Thoughts for Life: #72 The Way to Spiritual Greatness

Dr. Wesley L. Duewel- The way to spiritual greatness involves Spirit-filled living, a humble walk with God, constant communion with God the Father, and a close fellowship with the Son and the Holy Spirit.

God is seeking great intercessors. Intercession is usually a hidden role. It is a role undervalued by most Christians who so often walk only superficially with God. (Google image, Man worshipping God )

If Moses could be one of the world's greatest intercessors, you too can be mightily used of God. If Elijah could be counted by God as one of earth's greatest prayer warriors, you too can enlist in His intercessors' legion.

If David could overcome his sordid background of adultery and murder to be known as a man after God's own heart, you too can be beloved of the Father if you will truly give yourself to sweet communion and intercession.

You may not be able to duplicate Martin Luther's best three hours given to prayer each day—few do. You may not, like John Wesley, give your first two hours each day in prayer—few do. But what can you do?

If president George Washington could arise at four o'clock each morning to have time to pray, perhaps you can rise earlier than the rest of the family in order to have quality prayer time. You may not spend nights kneeling and lying on the floor, weeping and calling repeatedly, "O God, give me Scotland or I die," as did John Knox. But you can begin to bear prayer burdens for others.

You can determine by God's grace to give priority to prayer in new and specific ways. You can form good prayer habits. You can learn to discipline your time and begin to schedule prayer. You can redeem moments throughout the day and give them to prayer if your heart is hungry enough for God.

There is a way for you to begin a dew dimension of prayer. None of these great men of prayer began as giants of intercession. They developed their prayer life through a series of steps. They learned to constantly seek God's face. They learned to pay the price of prayer. Thus they became mighty prayer warriors.

God calls you to a new step in prayer. Take it today. Begin a new walk with God. Make some time today your prayer time. Make some place your prayer place. Begin to make your own prayer lists today. Elijah and other heroes and heroines of prayer were just like you. You, in your own busy life, in your own confining circumstances, can make room for more prayer, if you will. Will you?

(Chapter 20, pp. 157-158, italics added for emphasis)

Used by permission

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Let's pray-

Father, may our lives be Spirit-filled, as we humbly walk with You, learning to be in constant communion with You. Help us develop a close fellowship with You and Jesus, honestly seek to be effective intercessors through our commitment to You, and to be willing to pray.

The godly men mentioned today, had made great strides in prayer over time, learning to form prayer habits, increasing them as they saw the need to. We can too, for when we discipline our time and begin to schedule prayer, we'll develop our prayer life through a series of steps we can take. May we increase our hunger for You as we discover Your plan for our lives as Christians.

May we begin a new walk today of making a time and a place for our prayer commitment. These mighty men were all just like us, and they learned to take time to pray. So can we with Christ's help. We ask this in His name for His honor, and to accomplish His will in and through us. Amen

Today's Bible verses-

Psalm 79:8 (NLT) "Let your compassion quickly meet our needs, for we are on the brink of despair."

Matthew 24:4-8 (NIV) “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.”

Quote for today-

~ Jill Savage- "I’ve learned there’s power in perseverance. In marriage. Parenting. Friendships. In my relationship with God. In family relationships. In work and play.

Perseverance strengthens our character and gives us hope that the future will look different someday. Missing out on perseverance causes us (and our kids) to miss out on growth opportunities God wants to use to mature us. That alone motivates me to persevere–and encourage my kids to persevere–when it sometimes seems like it might be easier to quit." The post The Power of Perseverance appeared first on Jill Savage.

Words of wisdom-

~ Did you know that Christ's yoke that He askes us to carry is heavy on His side, and light on ours? That's why He said that His yoke is easy and light, for He carries the heavier end upon His shoulders.

I will not be posting a blog post again until November 10th.

I'll use some of the time to create a booklet of the daily verses

and comments I've been sending out daily to folks on my email

list. I will continue to send out the "Today's verse" each day.

I trust that it will prove a blessing and inspiration for those

who'll receive it, possibly for Christmas gifts.

Today's Popular post-