Moments With God

"Lord, teach us to pray."

Prayer is as essential to our spiritual well-being as breathing is to our physical well-being. One day one of Jesus' disciples came to Jesus and said, "Lord, teach us to pray." (Luke 11:1b) Jesus then gave His disciples the Lord's prayer as an example prayer to help them in their prayer lives. The Lord's prayer continues to be a wonderful example of how to pray for us today.

Our prayers should always include worship and praise for our great and awesome Lord. The first thing Jesus said in His prayer to His heavenly Father was "Father, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come." (Luke 11:2b) So often we rush into our prayers asking for things. God desires that we ask for things from Him; but we must also not forget to spend time in worship, praise, and thanks to the Lord. We must praise and worship Him for all He is in His being and character, and then we must thank Him for all His bountiful blessings in our lives. Notice the Lord Jesus also says "Your kingdom come." It should be our supreme desire that the Lord's will would be done on this earth and in heaven. Our lives should not be about our self-centered whims and desires. Our lives should be centered on bringing about the Lord's will on this earth and in our lives. Our lives should be centered on bringing glory and praise to the Lord.

Our prayers also can and must include asking the Lord to meet our daily needs. Jesus prayed, "Give us each day our daily bread." (Luke 11:3) "Daily bread" includes more than our food. It includes all our physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. It is good and necessary for us to ask the Lord for our needs. In doing this we show our trust in the Lord and our reliance on Him to meet our every need. This dependence on the Lord and not on our own perceived resources is pleasing to the Lord.

Our prayers also must include prayers for forgiveness for our sins. Jesus said, "Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation." (Luke 11:4) We need to daily confess our sins to the Lord. We need to daily ask for His forgiveness. We also need to ask for the Lord's strength to grow in holiness and Christ-likeness in our lives. Notice that Jesus' prayer asks for forgiveness from God for our sins, as we forgive others their sins against us. If we are not willing to forgive the petty little things others do against us, how can we ask the Lord to forgive the magnitude of our sins against the Almighty God? Finally, we also need to ask the Lord to keep us from the Devil's temptations all around us.

After Jesus gave His disciples the Lord 's prayer as an example prayer, He told them a parable about prayer. In this parable the Lord Jesus taught His disciples the need to be bold and persistent in prayer. Jesus said in verses nine and ten of Luke eleven, "So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened." Jesus went on to say in verse thirteen, "If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!" The Lord desires and longs for us to come to Him in prayer. He desires to heap His blessings and good gifts on us. He especially desires to give us His spiritual gifts and the work of His Holy Spirit in our lives. If we who are sinful give good gifts to our children, the Lord God will surely give us His best and choicest gifts. We can and must be bold and persistent in approaching Him in prayer for our needs. We serve a loving and faithful God who desires to meet all our needs, as we approach Him in humbleness and trustful dependence!

"The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters."

Psalm 23 is one of the most familiar and loved Psalms. It is a Psalm which you and I probably memorized as a young child. One wonders sometimes if we have become so familiar with the words of the Psalm, however, that we do not fully delight in the implications of the Psalm's truths and promises.

"The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want." (Psalm 23:1) Sheep are unintelligent, dirty and defenseless. They are in need of a shepherd for protection. The Lord says that we are like sheep, but He is willing to be our Shepherd of protection. He is willing to lead us through this life and to eternity! "The Lord is MY Shepherd!" As a child of God He is your Shepherd also! In Biblical times the sheep were lead not driven. They listened for the shepherd’s voice, and they followed him. So you and I must follow the Great Shepherd’s voice in His Holy Word. The Lord must be most important in our lives, and we must follow Him. He must be our Shepherd in every area and activity of our lives. All of our lives must be under His direction and control. If we allow Him to control our lives, we "shall not be in want." He will provide for all our needs if we trust Him.

"He makes me lie down in green pastures." (Psalm 23:2a) When you or I get too involved with our busy lives or lose sight of our passion to serve the Lord, He will intervene in our lives. He will use some event or circumstance to compel us to rest in Him. He wants us to rest secure and content in Him. Green pastures in Psalm 23 are a metaphor for abundant life or for all that makes life flourish. Some of the circumstances the Lord allows in our lives may not seem like green pastures. They may seem more like brown dried up pastures. We may not want to "lie down" and trust our Good Shepherd. We may try to "fix" the problem on our own. But what you or I see as a bad circumstance in our life may actually be for our good. The Lord may be trying to make some repairs in our character and in our heart. The Lord may be operating on us spiritually to remove selfishness or arrogance or self-reliance from our lives. The Lord is in control. We simply need to trust Him. We must remain teachable. If the Lord has allowed a difficult situation in our lives, we must submit to Him and rest in Him.

