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2008-02-25 - Power of Gratitude - Solitary Places
When gratitude cause us to rise early to spend time with God - seeing one of the greatest fruits
No one says that QT must happen in the morning - it always goes better than the days when trying to work out another time during the day
I learned to pray when I sensed that I would come apart at the seams emotionally unless I didn't
Three things helped with prayer life:
- Solitary place - no bothered for a curtain amount of time
- Can walk and pray
- Can pray out loud
writing can help - proven by therapists - helps with negative thoughts
There is no gratitude without prayer
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2008-02-26 - Power of Gratitude - Uncommon Peace
What enables us to have such uncommon peace? - Commonality
- Relationship with God
- Decision to make Jesus Lord of our lives
- Basic mission - to seek and save the lost
If we in a battle together, we are unlikely to attack one another
Stay committed to God with the mission and discipling firmly in place, our unity will remain
Three warning signs, if not doing:
A. Daily diet
- Time in the Word daily - Acts 17:11
- Daily prayer - Luke 11:1-4
- Share our faith daily - Acts 17:17
- Open with our lives daily with one another - Hebrews 3:12
B. Lack of commitment
C. Lack of discipling
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2008-03-04 - Power of Gratitude - It is so Hard and but I Love it
Marriage - hardest year of a good marriage is the first one and the hardest year of a bad marriage is the last one
God brings opposites together - rigid and let it go types
Because God is trying to work off the rough edges
If we are to grow through trials, we must learn to view them correctly
First comes hurt, then can come anger or try to ignore it
Other turn to "grin and bear it" or "this too must past" - blocks us from growth
Garden of Gethsemance - Jesus expressed and dealt with emotional pain with prayer - Hebrews 5:7-10
If Jesus had to suffer, how much will we need to be perfected - Colossians 1:24
Trial both mature us and attract others at the same time
Rejoice in the sufferings - 1 Peter 4:13
Must have heaven's perspective in every situation
Even when can not figure out what God is doing - requires a child-like response
Why me? > Why not me?
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2008-03-08 - Power of Gratitude - Is This All There Is?
Most of the physical pursuits of life (Ecclesiastes) are substitutes for what we really need - a relationship with God
"Whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ" - Philippians 3:7-11
The answer - to be totally immersed in my relationship with God through Christ
To know God in such a way and at such a level that all else pales into comparision
When this level is reached, nothing else will matter:
- Not position
- Not recognition
- Not performance
- Not respect
Fear of death will lose its hold
"For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain" - Philippians 1:21
Thankful books
Do it just before going to bed every night
God is too good for us not express gratitude
Ideas: come up with 7 areas of gratitude and incorporate one area into your prayers each day
- Physical blessings
- Family blessings
- Spiritual blessings
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2008-03-10 - Be Still My Soul - Quiet Time
Jesus deeply valued his time alone with God
Jesus sought out quiet time
"Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest" - Mark 6:31b
"Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed" - Luke 5:16
Occasional devotions are OK but should never replace our private time with God
Jesus found a quite place
"But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father" - Matthew 6:6
If you have no quite place - your relationship will be shallow and limited
Jesus urged alertness
Jesus pleaded with them to be awake and alert in prayer - Mark 14:37-42
Be "clear minded and self-controller" so that we can pray - 1 Peter 4:7
How long? until a sense of peace and closeness with God
How much time in prayer and study? mix it up; our relationship should not become stale
"Remain in me, and I will remain in you" - John 15:4-8
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2008-03-14 - Be Still My Soul - All the Time
To be real, a relationship with God must be all-the-time
If not, you are compartmentalizing your walk with God
"I am with you always" - Matthew 28:20
""Pray continually" - 1 Thessalonians 5:17
Nehemiah prayed, wept,and fasted for days before talking wit King Artaxerxes then he prayed again right before talking to him just before opening his mouth - Nehemiah 2:4b
- Your relationship with God does not depend how you have a quiet time
- We should learn to pray short prayers throughout the day
- If we don't remember God throughout the day, can become legalistic about our quiet times
Both are needed - a quiet time can never replace all-the-time
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2008-03-17 - Be Still My Soul - Deciding What to Study
How do we decide what to study?
- How do I need to grow?
- What is my greatest spiritual need right now?
Questions to ask yourself:
- Do I need to see Jesus? - Gospels
- Do I need to be more spiritual? - Sermon of the Mount
- Do I need more faith?
- Do I need to learn to others more? - Jesus, John, Peter, Paul examples
- Do I need to be more grateful? - Psalms/Topical study
- Do I need to become more evangelistic?
