WHY PRAY? Part 3 - BE ACCOUNTABLE!

Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed... (James 5:16a)

Does this verse teach that we should open a confessional and have a man of the cloth listen to us confess, so he could tell us to go do some penance for it? No- what the Lord is teaching through James, the half-brother of Jesus the Christ, is accountability. We are a fallen people whose tendency to 'miss the mark' increases in frequency and intensity, the further we move from those who are appointed to watch out for us.

For the most part, accountability is not primarily the function of the pastoral, but the call of the Godly and moral. The word confess here means to not just repent before God, but to agree out and out that one has fallen short, did something wrong or untoward, and having acknowledged that sin or trespass on turf where one should not be, one has the privilege and opportunity to be allowed to give praise. Now this is not the convoluted thinking of the world and pop psychology!

Secular psychology will tell you that this 'confession of sins' simply means you have "issues or problems"....and thus, "set up another therapy session" and a temporal answer from man's thinking will evoke responses totally against the Word of God. What we are searching here for is Godly responses and reactions to minor and/or major sin, which is still viewed as sin before God. What Abba Father, our loving Father Who wants the best for us is saying here- "you sure messed up here on this one, son/daughter...but after you ask Me for forgiveness, go to Susie or Jack over there and apologize, make it right or pay for that window you broke when the rock flew off your lawn mower last week and you kept quiet about it."

In the case of small groups, women are better about discussing their shortcomings with other women and seeking answers, biblical or otherwise, if they are walking with the Lord. But for some reason, men's mouths are shut tighter than the vault door at Fort Knox as to their transgressions. The answer is to have a mentor, an accountability brother or band of brothers with whom a man studies the Word of God with on a regular basis. The vast majority of men are not in such a fellowship and are therefore, sitting ducks for the enemy, when they slip up and fall short. Those who are not walking with the Lord have their drinking buddies, golf buddies, baseball buddies or even their former military buddies....and some of them would even share their troubles with each other. In fact, some of these lost men (and women) are better about supporting their fellow brother or sister than most Christians, who come of as self-righteous hypocrites to just about every body else.

So, how do we get around and over these obstacles - hypocritical and otherwise? We are strongly encouraged to pray here for those of us, who have sinned against someone else in particular, and against God in general, because it really affects our spiritual lives. To be free of this burden of sin, we must realize that the Power in the Blood requires the following two-step: take it to Calvary's Cross and then pray before taking it to the person you and I have crossed!

The portion of verse 16 we look at here is the Scriptural version of this aforementioned two-step. We are not supposed to be like the world and dance around sin, tripping the light fantastic with the devil and his music. Our music flows sweeter when the admission of our shortcomings are prayed up to God and then 'fessed up to each other, that reconciliation and restoration can take place. 

There is no healing without prayer. There is no revealing of sweet fellowship with God and man without removing barriers through prayer. There is no relationship, vertical or horizontal, without kneeling before the Throne - in prayer. Selah...Prayer is the key that opens the door to loving relationships between you and I and the rest of the Children of God.

THIRTY ONE DAYS OF PRAYER AND THE WORD:JANUARY 1-31, 2015 THEME: "ABIDE"

DAY FOURTEEN:
VERSES:
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.
Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.
He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler
Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;
Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.
A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.
Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.
Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;
There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.
For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.
Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.
Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.
He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.(Psalm 91, KJV)

PRAYER:

Dear Father Yahweh.

Thank you for giving us the promise of Psalm 91. Please be with us that we may abide in Your secret place and not stray from the narrow path that leads to eternal life and salvation through Your Son Yeshua. We understand that ONLY in abiding in You that we will have protection and promise given in Psalm 91.

Though these times are very dark and wicked they are a reminder that the return of Your Holy Son Yeshua is near. We need your protection Lord God. The enemy is upon us and we need to be living and walking and doing all for Your Kingdom. We pray for a great revival during these last days that more will turn to you.

I pray protection over our families and everyone of your children. Judgment is upon the wicked of this world and this nation oh God. Please bless your children, keep us safe, and help us lead many to You through Your Son, Yeshua. We acknowledge and proclaim that Yeshua is the ONLY way to You Father God. We thank you for sending Your only son as a sacrifice for our sins that we may have eternal life if we acknowledge Him as our savior and become born again. Please let us strive to be like Yeshua and let more of our worldly ways fall aside, that we may be overcomers for the Kingdom of Heaven. We pray this in Jesus Holy Name. Amen.

FROM GUEST CONTRIBUTOR: KRISTEN MARIE

VISIT HER MINISTRY FACEBOOK PAGE HERE: CLICK AND "LIKE"

TEN DAYS OF PRAYER FOR THE PERSECUTED CHURCH: OCTOBER 24-NOVEMBER 2, 2014, Day 7

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE PRAYER REQUESTS & COMMIT TO PRAYER AT YOUR CONVENIENCE

ACTION POINT FOR TODAY: 
Please Pray  Psalm 5(NKJV) "Psalm of the Persecuted"

Give ear to my words, O Lord,
Consider my meditation.
2 Give heed to the voice of my cry,
My King and my God,
For to You I will pray.
3 My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord;
In the morning I will direct it to You,
And I will look up.

4 For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness,
Nor shall evil dwell with You.
5 The boastful shall not stand in Your sight;
You hate all workers of iniquity.
6 You shall destroy those who speak falsehood;
The Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.

7 But as for me, I will come into Your house in the multitude of Your mercy;
In fear of You I will worship toward Your holy temple.
8 Lead me, O Lord, in Your righteousness because of my enemies;
Make Your way straight before my face.

9 For there is no faithfulness in their mouth;
Their inward part is destruction;
Their throat is an open tomb;
They flatter with their tongue.
10 Pronounce them guilty, O God!
Let them fall by their own counsels;
Cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions,
For they have rebelled against You.

