time

Pray for them and for me when desperate

I am reading about David trying to prove to King Saul that he has nothing against him. It reminds me how I ought to pray for others who I find turning against me.

You can see for yourself that just now in the cave the Lord put you in my power. Some of my men told me to kill you, but I felt sorry for you and said that I would not harm you in the least, because you are the one whom the Lord chose to be king. Look, my father, look at the piece of your robe I am holding! I could have killed you, but instead I only cut this off. This should convince you that I have no thought of rebelling against you or of harming you. You are hunting me down to kill me, even though I have not done you any wrong. May the Lord judge which one of us is wrong! May he punish you for your action against me, for I will not harm you in the least. – 1 Samuel 24:10-12 GNT

I ran across this poem that speaks right into this message.

Vengeance will not be mine
Even though they come against
To them I give my prayers
Their fate now to the Lord
For He is judge and deliverer
And here I pray for them
That they may find in Him
The peace in this heart I hold

With this gift of prayer it is as if I have become a watchman for others.

“Mortal man,” he said, “I am making you a lookout for the nation of Israel. You will pass on to them the warnings I give you. – Ezekiel 3:17 GNT

Obviously not just for those who are against me, but for my brothers and sisters in Christ. I do find myself enjoying the task of discipleship – watching for their safety, preaching for their edification and praying for their eternal welfare.

I believe I enjoy it because I myself have established my walk with God by faith and prayer – God communicates to my spirit and that is what gives me strength of spirit and life in my words I choose to use – it is only by His Spirit that they become bread from heaven.

I have spent time, like David, asking God to take away my sin first, and then following that up with my ask to remove the troubles that have come against me.

Don’t punish me any more! I am about to die from your blows. – Psalm 39:10 GNT

One thing I know, I must not stop praying. I am also resigned to pray for the removal of trouble or trials. It is in my heart to pray for deliverance and when I have sin in my life I notice that is not so.

I added the word trials to my description of troubles because sometimes I do feel it is the hand of God correcting my ways. As I set my relationship right with Him it is there that I can pour out my heart and pray for relief.

Hear my prayer, Lord,

    and listen to my cry;

    come to my aid when I weep.

Like all my ancestors

    I am only your guest for a little while.

Leave me alone so that I may have some happiness

    before I go away and am no more. – Psalm 39:12-13 GNT

All I ask is that God will hear my prayer. It is here in this prayer that I see a witness to God’s understanding of how I need to speak when I am desperate.

Here are two verses from a hymn written by William Cowper that speaks into this.

SOMETIMES A LIGHT SURPRISES

1. Sometimes a light surprises
The Christian while he sings;
It is the Lord Who rises
With healing in His wings:
When comforts are declining,
He grants the soul again
A season of clear shining,
To cheer it after the rain

2. In holy contemplation
We sweetly then pursue
The theme of God’s salvation,
And find it ever new;
Set free from present sorrow,
We cheerfully can say,
Let the unknown tomorrow
Bring with it what it may.

Shake up prayer

Image result for shake up prayer

Here are some shake up type prayer thoughts from these verses.

Those who declare publicly that they belong to me, I will do the same for them before my Father in heaven. But those who reject me publicly, I will reject before my Father. Those who do not take up their cross and follow in my steps are not fit to be my disciples. Those who try to gain their own life will lose it; but those who lose their life for my sake will gain it. – Matthew 10:32, 38-39 GNT

May ______ know that whoever acknowledges You, Jesus, before others, You will also acknowledge before Your Father in Heaven. But whoever disowns You before others, You will disown them before Your Father in heaven. May ______ be one who acknowledges You before others, Lord.

May ______ know that anyone who does not take up their cross and follow You is not worthy of You. May ______ be willing to take up their cross and follow You, Jesus.

“ Those who try to gain their own life will lose it; but those who lose their life for my sake will gain it. ” May ______ be willing to lose their life for Your sake, Lord.

I cannot help thinking still of Ezra and how much his prayer, in front of everyone, changed them.

While Ezra was bowing in prayer in front of the Temple, weeping and confessing these sins, a large group of Israelites—men, women, and children—gathered around him, weeping bitterly.  Then Shecaniah son of Jehiel, of the clan of Elam, said to Ezra, “We have broken faith with God by marrying foreign women, but even so there is still hope for Israel.  Now we must make a solemn promise to our God that we will send these women and their children away. We will do what you and the others who honor God’s commands advise us to do. We will do what God’s Law demands.  It is your responsibility to act. We are behind you, so go ahead and get it done.” – Ezra 10:1-5 GNT

I also think of Peter who had God in a nice little box and then He was able to shake him up during a time of prayer.

He saw heaven opened and something coming down that looked like a large sheet being lowered by its four corners to the earth.  In it were all kinds of animals, reptiles, and wild birds. A voice said to him, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat!”

But Peter said, “Certainly not, Lord! I have never eaten anything ritually unclean or defiled.”

The voice spoke to him again, “Do not consider anything unclean that God has declared clean.”  This happened three times, and then the thing was taken back up into heaven. – Acts 10:11-16 GNT

God can do the same for me.

“Shake yourself up a little, my brother. If you are too precise may the Lord set you on fire, and consume your bonds of red tape! If you have become so improperly proper that you cannot commit a proper impropriety, then pray God to help you be less proper, for there are many who will never be saved by your instrumentality while you study propriety.” Spurgeon

Look at the emotion of these shake up thoughts from Flannery O’Connor.

How can I live—how shall I live. Obviously the only way to live right is to give up everything. But I have no vocation & maybe that is wrong anyway. But how eliminate this picky fish bone kind of way I do things—I want so to love God all the way. At the same time I want all the things that seem opposed to it—I want to be a fine writer. Any success will tend to swell my head—unconsciously even. If I ever do get to be a fine writer, it will not be because I am a fine writer but because God has given me credit for a few of the things He kindly wrote for me. Right at present this does not seem to be His policy. I can’t write a thing. But I’ll continue to try—that is the point. And at every dry point I will be reminded Who is doing the work when it is done & Who is not doing it at that moment. Right now I wonder if God will ever do any more writing for me. He has promised His grace; I am not so sure about the other. Perhaps I have not been thankful enough for what has gone before.

The desires of the flesh—excluding the stomach—have been taken away from me. For how long I don’t know but I hope forever. It is a great peace to be rid of them.

Can’t anyone teach me how to pray?