PRAY MUCH?
I attended a nice little Church the other day, where the dear Pastor preached on prayer. He spoke of the need for more prayer in the lives of every Christian in todays world. He spoke of Discipleship and how being a Christian is actually the same thing as being a Disciple. He was of course absolutely correct: more prayer by true believers is of extreme importance in the world in which we live today, and Christians and Disciples are synonymous.
John 15:7-8 says, “If ye abide in me, (by Faith in what Christ did at the Cross) and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
Mt. 26:41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
Lu. 18:1 And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint.
1 Thes. 5:17 Pray without ceasing. (1 Tim. 2:8)
Also, if we look at the prayer life of Christ (Mark 1:35—Mark 6:46—Luke 5:16—Luke 6:12—Luke 9:18—Luke 22:41&42), it becomes overly obvious that we should also feel the necessity of continual prayer. If Jesus who was without sin, felt it important to pray often, how much more we who also suffer much temptation (but are a long way from perfect)!
Very likely you have tried to develop a good prayer life (that is if you are a Christian). Does your prayer life lack vim, vigor and zeal? Most Christians, who are honest with themselves, would have to admit, their prayer life is not where they would like it to be.
It’s easy to simply say, “well, just pray more, and be more earnest and sincere when you do”. The Christian who will try to solve this problem with this simple solution, will ultimately fail (Though, they will undoubtedly pray more, at least for a while, they will still not secure the strong prayer life of which we speak).
SOLVE THIS PROBLELM
After we are saved; we still need the savior.
The Blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin. Because Christ is our continual mediator, his Shed Blood is being applied to our lives every day. Every day we need to thank the Lord for accomplishing this magnificent Work, which he did at Calvary. When we spend time EVERY DAY (Heb. 3:14) thanking him for what he has done for us (the shedding of His Blood and the giving of His Life on the Cross), we will find the Holy Spirit helping us in our prayer life. We will find a new desire to pray which we did not have before (like a hunger which you will realize can only be fulfilled by communing with God), and when we pray the Holy Spirit will guide us as to what we ought to pray (Romans 8:26).
BIBLE FOR BEDTIME
ll Tim. 2:15 Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
I heard someone say, “I try to read the Bible but I get sleepy and don’t seem to get much out of it”.
Have you ever read the Bible and found your mind wandering? Thinking of other things while reading at the same time, is not uncommon. However, it is a little difficult to garner many truths from the Word of God, while at the same time thinking of the high price of gasoline (or whatever the stray thought may be).
Perhaps it’s a matter of concentration. Maybe with enough self discipline, we can force our selves to concentrate on what we are reading.
If we just set aside a certain time to read everyday, and make sure we read, lets say for half an hour, then maybe we can solve the problem of not reading the Word of God enough. Maybe it’s just a matter of determination. Be determined, set your mind to do it and make sure you do, every day. Is this the answer?
There may certainly be a certain amount of success found by simply using these methods plus many others which I have not mentioned. But what about the problem of just not being able to understand the Bible? By reading a little slower and rereading parts which we do not grasp to well, can’t we solve much of this problem? To some extent, and also, a good concordance and dictionary can be invaluable.
So why do many Christians (even after applying these and many other, possibly even better methods) still have difficulties in Reading, Studying, Understanding, and Absorbing what the Word of God says?
Why do the many Revelations seem to elude the Believer?
THE HELP WE NEED
Romans 8:11 But if the SPIRIT of HIM who raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, HE who raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by HIS SPIRIT WHO dwells in you
Do you recall when you were first saved? If you truly repented of your sin, and received Jesus Christ as your Redeemer by virtue of the Innocent Blood which he shed for you; then I’m certain it is an occasion which you recall. Do you remember reading the Bible, perhaps that very day or the next? Do you recall how real it seemed, and did you notice you seemed able to better understand what you were reading, than before you had been saved?
After we are saved, we still need the savior. In fact we need the Shed Blood of Christ applied to our lives, everyday.
If we will thank the Lord every single day for what he has accomplished for us on the Cross, then that same Holy Spirit who raised up Jesus from the dead will not only continually dwell in you but will continually quicken your mortal body. This quickening of your mortal body includes things such as having a desire to read the Word of God and being able to understand what you are reading.
But doesn’t the Holy Spirit abide in every believer anyway? Yes. However, the Cross of Christ (what Jesus accomplished thereon) is the very FOUNDATION upon which the Holy Spirit stand while doing his work in your life.
BY LOVE, SERVE ONE ANOTHER
I believe that all true believers will love their neighbor to the best of their ability. But, what ability do we really have? It’s not so hard for most Christians to do the obvious things which would lead people to believe they are walking in love.
Most Christians are kind (at least to most people). Many Believers try to make sure they are doing some good deed for someone now and then.
But what about the tougher things which love demands of us? What about selfishness, or what about envying your neighbor for some good things he might have which we do not? Do we brag to people (love vaunts not itself) about something good in our lives. Do we have a new car which is better than our neighbors and how important is it to make sure they realize how much better your car is? Is your goat on a short rope (how easily are you provoked)? Do we take account of the evil which is done unto us? Do we sit and stew about such things? How often do we as Christians sit and gossip about our neighbor (how excited do we get while talking about things someone has done wrong).
1 Cor. 13:4-7, gives a very good explanation of what love really is.
Please be honest with yourself. Does this explanation of love given in Corinthians describe the way you conduct yourself toward all (obviously some neighbors tend to be easier to love than others) of your neighbors?
The lack of love shown by Christians to theirs neighbors, in many cases is not really because of a lack of wanting to love them. In other words, most Believers I think truly desire to love their neighbor as God desires for us to do. Often times, the way to perform that which we should do is elusive to us, and we find ourselves not doing it.
WHY
Short version: Because we do not seek to find the way, through WHAT CHRIST ACCOMPLISHED ON THE CROSS. Every single thing we receive from God comes to us via the Cross of Christ. The Holy Spirit works only on this foundation.
When we as Believers, place our Faith exclusively in what Christ accomplished on the Cross, and that alone, on a continual basis: then the Holy Spirit will work mightily within us. Part of this mighty work within us will include being guided in, loving our neighbor.
YES
Yes, the answer IS ALWAYS to have the Holy Spirit working in our life. And, YES, the only way to give the Holy Spirit latitude to work in our life is to keep the Cross of Christ (what Christ accomplished thereon) continually before our face. One of the biggest mistakes Christians make, is to keep what Christ has accomplished on the Cross in the Back of their mind. The Cross of Christ should ALWAYS be kept in the front of our mind.
