A Huge Concept About Prayer

James 4:3 “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.”

I have seen children act spoiled when they didn’t get what they wanted. It’s not a pretty picture, and it’s not fun to deal with as a parent or to experience as an onlooker when you’re in the middle of a crowded store. Then you hear a passerby (who probably is younger and has no children) say something to the tune of, “I can’t believe they’re acting like that”. In which I want to reply, really? I kinda expect that from a child. Right? However, I would fully agree with that statement if an adult male on the fishing isle were throwing a fit when his wife, or mom, told him that he could not have that new rod and reel and he needed to grow up. That would be abnormal, weird, and ultimately disturbing. So, this is what’s going on here in James. Adults in the church who should be leaders in the community, worshipers of Christ, and submissive to the authority of God have allowed their selfish hearts to be the rudder that directed their prayer life. How much of this goes on in your life? You do not have because you’re asking from a heart that is spoiled by passions that are exposing your love affair with this temporary world. If there has ever been a great invitation given to mankind, it’s found in having a real, deep, abiding, marriage with Son of God, Jesus Christ and to love Him with ALL of our heart, mind, and strength. Evaluate your passions, expose your heart, and return to you first love. This relationship with the Almighty is the absolute crutch of the church, hope for the family, and cure for the community in every way. We have been invited by the Healer to “ask and it will be given to you”…”ask whatever you wish”…”come bodly to the throne of grace”, and receive the power that makes anything possible. A pursuing passion for Jesus will change the way you ask and create a large margin for receiving. Let’s give our passions over to God, and put our prayers in position to impact this community for Christ.

God Will and Can Work in You

Psalms 92

God’s greatness goes well beyond my comprehension. So, when I read the Psalms, my mind is challenged to think outside of my normal scope of God’s true and vast characteristics. It goes without saying that there are benefits to knowing the Most High God, singing praises to Him, and being recipients of His beautiful works. “For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your work; at the works of your hands I sing for joy.” Ps. 92:4 This Psalm goes on to say that those who Trust His established decrees and follow His rich and flourishing Truths can expect some specific revealing that only comes through a loving and faithful Father.

God fights for those who seek Him and fear Him, and His Glory will be shown through the lives of mere man. Psalm 92:12-14 “12 The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. 13 They are planted in the house of the LORD; they flourish in the courts of our God. 14 They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green,”. God accomplishes His work in our lives and we deliver fruit by declaring that work to all, for His Glory and praise. “15 to declare that the LORD is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.”

You can find flourishing times in your very soul and still bear fruit like never before just by recognizing that God can be Trusted and His Son, Jesus, has prepared the way for your fulfillment and God’s glory. Repent and turn to God in your heart. God will fill you with the sap of life, that spews out life, to all in your life!