- Do I need to know God better? - Abraham or Moses
- Do I need greater assurance of salvation? Grace topical study
- Do I need to learn how to lead? - Moses, Joshua, Nehemiah, David, Timothy/Paul, and Titus
- Do I need to renew and revived as an older disciple? Hebrews
- Do I need to a greater conviction of sin? - David's sins account, acts of the sinful nature, the cross
- Do I need to repent of sin? Godly and worldly repentance, Paul's repentance, David's repentance
- Do I need a deeper prayer life? Jesus, Moses, Ahraham, Nehemiah, and Daniel
- Do I need help as a husband, wife, or parent? Ephesians 5:21-6:4; Colossians 3:18-21; 1 Peter 3:1-7
- Do I need help in dealing with suffering or persecution? Early church's persecution in Acts
- Do I need inspiration or encouragement? Joshua, Joseph, Peter, Elijah, Elisha, and Daniel
Commit passages of scripture to memory
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2008-03-21 - Be Still My Soul - The Pattern (Part 1)
What are we to pray about and in what order?
God has not left such crucial issues to guesswork
Matthew 6:9-13 - Above all other scripture on prayer - understand this one
Things to remember:
- Pattern, not a formula - not meant to be recited, rebuked by Jesus
- May seem awkward at first - stick with it
- Be prepared to spend more time in prayer when you use this prayer - wider range of subjects
- The structure reveals the genius of God - Begin looking to God; then deal with ourselves; once again focus on God
- Notice the use of "us" - personal, but not self-centered
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2008-03-22 - Be Still My Soul - The Pattern (Part 2)
Our Father.
- We are longer slave but sons ans daughters
- We can approach him with confidence because of Jesus
In heaven.
- With Jesus as the high priest, we can confidence to enter the into the throne room of God
- Can gain a heavenly perspective
- Praise God that his resources there are limitless
Hallowed be your name.
- Being holy, set apart, above us
- Prayer is not just asking for something but for honoring Him
Your kingdom come.
- Kingdom has not come to every nation and place nor every person
- Pray for God to open doors, speaking boldly, with wisdom
- Pray for those who server and in leading roles
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
- God wants us to pray about surrendering to his will
- Challenges is our life must not be avoided but have a surrendered life
- Read some command and ask yourself if you are following them
- Jesus never asked for strength to go to the cross but only that he might surrender
- Besides pride and rebellion, unbelief keeps us from doing God's will
Give us today our daily bread.
- Bring specific needs to God
- Must depend on God daily for our spiritual and physical needs
- Pray thorough your todo list and details
- Jesus said we could do nothing apart from God - John 15:5
Forgive us our debts as we have forgiven our debtors.
- Lack of confession results in a hardened heart
- We will not mature if do not do this soul searching
- Be specific; ask others for forgiveness if needed
- Extend forgiveness; can not be forgiven by God otherwise
And lead us not into temptation.
- What are your weaknesses? Have you faced them?
- Draw on God's power before Satan strikes
For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
- Return again to praising and glorifying God
- All power rests in his hand
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2008-03-23 - Be Still My Soul - Pour Out Your Heart
We can to one of a few things in challenging times:
- Handle it ourselves
- Turn to God superficially; mentioning thing to God
- Turn to God - pouring out our hearts
Pour out your hearts - Psalms 62:8
I pour out my complaint before him - Psalms 142:2
How can we be close to someone if we have not poured out our hearts
God is all-knowing but unless we tell him our feelings we will never draw close
Everyone has feelings; it may be difficult at first
Jesus: offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears - Hebrews 5:7
Suggestions:
- Get in the habit of telling God how you feel
- Be in a private place
- Take a period of time away
- Allow yourself to cry - frustration, sorrow, or joy
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2008-03-24 - Be Still My Soul - Pray the Psalms
What is meant by "praying through the Psalms"?
Using the Psalms as a guide to expressing your own heart to God
Psalms 25 - wide-ranging; allowing us to confess sin; ask for wisdom
Psalms 86 - we humble ourselves and ask for forgiveness and worship God
Psalms 103 - prayer of praise
Pour out our hearts when weak or discouraged - 45, 46, 57, 62, 63, 141, 118
Teach us how to confess our sins in a heartfelt way - 32, 38, 51
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2008-03-26 - Be Still My Soul - Pointed
We can not be close to God in prayer if we deal only in generalities
God indeed wants to answer our prayers - how will we know what God is doing if we pray in generalities?
