Tag: Prayer

Is Your Prayer Life Worth Dying For?

prayer-poseNow when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime. Daniel 6:10

Prayer. One of the most underestimated and undervalued sources of Christian influence and godly persuasion. Sadly, it’s treated more like an obligation and duty, rather than a privilege and honor. For Daniel, prayer was worth dying for. Communication with his Creator was his lifeline. How big of a threat Daniel’s prayer life must have been for the political zealots to single him out by criminalizing his open and obvious daily habit?

This brings to mind a couple of challenging questions in our own lives regarding the prominence of and proclivity toward prayer.

  1. Is your prayer life powerful enough to make a statement both before God and man? As a rule, it’s not our desire to have our prayer life viewed as a threat, but to the enemy of our souls, our prayer life is DEFCON LEVEL 1! Is our prayer life a threat or a mere of an annoyance?
  2. If by chance the powers-that-be would endeavor to legislate against prayer, would it even matter to you? Would it leave such a void that the absence of prayer in your life would be catastrophic and cripple you spiritually?
  3. Is prayer so essential and so vital to your existence that you would be willing to risk your life to continue praying in spite of the dire consequences Daniel faced?
  4. Lastly, and more painfully, if there was ever a law decreed against prayer, would there be enough evidence to convict you?

If you view prayer as an annoyance and disruption to your life, that’s all the enemy needs to exterminate your prayer life altogether.

Ironically, the very law that made Daniel’s prayer life criminal, was the same one that galvanized his resolve to pray even MORE! And, his opponents were destroyed by the same form of punishment that was created for him. Talk about turning the holy tables on the enemy!

Never underestimate the power your prayer can have. The Words of Jesus shed further insight on the impact a prayer life full of faith can have when He said, “For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.” Mark 11:23

Now a prayer life that can accomplish such a monumental feat as this, to me is worth dying for!

Air vs. Prayer

hands-of-prayer-christian-stock-imageDo we consider breathing air an obligation, or a necessity?

Do we view eating food, or drinking water as obligations, or necessities?

All essential to life; air, food, water, yet none of them can be considered obligations, or duties.

Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone.”

Job said, “I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.”

Can our relationship with Christ be viewed as an obligation or necessity?

You may say, “I need air, food, and water to survive.”

I say you’re absolutely correct…to survive. But, to thrive, to enjoy life, and live life more abundantly, you need a relationship that is not one of obligation, but necessity with Christ.

There is a spiritual state we must strive to attain, one in which we esteem the “Spiritual necessities” with an equal or greater degree of priority in our lives.

More than our necessary food. More than the bread we eat, the water we drink, and the air we breathe, we cannot survive, let alone thrive as God ordained by neglecting the more essential thing, the one thing that cannot be taken away, a relationship; not a duty, not an obligation, but a joy, a privilege, an honor to bask in the glow of His Divine Presence; to enjoy the warmth of His tender embrace, to esteem our relationship with our Creator above all else…necessary.

21-Day Fast (Day 17) When God Gets Quiet

Scripture: Psalms 139:7-10

7 Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? 8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. 9 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; 10 Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.

If you’ve lived for God very long, you’ve likely had a point in your walk where you just couldn’t feel God’s presence. Try as might, whatever it was that you equated with God’s presence just wasn’t there. Doubt is quick to creep in and discourage you from praying, or waiting any longer on God presence. The Reality is…the Lord never leaves us.

David

By the time David penned this Psalm, he more than likely had gone through a great deal of turmoil in his career as king of Israel. His personal failures and challenges to his authority brought with them some dark and dreary days for David. If ever there was a man prone to highs and lows in his life, David was the man. So, who better to remind us that regardless of whether we feel it or not, God’s divinely inspired word through David, tells us…God IS THERE!

Paul

More than qualified to weigh in on this issue, the Apostle Paul defines for us the boundaries of God’s love in Romans. 38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38-39). Essentially, there are no boundaries. So if you’re “feeling” like God no longer loves or cares about you, get your nose in the Book and remind yourself of this glorious promise!

In Closing

We don’t base our walk with God on emotions or feelings. This is a walk of faith. We are all prone to emotional peaks and valleys. But, you can be certain, God’s presence in our lives, nor His love for His people, will ever change.

How Do I Feel?

Hungry! Yes, hunger has returned with a vengeance, but I’m still committed to this fast. I have to say, even though I have been on this fast, I have had days where it was still hard to feel God’s presence in my life. But, if I based it on feelings though, I would have given up a long time ago. I know God’s there, and I know He hears my every prayer!