Tag Archives: Prayer

God Hears Your Prayer

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God hears our prayers. No matter when or where we say them, He hears them.

He doesn’t just hear the prayers we pray in church.

He doesn’t just hear our safe, happy prayers of life being good.

He doesn’t just hear the prayers of blessings for ourselves or for others.

He hears the prayers of pain. Of anguish. Of hurt. Of regret.

Of loss.

Listen to what happens today in Jonah 2:1-3:

Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, saying, “I called out to the Lord, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice. For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me.

Jonah had run from God’s calling on him. God had told him to go and preach to people that he didn’t like.

So, he ran. He ran away, got kicked off a boat, and swallowed by a great fish.

And here in the belly of this fish, he prayed.

I’ve been in some bad spots, in some tight places, prayed in some odd places but I’ve never had to pray there.

Jonah did. And what happened? God heard his prayer. God heard what he said. God heard his plea.

And God freed him from the belly.

Today, no matter where you are, God will hear your prayers. He will. I promise you, He will.

God hears every prayer that we pray. Every one.

No matter how dark it may seem. No matter how dark it may be. No matter how lost the case may seem, know this. God hears your prayers.

Today – you are happy – pray.

If you are sad – pray.

If you are hurt – pray.

If you are lonely – pray.

If you are angry – pray.

No matter what is going on in your life today – pray.

And know that God hears your prayers. And He will be there with you, and for you. No matter what.

Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones.

What Would You Ask For?

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Today in a passage we are reading, we see the Lord tell Solomon, whatever you ask for you, you will get.

Wow, that’s something to think about, huh?

What would you ask for? If you got the chance to ask for something or for one thing, what would you ask for? What would it be?

Well of course, I know the first thing we’d all ask for would be for an Ole Miss national title. Duh, that’s a given, right? 🙂

What next. What after that? Something personal? Something for others? What would it be?

Listen to what Solomon does today in 1 Kings 3:9-12:

Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?” It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this. And God said to him, “Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches or the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, behold, I now do according to your word. Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind, so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you.

He asks for wisdom. He asks for the ability to see things as God would have him to see. That’s, after all, what wisdom is. Seeing thing through God’s eyes. Seeing things as God would have us to see.

So, today, what would you wish for? What would you desire? What would you long to have?

Is it wisdom? Is it that ability to see, to know, to understand as God would have us to?

If so, then today, today is your day. For the Word tells us in James 1:5 – If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

Today, you can have it. You can see as God would have you to see. You can know as God would have you to know. You can understand as God would have you to understand.

You can have wisdom. Now, will you know all things? No, you want. But God will give us wisdom. We can discern His will. His way. His plan.

Today, you can. Ask. Pray. Listen.

What is He saying to you right now.

In this instant, what is God saying to you. Listen.

May we have the grace to ask. To listen. And to obey.

Today, if we ask for wisdom, God will give. Today, may we follow in God’s plan for us. And may we be salt and light with all we are!

Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones.

Some Thoughts on Petal Football and Prayer

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Hey everyone, just a few quick thoughts on the prayer at Petal Football game situation . . .

First, I believe that we as Christians have the right to free speech and to pray when we would like.  In fact in scripture, Paul calls us to pray without ceasing.  So, I think that it’s a good thing for us to figure out how to honor God with our prayers in ways that brings the church together.

Sometimes in Petal, our churches don’t work together like we ought to. Perhaps, this can be a chance for us as Christians to really work together, seeking to glorify Jesus with our actions, our thoughts, and our prayers.

So, then, what is our response?

Several of the Petal pastors, including myself, are getting together today to discuss the issue.  Hopefully we will come to a unified decision on how to handle the prayer and we will communicate that to you soon. But before that, a couple of words about how I think we should respond.

First, we must, must, must respond with grace and humility – not with bitterness, anger, hatred, or judgment.  We must respond lovingly and gracefully. My prayer for the members of the Freedom from Religion Coalition is this. That they will one day be my brothers and sisters in Christ. I desire that they come to saving faith.  How will that happened?  By the movement of God, and the love of the Body of Christ.

If we pray to “shove it in their face,” we miss the point of prayer.

We must love. That is the command of God.  That is our Lord’s command to us, to love our God and love our neighbor as we love ourselves.  Even as our Lord was being nailed to the cross, He prayed, “Father forgive them; they know not what they do.”

God desires that all be saved (1 Timothy 2:4).  That’s my desire, too.  That must be the desire of the church.  We must respond in love.

Plus, if we are praying with bitterness in our heart, are we really praying?

