YOU CAN’T KEEP GOD ON A SHELF

YOU CAN’T KEEP GOD ON A SHELF

How many of us remember the “elf on a shelf”?  He was supposed to be watching, in this case, the children to see if they were naughty or nice.  Do you think that the elf stayed there very long before someone either stole, trashed, or covered it up so that the “all-seeing elf” could not see what they were doing?

I think that it is the same with God.  Do we put Him on a shelf?  Is He only there when we want to use Him to answer our prayers?  Do we compartmentalize God to the extent that we rush to go to Church, put our “time” in and then almost run over somebody to get out of the church parking lot?  Actually I know someone who actually got a ticket in a church parking lot for driving too fast!!

Do we forget about God the minute that we leave the church parking lot?  Are we thinking about the game we are going to watch that day and keep looking at our watch?  

Putting God on the shelf, in my opinion, means that He is really not a part of our lives. We put Him “on the shelf” after church services, after other services.  We put Him on the shelf when we go about our activities during the day when we do what we want to do not really focusing on God’s will. 

It is so easy because of our human nature to not include God.  The truth of the matter is that God is always with us even when we turn away from Him by our own actions or our sins.  He is always reaching out to us.  He desires to have a personal relationship with us.

The following is called “A Letter from a Friend”:

I just had to write to tell you how much I love you and care for you.  Yesterday I saw you walking and laughing with your friends; I hoped that soon you’d want Me to walk along with you, too.  So, I painted you a sunset to close your day and whispered a cool breeze to refresh you.  I waited---you never called---I just kept on loving you.

As I watched you fall asleep last night, I wanted so much to touch you.  I spilled moonlight onto your face---trickling down your cheeks as so many tears have.  You didn’t even think of Me.  I wanted so much to comfort you.

The next day I exploded a brilliant sunrise into glorious morning for you.  But you woke up late and rushed off---you didn’t even notice.  My sky became cloudy and My tears were the rain.

I love you, oh, if you’d listen.  I really love you.  I try to say it in the quiet of the green meadows and in the blue sky.  The wind whispers My love throughout the treetops and spills it into the vibrant colors of all the flowers.  I shout it to you in the thunder of the great waterfalls and compose love songs for birds to sing for you.  I warm you with the clothing of My sunshine and perfume the air with nature’s sweet scent.  My love for you is deeper than any ocean and greater than any need in your heart.  If you’d only realize how I care.

My Father sends His love.  I want you to meet Him---He cares, too.  Fathers are just that way.  So, please, call on Me soon.  No matter how long it takes, I’ll wait---because I love you.

Your Friend,

JESUS

Brother Lawrence, who was a 17^th century lay brother who lived in France during the Thirty Years War in which he had fought.  The following are a series of quotes from Brother Lawrence:

The time of business does not differ with me from the time of prayer; and in the noise and clatter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess God in as great tranquility as if I were on my knees. 

He does not ask much of us, merely a thought of Him from time to time, a little act of adoration, sometimes to ask for His grace, sometimes to offer Him your sufferings, at other times to thank Him for the graces, past and present, He has bestowed on you, in the midst of your troubles to take solace in Him as often as you can. Lift up your heart to Him during your meals and in company; the least little remembrance will always be the most pleasing to Him. One need not cry out very loudly; He is nearer to us than we think.

There's no greater lifestyle and no greater happiness than that of having a continual conversation with God.

It is possible for us to live in the very sense of the Lord's presence, under even the most difficult circumstances. If you and I are going to enjoy the peace of paradise during this life we must become accustomed to a familiar, humble, and very affectionate conversation with the Lord Jesus.

The world appears very little to a soul that contemplates the greatness of God.

Loving God and loving one's neighbor are really the same thing.

Brother Lawrence

Don’t keep God on the shelf.  Carry Him wherever you are, whatever you are doing and He will fill you with His presence as Brother Lawrence invited Him to every area of his life.  Doing so, you will find true peace because it is His peace that He offers us each day.

PERSONAL PRAYER

                                                          PERSONAL PRAYER

I have talked about the importance of praying scripture.  Jesus set the example as He prayed the scripture.  We know from the scriptures that Jesus went off to pray.  This was His personal prayer between Him and God. 

In this busy, crazy, world we need to quiet ourselves and seek a place that we can come before the Lord in prayer.  Just you and Him.  It is a time of intimacy.  It is a time where one can get away from the trappings and noise of the world and seek our Father as His child.

