Ask God to Hear Your Prayer

“²O God, hear my prayer;

give ear to the words of my mouth.”

— Psalm 54:2 (ESV)

I have to ask Him to hear me.

I know, God is always listening so why should I have to ask Him to hear me? Well, I will compare my interaction with God with the speaker in an event. When attending an event, everyone is waiting for the speaker to begin. They are milling around and engaged with others until the presentation or speaker begins. With that in mind, when taking the stage, the speaker must first get the attention of the group to have them settle in and turn their attention to the speaker. Once the crowd is “ready” and “attentive” the speaker begins.

Now I am not saying that God is not paying attention to me, on the contrary, He is very aware of me and my needs. Yet, I still need to draw Him close by announcing that I am here and am petitioning Him at that moment. It is up to me to initiate the conversation with Him through my announcement and request for Him to hear me. I have to submit to God always, yet in moments of prayer, I have to fully dedicate myself to Him and announce that I am wanting and needing to speak directly with Him.

I imagine that God is sitting on His throne, watching and listening for His children, ready to jump into action when we call. I close my eyes and can see Him picking us up when we fall and running to us when we call. I can picture God turning to me when I ask for Him and He scoops me in His arms and looks me in the eyes as I speak with Him.

All of the above begins with me asking Him to hear me. I pray to Him and want His full attention and the way I get it is to ask Him and know that when I do, He is there to listen.

When you pray, how are you opening your conversation with God? Are you just launching into your wants and needs? What if you were to open your prayer with the announcement that you are here and asking God to hear you?

The LORD Hears and Accepts Prayer

Prayer is the speaking with God, thanking Him, and asking for His help. I will admit, that for me it often feels like a one way monologue with very little, if any response from Him at all. I also know that it is likely not unusual as Lori feels the same way. The thing is that He does not need to respond to us with what His plans are as He is always working to ensure that they are carried out. The thing is we may not know of what He is doing or what the plans entail or look like. Our role is simply to pray and know that He is listening and hears us.

“⁹The LORD has heard my plea;

the LORD accepts my prayer.”

— Psalm 6:9 (ESV)

David was always praying to the LORD. He was always speaking with and thanking and asking for help during his rule. He questioned the LORD on the timing of things and what the plan was.

“²Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am languishing;

heal me, O LORD, for my bones are troubled.

³My soul also is greatly troubled.

But you, O LORD—how long?”

— Psalm 6:2-3 (ESV)

But, as noted in verse nine above, He knew that the LORD was hearing his plea and was accepting of his prayer. David knew that the LORD was taking action and that while there may not be an immediate outcome that David wanted, the LORD was on his side and would be working to protect and guide him.

“¹⁰All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled;

they shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment.”

— Psalm 6:10 (ESV)

I have to remember that my prayer does not fall on deaf ears of the LORD. He may not immediately answer me or my prayers, but He does hear them and accepts them and works with them in His plans for my life in living out that life for Him.

What prayers are you laying out there that you feel are not being answered? Are you looking for those immediate answers in affirmation of your requests? What if you just kept up with prayer knowing that the LORD does hear and accepts them and works with your requests in the carrying out of His plan?

Use Freedom to Serve All

I recently wrote of the freedom to serve and that was to serve God. This morning I was reminded that we serve all in addition to God. I am to serve everyone, yes everyone as I move through this world. I am even to serve those in authority, regardless of who they might be. The passage I was led to this morning is titled, “Submission to Authority”. It is not titled submission to the authority of God, just authority.

“¹⁶Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. ¹⁷Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor. ¹⁸Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust.” — 1 Peter 2:16-18 (ESV)

I can only imagine the difficulty it was/is for those who are living under the thumb of one who treats me like an animal and thinks of me as something that is here for my own pleasure. I am not going to try and indicate that I know what it is like to be a slave, not even a little. What I am speaking of is that which I believe God has indicated through Peter here in this passage and how it aligns with the will of God and His Word.

