I have found myself having a growing desire to pray over the last few years. In fact, one time I spent three and a half hours praying over scripture one day and have since had a couple of times praying for an hour or so over scripture. Those times in prayer were fantastic. God’s presence was truly around me in those times.

I was reading this morning about how prayer is linked with faith. Charles Spurgeon says that “faith is the medium of communication that links heaven and earth. And if that link is broken or disconnected, how can we receive His promise?”

James tells us that “the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. ”

I like what the Matthew Henry commentary says about this.

“And when a righteous person, a true believer, justified in Christ, and by his grace walking before God in holy obedience, presents an effectual fervent prayer, wrought in his heart by the power of the Holy Spirit, raising holy affections and believing expectations and so leading earnestly to plead the promises of God at his mercy-seat, it avails much.”

And what the Gills Exposition of the Entire Bible says about this.

“The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Not any man’s prayer; not the prayer of a profane sinner, for God heareth not sinners; nor of hypocrites and formal professors: but of the righteous man, who is justified by the righteousness of Christ, and has the truth of grace in him, and lives soberly and righteously; for a righteous man often designs a good man, a gracious man, one that is sincere and upright, as Job, Joseph of Arimathea, and others.”

Man, to be able to have the prayers of Job or Joseph of Arimathea, or other great ones from the Bible, how awesome would that be! Anyone can pray, but to have prayers that are fervent and energetic is something else. How different would our country or world or even city or neighborhood be if we as Christians truly humbled ourselves and prayed and sought God’s face, if we do that He promises to heal our land.

When Jesus died on the cross, the curtain in the temple tore in two from top to bottom giving us a direct line of access to God Himself, a great gift and mighty weapon in the battles we face.

I pray that this encourages you to spend time daily in God’s presence reading scripture and praying. It’s the first thing I do every day and I love it.

When We Pray – Tauren Wells

I woke up this morning a little bitter.  Beyond the struggles of life,  we have  8 week old puppy who thought it was time to get up at about 3:30 in the morning and need to go outside.  After I and then my wife tended to her, my alarm went off about an hour later.  I have my morning quite and prayer time then go to the gym.  After I finished working and while cooling off out I read Jim Dennison’s First 15 devotional.  Today’s was about Living for God’s Glory.

First 15 – Jim Dennison

One thing struck me in the devotional, he says “God’s word won’t have power in our lives if we don’t read it. We won’t hear God effectively if we’re not listening. And we can’t experience his nearness if we constantly fill our lives with other things.”  The part about filling our lives with other things is what struck me.  “Other things” can be lots of things, materials possessions, job status, financial freedom, kids activities, etc and the chasing of all these things.  The world tells us to achieve greater things, that we can crate our own success, but in reality, chasing after worldly things is futile.  The things God tells us to chase after are the only things that can truly satisfy us.  A couple of Sundays ago our pastor preached on the feeding of the 5,000.  The people, disciples and Jesus had traveled for a couple of days and were away from somewhere where food was readily available, especially for that number of people.  Yet, in His sovereignty God fully satisfied these people with what started out as 5 loaves and two fish.  I realized that we can only be satisfied when God provides ad not when we chase after things.

Matthew 6:33 tells us to seek God’s Righteousness and His Kingdom before anything else, and if we do, we need not worry about being provided for.  I believe I saw God fulfill this promise in my life last year after being laid off from work.  I was out of work only about 2 and a half months, but when I returned to work I wasn’t making as much money, but we never had to worry about being provided for.  yes we had to watch our spending a little closer, but we were never hungry, and had a warm bed to sleep in.

I am far from being able to live without worry, but I am constantly reminded how good God is, I just need to acknowledge it and remember it more often and thank Him for His Goodness.

I’ve been thinking a bit lately about being a father and husband and what in God’s eyes what it really means and looks like. It’s not the first time but with some recent events and some reminders I’ve been looking at it again.

