I can’t assure you your family will ever give you the blessing you seek, but God will! Let God give you what your family doesn’t. How do you do that? By emotionally accepting God as your father. It’s one thing to accept Him as Lord, another to recognize Him as Savior, but another matter entirely to accept Him as Father. To recognize God as Lord is to acknowledge that he is sovereign in the universe. To accept Him as Savior is to accept His gift of salvation offered on the cross. To regard Him as Father is to go a step further. Ideally, a father is the one in your life who provides and protects. That’s exactly what God has done! God has proven Himself as a faithful father. Now, let God fill the void others have left. You’re His child and “God will give you the blessing He promised!” (Gal. 4:7). 1 CORINTHIANS 14:14 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful.
God has given us a powerful prayer gift—praying in tongues, which is not limited by distance, time or head knowledge. When you pray in tongues, you could be praying for your future or even a loved one overseas. You won’t know what you are praying unless God tells you. This is because your “understanding is unfruitful”—your mind is not involved. “But Pastor Prince, I must know what I am praying!” Sometimes, it is better not to know what you are praying. In 1993, I had a long season of praying in the Spirit. If I had known then everything that I was praying in tongues, I would have freaked out! For example, I would have been afraid if I had known that the Holy Spirit was saying, “Father God, in the year 2002, anoint Joseph Prince to preach six messages every week to more than 10,000 people.” That has come to pass. But back in 1993, one service was enough to tire me out! So I thank God that I don’t know what I am praying when I pray in tongues. I simply trust His goodness and pray in tongues for everything that He has planned for me to come to pass in His perfect timing. Beloved, don’t stop praying in tongues just because you don’t know what you are praying. You could be praying for the safety of a loved one in a life and death situation. Especially when you feel an urge to pray because you sense danger, pray! Pray until you sense a release as the burden is lifted. The Holy Spirit will know exactly what is going on, who is in danger and how to pray for deliverance. (Romans 8:27) You may say, “Well, I can just pray in English.” You can, but your prayer will be very limited because you don’t know everything. It is better to pray in tongues because the Spirit knows all things. My friend, you don’t belong to the natural, limited realm. You belong to God who is unlimited! So pray in tongues, and see great things happening for you and through you. We are important to God;
“What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you visit him?” (Psalm 8:4) Since God is the infinite Creator, who are we that He should care about us? Why should God even give humans a second thought…especially when we rebel against Him all the time? It is precisely because God is infinite that He can watch a distant asteroid, yet still notice when a hair from our head falls to the ground on earth. It is precisely because God is our Creator that he loves us…even in our fallen state. And He has a wonderful plan for us: “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not evil, to give you an expected end.” (Jeremiah 29:11) “And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada the priest which stood above the temple and said unto them: ‘Thus says the Lord, why do you transgress the commandments of the Lord? You cannot prosper because you have forsaken the Lord, thus He has forsaken you.” (2 Chronicles 24:20) Prayer: Father thank you that you are always mindful of us and that you ears are open to our prayers…amen “The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace and remain at rest.”(Exodus 14:14, AMP)
One time in scripture, when the Israelites were facing an impossible situation, God told them, “Hold your peace. Remain at rest, and I will fight your battles.” Notice there was a condition, something the Israelites had to do. It’s the same for us today. Hold your peace. That indicates something is trying to take it away — thoughts of worry, fear, anxiety. You might think, “What if it doesn’t happen? What am I going to do?” If you will just stay in peace, the Creator of the universe, the Most High God will go to work on your behalf. Remember, nothing can stand against our God. He has all power. He stopped the sun for Joshua. He closed the mouths of hungry lions for Daniel. Whatever you face in life, if you will just hold your peace and remain at rest, God promises He will fight your battles and lead you into everlasting victory! Father, today I put my trust and hope in You. I choose to hold my peace knowing that You will fight my battles. Thank You for working all things out for my good in Jesus’ name. Amen. A bishop of the early church, who was a remarkable example of the virtue of contentment, was asked his secret. The venerable old man replied: "It consists in nothing more than making a right use of my eyes. In whatever state I am, I first of all look up to heaven and remember that my principal business here is to get there. Then I look down upon the earth, and call to mind how small a place I shall occupy in it when I die and am buried. I then look around in the world, and observe what multitudes there are who are in many respects more unhappy than myself. Thus I learn where true happiness is placed, where all our cares must end, and what little reason I have to complain."
From a sermon by Matthew Kratz, Thankful Before Thanksgiving, 10/1/2011] Wow the weekend is over again and we are entering a new week. We can face it two ways: “oh no!” or “Oh yes!” the choice you make will determine the outcome.
“Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket, and are counted as the small dust on the scales.” (Isaiah 40:15) We pride ourselves that we have come a long way…and we have. As magnificent as mankind’s civilizations of the past were, think of the astonishing technologies of the modern world. But none of our accomplishments can begin to compare to the eternal, omniscient (all-knowing) God who created the vast universe, started every swirling galaxy turning and said to every distant, giant stars, “Be!” The Bible pegs us accurately; our greatest nations are dust specks, and we are like microbes living on them. But among all this we still are important being in God’s sight because the Bible teaches us that God created the universe for us to enjoy and live in. “You are blessed of the Lord which made heaven and earth. The heavens even the heavens, are the Lord’s, but the earth has He given to the children of men.” (Psalm 115:15,16) Prayer: Heavenly Father I stand in awe before your creation today and I praise your Name for you are mindful of us and desire to bless us every day therefore I give you thanks in Jesus’ Name…amen "...the Lord knows those who are His..." 2 Timothy 2:19
When important people know our name it makes us feel good. But when they call us by name in front of a crowd, we really feel special. Good news. The most important person who ever lived knows your name. His name is Jesus. He knows everything about you and He loves you anyway. When you get to know him as Savior and Lord, He'll make you feel important and significant--even more than anyone calling you by name. People came to Jesus. My, how they came to Him! They touched Him as He walked down the street; they followed Him around the sea; they invited Him into their homes and placed their children at His feet. Why? Because He refused to be a statue in a cathedral or a priest in an elevated pulpit. He chose instead to be—Jesus.
There’s not a hint of one person who was afraid to draw near Him. There were those who mocked Him. Those who were envious of Him. There were those who misunderstood Him. There was not one person who was reluctant to approach Him for fear of being rejected. Remember that. Remember that the next time you find yourself amazed at your own failures. Or the next time acidic accusations burn holes in your soul. Remember. It’s man who creates the distance. It is Jesus who builds the bridge! |
Ana & Andre Schoonbee God uses us to motivate and encourage the body. Authors
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