Post by «MªÞlεδtǻr» on Jul 22, 2007 12:18:31 GMT -8
Well, I've been bookmarking some stuff in my devotional, and I have a couple of prayer ones that I apparently bookmarked from a little while back, so here they are ::
Praying but Not
Believing
When she recognized Peter's voice, because of her gladness
she did not open the gate but ran in an announced that
Peter stood before the gate. But they said to her,
"You are beside yourself!" Yet she kept insisting
that it was so. So they said, "It is his angel."
Acts 12:14-15
You can say prayers in your mind but doubt in your heart. At times God will answer such prayer as He did when Peter was in prison, scheduled for execution. The believers in Jerusalem were powerless to free him, so they prayed. When God released Peter, their reaction revealed the doubt in their hearts. They argued that Peter could not possibly be free, even as he stood outside knocking on the door!
Is it possible to be a "person of prayer" and yet have no faith? Is it possible to fool yourself into believing that because you ask God for help, you have faith in His ability to meet your needs? Is your faith so weak that you are surprised when God answers your prayer? As a child of God, you ought to expect God to answer your prayers. Do you ask God to do something without adjusting your life to what you are praying? If you are praying for revival, how are you preparing for its coming? If you are praying for forgiveness, are you still living with guilt? If you have asked God to provide for your needs, do you remain worried and anxious?
Ask God to increase your faith, and then begin living a life that reflects absolute trust in Him. Out of His grace, God may choose to respond to your requests despite your lack of faith, but you will miss the joy of praying in faith.
When God Says "No"[/font]
Then he killed James the brother of John with the sword.
And because he saw that it pleased the Jews,
he proceeded further to seize Peter also.
Act 12:2-3a
Can you accept God's will when his answer is no? If you are praying in God's will, He will always answer you when you pray (Jeremiah 33:3). However, sometimes His answer will be no.
King Herod arrested Peter and prepared to have him executed. During the night, as his church prayed, Peter's life was spared when an angel freed him. God miraculously answered the prayers of His people that night. Yes not long before, James, too, has been arrested by Herod. James, however, was executed. Surely the churched prayed for James as fervently as they did for Peter, yet that time God's answer had been no.
Did God love Peter more than James? Of course not. James had been one of Jesus' closest friends. Yet God allowed James to die while he continued to use Peter in His service. The church in Jerusalem did not become bitter toward God. They accepted his answer because they trusted His love and wisdom.
There are times when God wants us to persist in our praying until He has completed His word in us (Luke 11:5-8; 18:1-6). However, when God's answer is no, it is futile to continue pleading for a yes. Some refuse to take no for an answer, insisting that if you pray long enough and hard enough, God will ultimately grant any request you make. It is an affront to your Lord to continue pleading with Him when He has clearly said no [this is very hard to tell, at least for me, because when I was little I prayed for a new cat for 3 years, and now we have the best match of cats]. The purpose of prayer is not to conform God to our will but to adjust our will to God. We must learn to trust God so that if He says no, we accept that His will is best.
Praying but Not
Believing
When she recognized Peter's voice, because of her gladness
she did not open the gate but ran in an announced that
Peter stood before the gate. But they said to her,
"You are beside yourself!" Yet she kept insisting
that it was so. So they said, "It is his angel."
Acts 12:14-15
You can say prayers in your mind but doubt in your heart. At times God will answer such prayer as He did when Peter was in prison, scheduled for execution. The believers in Jerusalem were powerless to free him, so they prayed. When God released Peter, their reaction revealed the doubt in their hearts. They argued that Peter could not possibly be free, even as he stood outside knocking on the door!
Is it possible to be a "person of prayer" and yet have no faith? Is it possible to fool yourself into believing that because you ask God for help, you have faith in His ability to meet your needs? Is your faith so weak that you are surprised when God answers your prayer? As a child of God, you ought to expect God to answer your prayers. Do you ask God to do something without adjusting your life to what you are praying? If you are praying for revival, how are you preparing for its coming? If you are praying for forgiveness, are you still living with guilt? If you have asked God to provide for your needs, do you remain worried and anxious?
Ask God to increase your faith, and then begin living a life that reflects absolute trust in Him. Out of His grace, God may choose to respond to your requests despite your lack of faith, but you will miss the joy of praying in faith.
When God Says "No"[/font]
Then he killed James the brother of John with the sword.
And because he saw that it pleased the Jews,
he proceeded further to seize Peter also.
Act 12:2-3a
Can you accept God's will when his answer is no? If you are praying in God's will, He will always answer you when you pray (Jeremiah 33:3). However, sometimes His answer will be no.
King Herod arrested Peter and prepared to have him executed. During the night, as his church prayed, Peter's life was spared when an angel freed him. God miraculously answered the prayers of His people that night. Yes not long before, James, too, has been arrested by Herod. James, however, was executed. Surely the churched prayed for James as fervently as they did for Peter, yet that time God's answer had been no.
Did God love Peter more than James? Of course not. James had been one of Jesus' closest friends. Yet God allowed James to die while he continued to use Peter in His service. The church in Jerusalem did not become bitter toward God. They accepted his answer because they trusted His love and wisdom.
There are times when God wants us to persist in our praying until He has completed His word in us (Luke 11:5-8; 18:1-6). However, when God's answer is no, it is futile to continue pleading for a yes. Some refuse to take no for an answer, insisting that if you pray long enough and hard enough, God will ultimately grant any request you make. It is an affront to your Lord to continue pleading with Him when He has clearly said no [this is very hard to tell, at least for me, because when I was little I prayed for a new cat for 3 years, and now we have the best match of cats]. The purpose of prayer is not to conform God to our will but to adjust our will to God. We must learn to trust God so that if He says no, we accept that His will is best.