I think there is a big issue, and some may say, a growing epidemic in our country with fathers and husbands not truly leading and loving their families as they should. There is such an emphasis and great pressure from society and our culture for the dad and husband to be successful in the work place, which is not always a bad thing, but there also needs to be an emphasis for us as men to be successful in the home. Paul tells us that as husbands we should follow the model of Jesus and love our wives as He loved the church. Jesus sacrificed His place in heaven to come and give us the opportunity to have fellowship with God directly, because He loves us that much. He anguished and sweat drops of blood in carrying out His mission, yet in His time of need God sent angels to strengthen Him.

In some ways I think Satan has some fathers and husbands right where he wants them. We hear in the news and I would venture to guess in our communities, of the scandals of men being caught up in sex trafficking and prostitution, married men, men who you would think have everything they could want and need. It’s not hard to look and see where depression and suicide impact the men if our country and of the world. But the pressures of being the head of the household and being a godly husband and father are there and are very real today. The adulterous influences are everywhere around us TV shows sporting events magazines, you name it, its difficult to avoid.

I truly believe that the closer we walk with God, the more Satan turns the screws on us and the more distractions and pressure he throws our way.

In our society and culture today, unfortunately its unmanly for a man to ask for help or be part of a men’s support group. I’ve had a small group of men around me for the last few years, a group of awesome godly men that I know I can call on anytime and ask for prayers and encouragement, and I do the same for them anytime. I started this group because I knew that I would have trials and would need encouragement and for other men to speak God’s Truth into my life. There’s nothing unmanly about recognizing your own weaknesses.

Do I have being a godly husband and father down, absolutely not. Yes I do things to make wife upset and my kids cry. I went through a period in my life that I was not a good husband and father. But after some time I knew I was messing up and dug into God’s Word to see what He wanted and expected of me. I am still very much a work in progress. Our actions or even inactions as husbands and fathers influence and can impact those in our family, sometimes for long periods or even a lifetime.

I also truly believe that if men would grab a hold of their responsibilities as husbands and fathers like they pursued their careers most of of our societal issues would go away. Fortunately we don’t have to be strong enough, we have a God that strengthens us and hears our cries for help. The below devotional is one I get and this one tells about investing in our kids.

I believe we invest in things that are important to us things that are a priority in our life. Some day we will retire from our jobs and professions but we never really retire from being a husband and father.

I like what David told Solomon

“I am about to go the way of all the earth,” he said. “So be strong, act like a man, and observe what the Lord your God requires: Walk in obedience to him, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and regulations, as written in the Law of Moses. Do this so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go
1 Kings 2:2‭-‬3 NIV

We need to act like godly men and walk in obedience to Him. Like Solomon, we need to ask for a hearing heart in order to lead our families.

Being a godly husband and father is definitely not an easy thing to do. Jesus was ridiculed and spat on for loving us, but He completed His mission.

Uncommon Devotional

Go home and live your wife and kids today, be the husband and father God has called you to be. Wives and kids are truly gifts from God.

I was driving into work this morning and heard the song “O Praise The Name (Anástasis)” by Hillsong on the radio and felt God’s peace and it was great and very much needed.  Its been and incredibly busy week, one where I felt like I was just running.

And then I started thinking why can’t I bring that peace everywhere I go and into everything I do and feel God’s peace every day and in every moment.  But in order to feel that we have to worship in all we do all day long.  Its so easy to just grind out the day and get caught in the everyday happenings of daily life and attempt to run on our own strength.

As a husband and father and son, most of the time I feel like I carry the burdens and the weight of my world, but in reality Jesus is where my strength comes from.  Each morning I get up and spend tie in prayer asking for God’s strength, grace and mercies for the day and thanking Him for the previous day’s strength, mercies and grace.

Psalm 29

1 Ascribe to the Lord, you heavenly beings,

ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.

2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;

worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.

3 The voice of the Lord is over the waters;

the God of glory thunders,

the Lord thunders over the mighty waters.