"He leads me beside quiet waters." (Psalm 23:2b) The Lord leads us like a shepherd. Jesus Christ is out in front of us today. He is already in the future, so we need not fear the future. Our future is secure in Him. Jesus, our Good Shepherd, is in the business of stilling the raging waters and storms of our lives and leading us by "quiet waters." The Lord leads us to His rest. He provides for our security, nourishment, and sense of well-being. Sheep panic when they are around raging waters. This is because sheep can drown very easily. The Lord is our Shepherd, and He can still whatever raging waters are in our lives that cause us to panic. The Lord will still them at the right moment and in His perfect timing. Faith is a refusal to panic; because we know that our Shepherd, Jesus, is in complete control! He is our peace! He is our Shepherd!

(Read the devotional below also on Psalm 23.)

"She did what she could."

The religious leaders of Jesus Christ's day hated Him, and they were looking for a way to arrest Jesus and kill Him. During this time period Jesus was in the home of a man known as Simon. Jesus was sharing a meal with Simon and the others who were present that day. Suddenly "a woman came in with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on His head" (Mark 14:3b) We know from the same account in the Gospel of John that this woman was Mary, the sister of Lazarus and Martha. John's account tells us that Mary poured the perfume "on Jesus' feet and wiped His feet with her hair." (John 12:3) The perfume Mary poured on Jesus' head and feet was made of a delightfully pleasant smelling oil extracted from a root of a plant grown mainly in India and was very expensive. In fact, John 12:3 goes on to say; "the house will filled with the fragrance of the perfume." This action on Mary's part showed her deep and overflowing devotion and love for the Lord Jesus. It also showed Mary's humility. Mary was not concerned about what others thought about her action. She was only concerned about showing her love for her Lord,

Some of those present, however, were indignant about this and were saying; "Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year's wages and the money given to the poor." (Mark 14:4b-5a) We know from John's Gospel account of this same story that the main person who was objecting to this display of love on the part of Mary was Judas Iscariot. Judas Iscariot was the man who right after this incident went out and betrayed Jesus to the religious leaders of that day. Others were also rebuking Mary for her act of love to Jesus; but Jesus said to them, "Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her." (Mark 14:6b-9)

Others rebuked Mary for her act of love, but Jesus praised her. Jesus said, "She did what she could. (Mark 14:8a) Mary gave all she could to show her love for the Lord. Can we say the same of ourselves? Do we give our all to the Lord? The Lord wants our time, our talents, our lives, and our all. Jesus Christ wants the sweet fragrance of our Christ-like actions and attitudes to fill our world around us, so that others see Jesus in us. Our Lord wants us to be consumed with the desire to bring glory and honor to Him. Our Lord wants us to be consumed with our love relationship with Him. Our lives must be poured out in gratitude to the Lord for what He has done for us. Our Lord Jesus poured out His life for us. Should we not give our all to Him in gratitude and love for His gift of salvation to us? Our selfish wants and desires must diminish and be "put to death" (Romans 8:13), and our consuming desire must be that we may live to reflect Christ's holiness in our lives. John 3:30 says, "He must become greater; I must become less." May it be our supreme desire that there will be less of self and our selfish desires in our lives. Instead, may our lives be poured out for the Lord for His glory and honor!

"She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what He said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made."

We must never get so involved with life's busy and hectic schedule that we forget to sit at Jesus' feet. We must never neglect our quiet time with Him in prayer and Bible reading. In our Biblical story today Jesus was visiting in the home of Martha and Mary. How excited Martha and Mary must have been to have the Lord Jesus come to their home! Martha was an energetic "take charge" type person. Perhaps Mary was a more "laid back" and meditative person. God uses all kinds of personalities in His kingdom for different purposes. So no matter what personality type we possess we can be used by the Lord. We need to bring ourselves and our personalities under the Lordship of the Lord, however, and seek to do all for His glory.