Ann Graham Lotz, Billy Graham’s daughter, gives 4 components of her prayer time.

1.       Worship

2.      Confession of sin

3.      Thanksgiving i.e. answers to prayers; blessings

4.      Intercession

Worship does not necessarily mean a worship song.  It can be affirmations about God’s goodness and love.  Most of the Psalms were written by David and the word Psalm actually means song.  Many of the Psalms give praise and glory to God.  For example Psalms 149 and 150. 

This is a time to ask God to show us our sins as we ask for forgiveness and ask God to give us the strength to overcome our sins daily.

We thank God for His goodness and blessings.  We can thank God for answers to prayers.  The fact that we awake in the morning tells us that God has a purpose and a plan for our day.

Intercession is important not only for our own needs but for the needs of others.  If we forget who to pray for we can write people’s names and prayer requests down.

In my own prayer time with the Lord I start out the day praying the scriptures and then reading a chapter in the Bible.  Then I spend time with the Lord during the afternoon.  My afternoon time with the Lord has two basic components that I felt Him telling me to do.

1.       Give:  Worship and Praise God.  I usually do this by singing praise and worship songs on my IPad.  I may add, “Jesus, I praise You.”  “Lord I love You,” etc.

2.      Receive:  I listen to what God is speaking to me for that day or season.  This is the hardest time for me because I sometimes don’t have the patience to just sit still and listen.  Sometimes the Lord will remind me of something I need to do or give me insight on something that I am focusing on such as a Blog, etc.  Sometimes He will give me a prophecy and I write it down.

Prayer, essentially, is just talking to God.  It is also listening to Him.   This is one area that is difficult for me as far as distinguishing His voice and mine but I think God is teaching me each day as I truly seek to hear Him so I can do His will.

After all, prayer is not only at set times during the day but it is continual.  Brother Lawrence knew about this.  Brother Lawrence was born Nicolas Herman in modern-day eastern France. His parents were peasants, so his schooling was limited. Young Nicholas Herman grew up during the calamitous Thirty Years War, which devastated central Europe between 1618 and 1648.   He joined the army as a youth.  At the age of 26 he entered the order of the Discalced Carmelite Priory in Paris, France.

Here are some quotes from Brother Lawrence from his book, “The Practice of the Presence of God.”

We should establish ourselves in a sense of God's presence, by continually conversing with Him.  We can do little things for God; I turn the cake that is frying on the pan for love of Him, and that done, if there is nothing else to call me, I prostrate myself in worship before Him, who has given me grace to work; afterwards I rise happier than a king. It is enough for me to pick up but a straw from the ground for the love of God. “He does not ask much of us, merely a thought of Him from time to time, a little act of adoration, sometimes to ask for His grace, sometimes to offer Him your sufferings, at other times to thank Him for the graces, past and present, He has bestowed on you, in the midst of your troubles to take solace in Him as often as you can. Lift up your heart to Him during your meals and in company; the least little remembrance will always be the most pleasing to Him. One need not cry out very loudly; He is nearer to us than we think.”

The King, full of mercy and goodness, very far from chastising me, embraces me with love, makes me eat at His table, serves me with His own hands, gives me the key of His treasures; He converses and delights Himself with me incessantly, in a thousand and a thousand ways, and treats me in all respects as His favorite. It is thus I consider myself from time to time in His holy presence.”

 “That we need only to recognize GOD intimately present with us, to address ourselves to Him every moment, that we may beg His assistance for knowing His will in things doubtful, and for rightly performing those which we plainly see He requires of us, offering them to Him before we do them, and giving Him thanks when we have done.”

Prayer is more than just a special time with God.  It is a way of life. Prayer will be different for everyone but we can look to others, such as Brother Lawrence, as examples of the presence of God in our lives.  The next topics will be about praying for others and praying in the Spirit.