4 The voice of the Lord is powerful;

the voice of the Lord is majestic.

5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;

the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.

6 He makes Lebanon leap like a calf,

Sirion like a young wild ox.

7 The voice of the Lord strikes

with flashes of lightning.

8 The voice of the Lord shakes the desert;

the Lord shakes the Desert of Kadesh.

9 The voice of the Lord twists the oaks

and strips the forests bare.

And in his temple all cry, “Glory!”

10 The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;

the Lord is enthroned as King forever.

11 The Lord gives strength to his people;

the Lord blesses his people with peace.

O Praise His Name – Hillsong

Praise His name and lift His name high!!

I believe God has been repeating Himself to me lately.  Feb 16th of my daily devotional, Morning by Morning by Charles Spurgeon, was based on part of Philippians 4:11, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.  Spurgeon says “Weeds naturally spring up in the same way covetousness, discontentment and complaining are as natural to us as thorns are to soil” and “Contentment is one of the precious flowers of heaven, and if we desire it , it must be cultivated.”  The point being is we have, as human beings, have a bent to complain and look at the negative and the things we don’t have or wish we had.  But somehow through his trials Paul had learned to be content in all his circumstances.  Which means contentment in all circumstances didn’t come naturally to him either.  Spurgeon goes on to say that there is a great lesson to learning contentment and that Paul probably failed at it many times before “getting it.”

There is not doubt in my mind as I write this and that I believe that God’s word is as true as Truth can get and that all of God’s Word is filled with promises that He is causing all things to work for my good and that His word goes out and does not return void.  But i was reminded of the man in Mark 9, who had a son possessed with an evil spirit and brought him to Jesus because, I’m sure he had only heard about the incredible things Jesus was doing, was desperate enough and asked if Jesus could help.  To which Jesus replied ” ‘If you can?’ Everything is possible for him who believes.”  Mark says the man immediately cried out “I do believe; help me overcome my belief.”

The man obviously had faith in and believed in Jesus being able to cast out the demon from his son, but yet the man still had a faithlessness or unbelief and wanted Jesus to help him with that too.  Learning these lessons is difficult and arduous at times.  But like a precious metal I truly believe I am being refined.  I just struggle with my natural bent to want to complain and, like Peter walking on the water, taking my eyes off Jesus, the author and perfecter of my faith.  I am grateful that I have a Savior who knows me and hears me and when I do turn to the right or the left speaks to me saying “This is the way, walk in it.”

I pray that those who read this know Jesus and this encourages them and if you don’t I pray that you would come to know Him, that you would read God’s Word and the incredible promises in it.  Unfortunately life here on earth does not get easier once you become a believer, but you can trust in the fact that you have a Holy Savior walking with you daily and that what’s in store for those who believe is incredibly, beyond our imagination, worth it.  The peace of the Holy Spirit that I have felt at times is amazing.

Its been a rough week for us in a certain area of our life, and I have been praying for direction and wisdom in order to know what the right thing to do in our situation.  Then I opened up my daily devotional, Morning by Morning by Charles Spurgeon.  The devotional was actually yesterday’s, but the verse was 2 Samuel 5:23 “So David inquired of the Lord.”  The context is that David had just defeated the Philistines and ran them off, but the Philistines came back again and spread out around David and his men. Then in verse 23 it says David again inquired of the Lord.  I believe David had such a heart for God that he wanted to follow God’s will in all situations and because of this God gave him victory again over the Philistines, in fact, for the second battle God gave him the battle plans.

Spurgeon writes about this, “If you want to be able to steer your ship through the darkest, highest waves, place the control of the rudder into the hands of the Almighty.”  We’re much better off allowing God to steer and direct us as we navigate life.

So, I have been praying about this situation today, through Sunday School and church and believe God has answered my prayers and given me direction because I inquired of the Lord.

