Sincere Prayers

Growing up in a non-liturgical church, we almost never recited a written prayer, not even the Lord's prayer. In our tradition, prayer had to be spontaneous in order to be sincere, or so I thought. But as an adult, I began to discover the rich prayers in the Bible, and often relied on them to express my feelings to God in heart-felt prayer.

Any written prayer can be made your own, and will be heard by God, if it expresses the desire of your own heart and is in harmony with the will of God. At times the following prayers have served to focus my heart and mind when talking to God. I have seen Him answer many times. They are an adaptation from Glenn Clark, one of the most widely published authors on the life of prayer in the 20th century. You will find they are in harmony with the Bible, and that God is eager to answer them.

Blessings,
David

1. I pray for Your spirit to enter me and fill me completely. "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." (Mark 11:24)

2. I pray for Your kingdom to come in earth as it is in heaven.
"And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father." (Jn 14:13)

3. I pray for my will to become completely and utterly Your will. "...I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name." (Jn 16:23)

4. I pray for my actual needs to be met by the right supply in the right way and at the right time. "We receive from him anything we ask, because we obey His commands and do what pleases Him." (1 JN 3:22)

5. I pray for the right persons to come into my life, at the right time and in the right way. "And if we know that He hears us – whatever we ask – we know that we have what we asked of Him." (1 Jn 5:15)

6. I pray for the right ideas to come to me in perfect sequence and in perfect order, in the right time and in the right way. "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit – fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name." (Jn 15:16)

7. I pray for my deepest soul's sincere desire to be fulfilled in the right time and in the right way. "But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask." (Jn 11:22)

8. I ask You, Father, for the health and strength that will enable me to serve You, and never fail You. "Ask and it will be given to you...For everyone who asks receives." (Matt 7:7-8)

9. I seek from You, Father, the money and things that will supply the resources for a creative and fruitful life. "Seek and you will find...for he who seeks finds." (Matt 7:7-8)

10. Open the door, Father, to the right work that will enable me to make my finest contribution to mankind. "Knock and the door will be opened to you...for to him who knocks, the door will be opened." (Matt 7:7-8)

Pondering 'Ordinary' Discipleship

I often ponder the nature and meaning of "discipleship." The cost of discipleship appeals to me, perhaps because I love a challenge. But that is based upon human zeal, and human zeal will not take a person very far.

Oswald Chambers reminds us that "discipleship is built entirely on the supernatural grace of God. Walking on the water is easy to impulsive pluck, but walking on dry land as a disciple of Jesus Christ is a different thing."

"We do not need the grace of God to stand crises -- human nature and pride are sufficient. We can face the strain magnificently; but it does require the supernatural grace of God to live twenty-four hours in every day as a saint, to go through drudgery as a disciple, to live an ordinary, unobserved, ignored existence as a disciple of Jesus. It is inbred in us that we have to do exceptional things for God; but we have not. We have to be exceptional in the ordinary things, to be holy in [ordinary] paths, among [ordinary] people, and this is not learned in five minutes."

Holy Desperation

We are not likely to have a significant encounter with God until we become desperate. Desperation provides the impulse necessary for us to be willing to lose our lives; and in so doing, we discover life. God will use dissatisfaction, frustration, and consternation to lead us to the place of reckless abandonment. There we will get a such a wonderful revelation of God that we are willing to make known to the world the truth of His Kingdom regardless of the price.

Jesus said: I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels—a plentiful harvest of new lives. Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who care nothing for their life in this world will keep it for eternity. Anyone who wants to be my disciple must follow me" ... John 12:24-26 (NLT)

The Birth of A Vision

Do you have a vision for your life? God does.

"I know the plans I have for you says the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" (Jeremiah 29:11). When we surrender our plans, God gives us His plans. As we seek an intimate relationship with God through Jesus Christ, we begin to get a vision of how His plans will unfold. That becomes our vision.

Vision must be birthed in each of us by the Holy Spirit. God may use other people to plant the seeds of our vision, but until the vision becomes personal it will never be our passion.

Owning another person’s vision will not suffice, even if that person impacted a generation or a nation. The other person’s vision may be noble, pure, and scriptural, and God may give me the same vision, but if I only receive it from a man and not from God, the fruit of my labor will be limited by human strength. We need God's strength if we are to accomplish God's work.

Ponder and pray over your vision, and God will bring it into sharper focus through failures and successes.

"... for this I toil, striving with all the energy that God mightily inspires within me" (Col 1:29).

And that is a point to ponder.

David

The Beauty of Holiness

When the writer of Psalms 27:4 tells of his deep desire to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord, what exactly is he talking about? Ponder this: God's beauty is related to his holiness. I must admit, when I think of beauty, the first thing that pops into my head is not 'holiness'. At least not until now. Perhaps that is about to change.

This world's way of thinking has distorted our concept of both beauty and holiness. The Bible exhorts us to "... praise God in the beauty of His holiness ..." (2 Chronicles 20:21, KJV). In another place (Exodus 15:11), the writer asks rhetorically "who is like the Lord -- majestic in holiness."

"Beautiful" and "majestic" -- both of these words imply their object is admired, appreciated, and appealing to the beholder.

God designed us to appreciate beauty. Interestingly, some religious groups associate holiness with drab, unattractive clothes. They think of beauty as worldly, and drabness as spiritual. The Bible does not support such thinking. "Consider the lilies of the field ... even Solomon in all his glory was not dressed with such splendor and beauty" (my paraphrase of Math 6:28-29).

God's holiness is manifested in His works (Psalm 145:17), in His law (Psalm 19:8-9, Romans 7:12) and at the cross.

And that is a point to ponder.

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