shouldn't do. We then, either feel ashamed or guilty that we have let God and ourselves, down.

One thing we need to do is to recognise that when we do this, we have committed sin. We haven't made a mistake; we have sinned and we need to recognise it as such. Tony Evans comments: 'Some people don't recognise sin as sin but, they claim to 'Make mistakes'. Jesus didn't die for mistakes, He died for sin.'  Tony Evans Study Bible, Holman Press

We need to submit ourselves to God. This is recognising our weakness by fully surrendering ourselves to God as our Ultimate and final authority. Read Romans 12:1-2. Make no mistake, Satan is stronger and smarter than any of us and the only way to beat him is by quoting scripture to him, as Jesus did when He was tempted. In this way, if we resist him, he will flee and we can add praise to our weaponry too.

James mentions drawing near to God and allowing Him to draw near to us. This is done by seeking His face - coming into His presence with praise, prayer and obedience. Note, this must be done on a daily basis, not just on a Sunday at church. Our relationship with Jesus should be on a daily basis, never any other way.

We are to 'Cleanse our hands'. This means that we need to take responsibility for our sin. As we have seen, they are not mistakes, they are sin that we commit and we need to recognise, accept and take responsibility for this. We have no excuses, there are none we can claim. It isn't, 'She made me do this' or If I hadn't become involved with them, I would have been ok'. NO, NO, NO! We are responsible for our own sin, no one else. Accept this fact and then set about asking God to help you get things right.

Copyright 2022 Grahame Howard.                                

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James Part 7

"See how great a forest a little fire kindles! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body and sets on fire, the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell."                      James 3:5-6   NKJV

Once more James is describing how dangerous the tongue can be. It can be used to praise and worship God and also, to destroy a person's reputation with unkind words that it utters. He describes it as a forest fire. Palestine at the time of writing, was an extremely arid and dry place to be in season. So dry in fact, that the heat could spark off a massive fire which could spread over all the area killing everything in sight. There would be terrible damage done as the raging fire spread.

In the same way, James describes the tongue as a fire-starter too. It can be used to ignite the fire of the Holy Spirit to come and sweep over people with spiritual fire. The fire of God cleanses and empowers believers to rise to a higher level of anointing, thus promoting in-depth praise and worship and evangelism and healing. Alternatively, the tongue can create a fire that can bring total devastation to a person or their ministry.

The tongue can start rumours about something or someone and these lies or exaggerated gossip can spread all over the world. It can be used as scandal. There are a few church ministries that are undergoing such things at this time. Oftentimes, the rumours are not true, they are spoken to ruin a ministry. However, at times they can be true but, it is not our place to pass judgement or spread further rumours about this. We can do better by praying that God will reveal the truth and end the scandal. The devil loves this kind of thing. He's never happier than when he is using accusatory language to ruin the work of God. 

But what about the damage that a fiery tongue can do to an innocent individual? You may hear some rumour about someone or church ministry. How do you handle this? If we don't particularly like the person, it would be easy to feel that they have received their just desserts. But, they may be innocent, how would Jesus handle this or, expect us to handle it? Definitely not in a judgemental way. He would expect us to refuse to believe a rumour until it is proven right and, in the meantime, pray for the individual and the situation. This would be using the tongue wisely and would help dampen the fire.

Copyright 2022 Grahame Howard.                                

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James Part 6

"But be doers of the Word, and not hearers only deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror 24 for he observes himself, goes away and immediately forgets what kind of man he was."                                                                                  James 1:22-24  NKJV 

Going to church doesn't make you a Christian. One can visit a church every week of their life but, if they don't have a personal relationship with Jesus, by repenting and asking Him into their life, then they are hearers only. Keith Green used to say, 'Going to church every week doesn't make you a Christian, anymore than going to McDonalds makes you a hamburger.' And this is true; we need a personal relationship with Jesus.

This was what James was addressing here in this epistle, it's no use just being a hearer of God's Word, one must be a doer as well. Christianity must be lived out. I once met a chap when I was doing some street evangelism. I asked him if he were a Christian. He replied in quite a hostile manner saying, 'I've been a Methodist for 20 years or so, I think that makes me a Christian, don't you?' I tried to carry the conversation on but he moved away. He may well have been a Christian but, I felt he was saying that he had been attending a Methodist Church for years, so he automatically was a Christian. But it doesn't work like that.

William Barclay wrote, 'What is heard in the holy place, must be lived in the market place, otherwise there is no point in hearing it at all. William Barclay (1976) St Andrew Press, Edinburgh

To consider this in modern times, it would be pointless to attend university and listen to all of the lectures and not put the study into action. Students seeking their degree, must listen and then put into action what they have learned. If not, there will be no award.

Some people are very studious, learning all about the bible and characters but, that doesn't mean they belong to Jesus. Others, may not have any formal training but it is obvious that Jesus figures in their lives in a big way. Look at Peter and John in Acts 4. They were arrested for speaking out about Jesus and healing a beggar at the Gate Beautiful. The Sanhedrin observed their boldness and noticed that they were untrained men but, realised that they had been with Jesus v13. They had in fact, been taught by Jesus Himself and they had put His teaching into practice. They heard and did the job. And basically, this is what James was teaching in his epistle. We must be hearers and doers!

Copyright 2022 Grahame Howard.                                

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James Part 5

My dear brothers and sisters, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger, 20 for human anger does not accomplish God's righteousness."                                                                      James 1:19-20. CSB

Again James addresses issues that we are all aware of and guilty of committing. First of all he writes that we should be:

QUICK TO LISTEN

We need to listen to God's thoughts on a matter and receive wise counsel that promotes clear understanding. On occasions, we can feel like we hear what has not been said. We may pre-determine what we have been thinking of a person and, because we have done this, only hear what we want to hear. We need to listen clearly to what is being said. If we are not sure we have heard right, it is wise to ask again by saying, 'So what you're saying is - ?' or perhaps, 'Are you saying that - ?' This can help you to get a clearer picture. Oftentimes when people have mis-heard things and it has caused a rift between them.

SLOW TO SPEAK

This is a big one! We should never be too hasty in speaking out. We may have a point of view but, so does the other person. Proverbs 13:3 says, 'The one who guards his mouth protects his life, the one who opens his lips, invites his own ruin.' CSB. And again in Proverbs 29:20, 'Do you see someone who speaks too soon? There is more hope for a fool than for him'. CSB. We can't have it more clearer than this. We must ensure we are in control of what comes out of our mouths. Many is the time when we have all said words that we regret and wish we could take them back. Sadly, we can't; once the words are out, it's too late and we bring pain to the hearer.

SLOW TO ANGER

We can all have occasions where we become angry. Anger can be caused by asking too much of ourselves by taking on too much and allowing pressure to frustrate us because it's causing us stress. This may cause us to speak negative words to our spouse or another who are in the vicinity. Remember, we are God's representatives and people view us as if they are reading the bible. Having a short fuse is counter-productive to promoting God so, ask Him to help you with anger management.

Be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger. You and others will benefit from this.

Copyright 2022 Grahame Howard.                                

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If you would like to contact me, CLICK HERE

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