TIME TO PRAY

Have you thanked Him?

Have you praised Him?

Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?

Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?

ARE YOU SEEKING?

1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)

^1-3The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

There it is staring you right in the face.

Big decision.

Family crisis.

Child in peril.

Confusing test.

What do you do?

You start digging for solutions, seeking the experts, and surfing the web for the answer?

You fret, wring the hands, grab the “little something” from the cabinet to ease the stress?

In the infamous words of Dr Phil…”How’s that working for you?”

EXACTLY!

How bout we take a different tact?

How bout we pray.

(This scripture has been rolling around in my brain for 3 weeks now)

Philippians 4:6-7
Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

Truth is when life is moving along smoothly, we find it easy to thank God for answered prayer. But a crisis can bring doubt, especially if the Lord isn’t responding as quickly as we might like. And instead of going to and leaning on him, we start looking for help in all the wrong places.

Why? When GOD brings hope and His power to prayer!

James 5:16

…The effective ^[a]prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.

The Greek word for “accomplish” is the one from which we derive our English word energy. James says that in response to the effective prayer of a believer, God directs His supernatural energy toward the current crisis.

So why not ACTIVATE it?

Romans 8:26-28
…God's Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don't know how or what to pray, it doesn't matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That's why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.

And while it usually takes a crisis to BRING us to prayer, GOD will use the crisis to bring us to repentance in order to make our prayers effective and impactful.

Go back to that verse in James 5 for a second. The beginning of that verse says…

James 5:16 (NASB)

¹⁶Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed.

Therefore GOD wants our repentance first, He wants us to purge our minds and hearts from sin (which may be the cause of the crisis in the first place), so that HE CAN ACTIVATEHis supernatural energy toward our crisis.

Never ever forget, God wants to intervene on our behalf. His love for us demands that He comfort, strengthen, and help us when we’re troubled.

Yet it is up to us to clear the way for Him to respond by keeping a clear conscience that comes through confession and repentance.

So if you are going eye to eye or toe to toe with a crisis today. Examine your heart. Clear things up with GOD. Ask for forgiveness and guidance.

Then begin to pray.

Lamentations 3:28-30
When life is heavy and hard to take, go off by yourself. Enter the silence. Bow in prayer. Don't ask questions: Wait for hope to appear.

Have a blessed day!

I love you all.

Freedom Church