your God

God’s saving acts allow me to pray and praise

 

It is because of what God has done in my life already that I can pray today, no matter what my circumstances, knowing that He will once again bring a change for good in my life.

To you alone, O Lord, to you alone,
    and not to us, must glory be given
    because of your constant love and faithfulness. – Psalm 115:1 GNT

This prayer from Isaiah has this kind of motivation behind it.

Wake up, Lord, and help us!
Use your power and save us;
    use it as you did in ancient times.
It was you that cut the sea monster Rahab[a] to pieces.
It was you also who dried up the sea
    and made a path through the water,
    so that those you were saving could cross.
Those whom you have rescued
    will reach Jerusalem with gladness,
    singing and shouting for joy.
They will be happy forever,
    for

The Lord says,

“I am the one who strengthens you.
    Why should you fear mortals,
    who are no more enduring than grass?
Have you forgotten the Lord who made you,
    who stretched out the heavens
    and laid the earth’s foundations?
Why should you live in constant fear
    of the fury of those who oppress you,
    of those who are ready to destroy you?
Their fury can no longer touch you.
Those who are prisoners will soon be set free;
    they will live a long life“

I am the Lord your God;

“I am the Lord your God;
    I stir up the sea
    and make its waves roar.
My name is the Lord Almighty!
I stretched out[b] the heavens
    and laid the earth’s foundations;
I say to Jerusalem, ‘You are my people!
    I have given you my teaching,
    and I protect you with my hand.’” – Isaiah 51:9-16  GNT

 

Here is a prayer that would invite God to become involved in my life. He is wide awake when it comes to engaging with me as I pray.

I am encouraged to plead with Him as I recall precedents, and experiences of those who had already experienced God in their lives. I am encouraged to recall as many experiences as necessary for they build up my faith and my hope as I continue in prayer.

I love God’s answer. The prayer was for God to act and He shares with me His grace – therein lies His power.

It is no surprise when reading about the new creation in Revelation 21 that God will make us all pure.

I posted the video above – it is a song that Charles Wesley wrote that parallel’s this chapter in Revelation. Here is the verse that catches my ear and my eye.

Come, Almighty to deliver, Let us all Thy life receive; Suddenly return and never, Never more Thy temples leave. Thee we would be always blessing, Serve Thee as Thy hosts above, Pray and praise Thee without ceasing, Glory in Thy perfect love.

The spiritual intense fixation of the mind, by contemplation on God in
Christ, until the soul be as it were swallowed up in admiration and
delight, and being brought unto an utter loss, through the infiniteness of
those excellencies which it doth admire and adore, it returns again to its
own abasements, out of a sense of its infinite distance from what it would
absolutely and eternally embrace, and withal, the inexpressible rest and
satisfaction which the will and affections receive in their approaches
unto the eternal Fountain of goodness, are things to be aimed at in
prayer, and which, through the riches of divine condescension, are
frequently enjoyed. The soul is hereby raised and ravished, not into
ecstacies or unaccountable raptures, not acted into motions above the
power of its own understanding and will; but in all the faculties and
affections of it, through the effectual workings of the Spirit of grace and
the lively impressions of divine love, with intimations of the relations and
kindness of God, is filled with rest, in JOY unspeakable and full of
glory. – John Owen

 

 

 

Change happens when I pray everyday

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Can prayer change God’s mind? Or does prayer affect only us who pray?

So the Lord changed his mind and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened. – Exodus 32:14 GNT

God “changed His mind” or as the KJV says, “repented” and the NIV, “relented.” Anyway the word is translated does not change the fact that prayer has a powerful effect in our lives.

What does it mean to put my own life on the line like Moses did for his people? To think so much about the value of sinners that I would consider my life to be one with them? It has to be true intercession.

This passage screams on how effective prayer is. I am more encouraged today to pray and to intercede – God hears and responds. Prayer makes a difference in how He interacts with me.

There are some who would argue that Moses changed nothing – it was God’s ultimate plan all along. I am not so sure. I believe God gives us opportunity to participate in the administration of creation. Especially when David writes about this incident and shares a very similar point of view.

They forgot the God who had saved them
    by his mighty acts in Egypt.
What wonderful things he did there!
    What amazing things at the Red Sea!
When God said that he would destroy his people,
    his chosen servant, Moses, stood up against God
    and kept his anger from destroying them. – Psalm 106:21-23 GNT

Moses stood up to God – the prayers of Moses kept God from destroying the children of Israel – prayer does make a difference.

Moses knew God and knew His promises. This verse is a great promise that helps me in my prayer life.

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me will live, even though they die.” – John 11:25 GNT

As a follower of Jesus I have learned that when I pray God listens and answers my prayers. I know He is the same yesterday, today and forever. His Word is truth and through Him I have been set free. God loves me with an everlasting love and nothing can change that. I have learned that in Jesus is life.

Those who listen to me will be happy—
    those who stay at my door every day,
    waiting at the entrance to my home – Proverbs 8:34 GNT

How often do I find myself acting on my feelings. Sometimes I decide and then pray or pray and then decide (which sometimes works out just as badly). I know God wants me to pray and wait for an answer.

I would have liked to hear Paul pray – I am encouraged because many have been written.

 I have not stopped giving thanks to God for you. I remember you in my prayers and ask the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, to give you the Spirit, who will make you wise and reveal God to you, so that you will know him. I ask that your minds may be opened to see his light, so that you will know what is the hope to which he has called you, how rich are the wonderful blessings he promises his people, and how very great is his power at work in us who believe. This power working in us is the same as the mighty strength which he used when he raised Christ from death and seated him at his right side in the heavenly world. – Ephesians 1:16-20 GNT

I cannot go to far wrong when I am praying along with the Word of God. So I pray for a surer walk with the Holy Spirit so that I might know Him, and that I might see His light and know the hope that lies before me with His blessings and promises that sustain me along with His power working in me.

“I am the Lord your God, etc. You shall have no other gods before me,” etc. Here I earnestly consider that God expects and teaches me to trust him sincerely in all things and that it is his most earnest purpose to be my God. I must think of him in this way at the risk of losing eternal salvation. My heart must not build upon anything else or trust in any other thing, be it wealth, prestige, wisdom, might, piety, or anything else. Second, I give thanks for his infinite compassion by which he has come to me in such a fatherly way and, unasked, unbidden, and unmerited, has offered to be my God, to care for me, and to be my comfort, guardian, help, and strength in every time of need. We poor mortals have sought so many gods and would have to seek them still if he did not enable us to hear him openly tell us in our own language that he intends to be our God. How could we ever-in all eternity-thank him enough! Third, I confess and acknowledge my great sin and ingratitude for having so shamefully despised such sublime teachings and such a precious gift throughout my whole life, and for having fearfully provoked his wrath by countless acts of idolatry. I repent of these and ask for his grace. Fourth, I
pray and say: “O my God and Lord, help me by thy grace to learn and understand thy commandments more fully every day and to live by them in sincere confidence. Preserve my heart so that I shall never again become forgetful and ungrateful, that I may never seek after other gods or other consolation on earth or in any creature, but cling truly and solely to thee, my only God. Amen, dear Lord God and Father. Amen.” – Luther (providing an example of how he meditates on the Ten Commandments and in this case, the first one)