What do you think it means?

See the question at the end of the post.

My eighteen year old granddaughter was baking cookies yesterday and out of the blue said, “Grandma, I want to read you something I read this morning that really made me think”. 

She went to get a book who quoted A.Z. Tozer.   He wrote,

“Sometimes God gives us the desires of our hearts to teach us that it is possible to famish while we feed, that these desires gratify self but send leanness to the soul.  In fact, if we ask God for anything, only desiring to get pleasure out of it, we are asking on a low level.  For prayer is God answering His own desires: that is, desires begotten in the soul by God the Holy Spirit which are presented in the name of God the Son and answered by God the Father”. 

First, I was so thankful that she understood it and that it made her pause and meditate on it.  I had to have her read it again. It is pretty deep and I was a little slower than she was to get it. It helped me to break it up into separate sentences. 

1)“Sometimes God gives us the desires of our hearts to teach us that it is possible to famish while we feed, that these desires gratify self but send leanness to the soul.

2)In fact, if we ask God for anything, only desiring to get pleasure out of it, we are asking on a low level.

3)For prayer is God answering His own desires: that is, desires begotten in the soul by God the Holy Spirit which are presented in the name of God the Son and answered by God the Father”.

How profound. 

1)That the Lord gives us what we “our” desires are to see that they don’t satisfy like we thought they would.

2)That when we ask for things we want to get pleasure out of, we are asking on a “low level”.
 
3)That our desires need to line up with His desires and they will be answered.

How do we get out desires to line up with the Lords? 

Matthew 6:32-33 says to, “ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

Seeking God and His righteousness. 

Question:   What do you think that means?  How would you go about seeking Him?
Please send a comment!  I will share it with our readers.   Thanks so much! 

Blessings,  Pat
A.W, Tozer, “Missing Jewel,” Essays on Prayer (Downers Grove, Ill.A: Inter Varsity, 1968),9-10

Thy Will Be Done

                                                                Written by Becky Smith

The small prayer group that my husband and I belong to, that meets daily on the steps of Midland County Courthouse, has been blessed by God in so many ways. The greatest blessing is being able to spend an hour in His presence, and knowing that He is in our presence, “For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them” (Matthew 18:20).

As I said, our prayer group is small, but we have become closer to each other than many families are. We represent different churches, different areas of our community, different generations, different life experiences, but we all share the same passion for the Lord and the need for His presence in our lives. We also share the belief that what is written in the Bible, from the first word in Genesis to the last word in Revelation, is true… God’s Truth revealed to man through the Holy Scriptures. “I, the Lord, speak the truth.” (Isaiah 45:19). This we can stake our very lives on.

And we share the same concern for our nation. In Ezekiel 22:30 our Lord says “I looked for a man among them who would … stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none.” That was then… this is now. God has called those in our prayer group to do just this… to stand in the gap for this nation, to intercede for our country and people, to seek His forgiveness for the collective sins of our nation and citizens. When the Lord looks today, He will find several willing to stand in the gap.

We in our prayer group are ordinary people, we were born into sin, and we each have times when we slip and fall. But through God’s grace and mercy He draws us back to Him. Through His love and in His strength, He enables us to continue to stand in the gap. But over the course of these two years, we have also come to understand that regardless of what the future holds, whether our nation survives or not, that all will play out according to His Story as written and prophesied, and in His perfect timing. We finally reached the point of submission to His Sovereignty, a crucial step in our faith walk with Him, a step that He had been tenderly and patiently leading us toward.

The step of submission, of relinquishing our cares and concerns to Him is not always easy for us human beings, but Jesus did teach us to pray “Thy will be done.” Sometimes when we pray those words we do it offhandedly. But when we truly mean those words, Thy will be done, a great peace awaits us. When we trust in the Lord in the face of adversity we can rejoice in Him, knowing “that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).

