life in christ

Praying in Agreement

Dr. Mike Life in Christ , , ,
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. Romans 8:26 ESV

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Ever run out of words when you pray? Not quite sure how to phrase it for God so he may clearly understand what you seek? Maybe you are putting too much emphasis on the words and not enough on Jesus Christ?

We are encouraged to know that the Holy Spirit intercedes for us to make our position clear for God(Romans 8:26). In fact, the book of Hebrews states that Jesus is our High Priest and likewise intercedes on our behalf to the Father (Hebrews 2:17,4:15). How awesome is that?!

God knows what is best for us before we even ask. He also knows our request before we make it. And he also knows the consequences of our request better than we can ever imagine.

Depending on the season of our life, prayer takes on different avenues. In our early walk, we pray and it seems God answers all our small requests. I call this the time of building trust.

Then comes the time when God begins to answer our prayers not as we request, but in a different manner. We accept. Maybe disappointed, but yet thankful. It is only later in life we can look back and appreciate God’s reply rather than our own wishes. Than as our prayer life grows, we begin to spend time communicating with God on a constant basis. We thank him. We ask him to bless the person we just met. We ask for his intervention on a sick friend. Over time we begin to view life more through God’s eyes.

Our prayer life changes from asking him for “whatever” to seeking His viewpoint. Our prayers become more to align our heart in agreement with His purpose. Since this life is His Story and we are the characters in His plot, we slowly begin to accept our role and gladly join him on His adventure through time and space.

Like any healthy parent-child relationship, we are thankful that our parent seeks to care for us until we are ready to care for ourselves. In that process, we are given leeway to make decisions and bear the consequences of our actions within the boundaries of a family unit. Generally we learn to fail, grow, and experience life in a relatively safe environment. Doesn’t God do the same for us?

Prayer is the means that allows us to communicate with our Heavenly Parent. He wants us to make suggestions and learn from the consequences of how to best live for eternity. When we are transparent with Him, it allows Him to become more real and influential in our life. Prayer helps build the intimate relationship between a child and parent. Our heavenly Parent knows what is best for us now and through eternity. He is only giving us the leeway to effectively learn and prepare ourselves to care for oneself and others in the world tomorrow.

Rooting For You in Christ!

Dr. Mike

Founder & Executive Director
Marketplace Bible Institute
& Resource Center, Inc
Author of e-Books:
 *  Great Business Emulates a Good God
 *  Be Radical…Follow Christ!
 *  Simply The Messenger
 *  Unequally Married

 

 

Belief & Character

Dr. Mike Life in Christ ,
“For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ”. 2 Peter 1:5-8 ESV

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Over the years I marvel at how God works within people’s lives, including yours truly. Most of the time, He comes through not on our schedule, but His. The process rarely repeats itself unless there is something uniquely being creating within us. Though there are people who believe that God will instantly move mountains from their life, reality seems otherwise.

Fiat. Immediately. No sweat. Just convenient quick results is not standard operating procedures for a Jesus apprentice in training. Now God does produce miracles. He also does answer prayers immediately. However, there are situations when He extends the outcome for our sake or for the sake of others. There is not one method or formula that fits all when it comes to God.

What I find in my life and in many others is God has more in mind than just immediate resolution of a problem. Most of the time, He opens the door that will create growth opportunities for you and me. Most of the time, those challenges are not what we want, but what we need. Like 2 Peter states, he wants our faith supplemented with virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love. Real godly character. Character built on the foundation of Jesus Christ and not self, vain glory. A life secured by an eternal foundation rather than a humanistic platform.

So how does little faith move mountains? Yes, God can move it without any assistance. But like many of his solutions, it just may require us to grow in godly character. He will lead us through the solution, but it may take time. He may bring an earthquake, an explosion, or a super strong wind. But most likely he will bring people into your world that will help you. The final solution is not as important as our obedience to walk in our small faith trusting Him.

So hang in there. With God, mountains do move.

Rooting For You in Christ!

Dr. Mike

Apprentice of Jesus Christ, His Domain, His Spirit

Marketplace Bible Institute
& Resource Center, Inc
Author of e-Books:
* Great Business Emulates a Good God
* Be Radical…Follow Christ!
* Simply The Messenger
* Unequally Married

Getting in the Way of God’s Spirit

Dr. Mike Life in Christ, Spirit Follower , ,
“You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. Acts7:51 ESV

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Stubbornness, which is a byproduct of pride and a heart that amplifies the self, has been the ruin of many people. As this scripture reveals through Stephen, the first known Christian to die a martyr’s death for Christ, aimed the above quote at the religious leaders of his day.

The problem which he identifies is the same one when dealing with religious and non-religious people today. I group them together because the issue is the same. They both have a hard heart and are convinced that their way is the only way of living a prudent life.

The religious person likes to emphasize the rules, the principles, and the methods. Whatever makes them feel good about themselves must be good for others. If it works for them, it must be good for everyone else. On the other hand, the non-religious person sees through their game playing, but likewise imitates them by throwing out the baby with the bath water. They see the hypocrisy and don’t want anything to do with it. However, instead of focusing on Jesus’ message, they only look at the misdirected fruit of religious people and close their eyes to everything else. Both sides miss the mark of realizing the problem is within them. As one person stated somewhere, ” when we point a finger at someone, three fingers are pointed back at oneself”.

Jesus once stated during a teaching moment, that a person pure in heart will see God (Matthew 5:8). Most of us don’t look for God’s involvement in a situation until after the fact. By then, a difficult situation has become a worldwide crisis. Instead of asking, seeking, and knocking at the beginning of the process, we wait until after we have emptied ourselves with all our effort and resources. Only then do we begin to seek help from God.

However a person who looks past the human condition, who walks in the presence of the Triune God, is generally able to distinguish God’s work from man’s facade of righteousness. The reason is because that is where they came from. It takes one to know one.

The Holy Spirit is always at work. It is the Spirit that gives life (John 6:63). Like the wind, we may not see him, but we see the impact. However, we need to be attuned to him. We need to realize that God has given us a new heart (Ezekiel 36:26) that allows us to communicate and share in his fellowship. As we walk with Father-Son-Spirit, our harden hearts are displaced with the new heart that opens the pages of God’s universe and allows us entrance into his presence.

So the next time you think you are doing right, stop and ask God for confirmation. You may be pleasantly surprised with an answer that is more favorable for all involved parties. And yes, it is possible that you may not be initially correct. Yet with an open, attentive heart plugged into the Holy Spirit network, revelation in the workings of God has a way to change one’s opinion and worldview quicker than any other method. Or do you want to be known as the person who resists the work of the Holy Spirit?

Rooting For You in Christ!

Dr. Mike

Consultant, Coach, Encourager
Marketplace Bible Institute
& Resource Center, Inc
Author of e-Books:
* Great Business Emulates a Good God
* Be Radical…Follow Christ!
* Simply The Messenger
* Unequally Married