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 10/14/98 Good morning.... +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ If I am too busy to sit at the feet of Jesus, then I am too busy. +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ +†+ Hi there Precious Brethren!! Hope this finds your week going well! Gotta take a moment to thank all of you who write. I can't thank you enough for the words of edification and exhortation. It truly blesses me! I literally "feel" your prayers, and I thank Him for you all! Today's issue is focused on prayer. I pray that God will touch the hearts of those that need encouragement in this area. It's not always easy to have a solid stable prayer life, but it is a necessary part of the Christian life. It's as vital as the air we breathe. Please, read on, and be blessed and encouraged! See ya at the end! Matt 6:6 Prayer....Often there is a wrestle. A thousand invisible enemies will seem to fill the air and crowd between you and your Lord. Each of them has a stinging or depressing word.....Our wrestling is with these whispering or shouting spiritual foes. We must press through, fight through, and the sword with which to fight is the blessed word of God..... Sometimes we cannot find words. We are not always meant to find them. I have been greatly comforted in the word that says we are not heard for our much speaking. We are not pledged to pour out words for half an hour. Words fail us at times...So do not be afraid of silence in your prayer time. It may be that you are meant to listen, not to speak. So wait before the Lord. Wait in stillness. Wait as David waited when he "sat before the Lord." And in that stillness, assurance will come to you. You will know that you are heard; you will know that your Lord ponders the voice of your humble desires; you will hear quiet words spoken to you yourself, perhaps to your grateful surprise and refreshment. And you will know that the power of your Lord will be great. -From: Thou Givest, They Gather- <>@<><JE§U§><<>@<><JE§U§><<>@<><JE§U§><<>@<><JE§U§>< Get an inner chamber in which to pray where no one knows you are praying, shut the door and talk to God in secret. Have no other motive than to know your Father in heaven. It is impossible to conduct your life as a disciple without definite times of secret prayer. -Oswald Chambers- <>@<><JE§U§><<>@<><JE§U§><<>@<><JE§U§><<>@<><JE§U§>< The Still Small Voice It was with a still small voice the
Savior called my name <>@<><JE§U§><<>@<><JE§U§><<>@<><JE§U§><<>@<><JE§U§>< Me again, Brethren! Y'know, prayer is such a misconceived jewel. One that is perhaps taken more lightly than it should be. I think if we really saw in the spirit realm just how valuable our prayers are, and what they accomplish, we would dive on our knees a lot quicker. James 5:16 Am I praying with effectual fervency? Is there consistency in my prayer life, or do I hit and miss? A lot of our woes and worries could easily come back full circle to that one issue. How is my prayer life? Do I shoot out a Christmas list, then get up, or do I stay there, till I get past the "voices" that Amy Carmichael was referring to? Prayer is not just me talking to God. It's God doing a work in my heart. God uses these quiet still moments before Him to deal with key issues that need His attention. If I get ritualistic, and spit out a "same ole, same ole"...then I have missed the whole point of prayer. God made you special, and He relates to you right where you are. Picture this: Your heart communing with God's heart....day by day, becoming a desirable constant in your life, and without your conscious realization, you are being transformed into the image of Christ. When daily prayer becomes a habit that we look forward to, and not a duty..we will find ourselves zealously guarding that quiet time. Making time for God will become a priority of utmost importance, because we are drawing on His sap. We will be listening with our hearts above our minds. Allowing Him to come in there and purge our hearts and cleanse our souls. Oh, if we only realized the true essence and potential of prayer! How we would run to the closet with "effectual fervency!" 1Thes 5:17 It's most needful in the Christian walk to develop an "attitude" of prayer. The more I pray, the more I want to pray. The less I pray, the less I want to pray. If I have an attitude of prayer...I will begin to grasp the full meaning of the verse above. God can put someone on my heart to pray for, and I will "pick up where I left off." It's a continual flow, never ceasing.. It's a well that never runs dry. The more we pray, the more we see clearly in the Spirit. I remember a story of a young man in the military that was standing accountable to his commanding officer. The officer wanted to know where he had been. The young man told him he was praying. At that point, the CO told him to commence. He told him to start praying..right there. The young man proceeded to do so, and it was immediately discernable to the CO that this young man had indeed been praying. He so easily slipped back into the mode of prayer, that it was very evident that he just "got up from the table, and his chair was still warm." If a poll were taken among Christians today, the biggest negative readout would be lack in the prayer life...not to mention time spent in the Word. To have one and not the other is kinda like cutting your meat with a fork, but no knife, or vice versa. To cut the meat effectively, we need both. The knife could represent the Word of God: Heb 4:12 As the Word of God "cuts through," it reveals the "texture" of our walk and arouses the juices that excite our spiritual taste buds. Prayer could represent "holding the meat in place," or keeping things together on the inside. Phil 4:6-7 There's great balance in conforming the two, hand in hand. As the Holy Spirit directs us, the meat will be cut in the proportion that we are able to chew. No big chunks that will choke us, yet no tiny pieces that make us feel cheated. Just enough to chew on each day, slowly savouring each bite. These "utensils" are also an excellent team when it comes to "trimming the fat," ( excesses ) and moving it over to the side of our plate. Just be sure to dump the the fat off your plate, and don't go back for it if you're still hungry. God has plenty more meat where that came from, and the table is set ALWAYS. John 21:12 Here are some things we can count on when we eat at Jesus' table. There's usually a MINIMUM of twelve basketfuls of fragments left over when we're done, ( John 6:13 ) AND there is ALWAYS a vacant space with your name engraved, AND there's lots and lots of milk and honey on the table, AND ( here's the best part ) you get to eat with Jesus. What an invite! I just had a thought flow through my mind here.. "When I get real with God, then God will become more real to me." Whoa, that's something to chew on. Go ahead, put it on your plate. And while you're "eating," you don't have to worry about carrying on a stimulating conversation. Just be yourself, and talk to your Host as if you were talking to your best friend and confidante. He's a great listener...and if we take the time to notice, He's a wonderful speaker too. Well, Brethren, the table is set, the Bridegroom is waiting. Be His guest? ( smile ) God Bless you all sooo much!! I love you guys dearly! In Christ!!
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