Prayer. Such a small but powerful word. And to access its power, you simply must do it. You want to do it. You know you need to do it. Your own spirit calls to you, asking you to do it. And it's the one thing that can actually change you and your situation. It is the one thing that can bring peace into your chaos. But it won't happen by itself. You must do it. Just as keys are only useful when you use them, so is prayer.
A brand new year often brings a desire for consecration for the Christian. We sense that we need to draw closer to the Lord or, in essence, rededicate ourselves to Him. We recognize the need for more of Him. For many, that consecration means fasting. Fasting literally means not eating food. I know it has become common practice to go easy on ourselves and say that we are fasting television or social media for a time. Though those things are good to do, they aren't fasting. Fasting means food.
Phillippians 3:13-14, "Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
An old song says, "What the world needs now is [...]
Favor is a funny thing. It's not garnered because you desire it. It is bestowed for reasons only the one giving can determine. Jacob had 12 sons, but it was the 11th that captured his heart. Joseph was the firstborn of the woman he'd worked 14 years to marry. Because she remained barren for so many years, Joseph was not conceived until Jacob's old age. Finally, seeing the fruit of that love gave Joseph the favor that no other son could achieve. The giving of a gift showed Jacob's favor and affection. A coat of many colors.
When faced with another problem or another battle, the temptation is to take the victim mentality even if you've won the previous battles and think you have a setback. If your self-talk sounds something like, "Just when things were going good, this had to happen." Or, "Why does this always happen to me?" Then you've got to shake yourself loose from the grip of self-pity.
We've all jumped to conclusions. We see something, hear something, or imagine something because we saw nothing and heard nothing. Relying on senses alone will lead to a conclusion that is just as imagined.
Hang on, saints! God is faithful. And He is going to see to it that the promise He made you comes to pass. Staying encouraged in the waiting season is key. But to do that, we need to look at the first promise. In that promise, we see three important factors about promises.
If you really knew who He was, you would ask Him. He has the gift-ready. He comes prepared.
The Eleven O'clock news used to be known for its news. You could turn on the television for thirty minutes and get caught up on the world's headlines. Now, however, national news has become nothing more than argument and opinion. A quick synonym search for the word argumentative will give you opinionated. Everything we see and hear, from commercials to cartoons, is now bloated with opinions being shoved down our throats. And if we aren't careful, we will become, in retaliation, precisely the same way. Why?