When Jesus came to Martha and Mary's house, Mary "sat at the Lord's feet listening to what He said." (Luke 10:39b) Martha, however, was running around frantically making preparations for the meal that she was planning to serve the Lord Jesus. Martha was very "distracted by all the preparations that had to be made." (Luke 10:40a) Soon Martha became annoyed that her sister, Mary, was not helping her. She complained to Jesus and said, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!" (Luke 10:40b) Jesus said to Martha, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." (Luke 10:41-42) Jesus was not condemning Martha for her service. God's kingdom needs people who are energetic in His service. Jesus was admonishing Martha for allowing her busy schedule to interfere with needed and precious time in the Lord's presence.

So we also must remember that it is not what we do for the Lord that it important. What is important is that we are abiding in the Lord in what we are doing. All of our activity should be filled with a sense of the Lord's presence right beside, before, and behind us. Our lives must be filled with His agenda and not ours. To be about God's agenda in this world we need to be abiding in Him and communing with Him. We must not become so involved with life's activities that we miss the joy of Mary who sat at the Lord's feet listening to Him. In these days of tension, turmoil, and frantic schedules we must take time for quiet times with the Lord in His Holy Word and prayer. This is the one thing that is needed and essential in our lives! It should be our number one priority in our lives to grow in our love relationship with the Lord. Even if we are busy in service for the Lord, if we neglect time sitting at the Lord's feet our service for the Lord will not be blessed. Only when we have taken time with the Lord can we experience the peace and joy of the awareness of His presence in our many activities of the day. I have a little placard on a windowsill in my kitchen. It reads, "God is more interested in my character than in my activity." It is a reminder to me that I need to be more concerned with showing a Christ-like character than in accomplishing all the things on my "to do" list. God is interested in our service, but we can only properly serve Him if we have first spent time with Him!

"I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins."

Mark 11:23-25

In our home hangs a small sign which says, "Let prayer be the KEY that opens and closes your day." I think this small sign is suggesting that prayer should permeate our entire day from beginning to end. It is suggesting that prayer is the key to living a joyful, abundant, and productive life. It is so tempting to rush into our day's activities without prayer. Prayer, however, is a powerful tool given to us by the Lord. Often we do not begin to tap into the full power prayer can have in our lives.

Mark 11:22-24 are powerful verses. They tell us that we need to approach the Lord in prayer with faith and trust. If we do this, the Lord will remove the "mountains" or what we deem the impossible circumstances and obstacles from our lives. The Lord will remove those difficult situations in our lives, or He will give us the grace and strength to walk through those difficult situations. He will do this through the power of prayer. In verse twenty-four of Mark chapter eleven Jesus says, "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." God can hear our prayers and do what we think is the impossible. Wonderful things have been accomplished through the power of prayer for those who are the children of God.

We do need to pray according to the Lord's will, however. God knows what is best for us. A parent would not give a knife to a toddler, if he or she asked for it. In the same way, our Lord will not give us things that are not good for us. He loves us that much! According to Mark 11:25 we also need to not have an unforgiving spirit towards others, if we want to be an effective prayer warrior. Further, if we want to be an effective prayer warrior; we need to show evidence of a relationship with the Lord and spiritual fruit in our lives. Jesus condemned the fig tree for not producing fruit in Mark 11:12-14. So we too must produce spiritual fruit in our lives, if we hope to be powerful prayer warriors.

Our trusting prayers to the Lord will open wide the storehouses of heaven! By our complete dependence on the Lord the door is open to the presence of the Lord and all His answers to prayer in our lives! Our helplessness united with faith in the Lord produces prayers that are pleasing to the Lord. If we approach the Lord in trustful prayers, it will also bring about wonderful answers to prayer! We prove the all-sufficiency of the Lord when we ask for what we think is the impossible, and the Lord honors those prayers!

Make a prayer list with items that you are praying about for yourself and for others. Date those prayer items. Then when those prayer items are answered have a thank you list for all the answers to prayer that the Lord has provided in His perfect timing. This will make you aware of the power of prayer and of the Lord's faithfulness!

"Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid."

Perhaps you remember as a child being afraid of the thunder and lightning. Maybe you have experienced fear in the midst of a tornado or a hurricane. There are also other kinds of storms in life. When the circumstances in our lives are of such a nature that everything in our lives seems to be crashing down around us we are also experiencing a storm. Difficult trials or storms in our lives are never something we enjoy. God, however, often allows these trials or storms in our lives for our good.

