PRAYER AUTHORIZED.....THEN ENERGIZED

The great men of prayer in the late 19th century were humble, yet giants of the Faith like circuit-rider Preacher Robert S. Sheffey and the prolific Christian author E.M. Bounds. Bounds is is known for his timeless works on Prayer, left behind for all believers of all ages to be encouraged....simply by reading his books!

Bounds said the following, as a man of God who had tremendous energy and passion in prayer. He said  "Prayer as spiritual energy makes way for, and brings into practical realization, the promises of God.  God's promises covers all things that pertain to life and godliness and that have to do with time and eternity".

The words "Prayer as Spiritual Energy" here is intriguing, if you think about it. Twice  in the Bible, Jesus said in Matthew Chapter 6 where this energy comes from. He says in Verse 6 in part "....pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly". Then again in Verse 18 (in part), Jesus confirms that "your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly". 

Putting aside the word "reward" here in these two verses spoken by Christ, we instead need to focus on the Person Who gives the rewards - Almighty God, Father of Lights, Heaven and Earth! This is crucial as we ramp up and fortify our prayer lives, in these uncertain days and times. It is God Himself Who looks down on His subjects (we); and empowers His children via the same Power that raised Jesus from the Dead - the Holy Spirit. Our spiritual energy comes ONLY from Him and without filter. Sin can be an obstacle, but the Energy is always available.

Therefore, one side of the equation is in place - the Holy Spirit of God, in us. He, the Spirit is a gentleman and never imposes His Will on the born-again Christian. He sits in wait to be allowed to empower and relay the fulfillment of the Promise with Which He came, when we first accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. 

The other side of this equation depends entirely on us. It is incumbent upon the Christian to respond to our Generous, Gracious, Good Father with the same passion with which He has imputed to us. Our example is the Lord Jesus Whose Passion for Abba led Him to pray "Our Father Who art in Heaven, Hallowed is Thy Name!" This manner of praying is especially beneficial to us in times of despair. When we get that scary medical report or financial disaster hits or there is a family tragedy, do we retreat and pull back our praise, love and adoration for our God? No! Ten times no!

Here is where our Spiritual Energy needs to match up to the Embedded Energy, courtesy the Holy Spirit, so that the praise and glory of God can get us through this unto victory! Here is where we prove the statement by the great prayer warrior EM Bounds to be true! Here again, is what he said in part: "Prayer as spiritual energy makes way for, and brings into practical realization, the promises of God". There it is - PRACTICAL realization of our God Who promises to never leave or forsake us. Therefore, we must not retreat but go bold with God, full of passion in our pleadings.

If we can come to that realization - that the God Who saved us, authorized us (John 1:12) to approach the Throne of Grace FREELY, then we can remain fueled with high octane Holy Ghost power towards a passionate prayer life. Then we can shout out, with dunamis - dynamic power, what the psalmist said here in Psalm 138:1-3:
138 I will give You thanks with all my heart;
I will sing praises to You before the gods.
2 I will bow down toward Your holy temple
And give thanks to Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your truth;
For You have magnified Your word according to all Your name.
3 On the day I called, You answered me;
You made me bold with strength in my soul.

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THANK YOU, LORD, FOR YOUR BLESSINGS ON ME

The old gospel song says “I know not what the future holds, but I know Who holds the future”…..and so, it goes.  There is absolute Truth in that statement with Jesus Himself instructing us to not worry about tomorrow because “Each day has enough trouble of its own" (Matthew 6:34b)

Living Life in the moment is where it is at…simply because this is literally ALL we have! Each breath we take is not our own. We are allowed to stand downright upright on this here planet called Earth, because of the Grace, Mercy and Love of God.  Living on borrowed time should really spur us to gratitude, tremendous gratitude because we are just not our own. Even those who do not believe in the God of heaven – Yahweh – have the Law of God written on their hearts.  They may live like He is not their God, but His indelible signature embedded on their souls tell us otherwise. On that Great and Terrible Day of the Lord, all will be revealed and sorted out. But for today, we who are being saved, have so much to be humbled in thanksgiving.

I remember a very rare time where a small measure of self-pity suddenly washed over me and just as quickly, the Lord reminded me of how fortunate and blessed I am to have even the simplest blessing in life. He did it in the form of a song, by of all things, a country station playing a song by Montgomery Gentry called "Lucky Man". It reminds me of how God has been not just to me, personally but just about everyone who lives in western democracies and can move around freely, eat until full and dress with clean clothes while driving a nice car.

It brings to mind the following Psalm of Thanksgiving, in part, from a man after God's own heart - King David:

I will give You thanks with all my heart;

I will sing praises to You before the gods.

I will bow down toward Your holy temple

And give thanks to Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your truth;

For You have magnified Your word according to all Your name.

On the day I called, You answered me;

You made me bold with strength in my soul......(Psalm 138:1-3, NASB)

When have we not called out to the Lord and He did not answer? He is Yahweh Jireh, the Lord Who provideth good things to His Children. The earthly half-brother of Jesus reminds us in James 1:17 that "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning". 

The perfect gift could be the roof over your head, when you were worried you had no place to rest your head. It may be the check which showed up in the mail to buy that full tank of gas, so we can go to work next week. It may be the invitation to dinner from the nice older couple at church, just when you were tired of eating leftover meatloaf three days in a row. There is no shifting or waffling with our Heavenly Father - Abba, Who loves us greatly. He is as fixed as the North Star and never changes. Because He is immutable (I, the Lord, do not change - Malachi 3:6a), He can be trusted. Therefore, His promises can be relied on. He gives and gives and then gives some more. We are alive and well today, because He gives....and because He lives. Because He lives, we can face tomorrow.

So, we are thankful and oh so grateful to You, oh God. Thank You, Lord, for Your blessings on me.