Peter is indicating in the above that we are to be free in the LORD. We are to follow Him and just as Jesus did, we are to treat those in authority with respect and do the work assigned. For Jesus did indicate that we are to give to the authority that which we are to give to the authority.

“¹⁸But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, ‘Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? ¹⁹Show me the coin for the tax.’ And they brought him a denarius. ²⁰And Jesus said to them, ‘Whose likeness and inscription is this?’ ²¹They said, ‘Caesar’s.’ Then he said to them, ‘Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’” — Matthew 22:18-21 (ESV)

It is clear that where we are to serve the LORD, we are to also serve the authority here in this world.

We are free in the LORD and therefor we are certainly to be serving Him who gives us that freedom. Yet we are also to use our freedom to serve others. We are to bring the gospel to all and we do that through service and love and not through rule and fear. Service is giving of ourselves for the good of others and not for our own good.

Who are you serving in this world? Are you avoiding the service of those in authority as they, “have no power over you”? What if you just served all, even those in authority as we are commanded by God, so that through that service you are spreading the gospel?

Freedom to Serve

“¹For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery…¹³For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” — Galatians 5:1&13 (ESV)

This morning I am brought back to a passage I have been to many times. I have a number of notes in the margin and yet, I am still getting more and more each time I come to the Word of God.

God freed us from the yoke of sin with the death and resurrection of Jesus on the cross. This freedom is not from any persecution, it is freedom from death due to my sin. This freedom has provided me the opportunity to serve God without fear of what comes in this world. I have to remember to follow the freedom as it was intended and not use it for my own license to sin. I have to use this freedom to spring me into action for the Lord and not for my own gain. That action for the Lord is rooted in serving Him by way of serving others.

What are you doing with your freedom? Are you using it as some excuse to do what you want? What if you were to embrace your freedom in God and use that freedom to serve Him through your service of others?

Freedom in the Spirit

Seems like when I make the statement as in the title of this writing, “Freedom in the Spirit”, I may be saying that freedom is not tangible and really only something that we are really not able to experience. Well that is not true at all. It is the word “the” that makes it completely different and does create the tangible thing for us all to experience.

“¹⁷Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” — 2 Corinthians 3:17 (ESV)

You see, here Paul is speaking of the Holy Spirit and as we know, the Lord is the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ all in one. And therefore, when we are dwelling in the Spirit and the Spirit in us, we are dwelling in the Lord and He in us. This dwelling gives us freedom from this world and all that is in it. Actually one of you following my blog gave the comment; “Being in close communion with the Trinity frees me from the lies spewed out by gov. big business and TV which promotes hatred, worry and confusion.” and I could not agree more. When we are in the Spirit, we are free from the influences of the world and are able to live a life above the world with Jesus.

I have to be careful as I do not want to mislead and indicated that I am greater than the world, that is not the case, as I live in this world just as everyone else does and am subject to what goes on in this world. What I am saying is that I do not have to worry with what goes on in this world, as I serve a higher power and when in service of God, the consequences of the world do not concern me as it is the favor of God that I am serving and not the favor of this world.

This favor of God is what gives me the freedom to live in this world and know that I am only here for a little while, passing through on my way to heaven where I will spend eternity. In heaven I will not have to concern myself with this world as I will no longer be it in and will live free to serve and glorify God even still.

Where are you looking for freedom? Are you looking to the world to provide freedom for you? What if you were to dwell in the Spirit to experience the freedom that comes with His dwelling in you?

The World is Waiting for the Freedom of Christians

I know that this is quite the statement from me. But it is not from me at all, I have gathered this from the passage I read this morning in Romans. Paul writes about future glory in Romans 8 and part of that future glory is freedom for creation.

“¹⁹For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. ²⁰For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope ²¹that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.” — Romans 8:19-21 (ESV)

You see, right there in verse 19 Paul writes of the eager waiting by creation. And as you read further, you can see the waiting for the freedom that is experienced by the “children of God”.

