Praying with purpose
Greetings in Jesus:
One of the greatest achievements that we could ever have in Christ is in learning how to pray with a particular purpose in mind. When I attended the Hope Church November 27 I found a new refreshing spirit in charge of the general countenance of the people, and in particular of the leadership of the church. The subject of God's word for the people for that day dealt with praying God's word. The service was led by my brother in Christ Marcus Constantine, and I couldn't help but to see many of the similarities between what he was saying and the word that is preached at the Gathering ministries by my beloved brother in Christ Brett La Chapelle concerning laying down burdens and baggage that we all tend to carry around with us.
The greatest power that we have in Christ relates directly from our use of prayer. One of the things that struck me from my visit at Hope Church was the message given about praying God's word. In fact much of what was said concerning the use of prayer is very much needed in awakening the Bride of Christ in this community. When I talk about the Bride of Christ you need to know that I am not referring to some kind of ecumenical movement or effort to combine all of the churches in our community, but rather to strengthen each of these ministries in the same way that Christ had established the church from the beginning. With in each of these churches there are people who are earnestly seeking after God with their whole hearts. These are the people whom God's Son is a returning to take with him as his bride. It is these people who need to be awakened to the realization of what it means to be bound in love and unity with one another through the power of God's Spirit.
Everything that I have tried to teach or preach leads up to the true child of God understanding the power that is hidden within this kind of spiritual unity. Having said that I want to get back to what I was saying about what I found in the message about praying God's word.
1.PRAYING WITH A PURPOSE. Up until now the church in a general sense has not had much of a direction in the use of prayer. In the men's Bible study group that I teach on Thursdays we recently had the chance to look at the prayers of Jesus found in the book of John 17: 3 where Jesus gives the whole purpose of his ministry; that the world may know who God really is, and that they may believe that Jesus was sent by the father. This purpose of Christ's coming is found in several different scriptures like Mark 3:13=15, Matthew 6:6-8, Matthew 14:22-23, James 5:16, and 1 Corinthians 3:9 and then purpose has never changed. More than anything else God wants for you to know that what he is telling you is the truth.
2. PRAYING GOD'S WILL. For a great number of us in Christ there has been an intense effort to change God's will in to our will. Instead of becoming a daily living sacrifice to Christ which is our reasonable service we tend to give up some kind of grocery list of things that we want, and that benefit our own lives only. Even within our own churches we tend to ignore God's will for what is going on all around us. When we can begin to understand that each one of our churches has its own unique purpose and place in ministry within a larger community and body in Christ perhaps we can begin to see more of what God's will is. In the book of Luke 22:39-43 it is said that Jesus went to the Mount of olives; which is where the garden of Gethsemane is to pray and his disciples followed him. The first thing he told them was to pray the day will not fall into temptation. I believe this was at his weakest time as a man because it is when he prayed "father if you are willing, take this cup from me, yet not my will but thine be done". Our whole purpose in Christ is to accomplish God's will for our lives here. From the time we come to Christ for salvation until the day we die our purpose is to be witnesses to the world around us of what God has done for us. Unless we can be awakened to find a way to strengthen one another, and to bond together in love and unity by showing this world what God's love and his will is we will be no more good than a clanging bell or a tinkling symbol.
3. PRAYING GOD'S WORD. For a great many Christians today there has been a direct problem between prayer and the use of God's word. It seems like it is all but impossible for us to feel the same kind of power that was felt in the first church that we find in ACT 4:24-30 where when they prayed the very building around them shook from the power of God's Spirit. We need to learn how to use God's word by meditating on it and allowing God to sink his word deep into our hearts. There is a technique of reading God's word where we can read the passage and then pray about the content we have read to allow God's Spirit to teach us about the word. We can use God's word to help us pray like his found in Philippians 1:9-11 or Colossians 1:9-14. We can learn to use the word to help us pray more effectively, and to teach us the effective use of God's power through prayer and through connecting and bonding with one another. It is our job to edify and build up one another in Christ to the point that the powers of the principalities of this world can no longer stand against us. I believe I have indeed found a beginning place, but we who are in Christ need the healing and unity, and above all else we need to love one another. May you richly bless God through your life in him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
One of the greatest achievements that we could ever have in Christ is in learning how to pray with a particular purpose in mind. When I attended the Hope Church November 27 I found a new refreshing spirit in charge of the general countenance of the people, and in particular of the leadership of the church. The subject of God's word for the people for that day dealt with praying God's word. The service was led by my brother in Christ Marcus Constantine, and I couldn't help but to see many of the similarities between what he was saying and the word that is preached at the Gathering ministries by my beloved brother in Christ Brett La Chapelle concerning laying down burdens and baggage that we all tend to carry around with us.
