Thoughts for Life: #8 The Life That Can Pray

~ Alvin Vandergriend- Obedience is fundamental to effective prayer. Only people who obey God have the right to go into His presence with requests. God delights in the prayers of His obedient children. When we want what God wants and live the way He likes, then we will tend to pray prayers that God will answer in the way we expect.

And God, in answering our prayers, is supporting what He approves. Were God to answer the prayers of the disobedient, He would be aiding and abetting what He does not approve. That would be out of character for God. (Google image, Prayer in God's presence )

To put it in other words, if we expect God to do for us what we ask, we should be prepared to do for God what He asks. If we listen to His words of command, God will listen to our words of request.

This principle also explains much of the weakness of prayer. Lack of power, lack of perseverance, and lack of confidence in prayer all stem from some lack in the Christian life. Often when prayer fails and we receive no answers, we assume the problem is in God while in reality the problem really is in us.

The obedience God expects of us is not beyond our reach. God, who is committed to hearing the prayers of His obedient children, also gives enabling grace so that we are able to live obediently. Touched by His grace and with His Spirit living in us, we have both the desire and the strength to do God's will.

If you want to become powerful in prayer, spend time with the Lord and spend time in the Word. That's where you will find the will of God clearly stated. Let "the word of Christ dwell in you richly" and control what you do and say (Colossians 3:16). Jesus reminds us, we may ask whatever we wish and it will be given us (John 15:7).

Or, to put it more simply, let me ask, Do you want to have confidence when you pray and receive from God what you ask for? Then begin by living a life of obedience.

That's the bottom line.

(pp. 26, 27 in Love to Pray- 40 Day Devotional for Deepening Your Prayer Life by Alvin Vandergriend)

Let's pray-

Father, we ask that You show us what confident prayer-ers ask for. May we desire to see the difference our confident prayers will make, as we endeavor to obey your directions for us.

We are grateful for Your generous, giving nature, and ask that we may be kept from sins that keep us from effective praying. We want to obey You, and to share our heart's deepest desires, so we can expect You to grant them to us. Your amazing promises are to be answered through our obeying You!

We're asking for Your grace and Spirit to enable us to obey You, and to hear Your directives in how we are to pray. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Today's Bible verses-

1 John 3:3:21-22 "We have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him."

Colossians 1:9-12 (CSB) "For this reason also, since the day we heard this, we haven't stopped praying for you. We are asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, (v. 10) so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God, (v. 11) being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, so that you may have great endurance and patience, joyfully (v. 12) giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the saint's inheritance in the light."

Personal note: I fell at home on the day I posted the last post on the 10th of August. I've been in two hospitals, trying to get the rehab therapy that I need to strengthen my legs.

I may still get more home therapy after I visit Doctor Crapser on the 4th of November. Till then, I'm doing therapy on my own. It's great to be on my blog again!

Quote for today-

~ Christopher West- "We must come to recognize in the human body the revelation of the human person whose dignity demands that he or she never be used, exploited, manipulated, or discarded. We must rediscover the treasure of human sexuality and gender as a stupendous sign of the divine image in our humanity and as an invitation to use our freedom to live this divine image through the sincere gift of one's life in marriage or in celibacy for the kingdom. And we can do all of the above precisely by pondering the profound understanding of masculinity and femininity found in the Bible, found in God's Word made flesh in Jesus, the Christ." [p. 162 of OUR BODIES TELL GOD'S STORY]

Words of wisdom-

~ When we remember the times the Lord has come through for us, we know that He will help us again, when needed. His name is what saves us and guides us each day as we make every effort to keep the directions we find in His Word, the Bible.