Second, Jesus Christ is to be honored in this, and all things.  This is all for His glory. We must act accordingly.  He will bring honor to His name.  We get to merely play a part in this.

We read in scripture that God wins in the end. Don’t worry.  God has this.  It’s all good.  Let’s be faithful. Let’s honor and glorify Him.  Let’s point a lost world to Him.  Let’s love the folks, even the ones that we disagree with, in His love.

For love is the only way that we change hearts.

“So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13

Let’s be Salt and Light!

 

When Words Fail Us

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This past weekend at Camp Wesley Pines, all the families were sitting around eating ice cream and the camp director asked me if I liked to hunt.

I told him I have no problem at all with eating deer, or squirrel, or rabbit, or whatever. I just can’t think of a more miserable activity (for me) than hunting.

Because in my limited experience hunting involved a whole lot of sitting still and being quiet. And those are two thing that I do very, very poorly. The idea of being still and quiet for hours on end sounds like pure torture to me.

But, as much as I hate being still and quiet, there are times, times of prayer, times of reflection, times of awe, times of hurt, times of mystery when we just come before God, and we are quiet.

Our words fail us. We don’t know what to say. And you know what? That’s ok. Listen to what Paul says in Romans 8:26-27:

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. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

God knows your needs. God knows your hurts. God knows your pains. God knows your fears.

God knows.

When you are at a loss for words, God knows. When you don’t know what you need, God knows. When you aren’t even sure what to pray for, what do, what to say or how to say it, God knows.

Today, you don’t have to worry about what you have to say to God. Just come before Him. Sit before Him. Come into His presence.

And even be quiet, if you want. You don’t have to say anything at all.

Sometimes the most important prayers have the fewest words said. God knows what we need. May come before Him today with joy, hope, and peace.

Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones.

Doing our Part

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I sometimes think of what Dr. Bryson, one of my professors at Mississippi College, used to say about Paul. He said, sort of jokingly, that we as preachers would rather preach on Paul than Jesus. He said Paul was hard understand, so we could preach for hours about Him.

He said Jesus wasn’t hard to understand. He was just hard to follow. It’s not hard to understand loving your enemy. It’s really, really hard to do.

Today in Philippians 2:12-13, we have one of those Paul passages that can be hard to understand at first.

Listen to what it says:

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

Is Paul telling us that we have to earn our salvation? That our salvation is up to us? That its something that we have to “do?” He says to work it out.

But then, notice what he says right after, it’s God that works through you. For His will and good pleasure.

So, well then. Which is it? Do we work it out, or is it God that is at work?

Yes!

We do our part. We are faithful. We put ourselves in a position to hear God speak and move in us.

One of my mentors used to always say – pray, read your bible, and go to church. That won’t make everything easy or perfect, but it will put you in a position to hear God.

So, we do our part. We put ourselves in a position to hear God and know God.

And God moves. God speaks. God changes us. God saves us. God works on us.

So, we’ve done our part. And God does His. We don’t earn it. It’s not about anything we can do. It’s about all that He has done and is doing.

And, the very fact that we have the desire to know Him, to follow Him, to love Him, to put ourselves in that position?

That desire comes from Him. He is at work. Even in the acts of faithfulness. He is at work, calling us to be faithful.

So, today, let’s do our part. And let’s know that in that, God is at work. And He will be working on us for His good pleasure.

Let’s be faithful. And let’s see what God will do in our lives!

Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones.

The Very Best Thing We Can Do

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What is the best thing that you can do today for yourself and your own faith?

What is the best thing that you can do today for someone else and for their faith?

What is the best thing that you can do today for the church and for its witness in the local community and in the world?

What is the best thing that you can do today for our nation and for our leaders?

The answer to all of these questions is given by Paul today in 1 Timothy 2:1-4:

First of all, then, I urgethat supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Pray.

Paul tells us today to pray for all people. To pray for kings and for leaders.

Pray for the strong and the mighty, pray for the weak and the frail. Pray for the ones that you love and admire, pray for the ones that you can’t get along with.

Pray for your friends, and as Jesus would say, pray for your enemies.

Why?

As verse 4 says – God wants all to be saved. Everyone. John 3:16 reminds that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son for the world. God wants every one to be saved. To know Him. To enter into relationship with Him.

Everyone.

And so we do our part. We love. We forgive. We share. We witness. And we do the very best thing that we can do.

We pray.

Today, pray. Pray for all. Pray specific for specific needs, and pray in general for things you don’t know about.

But pray. And in doing this, we are pleasing God. And doing the very best thing that we can do!

Today, may we pray.

Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones.

