Are Your Prayers Successful?

Steve Kroening writes for Success Magazine and wrote the following regarding prayer:

Have you ever grown frustrated with your prayer life because it just doesn't seem like God is answering your prayers? Does it sometimes feel like God just doesn't hear anything you pray for? Maybe you even think He doesn't care about your prayers. I know I've been there. Many of us have.

But what you're about to read is what I believe is the number one reason our prayers fail. And what you can do to help bring success to your prayers.

Remember, your only priority is God. And that one priority determines how you treat everything else in life. When you love your spouse, it is because it's God's priority for you to love him or her. When you work hard, it is because it's God's priority for you to do so.

The same truth applies to prayer. When most of us pray, we have our priorities as the main topic of discussion. We ask for things that we want, that we hope for, that we need. However, few of us have learned to pray according to God's priorities.

If you notice the Lord's Prayer, the first request is for God's name to be proclaimed holy (hallowed be thy name). And then it requests His Kingdom to come and His will to be done.

The key here is that the Lord's Prayer is focused on God's priorities. First, that His name be proclaimed holy. Second, that His Kingdom come. And, third, that His will be done.

All of those are God's top priorities. And, so, they need to be our top priorities in prayer.

Of course, we are part of God's priorities. We aren't neglected in the Lord's Prayer. In fact, we are told to pray for our basic needs, forgiveness and the ability to forgive, and our righteousness. These are all God's priorities for us. And we should pray for these.

So any time you see a priority of God in Scripture, start praying that He would manifest that priority in your life. When you see that the greatest commandment is to love God, ask Him to enable you to love Him. You should also pray that He would enable you to love your neighbor. And, while you're at it, ask for help to love your enemies.

God's purposes will always succeed, and His priorities are based on His purposes. So when we pray according to His priorities, we are guaranteed success.

Don't let life get bigger than your God

I am finishing up my "busy" time of year this week. I have to confess that over the past several weeks, I have not felt God's presence. Sitting listening to the preacher yesterday, I heard something very profound. We've all had moments where we knew that God was speaking to us through our pastor. Preaching "straight at us" if you will.

He said, "Don't let life (whether it be a task at hand, your job, your family, etc.) get bigger than your God. By concentrating primarily on my work, and not God, I felt somewhat separated from Him.

Thinking back over the past several weeks, I realize my criteria for being stressed didn’t rank very high on what we would call a crises list! It’s amazing how problems we face in the moment loom larger than they really are. Have you ever been faced with what you thought was a huge trouble, only to learn in due time, that it wasn’t such a big deal? I certainly have.

I am developing a motto to fall back upon during times I feel overwhelmed. I am going to say "God is bigger than this problem!" Then, I am going to be still and listen for a solution.

Christ Jesus has served as my model for human action in times of trial. When he didn’t know what to do, he’d listen for God’s guidance. He knew God’s wisdom was always bigger than any dilemma he faced.

One time, when pondering the direction his ministry should take, he spent forty days in the wilderness fasting and praying. The devil tempted him severely. Jesus resisted the temptations with his final proclamation of, "’Away from me, Satan!" For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only. Rather than to give in to the devil’s pressure tactics, Jesus persisted in prayer until spiritual light broke through. He did not yield to discouragement.

If we ever come upon an unexpected hardship we too can resist despair and anger by remembering that we’re not alone. God is with us! God is bigger than the trouble we face. Listening for a little inspiration from above can calm alarm, dissolve despair, and keep our life moving in a progressive happy direction.

All Things New Again - Happy Easter

Video and Music by Brad Paisley & Sara Evans

Uncle Sam, Friend or Foe?

I am trying to get out the word on the tax rebates many of you are expecting. People ask me if it free money. Friend, there is only one thing in this life that is free, but that free gift comes from God. Here is my best explanation. Take it for what you feel its worth.

While the rebate you may receive depends on your 2007 income, it is actually a rebate toward your 2008 taxes. According to the proposed plan, in 2008, taxes would be cut from 10 percent to zero percent on the first $6,000 dollars of taxable income for individual taxpayers. Of course the new zero percent tax bracket is larger for married couples.

It's like a one time tax cut for 2008, but you get the rebate now instead of waiting to file your 2008 taxes. Be aware that because this is an advance payment on your 2008 income taxes, your refund next year could be more (buy probably less!) depending on your 2008 income.

Let's Call it a "Work in Progress"

This week I happened to stumble on an article that really made a lot of sense. It concentrated on a statement Christians often use that might become their self filling prophecy (no doubt created by the enemy). The enemy knows that he cannot change your citizenship in heavenly places or in our relationship to Christ (Ephesians 2:1-7); but he can certainly try and make us feel like second-class citizens. What is this devilish statement? "I'm just a sinner saved by grace."

The Grace of God saved you, but you are a "sinner" no more. That is the enemy's lie to keep you in a defeated place. Nowhere in the New Testament do the writers call those who have a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ "sinners". We have the living God within us and Paul and the other New Testament writers call believers "Saints". Just think about the repercussions of that statement, "I am just a sinner saved by grace". If you think of yourself as a sinner, how you will act? Lowered expectations cause you to act like you think. If you think you are a "sinner" then you will act like a sinner. So congrats, you Saint!

Don't worry, be happy

Following a very bad experience I had with a reputable online store, I found myself really needing some positive energy to get me through the week. The situation made me take a step back and reflect.

What is the one of the biggest obstacles that we face in living a Christ like life and achieving our personal best?

Our mind and our thoughts. Begin to master them, and we can begin to live more satisfying lives. Then there would be little we could not accomplish over time. Happiness, love, character, success – they all begin in the mind.

The moment we begin paying attention to our thoughts we discover how unruly they are. Estimates place the number of thoughts we have each day at 40 to 60 thousand, and we really don’t have more than a very basic control over them. Increasing this control is often said to be the hardest work of all, but the rewards are priceless. The good news is; even the slightest increase in gaining this control is well worth it.

Joel Osteen talks about thoughts in his most recent book "Become a Better You". To over simplify, Joel says that if we would decide to automatically react to a bad situation by mentally "tagging" it with something positive, our attitude and demeanor will improve drastically.

Here are some things I try to do my best at to rid my mind of negative thoughts: Change the radio station. If the song or the talk is negative or depressing, find something else. Leave the water cooler or lunch room if conversation turns to gossip or something similarly unproductive. Don't use your autopilot to automatically react to everything. Take a minute to set up every situation that comes across your path with a positive thought.

David

Starting anew in 2008

It was great to see new faces in our home team gathering Monday evening (01/07/08). Welcome Brenda, Brandy, Mike and Simon (and kiddos!). Thanks for making us your BAF Home Team! We humbly come into 2008 knowing God is doing great things in the background of each and every one of our lives. He is going to take us places we never could dream possible. God is great!