Abraham - Genesis 18 - prayed to save the city if there were 50, 45, 40, 30, 20, even 10 righteous people
Our lack of specific praying reveals a distance in our relationship with God
- More specific in your gratitude - become more grateful
- More specific in confession - understand the sin you are commiting
- More specific in your requests for friends and family - see how God will work
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2008-03-27 - Be Still My Soul - Persistence
We "should always pray and not give up" - Luke 18:1
Disciples who are not close to God are simply not being perisistent
Examples of persistent prayers:
- Elisha - prayerd 7x before the promised rainfall came down -1 Kings 18:42-45
- Jesus - returned three time to the garden of Gethsemane to surrender to God's will - Matthew 26:36-FF
- Paul - prayed three times before given an answer he did not want - 2 Corinthians 12:7-9
- Early church - prayed all night for Peter's deliverance - Acts 12:1-17
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2008-03-28 - Be Still My Soul - Postures
Prayer is not only for our minds and hearts, but our bodies
Types of prayer postures:
Kneeling
- Elijah - with his face between his knees (1 Kings 18:42)
- Daniel - knelt in prayer three times a day (Daniel 6:10)
- Peter - knelt in prayer for the life of Tabitha (Acts 9:40)
Standing - Jesus gave instructions and standing in prayer (Mark 11:25)
Prostrate
- Moses - for 40 days (Deuteronomy 9:18, 25)
- Daniel - fell prostrate before the angel Gabriel (Daniel 8:17)
- Jesus - fell on his face in prayer at Gethsemane (Matthew 26:36)
Lifting and spreading out hands
- David - Psalms 28:2, 63:4, 88:9, 119:48, 143:6
- Ezra - Ezra 9:5
- Moses - Exodus 9:29
- Solomon - 1 Kings 8:22
Gazing upward - Jesus looking up to heaven (Matthew 14:19, Mark 6:41, 7:34)
Out loud and silently - Esther 4:1, Hebrews 5:7, James 4:7-9 / 1 Samuel 1:13
If prayers are not offered from a variety of postures then we are not praying as we ought
We can not separate our bodies from our hearts
Author has developed the ability to pray with great concentration and intimacy while running
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2008-03-29 - Be Still My Soul - Praise
Thanksgiving is praise made practical
- We always thank God - Colossians 1:3
- Overflowing with thankfulness - Colossians 2:6-7
- And be thankful - Colossians 3:15
- Being watchful and thankful - Colossians 4:2
What should we be grateful for?
- Answered prayer
- Blessings of family and friends
- Health
- Material blessings
- Church
Our appreciation grows, our anxiety decreases, and our joy abounds
Never known a person who habitually expressive of gratitude to be afflicted with continual discouragement and depression
Good idea to start and keep a gratitude list
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2008-04-12 - Falling in Love with God - Our False 'Gods'
Here are some false 'Gods' we can create in our mind:
- He get "attitudes" when we misbehave
- He does not really forgive
- His power is limited to people's choices
- He has no reason to his plan
- He does not always answer prayer; too busy
- He thinks we ask for too much stuff
- He does not want to "over-bless"
- He will bless when you have earned it
- He looks are the results of our performance
- He barely tolerates our presence
All of these ideas are false, contridict the Bible, and are from Satan
If this is my "Father", I will have a turbulent relationship with "him"
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2008-04-28 - Falling in Love with God - Forever Seeking
Falling in love with God - is attainable
We will find what we seek:
- If we seek relief in salvation, this is what we will find
- If we seek acceptance and a community, this is what we will find
- If we seek wisdom and insight, this is what we will find
- If we seek effective ministry, this is what we will find
- If we seek God more and more deeply, this is what we will find
What are you seeking?
Lord searches every heart; if you seek him, he will be found by you - 1 Chronicles 28:9-10
How many times have we tried to do something with seeking him first?
None of us can be "strong" without seeking
Talent, experience, and insight are cheap gifts and can never take the place of a heart that seeks after God
There are many decisions that you need make about your relationship with God:
- How much time should go by without special prayer time?
- What am I trying to accomplish in my Bible study?
- What do I need to allow the message of God really soak into our heart?
- Where can I go and be really free to wrestle emotionally with the will of God?
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2008-05-26 - Purpose Driven Life - Seeing Life from God's View
How do you see your life? What images come to mind?
