Pray for the Part.

This has been a theme or should I say a consistent thread in my prayer life lately. As I have and continue to ask the Lord for many things in my life, I keep coming back to this picture in my head. I see the Lord working in peoples lives. Not just in the outward, exterior aspect, but on the inside. I feel like when I pray for people, the Lord gives me this little glimpse into the extent or the amount He is working in their lives. Its like the Lord gives me an ‘in’ into His workings in their lives. Its so cool! I feel overwhelmed and blessed when I pray and I begin to sense this.
The Lord, or at least I believe its the Lord, keeps bringing this picture back to me when I pray. I see Moses down on the banks of the Red Sea with all the people of Israel puzzled and scared for their lives. In Exodus 14:13 Moses answered the people and said, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again“. I see Moses down on His knees praying for deliverance and rescue. Then the Red Sea begins to open. Its that right there that I keep coming back to. This posture of us asking the Lord and then Him doing something miraculous. Not only something miraculous, but something so far out of our capacity to make happen.
I begin to pray and ask the Lord to move in that capacity in the lives of those I am praying for. I ask Him to literally ‘part the waters in their life’ and move miraculously. I pray that these miracles would not just be a sign and a witness for a few, but the out-of-our-control huge miracles that are a sign for a nation to see. I feel like I am asking big things for their lives. In the lives of my friends, coworkers, and family, I want to desperately see the Lord move and impact their life in that kind of huge, ‘ocean-sized’ way. I don’t want families to just have provision for awhile from the Lord. I want them to have huge provision from God. I don’t pray that people who need jobs to just get a mediocre job for right now. Im praying for the best and right job and the one that will set them up for the future. Come on lets pray big!
Moses had told Pharaoh over and over about dealing with God. That day he lost thousands of his best men, chariots, and horses in that sea. This was no small river that swallowed up thousands! Pharaoh knew from that day forward that to disobey God was not the best way. This was a sign for a nation to see.
Ezra 8:23 says “So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer“. God will answer when we cry out. When Moses began crying out to God, He answered and questioned Moses. He gave him specific instructions in order that the miraculous would happen. If Moses was not obedient, the Red Sea may not have parted. Im sure that God in all his gracious dealings with the Israelites would have done something else, but the point is when He speaks and instructs, we need to be obedient. Our Lord is willing and able to move when we petition His name and seek His face. This is the God we serve!!

the man upstairs…

“For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods” – Psalm 95:3

I began thinking about how truly great our God is, and I was reminded in this time of the many attributes of the Lord. In this, there are SO many things He promises for us.
We should praise Him for who He is!

The Omniscience of God.
This means that God knows all things.
God is all-knowing. He has perfect knowledge of all that was or is or can be.
He has no need to learn, as He knows it today. For we do not know tomorrow until tomorrow comes.
His knowledge encompasses the past, present, and future.

The Bible teaches that God has never been taught by anyone.
“Who has known the mind of the LORD? Or who has become His counselor?”, Romans 11:34 says.
God has never sat at the feet of a teacher whether the teacher be highest cherub or archangel.
His knowledge is absolutely comprehensive. Proverbs 15:3 speaks of,“The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch upon the evil and the good”,.

This means two things:
First, at once God knows all things.
No one could reveal anything about us to Him that He does not already know.
He knows the smallest details, even the number of hairs on our head, as Luke 12:7 says.
We should take comfort in this – know matter what the situation is in your life God knows all about it and who better than Him to give you counsel since He knows everything about your situation that can be known.
Hebrews 4:13 speaks of,“And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”

And second,

[ME] out + of [ME] =

SOMETIMES I get in the way…

of people and don’t even know it, and then you do that awkward dance in the grocery aisle because you think they’re going to the left, so you go right, but then they go right and you almost hit each other…and I’m not going to say anything of course cause I’m a guy, and if were in the grocery store – we’re on a mission! Women will just laugh about it and quickly apologize, maybe comment about something in the cart in passing to ease the confusion, but men…we will not make eye contact or say anything, cause its not like we live to be there. I’m in there cause I’m out of deodorant or something. It’s an in-and-out as quick as you possibly can find-the-shortest-line contest for us.

anyway, its humorous, but… I get in the way…

of what I should say,

of my own thinking,

communicating my own thoughts,

I even think I get in the way of God sometimes.

a verse to live by.

I don’t understand this world sometimes. Its sick, twisted, depraved, and full of much hurt. Most of the time. I don’t understand why the good people are hurting and the wicked are prospering. I don’t understand why a father would randomly shoot his daughter. I don’t know why anyone would abandon their baby and leave it for dead. Why are there drive by shooting? Why are there arsons setting fires to get insurance money? How can there be so much theft? Sometimes it just seems horribly out of whack! Does anyone else ever feel like that?

Where is the justice in all this?? That is the questions left…

But here is what I know…

I know that I know that God is in all this! I believe it with all that I am. This is the essence of faith. Amidst a time with so much turmoil, so much hurt, and so much negative news, I know that the Lord sees all this. Joshua knew this well. The Lord spoke to him and said, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9). I don’t see it sometimes, but before it all, I am declaring that I believe He has a perfect plan for all this. This is all I can do. I am human and truly cannot do anything about it other than pray. Its especially times like these that force me to realize I cant do this on my own, and the only resolve I have is to rely on the Lord for strength.

“As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the Lord is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in Him. For who is God besides the Lord? And who is the Rock except our God? It is God who arms me with strength, and makes my way perfect” (2 Samuel 22:31-33).

I read this in my devotions last week, and it has been mulling through my head ever since. God is perfect and His word is flawless. Wow! Thank you Lord that we have something that is constant and true through and through. I love the word used here to describe the grace and love of God extended towards us. He is a mighty shield for all who are under it. I think of so many pictures in my head of God and His infinite love protecting the ones He loves. God is the one who arms us with strength because by our strength alone, we can literally do nothing. I love that the Lord even desires to make our ways perfect, and has a plan that big and great for our lives. His love is so great and so vast that what better of a posture can we take than to praise Him for who He is and what He is going to do in our lives! Thank you Lord!

Write it down….

So I decided today that writing my thoughts out is, well, a good thing. I have realized that in my head are many ‘streams’ of thoughts. I think there are rivers, puddles, lakes, etc. up there. In other words, I have a lot of thoughts and they are vastly different and unique, but I don’t voice them as often as I should. Many new people I meet think I am very quiet. I probably am, though most of the time I don’t think I am. Long story short, I am trying this new concept called writing down my thoughts. Processing things out so I can share more should be very beneficial for me and hopefully, fun for all.

For me, writing things down is top priority. I forget a lot if it is not written down. The good Lord did not give me the best memory capacity like many, and if I could just run down to Best Buy and pick up an upgrade, you know I would have been there already. I love reading my Bible and then writing the things the Lord is speaking to me down. I love scribbling on the very narrow edges little notes to remember. I love going back a week and reading in my journal what God was saying last week. Writing down things is powerful. Many say knowledge is power, and they are correct, but for me having thoughts, revelations, and His promises down for me to reflect and re-read later is extremely powerful.

My girlfriend, Lindsey, has a successful blog site. Usually once a week or so, she will write something meaningful for her personally or pertaining to the news or something she has been learning at school, and many friends and people will read and respond to it. I want to share these many thoughts, abstract or collected, with you through this site. Hopefully as we traverse through this, we learn something powerful together.