Matthew 14:22a says, "Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of Him to the other side." Notice this verse says Jesus made the disciples do this. Because of their obedience to the Lord the disciples were soon going to find themselves in the midst of a storm. Storms and trials in our lives do not necessarily come, because we have been disobedient to the Lord. Often the Lord allows storms in our lives to teach us to rely on Him instead of our own resources. Often the Lord allows storms or trials in our lives to perfect and sanctify us. The Lord allows these things to help us grow spiritually.

After Jesus sent His disciples out into the boat to cross to the other side, a fierce storm arose on the lake. Even though they were in the midst of this storm and thought they were alone and without Jesus' help Jesus was still with them. The Gospel of Mark's account of this same event says the following, "He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them." (Mark 6:48a) Jesus was with the disciples even when they felt they were all alone. Jesus saw the difficulties they were experiencing. Jesus is also with us in the storms and trials of life. The Lord is with us even during the times when we feel all alone!

During the middle of the night Jesus came walking out on the lake to the disciples! When the disciples saw Jesus they were terrified, because they thought Jesus was a ghost. Jesus, however, said to the disciples, "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid." (Matthew 14:27) Jesus in effect said, "Cheer up! I am more than a match for any storm, so do not be afraid!" Then Peter, one of Jesus' disciples, said to Jesus, "Lord, if it's You,---tell me to come to You on the water." (Matthew 14:28) Jesus told Peter to come to Him on the water. When Peter stepped out in faith and kept his eyes focused on Jesus, Peter actually walked on water! However, then Peter took his eyes off the Lord Jesus and looked at the waves and storm around him. Peter became afraid and began to sink when he took his eyes off the Lord and focused them on the storm around him. Jesus stretched out His hand and caught Peter and said, "You of little faith,---why did you doubt?" (Matthew 14:31) As Peter and Jesus climbed into the boat, the wind died down. The disciples worshipped the Lord Jesus and said to Him, "Truly You are the Son of God." (Matthew 14:33b)

As we experience storms and trials in our lives, we also have a choice to make. We can either be overcome with doubt and fears, or we can keep our eyes focused on the Lord and trust Him to be with us in the storms. We can and must trust the Lord to be with us through the storms of life. We can and must trust the Lord to calm the storms in our lives. Then we will be able to walk triumphantly over the angry waves of the storms and trials in our lives! Our Lord is faithful, and He will be with us through every storm of life. We simply have to keep our eyes focused on the Lord. He alone can calm every storm and fear in our lives.

Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful."

Moses had been God's Old Testament people's leader for over forty years. Moses had now died, and Joshua was to be the new leader of God's people. God's people were finally ready to cross the Jordan River and to enter the new land that God had promised them.

At this point in time God made a promise to Joshua. God said, "No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you." (Joshua 1:5) God promised Joshua that he would always be with him each step of his life. God promised Joshua that he would always be with him to guide and sustain him. With God on His side Joshua would experience success in his life. This might not necessarily be success in the way the world would define success, but Joshua would experience the bountiful blessings of the Lord's presence in his life. Everything in Joshua's future wasn't perfectly laid out and made clear to him, but Joshua was assured that he simply had to trust and follow the Lord. The Lord would always be with Joshua, and the Lord would always give Joshua His protection and love.

The Lord promises to always be with His children today also. The Lord promises to never forsake His children. He will always be there to guide and direct His children. We simply need to follow Him in trust and obedience. We need to fear nothing in this life, because the great and powerful God of the universe is our God! God said to Joshua and He says to us today, "Be strong and courageous." (Joshua 1:6a)

As children of God we have the assurance of the Lord's blessing on our lives, if we stay in the center of His will. The best way that we can stay in the center of God's will is by immersing ourselves in God's Word. We need to read God's Word, study God's Word, and meditate on God's Word. Then we need to apply God's Word to the specific areas of our lives. When we read and meditate on God's Word we need to individually ask ourselves three questions: What does this Scripture passage teach concerning God's perfect will for my life? Where and how do I not measure up to God's standard for holiness in specific areas of my life? What are the definite steps of action I need to undertake to be a more obedient and holy child of God?

God told Joshua and He tells His children today that we must be very careful to heed and obey God's Word. In Joshua 1:7b-8 God says, "Do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful."

God's success and blessings in our lives does not include the lack of obstacles in our lives. God has promised that His children will face some trials and difficulties, but God will bring good things out of even the deep trials of life. Through these times we grow in our love and dependence on the Lord. Hence, God's children are commanded to walk unafraid through life, because the Lord is on their side. God said to Joshua and He says to His children today, "Have I not commanded you? 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)