The greatest power that we have in Christ relates directly from our use of prayer. One of the things that struck me from my visit at Hope Church was the message given about praying God's word. In fact much of what was said concerning the use of prayer is very much needed in awakening the Bride of Christ in this community. When I talk about the Bride of Christ you need to know that I am not referring to some kind of ecumenical movement or effort to combine all of the churches in our community, but rather to strengthen each of these ministries in the same way that Christ had established the church from the beginning. With in each of these churches there are people who are earnestly seeking after God with their whole hearts. These are the people whom God's Son is a returning to take with him as his bride. It is these people who need to be awakened to the realization of what it means to be bound in love and unity with one another through the power of God's Spirit.
Everything that I have tried to teach or preach leads up to the true child of God understanding the power that is hidden within this kind of spiritual unity. Having said that I want to get back to what I was saying about what I found in the message about praying God's word.
1.PRAYING WITH A PURPOSE. Up until now the church in a general sense has not had much of a direction in the use of prayer. In the men's Bible study group that I teach on Thursdays we recently had the chance to look at the prayers of Jesus found in the book of John 17: 3 where Jesus gives the whole purpose of his ministry; that the world may know who God really is, and that they may believe that Jesus was sent by the father. This purpose of Christ's coming is found in several different scriptures like Mark 3:13=15, Matthew 6:6-8, Matthew 14:22-23, James 5:16, and 1 Corinthians 3:9 and then purpose has never changed. More than anything else God wants for you to know that what he is telling you is the truth.
2. PRAYING GOD'S WILL. For a great number of us in Christ there has been an intense effort to change God's will in to our will. Instead of becoming a daily living sacrifice to Christ which is our reasonable service we tend to give up some kind of grocery list of things that we want, and that benefit our own lives only. Even within our own churches we tend to ignore God's will for what is going on all around us. When we can begin to understand that each one of our churches has its own unique purpose and place in ministry within a larger community and body in Christ perhaps we can begin to see more of what God's will is. In the book of Luke 22:39-43 it is said that Jesus went to the Mount of olives; which is where the garden of Gethsemane is to pray and his disciples followed him. The first thing he told them was to pray the day will not fall into temptation. I believe this was at his weakest time as a man because it is when he prayed "father if you are willing, take this cup from me, yet not my will but thine be done". Our whole purpose in Christ is to accomplish God's will for our lives here. From the time we come to Christ for salvation until the day we die our purpose is to be witnesses to the world around us of what God has done for us. Unless we can be awakened to find a way to strengthen one another, and to bond together in love and unity by showing this world what God's love and his will is we will be no more good than a clanging bell or a tinkling symbol.
3. PRAYING GOD'S WORD. For a great many Christians today there has been a direct problem between prayer and the use of God's word. It seems like it is all but impossible for us to feel the same kind of power that was felt in the first church that we find in ACT 4:24-30 where when they prayed the very building around them shook from the power of God's Spirit. We need to learn how to use God's word by meditating on it and allowing God to sink his word deep into our hearts. There is a technique of reading God's word where we can read the passage and then pray about the content we have read to allow God's Spirit to teach us about the word. We can use God's word to help us pray like his found in Philippians 1:9-11 or Colossians 1:9-14. We can learn to use the word to help us pray more effectively, and to teach us the effective use of God's power through prayer and through connecting and bonding with one another. It is our job to edify and build up one another in Christ to the point that the powers of the principalities of this world can no longer stand against us. I believe I have indeed found a beginning place, but we who are in Christ need the healing and unity, and above all else we need to love one another. May you richly bless God through your life in him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
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