Creation, the world itself, has been subjected to evil since Adam and Eve ate from the fruit in disobedience of God. Yes, the world is subjected to evil and has to wait for God’s redemption for the world to be relieved of the evil. That redemption of the world will be fully realized with the rapture and God’s win in the war with evil. So until that day, the world or creation will be waiting for the freedom that I have as a result of the gift of grace and salvation I have accepted from the LORD.

Yes I have freedom and yet the world does not. That is evident by simply watching the state of the world today and each day as we move forward. There is social upheaval, wars over ideologies, displays of “power” through authoritarian regimes, and just bad stuff happening all over. I have the ability to walk away from the evil and find solace in the family of God, as do the rest of my fellow Christians. The world does not have that ability and is subject to all that goes on in and around it.

The world waits on for the freedom of salvation. I can only do my part to bring the gift of the gospel and what salvation imparts to others. I present the gospel and allow others the opportunity to accept the free gift and experience the freedom that comes with it for themselves. Yet, the world must wait on the LORD to establish His freedom in the world as the world is not able to accept the freedom for itself.

What does freedom look like in you? What about your world, is freedom part of everywhere you go? What if you continued to do your part and brought the gospel to all persons and allowed them to accept, knowing that creation, or the world will not experience freedom until that day with Christ comes again?

Jesus’ Death and God’s Forgiveness, Once is Enough

It may sound a bit difficult to believe and after my writings to and understanding to continually ask for and seek out forgiveness from the LORD, but once is all it took for it all to take. Jesus’ death on the cross and God’s subsequent forgiveness of our sins only needed to happen once for the benefit to be realized.

“¹⁴For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified…¹⁷then he adds, ‘I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.’ ¹⁸Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.” — Hebrews 10:14 & 17-18 (ESV)

Here in Hebrews the writer reminds us of what I wrote above. The Jesus died and gave Himself as an offering of sacrifice for our sins and God recognized that sacrifice and forgave us. This one act took the place of all other sacrifices for sin that had, were, or will be offered. There is no longer the need for sacrifice for my sin as that has already been done and accepted.

But, that does not mean that I am without sin any longer. This is where the continued need for forgiveness comes in. Even with the one sacrifice and forgiveness event for my sins, I am still a sinner and in need of forgiveness. I have to recognize my sin and repent of it to the LORD in acknowledgment of His grace and salvation. I have to know that now that I have accepted grace and salvation from the LORD, I will not be plucked from His loving arms, I also have to remain humble and know that I will continue to sin and need His love each day.

Once was certainly enough for my salvation. I still need to present myself daily to the LORD on my knees in reverence of what He has given to me and ask that it continue as I will always be in need.

What process are you following for forgiveness? Are you continuing to offer sacrifice in belief that the next one will do it for the foreseeable future? What if you accepted that Jesus’ death and God’s Forgiveness was enough in the one instance and that we still need to present ourselves to Him recognizing that we are always in need?

Forgiveness, Continued Please

This morning I was brought to Hebrews and the passage titled, “Redemption Through the Blood of Christ”. Where I am thankful for the passage, I felt compelled to simply ask for continued forgiveness this morning.

As I sit here in Texas, USA, I am afforded freedom and protection (presumably) from other world actors and entities. I am up this morning reading God’s Word and blogging here without immediate fear of persecution. I am, thanks to the shed blood of Christ, have been forgiven of my sins from yesterday and of those I have yet to commit. I am a part of the family of God and know that I will not be plucked from His hand.

All of the above said, I am asking this morning for continued forgiveness and protection in this world that seems to be falling apart as we watch. Regardless of what is going on in this world, my world is protected by God, thanks to the grace and salvation that was offered by God and that I accepted to join Him in glory. And even with the grace and salvation acceptance, I still continue to ask for forgiveness as one time just is not enough in my heart to make things right with God (even though from His perspective it most certainly is enough).

You see, I know that we are in a difficult time and there are a lot of forces drawing us into the evil that is in the world. I am not going to blame anyone or any others for the position we are in, I will only apologize and ask for forgiveness and mercy from the LORD for me and His people as He is who is in control of all events and knows the outcome even now as things escalate. God is the only one who will save His people, and He will do just that, as our role is to give it to Him to do so and then do as we are asked as a part of His plan.