It amazes me, that when I truly pray for an open heart and for God to speak in my prayer time, He does, not always in that moment or in what I am seeking from Him, but he does.  He is the same God who spoke to David.

I think I heard this term in an episode of NCIS, the one show my wife and I watch together. It’s a nautical blessing in hopes of a sailer or someone to have a safe journey.

This past Sunday our pastor preached on Mark 4:35-41. I’m no longtime bible scholar but am pretty familiar with these verses or thought I was. In context, Jesus had been teaching along the sea of Galilee and at the end of the day He tells them to go to the other side. So they get in the boat and during the trip over a storm comes up. The disciples were well trained and experienced sailors, and in the storm they get scared. That’s pretty wild in itself, sailors who most likely know no other body of water, scared in a storm on their local fishing grounds.

What struck me about this was that Jesus sent these guys out onto the lake, which they were fully obedient to do, yet in His sovereignty Jesus knew that a storm was coming. HE sent them out knowing there would he trouble. Yet Jesus knew they were going to reach the other side because that’s where He wanted to go.

Obedience to God doesn’t guarantee fair winds and following seas, but I know who is in the boat with me. Yes, at times I pull a Peter and look around at the winds and the waves and start to sink, but I know my Lord Jesus is causing ALL things to work for my good, because I love Him. The disciples, being the seasoned fisherman they were, couldn’t help themselves and in desperation they cried out to Jesus. Like them, we need Jesus, we can’t do life on our own. And Jesus may not always calm the storms around us but He may tell us to be quiet and to be still so that we may watch Him work in His grace and mercy and power.

He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
Psalm 46:10 NIV

Hillsong – Oceans

Lord, I pray for those that read this, that their lives would touched and forever impacted by your grace and mercy, that you would hold them in your hands as they navigate the waters they cross.

We talked this past Sunday about the parables of the Sower.  It was interesting to read this parable and think about which circumstances I tend to fall in.  As much as we want to believe we’re all the good soil, as someone mentioned in our class, I believe at times we can fall back into one of or more of the three not good soils.  For me I tend to fall back into the soils among the thorns.  I tend to get focused on my circumstances that surround me, the worries and attractions of the world and not focus on God.  Like Peter, I believe its easy to see the wind and the waves and take my eyes off Jesus because its the wind and waves I can see and not the workings of Jesus behind the scenes.  We need to focus on the One who, as Oswald Chambers has written, engineers our circumstances, instead of the circumstances themselves.

In the context of this parable, God is the Sower and His Word is the seed.  but if Jesus truly lives in us as believers, we should be sowers as well.  We should be the ones encouraging those we’re around and speaking God’s Word and Truths.  Unfortunately we won’t have successful seeds in all that we sow, but who knows when something we say may finally germinate into a rich and fruitful plant of Jesus’s.  To me its like bird hunting.  I like to dove hunt in the fall.  Legally I can carry three shells at a time in my shotgun and I tend to carry about 50 shell with me in my game bag.  Because I don’t get to practice much, I tend to go through all three shells when shooting at a single dove, sometimes I hit on the first shot sometimes I miss with all three and once or twice I have hit two doves on one reload.  But I know my chances are higher with three shells as opposed to a single shot shotgun and to shoot a dove it only takes one pellet from the shell.  If I don’t pull the trigger I go home with an empty bag.

The other thing about the good soil is that I believe it desires the seed to grow.  One can only be fruitful if one desires to be fruitful.  David was known as a man after God’s own heart.  We all know of David’s downfalls, but he truly desired to have a relationship with God and I believe God counted him as faithful because of his desire to know God and be drawn near to Him.

John 16:32“Behold, an hour is coming, and has already come, for you to be scattered, each to his own home, and to leave Me alone; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. 33“These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”

 

We’re studying the book of mark in Sunday school and the pastor is preaching on it in parallel. It got me thinking the other day along with another email blog I get by Jim Dennison called First 15, how radical the Christian life really is.