David, in Psalm 37:7,20 says “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. [For] the wicked will perish: The Lord’s enemies will be like the beauty of the fields, they will vanish – vanish like smoke.” Those who know the Lord, those in whom dwells the Holy Spirit, need not fear what men may do, even if that means the loss of one’s life here on this earth. Jesus says, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28)

We must put our faith and trust in the Lord. Thy will be done.

When God Calls

                                                           Written by Becky Smith

Almost two years ago my husband and I attended a Tax Day rally on the steps of Midland County Courthouse. You might expect that this was a political rally, and you would be right, but it was more… so much more. We saw no one we knew, and while there was probably a wide cross-section of citizens in attendance, what struck us the most was the tone of the gathering. People were there to stand for our Nation and they did so enthusiastically and respectfully. But they were also there to stand for our Lord and were not afraid to show it.


At the close, the young woman who had organized the event shared with the crowd that she felt led by the Lord to enter into 40 days of prayer for our Country. That was the beginning of an amazing journey in faith. We joined with a group of concerned citizens that we did not know, to pray together daily for an hour, rain or shine. Wow, what just happened? We, whose prayer life could be deemed rather paltry and who were totally unaccustomed to praying out loud in front of others, were doing what? What were we thinking? This was not who we were. This was not our comfort zone.


Forty days. We missed a week early on while visiting our grandson in the Army while he was stationed in Georgia. It would have been an easy out. But God had other ideas and this one was out of our control and under His. Remember the old television show, “Father Knows Best?”.  In this case it was “Our Heavenly Father Knows Best!”.  We could have ignored His call… or could we? I’m thankful that we didn’t, and I praise His Holy Name for what He has done in our lives. We will never be the same. But then, that’s exactly what He had in mind!


A funny thing happened on the way to the forum… oops, that’s a different story. What actually happened was a spiritual awakening. Who would have thought that forty days was only the beginning? At least for a small group of us that did not feel release from God. And so our motley crew continued on.


August 28^th, the date of the Restoring Honor Rally in Washington D.C., which my husband and I attended, was set as the new end date. The crowd numbered close to 500,000 and again we were bolstered by the patriotism and faith exuded by those in attendance. Back home, home to the small prayer group that was becoming “family,” there was still no release from our gathering daily to pray for our Nation, our State, our City, our churches, our people, our families, our World.


A new end date was set for November 2010. Did I say end date? What was I thinking! But praying in the out-of-doors through the summer and autumn was one thing, and a Michigan winter was looming before us. Would we really be crazy enough to continue through the frigid cold, snow and ice of winter? Who in their right mind would consider such a thing? Oh sure, many people have no problem playing outside in the winter and can spend hours skiing, riding snowmobiles, sledding, etc. But praying? For an hour? Was the Lord really expecting this of us? Was this a test of our faith and commitment? Originally from Texas, and not much of an outdoor person let alone a snow bunny, my husband thought I’d never make it. Just watch me, I told him. Who said that?


And so we continued gathering each day despite the cold, the blustery winds, the snow, the slush. And what a fashion statement we each made! Wearing my husband’s camouflage bibs, a hooded sweatshirt, and a fleece jacket I looked like the Pillsbury doughboy on steroids. But we persevered, sometimes huddling in the doorway alcove, sometimes gathering within the Nativity stable, and sometimes enjoying the bright winter sunshine out in the open, but all the while glorying in God’s creation and presence, and glorifying our Creator.


And before long we were relishing in the freshness of Spring, followed by another bright summer, colorful Fall and a second harsh winter. Wait a minute. Isn’t this Michigan? Isn’t winter supposed to be harsh? What is going on? Has anyone ever seen a winter like this one? Little snow; almost balmy temps; gorgeous blue skies; green grass! But then, why not? Our Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth, the One who is in control of all things can certainly pull this one off! It’s when we answer His call, when we submit our lives to Him, that we see His hand at work in all things!
Becky

The Power of Prayer and the Prayer of Power

As a lot of Christians, I frequently feel very inadequate and ineffective in my prayer life.  Other times I feel like my prayers really are touching the heart of God.  But, we don't go by feelings, praise the Lord!  We know by faith that God hears our prayers.  We know by faith God answers our prayers, whether we like the answer or not. Whether it is yes, no, or wait. We know by faith His ways are perfect and His timing also.  How wonderful that what we think is the right answer, "Our Heavenly Father knows best", and if we ask for His best, He is faithful to give it to us.