Our Father, thank you for your provision and blessings in our lives. Forgive me for where I have failed you and where I continue to fail you. Please have you hand of grace over your people and guide us as to where you would have us in your great plan, as it is your plan and we are here to do your will as pertains to that plan. I ask this in your name and glory, Amen.

What is your view of your standing in this world? Have you been forgiven? What if you ask for continued forgiveness, grace, and salvation and maintained your pledge to do the will of God?

Just Thanks for Forgiveness

This morning I only wish to say Thank You for the forgiveness that has been provided to me. And that thank you is directed to God the Father in heaven.

“¹³He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, ¹⁴in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” — Colossians 1:13-14 (ESV)

There is not much to my thoughts, only the deep heartfelt thanks for the forgiveness of my sins that I have committed and will continue to commit. In fact, just this morning I confessed of a sin that I slipped into yesterday. I have struggled with this sin in my life and due to idleness, I allowed the evil one to draw me back in. I have no excuse for slipping, it was fully in my control and I allowed it to happen. Even in that slip, I know that my acknowledgment and repentance this morning leads to my forgiveness.

I am so glad that even in the disappointment with my sin, the LORD still forgives me. He loves me and knows that I am a sinner and will slip from time to time. What He is looking for from me is the acknowledgment that I have sinned and show repentance to be forgiven. At that repentance, from the heart, I will be forgiven. And, then the next step is to work to not sin again.

Thank you Father for the forgiveness that you heap upon me daily in my failures. I am ever grateful for your love and understanding of my sinfulness. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

What approach do you have as relates to your sin? Are you repentant of your sins? What if you were and were also thankful to the Father for the forgiveness of those sins?

Praise God for His Forgiveness

“³Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,…⁷In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,” — Ephesians 1:3&7 (ESV)

Paul, writing to the churches around Ephesus, praises God and tells them why he praises Him. There is more to it than just the couple of verses I have quoted above, yet the message is clear in just these two. Praise God as He forgives us for the sins in our lives that we have repented, and that only comes from His grace which He freely gives to you and me.

I think that it is too often that when something good comes of our situations, we are relieved and then we move on to the next and experience the more difficulty and that leads to even more anxiety in our lives. It seems as though there is not always the acknowledgment of the relieving of the difficulty, not to mention where that relief comes from.

I believe that the relief comes from the grace of God in those times when we have repented of the sin in our lives and allow Him to do the work He does as we do the work we are tasked with doing for Him. I look to my own life and recent events where I have experienced the relief. I continue to pray daily praising God for His glory and the provisions and blessing in my life. No, I have not been made rich in monetary means, but I am rich in love. I daily repent for the sins I know I have committed and even those that I may not be cognizant of that have impacted the Him. I ask Him for forgiveness for the sins I will commit, and then again for those I did, all the while raising Him up.

In my life I have recently been promoted to a new position and found additional relief in other areas of my life and relationships, to which I know only came from the relationship I have with God and His continued provision and blessing on my life. I praise Him for it all and will continue to praise Him for who He is not what He does. I continue to ask for forgiveness even when I know that He already has forgiven me. I praise Him for that forgiveness and continue to ask for more, knowing that it is only He who provides and blesses and it is due to the relationship, acknowledgment of sin, repentance of sin, thanksgiving to Him for it all.

Without forgiveness, there would be no provision or blessing from God. Yes, there may still be prosper in certain aspects of life, financial or status and the like, but it is short lived and that leave one continually searching for that prosper. Without forgiveness, we are slaves to the next thing and not able to move forward with praise and thanksgiving.

Paul gives the example to you and me that we are to praise God for the provision and blessings in our lives thanks to our repentance of sin and His forgiveness, grace, and salvation that he pours out on us freely and in abundance.

What is your approach when you have found relief in your life? Are you praising God for the relief? What if you praise God for the forgiveness of your sins and praised Him for the relief as a result and then asked for more forgiveness through repentance?