 

PRAYING GOD'S WORD

                                                    PRAYING GOD’S WORD

Last week I talked about how Jesus prayed.  Did He pray God’s Word?  When Jesus was dying on the cross He said in Matthew 27:46, About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani? (which means My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?) He was quoting from the Psalm 22:1 My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?  Why are You so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish?  (NIV)

“The German martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer reminds us that when we pray Scripture, we are praying with Jesus: All prayers of the Bible are such prayers which we pray together with Jesus Christ, in which he accompanies us, and through which he brings us into the presence of God. Otherwise there are no true prayers, for only in and with Jesus Christ can we truly pray. If we want to read and to pray the prayers of the Bible and especially the Psalms, therefore, we must not ask first what they have to do with us, but what they have to do with Jesus Christ.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Eberhard Bethge, Psalms: The Prayer Book of the Bible (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Fortress, 1970).  Article drawn from articles in the NIV Lifehacks Bible ebook

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. Colossians 3:16 (NIV)

By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth.  He gathers the waters of the sea into jars; he puts the deep into storehouses.  Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere him.  For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.  Psalm 33:6-9 (NIV)

“Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.  Proverbs 30:5 (NIV)

By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth.   He gathers the waters of the sea into jars; he puts the deep into storehouses.   Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere him.  For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.  Psalm 33:6-9 (NIV)

Nothing Has Changed

Proverbs 4:22, God says His Words are LIFE to those who find them and HEALTH to their whole body. Normal, everyday, natural words written on paper cannot produce life and health but God’s words can.

In Revelations 19:13, it says that Jesus’ name is called the “Word of God.” Psalm 107:20 says that God “sent His word and healed them.” It is no surprise that Jesus healed many people during his three-year ministry on earth and continues to do so today.

The Word Changes Us

 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.  2 Timothy 3:16 (NIV)

Our Words

The words we speak have power.  Our words can be bring life or death.  The tongue has the power of life and death and those who love it will eat its fruit.  Proverbs 18:21 (NIV)

Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.  Psalm 119:105 (NIV)

His Will

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.  I John 5:14  (NIV)

Faith and Patience

 For we live by faith, not by sight.  II Corinthians 5:7  (NIV)

 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.  Hebrews 11:6 (NIV)

 He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”  Matthew 17:20 (NIV)

“Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. Matthew 18:19 (NIV)

 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:2-4  (NIV)  Thy Word is a Lamp Unto My Feet: Scripture Prayer By Cindy VanderHaar June 20, 2012

Persistance—The Parable of The Persistent Widow

 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.  He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought.  And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’

 “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, ⁵ yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”

 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says.  And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?  I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”  Luke 18:1-8 (NIV)

One of the most famous Psalms besides Psalm 23 is Psalm 91:

Psalm 91

¹ Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
    will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.^[a]
2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
    my God, in whom I trust.”

³ Surely he will save you
    from the fowler’s snare
    and from the deadly pestilence.
⁴ He will cover you with his feathers,
    and under his wings you will find refuge;
    his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
⁵ You will not fear the terror of night,
    nor the arrow that flies by day,
⁶ nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
    nor the plague that destroys at midday.
⁷ A thousand may fall at your side,
    ten thousand at your right hand,
    but it will not come near you.
⁸ You will only observe with your eyes
    and see the punishment of the wicked.

⁹ If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”
    and you make the Most High your dwelling,
¹⁰ no harm will overtake you,
    no disaster will come near your tent.
¹¹ For he will command his angels concerning you
    to guard you in all your ways;
¹² they will lift you up in their hands,
    so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
¹³ You will tread on the lion and the cobra;
    you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

¹⁴ “Because he^[b] loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;
    I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
¹⁵ He will call on me, and I will answer him;
    I will be with him in trouble,
    I will deliver him and honor him.
¹⁶ With long life I will satisfy him
    and show him my salvation.”

Miraculous stories of God’s protection speaking God’s word as found in Psalm 91

(Psalm 91: God’s Shield of Protection by sogreatlyloved article, February 20,2018)

There are awe-inspiring testimonies of miraculous deliverance from acute danger in time of war. It has been recorded that during World War 1 (1914-1918), L.T.C. Whittensley was a Regimental Commander in the British Army. Every morning his regiment recited the 91st Psalm, declaring aloud their faith that God would protect them from danger. This regiment went over the wall on a number of occasions during the course of the war, facing furious enemy fire and almost certain death. Thousands of men were killed on their left and right sides, but not a single one of the soldiers in this regiment was wounded. It was reported that the German bullets seemed to bounce off Regimental Commander L.T.C. Whittensley’s men.

