Oct
11
The Priority of Prayer
Filed Under Commentary | Leave a Comment
A vision needs a strategy to help it become a reality. Part of our CoJ vision is to honor God. How will that become a reality? Our primary strategy for honoring God includes worship and prayer.
About prayer - Luther called prayer “the breath of the Christian.” As humans we breathe oxygen every moment of every day. Prayer, therefore, according to Luther’s analogy, is that moment by moment personal communion with God. With that in mind, Paul’s words to the Thessalonians in I Thessalonians 5:17 take on new meaning - “… pray continually, ….” he admonished them. Commune with God through the events of each day. Acknowledge His presence in a moment of need. Whisper a word of thanks for some small blessing He brings your way. Remember, as Paul said to the Athenians on Mars Hill in Acts 17, “For in him we live and move and have our being.” Spiritually speaking, this type of personal prayer, or communion with God, is life sustaining. Read more
Oct
3
Draw Near To God
Filed Under Commentary | 1 Comment
Part of our CoJ vision is to be “God Honoring.” What does it mean to be God Honoring? One way is to draw near to God. James 4:8 says, “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.” The context is dealing with how to resist temptation. James is saying we can’t be out there doing our own thing and going our own merry way and expect to be spiritually strong enough to fend off temptations when they strike. James admonishes Christians to draw near to God. Meet with Him in prayer. Treat Him like your best friend. Get to know His heart and share your heart with Him and by so doing, find the strength to resist temptation.
Remember that God made the first move toward us in His offer of salvation. God so loved the world that He gave …. Furthermore, He keeps reaching out to us with overtures of love. How then shall we live? Ignoring or neglecting Him? Of course not! We’re family. Our instinct is to be close. Yet, we become busy. Life crowds in on us. We have lots of pressures and demands on our time. Yet, by neglecting Him we drift further and further from the awareness of His presence. Just remember, God wants nothing more than to spend time with His children, but He respects our freedom. He normally won’t force Himself on us. He wants us to choose to be with Him. So honor God by drawing near to Him. He’ll be there waiting.