The problem is, we don't always ask.  James 4:2 reads, "You have not, because you ask not". Our pride wants to cry out, "But I pray every day!"  Deep inside our hearts though, we know we want and need to pray more effectively.  We know, our lives and the lives of others could be better, if only we would pray.  We know our transformationn to the likeness of Christ only comes through prayer.  Yet, we are stumped to know how to do better.

I was reading R.A.Torrey's book this morning, The Power of Prayer and the Prayer of Power. If you can, try to find a copy of it. It is powerfully thought provoking. It was reprinted in 1971, from the original writing in 1924 - another classic.  He said, "...prayer will promote our personal piety, our individual holiness, our individual growth into the likeness of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as nothing else but the study of the Word of God; and these two things, prayer and study of the Word of God, always go hand-in-hand, for there is no  true prayer without study of the Word of God, and there is no true study of the Word of God without prayer".

Oh, how I long to be more like Christ. My heart cries out, "Lord teach me to pray as I ought!"  I know I cannot conform myself to the image of God, only the Lord can transform my life.  However, I can pray more for that transformation. 

Psalm 139:23,24 is a prayer for today. "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties, and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting".

God is faithful to answer that prayer.

Blessings today my sisters in Christ!

Pat

Near to the Heart of God

A.W. Tozer writes in a classic book about a "Praying Plumber". Tom Haire was a man with little formal education, yet when they prayed together, Tozer said, "when his hand clasped my hand with that of a distinguished churchman and theologian, he poured out his heart in prolonged intercession. . . . Tom had not learned to pray in any school of human tutoring, but we had been listening to a man converse with God who knew from the Spirit's tutoring the concerns of the Father's heart and the vocabulary of the heavenlies".
Tozer's book continued with a description of this man. "Tom Haire is a rare compound of deep, tender, devotion, amazing good sense and a delightful sense of humor. There is about him absolutely nothing of the tension found in so many persons who seek to live the spiritual life".
He says, "Too many of God's people are straining for faith and holding on hard trying to exercise it. This will never do at all. The flesh cannot believe no matter how hard it tries, and we only wear ourselves out with our human efforts. True faith is the gift of God to an obedient soul and comes of itself without effort. The source of faith is Christ in us. It is a fruit of the Spirit”.
“Tom is completely free in the Spirit and will not allow himself to be brought under bondage to the rudiments of the world nor the consciences of other people”.
"He will not allow himself to get righteously upset about anything. "I lie near to the heart of God," he says, "and I fear nothing in the world".
“That he lies near to God's heart is more than a passing notion to Tom. It is all very real and practical. "God opens His heart," he says, "and takes us in. In God all things are beneath our feet. All power is given to us and we share God's almightiness." He has no confidence at all in mankind, but believes that God must be all in all. Not even our loftiest human desires or holiest prayers are acceptable to God. "The river flows from beneath the throne, " he explains, "and its source is not of this world. So the source of our prayers must be Christ Himself hidden in our hearts."
“Wherever there is a strain in the life we may be sure the flesh is operating. The Holy Spirit gives fruitful burdens but never brings strain”.
Things like worry and anxiety are of the flesh. It says we are not trusting God. Mind you, we will be tempted every day to go down that road, but must resist worry and anxiety and claim our trust in the Lord…in ALL things.
I can't add any thing to what Tozer wrote about Tom Haire. As I ponder what he wrote, I am convicted and challenged to stop striving so hard, and live resting "near to the heart of God".
Pat