Let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind
Life on earth is a Test
Trials, temptations, refining, and testing occurs over 200x in the Bible
Success:
- Abraham - offering his son
- Jacob - working for Rachael
- ...and many others
Failed:
- Adam and Eve - failed when tempted
- David - failed several times
- ...and many others
Your realize that nothing is insignificant, tested by:
- Major changes
- Delayed promises
- Impossible problems
- Unanswered prayer
- Undeserved criticism
God wants you to pass - James 1:2-3
Life on earth is a Trust
God loans you the earth, we never really own anything
Want to hear: "Well done, good and faithful servant"
God uses finances: As a test (in good times) and a trust (hard times)
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2008-07-15 - Purpose Driven Life - Becoming a World-Class Christian (part 1)
Your choice:
Worldly
- Personal fulfillment
- Self-centered
- Goes to enrichment seminars
- Avoids missions conferences
- Prayers focused on our needs
World class
- Saved to serve
- Eager for personal assignment
- Only one who is truly alive
- Makes a difference
Great Commission is for "every race, tribe, nation, and language" - Revelation 7:9
Go everywhere in the world and tell the good news - Acts 14:15
Experience is a little piece of what heaven might be like
Many opportunities today: missions, easy travel, and "e-vangelism" (email, facebook, chatting, etc)
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2008-07-28 - 30 Days at the Cross - Life through Death
Voluntary surrender is not easy; never comfortable nor enjoyable
Christ can not be formed in us until we are crucified with him - Galatians 2:20 ; Galatians 4:19
Rebellion comes from man's desire to be God
Satan tried to delute the solution to create powerless religions
Our lives do not change at the deepest level and have the same problems as the world
Only when we are sick of our old nature will we be convinced to totally sell out to God
Death to self seems preferable to life
Most of our cires are designed to produce our surrender
Jesus served through suffering - Hebrews 5:8-9
Can not mature without surrender - Hebrews 12:5-11
Many harships come so we enter heaven - Acts 14:22
So how do we go about taking up our cross?
- Absolutely commited to the concept - John 12:23-25
- Be committed to prayer about surrender - "I surrender" and "Help my lack of suddender"
- Be committed to a relationship with another disciple - Share convictions and be open
- Be committed to stretching your comfort zone - Do things you can not do without his help
- Realize that surrender brings about absolute freedom - life through death will cease the puzzling paradox
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2008-07-29 - 30 Days at the Cross - Denial Without Regret
self-denial - decision to consistently lay down our lives - not a popular topic
No one can follow Jesus without it
Jesus' struggle in Gethsemane was fought and won in prayer - Matthew 26:36-46
Without self-denial there would be no cross and no salvation:
- Forgave his tormentors - Luke 23:34
- Ministered to a criminal - Luke 23:34
- Provided for his mother - John 19:27
Any limitation we put on self-denial will surely limit our usefulness to him
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2008-08-11 - 30 Days at the Cross - Seeing It Through
It is not hard to start something but it takes character to finish
What did it take for Jesus to reach his goal? Nothing less than a relationship with the Father and death
With dull disciples - could have become impatient
Exhausted after a long journey - could have become selfish
He never gave in
How did he stay so determined to overcome?
Offered prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears - Hebrews 5:7
Jesus shed tears for:
- the lost
- the people he met and healed
- his disciples to stay faithful
- his family who thought he was crazy
- the children
Knowing that God heard his cries, he found victory over discouragement, anxiety, doubt, and loneliness
We are aware of our ineffectiveness, we focus on what we should be doing but neglect our relationship with God
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2008-08-19 - 30 Days at the Cross - Prayer and Purpose
Because of the cross we are able to pray
Looking at Christ's humble submission to the cross that we can learn we can learn how to pray
Thank God for the incredible opportunity that we have to talk to him because of his grace
He shows us the attitude we must have as we follow Christ in prayer - right perspective on suffering
After praying, he was able to face the mock trial, jeering, and the beatings
Disciples, who failed to pray, fled and desperation - they were powerless
Jesus purpose of praying was to make sure that we could be saved
Our main purpose to pray is not complaining but for others
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2008-08-29 - Teach Us To Pray - The God who Enjoys Hearing and Watching Us
We enjoy accomplishment: meeting a deadline, A on a test
Imagine the incredible feeling God must have experienced when he first viewed his own creation:
- Enjoyed developing Israel into a beautiful bride - Ezekiel 16:1-4
- Joyously san through the angels when his Son was born - Luke 2:8-14
- When the church was born - Acts 2
How would iy affect your prayer life if you had a deep conviction that God enjoys his relationship with you?
Sometime I feel like a bother to God, a frustration to him or a source of disappointment
God Enjoys Hearing Us Talking to Him
The longer we are in the Lord, the more secure and real we should be in our prayers
David communicated whatever he felt - God was able to discipline him to be the "man after his own heart"
Do you enjoy the fact that you can be totally real with God?
God Enjoys Watching Us
Parents enjoy children playing soccer, sing in a play, and read the Bible
God is the same way
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2008-08-31 - Teach Us To Pray - Hungry and Thirsty (part 1)
True prayer is a yearning for God
Most people in the developed world have never been really hungry and do not know what it is like
In the Bible a hunger for God always ends in prayer
My soul yearns for the courts of the Lord - Psalms 84:1-2
My soul thrists for you like a parched land - Psalms 143:6
God invites us to find satisfaction in Him
Come all you are thristy, come to the waters - Isaiah 55:1
He will satisfy your needs - Isaiah 58:11
Are you trying to find satisfaction some other place?
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