When Your Prayer Life is Hard

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Jesus models for us, in our lives, what life should be like. He shows to us the model of Christian life and faithfulness.

Will we ever live as He lived? No likely. But, He shows us what we should aspire to. He shows us what we should chase after.

We should all, in our lives, try to be like Jesus.

And we get that in terms of loving, or serving, or forgiving. We understand that.

Today’s passage, through, it gives us insight to what we should try to be like, in terms of our prayer life.

Look at what happened into in Mark 14:35-56:

And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

Jesus prays that this cup pass from Him. Yes, He chose the cross. He knew it was what He must do. He knew it was God’s plan for redemption for humanity. He knew it was what was to come.

And we see, that even while He chose it, He was not looking forward it. He was not excited about it. He really knew how tough it would be.

So, He asked His father, if possible, let it pass. But, He said, not it be His will, but God the Father’s will.

When your prayer life is hard, He understands. When you aren’t sure what to pray, He understands. When your prayer life is a struggle, He understands.

When we struggle with life, when we struggle with challenges, when we deal with all types of problems, He understands. He’s been there. He’s been in the place where He asked God to take the cup from Him.

But, how did His prayer end? Not what He will, but what God willed.

When it’s hard, he understands

Jesus went through the challenge and pain of the cross. He went through the pain of betrayal and hut. He went through all of this. And He emerged victorious.

So will you. Be faithful. Pray. Trust. Hope. Lean upon Him. Know He’s been where you are.

Trust in God’s will. He will take care of you. Even when your life pray life is hard. He will not leave or forsake you. Trust in Him. Even when you don’t know what to pray or how to pray. Trust. His grace is sufficient.

And through Him, just as He did, we will triumph.

Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones.

You Matter

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One of the things I think we all struggle with is that for most of us, we know that we’ve got it pretty good. We know that our troubles, as real as they are, aren’t the worst in all the world.

And so, that makes us feel bad when we pray for the things in our own lives. Why should we pray about the things in our lives; there are so many others that have it so much worse off than we do. I mean, it’s not that. We shouldn’t bother God with our problems.

We all feel that way sometimes. We feel as though the things going on in our lives can be a bother to God.

Listen to what Jesus says today in Matthew 10:30-32:

But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven,

You matter. You are important. You matter to God. He knows you. He loves you. He even knows the number of hairs upon you head.

If something maters to you, then it matters to God. If it’s a source of pain in your life, then it matters to God. If something is causing you worry, then it matters to God.

These things matter to God, because you matter to God. Don’t ever feel bad about taking these things to God. Don’t ever feel bad about giving your real worries and problems to God. Don’t ever feel like you aren’t important to God. You are. You matter.

Now, we should keep things in perspective in life. Yes, for each of us, there is someone who has it worse than we do. And we should always be in prayer for them. We should always keep our sense of perspective.

But today, and each day, take you concerns to God. He care about them, and about you. Today, you matter to God.

Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones.

Staying Connected to Jesus

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Before devotional – a quick note. Yesterday, Asbury released a mobile app for smartphones. You can download this app and listen to my weekly sermons, read this devotional, and find out all that’s happening here at Asbury. To download the app for iPhones/iPads, click here. To download the app for Andorids, click here.

Now, on to today’s reflection!

Life is found in Jesus. That’s a simple statement. But it’s an incredibly powerful statement. Life, life that matters, life that can weather a storm, it is found in Jesus.

Jesus shares this with us today, in a powerful concept.  He is the vine. We are the branches.  Listen to what He says in John 15:4-5:

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

Today, in this passage Jesus tells us that He is the vine, and we are branches. He is the source of our strength, our life, our power, our everything. We get our very life from Him.

And this is so important for us to not only understand, but to live by as Christians, to say that He is our life is to say that He is the source of power, our strength, our ability to fight through pain, or doubt, or fear, or worry, or troubles, or trials, or anything like that.

He is the vine. He is our life.

But, that means as the branches, we have to be really plugged into Him. We have the amazing source of power and life at our disposal, and we just have to turn to it.

How? How do we acces this power? The ways we can do it have been called by folks like John Wesley, the means of grace – prayer. Studying the Word. Communion. Christian Conversation. Fasting.

By being active in these things, we receive grace. And we stay plugged into the Vine. We get His power, His life, His hope. His everything.

So, today, when you grow tied, read, pray, talk to a Christian friend. When you get frustrated, read, pray, talk to a Christian friend. When you think you can’t do it, read, pray, talk to a Christian friend.

Stay plugged into the vine. And in doing that, you will find life. He is our life. And as we stay connected to Him, we will find all the life we could possible need!