First 15 – Jim Dennison – Jan 20

This particular one talked about longing to be wholehearted in our Christian walk.

When Jesus called the 12 disciples, they essentially dropped everything to follow Jesus. Peter in particular left his dad’s fishing business, boats and all, to follow Jesus. Do you think they knew at the time what they would later face because they followed Jesus? The deaths they would experience because of their faith? They fact that they would give up at times the comfortable of home and family?

Living the Christian life truly is radical. And we have to at times take extraordinary steps I order to truly walk in faith and be obedient. Things that world would look at and call us crazy, like not taking a job that should be a no brainer.

Quite a few years ago I was in a job that was probably the toughest job I have ever had. As a result, I was interviewing with other companies and was in the process of getting a job offer on a position that would have been an incredible career move. And I didn’t take it. I prayed over the situation for some time and it just wasn’t the right choice to make. Later my wife even told me that she couldn’t believe I didn’t take it. But in looking back, God had a better plan for me. That plan included me getting laid off from probably the best job I have had. But I now have another great job.

I have a small daily calender with quite from Tony Evans. Below is the one from the 16th.

We have to live with no plan b. Unlike the many choices we face these days to live a wholehearted life we only have one choice and that’s seeking Jesus and His will for our lives.

However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived” — the things God has prepared for those who love him—
1 Corinthians 2:9 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/1co.2.9.NIV

Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.  Psalm 19:14

Last year ended up being quite the year.  I had the opportunity to really see God work in my life.  I was laid off from my job mid November of 2017, but as I look back at it, God was really preparing me and my family for that event.  During that fall, the pastor at the church we were attending was preaching on the story of Joseph in the book of Genesis.  I realized, in times of our life we all have seasons of plenty and season of famine.  The years before my lay off we were in a season of plenty, God had blessed us incredibly financially to prepare us for the season of famine, I was actually out of work for only about two and a half months and but didn’t have income for only about a month, but life changed very little during that time.  Yes, we had to watch our spending closely, but life really didn’t change incredibly.  But I also think God was working on me to instill in me my dependence on Him and the fact that it is truly Him that provides for our needs, I have learned that I am more than what my job is.  I love the work that I do and I do truly find joy in my work because I believe I get to use the gifts God has given me in my job, but my job is simply the vehicle through which God provides for us.

But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Phil 4:19

The context of this is Paul is writing to the church of Philippi, and he is thanking them for the gifts they sent to him.

We also look to many things to make us happy.  So much of life can become very emotional.  We look to be happy or comfortable so much of the time.  We look to our jobs, marriage, kids, social status, cars we drive, etc to make us happy.  I’m not saying I have this down by any means, but truly its in Jesus Christ where we should find true contentment.  My men’s small group is studying “Morning by Morning” by Charles Spurgeon, and he says “I ask you, are you not complete when God is yours? Do you desire anything but Him? Isn’t His all-sufficiency enough to satisfy you even when everything else fails?”  In Jeremiah, God promises to be our God.  That should be enough.

Its so easy to get caught up in the materialistic things of this world.  Materials things are not bad, as long as you can hold them with an open hand.  I struggle with this myself.  I drive a 14 year old truck and I would love to have a newer truck, but, all I really need is transportation to and from work during the week, and I have that.  The crazy thing is I saw God provide in in credible ways over the last couple of years and know that He will provide, but I struggle with the desire of wanting more, and at the same time I know He will continue to provide and bless us as he sees fit.

2 I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. 3 Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.  I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. 5 I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you. Psalm 63:2-5

The thing is God never promises all our wants but He promises to provide for our needs.  Our basic needs are simple, food, shelter, etc.  If we keep our eyes focused on Him, He will provide.  Its us who are the ones that look beyond our needs and focus on our desires.  We see this in the Israelites while in the desert, they tried to store more manna up than they needed and it rotted.

1 The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3 he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, a I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Psalm 23