A Miraculous Escape from Certain Death in World War 11

An awe-inspiring event took place during World War 11 (1939-1945) at Dunkirk, France. It was reported by war correspondent, C.B. Morelock, that more than four hundred men were trapped on a beach without any shelter from the enemy whatsoever. Sixty German aircraft flew very low directly over the men, firing machine guns, and bombing the trapped soldiers. The men were lying face downwards on the sand, packed closely together. They were facing certain death. All the four hundred men were not only reciting Psalm 91, but shouting it at the top of their voices, proclaiming in faith that God would keep them all safe from the deadly fire of the enemy. Not a single man was even scratched! Navy personnel who rescued the survivors from that Dunkirk beach reported hearing them still shouting the Psalm when they came to their rescue. The Word of God, spoken in faith by our mouth, is as powerful as the written Word of God. Our God always backs His Word when it is spoken out loud in faith. It is in this way that our faith is released, and God honors that.

Hurricane Andrew Hits Florida

On 24 August, 1992, Hurricane Andrew made landfall Near Homestead, Florida. It developed into a category 5 Hurricane with wind speeds reaching 175 mph. It is the second costliest tropical cyclone in United States history.

Only One Family Escaped the Destruction Unscathed

This testimony is astounding. As Hurricane Andrew wreaked havoc, demolishing everything in its path, the entire property of one family remained intact. Every single house over a vast area around them was either razed to the ground or seriously damaged. Garden sheds were tossed high in the air like match boxes, trees were uprooted and fences destroyed. Nothing escaped the fury of Hurricane Andrew’s 175 mph winds — apart from one house — to the utter astonishment of the insurers who soon visited every resident in the area. What could be the reason for this, they wondered? There must surely be an explanation. There was!

As Hurricane Andrew roared through the area, sounding like a freight train, sweeping everything out of its way, one house remained unharmed. Not a pane of glass was broken, not even a plant was disturbed. The garden shed was untouched and the fence remained intact. Why was that? It was unheard of, given the catastrophic force of this fearsome hurricane. Del and Pat Hicks had prepared well; food and water was ready; they had already weathered four hurricanes. As the storm roared all around them, Del and Pat Hicks knew the authority that they had in the name of Jesus. They remembered how Moses had been instructed by the Lord that the blood of the lamb had to be applied to the doorposts of every Israelite home when the Angel of death devastated the land of Egypt, so they applied the blood of Jesus and quoted the wonderful promises of total protection in Psalm 91.

Earlier, Pat had walked through their yard laying hands on the trees, declaring that they were now under the shadow of the Almighty, and touching the shed and the walls of the house, placing every single thing under the protection of God. Fourteen family members gathered in their home. They could hear things crashing into the house. At one point it seemed that the house was about to break in two and the roof be blown away. They all laid hands on the walls, commanding them to stand strong and continue supporting the roof.

In the morning they saw that, although their shed door had been blown open, everything was still there. They had suffered no damage at all. Their property immediately became like a tourist attraction. Everyone in the area was dumbfounded! This family home alone was unscathed in a forty mile disaster zone. What a glorious testimony to the unfailing efficacy of confessing out loud the power-packed promises of Psalm 91! How God was glorified! May we all learn to follow their unwavering example of confessing out loud their faith in the Word of God!

The Angels were working overtime to protect this family who leaned entirely upon their God!

Specific scriptures for specific needs:

Healing:

Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise.  Jeremiah 17:14 (NIV)

He sent out his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave. Psalm 107:20 (NIV)

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Psalm 147:3

 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.  Isaiah 53:5 (NIV)

Anxiety and Depression

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.  Isaiah 41:10 (NIV)

 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.  I Peter 5:7 (NIV)

Financial Blessing and Provision

 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”  Luke 6:38 (NIV)

 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.  Malachi 3:10 (NIV)

These are just a few.  You can always look up scriptures for specific needs either in your Bible or on the internet.

This is the second in a series about Prayer.  I do not propose to be an expert on prayer.  I am always learning each and every day.  Prayer is very personal.  As long as we truly seek to pray and ask God to guide us in our prayers, He will be more than happy to help us.  It is an ongoing process.  Actually, prayer is a way of life.  I will talk more about personal prayer and the role of prayer in our lives in my next segment.

Praying the scriptures is a very powerful tool.  We know that Jesus did it and many others in the Bible.  We can speak the Word of God to give us faith, when we need it; give us protection when we are afraid; give us consolation when we are anxious; give us healing when we are sick; pour blessings upon us and give us hope.