11 But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You;
Let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them;
Let those also who love Your name
Be joyful in You.
12 For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous;
With favor You will surround him as with a shield.

(Courtesy BibleGateway.com)

PRAYER POINT FOCUS:

Verses 1-3:     Seek the Lord in Supplication and Submission, with praise & wonder
Verses 4-6:     Acknowledge His Sovereignty, Power, Mighty and His Wrath against evil.
Verses 8-10:   Acknowledge the truth of the wicked but do not dwell on this. The Lord will judge, we shall not.
Verses 11-12: Ascribe all praise, glory and gratitude in prayer for the Amazing Grace which Abba Father has shown to us, His people. Amen

MAKING IT RIGHT, PART 3

 

We have all gone to these amazing Classic Car shows each summer or Fall to marvel at these ancient, beat up or rusted out old wrecks restored to seemingly better than original condition. To the aficionados and collectors, this is not just a hobby but a passion...even an obsession which most times exceeds these people's passion for God Himself.

Job was not a modern day Classic car collector but he WAS a man for whom God Himself had a tremendous amount of esteem. We see the growth and maturity of a man who yes, had definitely more faith in God, than those around him, including his wife. But when the time came for testing, he did what a lot of us would do today - rationalize and question. 

As we examined in the previous two segments of this short series on Job,  The Lord Himself took the occasion of Job and his friends' insidious reasoning to, basically, explain God to them and ALL mankind specifically. THEN the Lord anointed Job with a new mission - Prayer Warrior! Yes, He did! 

Read from Chapter 42: "7 And so it was, after the Lord had spoken these words to Job, that the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is aroused against you and your two friends, for you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has. 8 Now therefore, take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, go to My servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and My servant Job shall pray for you. For I will accept him, lest I deal with you according to your folly; because you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.”

Three times God used the words "My servant Job". When God called His top generals all through Scripture, He did so twice (Moses, Moses....Samuel, Samuel....). When He says something three times, He is deadly serious and one had better pay attention!

Now the record does not go into any detail or mention of Job actually praying. However, we know, in the Spirit, that he did! God does not call a man "My servant" three times and then predict that His "servant" WILL do something in order for Him to forgive those three bloviating friends who escaped punishment because of God Himself granting Grace....if He did not mean it!

Two things here - Job obviously threw himself headlong into maturing his new-found relationship with the Almighty, Whom he understood fully for the first time and secondly, the mercy of God extends to us even when we deserve nothing but death. That mercy is Grace powered and only available by prayer and the sacrifice of self. The sacrifice of self is a repentant heart and a love for the Lord above all else.

Hence the result of all of this is - RESTORATION. The end of the actual first book of the Bible (in Chronological time) says (from Job Chapter 42): "12 Now the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; for he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys. 13 He also had seven sons and three daughters. 

14 And he called the name of the first Jemimah, the name of the second Keziah, and the name of the third Keren-Happuch. 15 In all the land were found no women so beautiful as the daughters of Job; and their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers.16 After this Job lived one hundred and forty years, and saw his children and grandchildren for four generations. 17 So Job died, old and full of days".

Are you in need of  Restoration? Is your internal spiritual GPS as completed wrong in its coordinates as those three friends of Job, who thought they spoke for the God Who disciplined their folly? Or, are you like Job, with some Faith, who sought Truth and found a calling? If the answer is both - a category into which most of all fell into, at some point in our lives - then there is so much Hope. All we need to do is go to Job 42:1-6 and acknowledge our error and make it right, with the Great God of Heaven.

The key thing to remember in "making it right" - as Job set out to do in this entire process, is that God is still in the Restoration business. He can take our entire broken down wills, spirits, souls and bodies and make something new and beautiful that can shine just like those exquisite priceless classic cars, which are becoming just as rare now, just as true followers of Christ are.
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come....2 Corinthians 5:17 

THIRTY DAY PRAYER CHALLENGE - DAY 6

DAY 6 :
GOD IS ELOHIM:  

Many times in the Bible (especially in the Old Testament) you will see the phrase “The LORD your God”.  It was only used after Moses led the millions of, by then, pagan Israelites, out of Egypt.   


There is a reason for that. Just briefly, let’s look at the word “LORD” – this is the English version of the word JEHOVAH – the God of Heaven, the One True God and God the Father.   


Our Father who art in Heaven – Jehovah, was boiling mad at the many pagan and non-existent gods which His chosen people worshiped in Egypt and then continued, even after they saw His goodness. After Joshua, God’s General, brought them into the Promised Land and died, the people returned to their evil ways.   


God sent His Word via the prophets of old, to warn them. These prophets started with Deborah; Samuel; Isaiah; Ezekiel; Jeremiah and all the Minor Prophets. They were only minor because they did not write dozens of chapters like the “major prophets”. Their message was just as important as Jeremiah or Ezekiel!   


The suffix “-IM” signifies the plural in the Hebrew language as in “seraph –IM” and “cherub –IM” –those amazing Heavenly angels!   Eloah –is the Hebrew for “god”…not the god of heaven but what man makes – an earthly god. Elohim is the plural…or ‘gods’. The people trusted these “gods” …these elohim over the REAL GOD OF HEAVEN – Whom they knew was real.   


Therefore God was making it plain just WHO HE IS. He is saying in essence “I, YAHWEH…GOD…JEHOVAH AM THE REAL GOD….NOT THOSE “gods” So it should be for the world today…which has made gods out of themselves; their lifestyles; their possessions and more. 


God is saying today, on Day 6 of our prayer challenge – and EVERY DAY – I AM JEHOVAH AND I AM ELOHIM – YOUR God, not the gods you made for yourself!   


So Father, in the Name of Jesus, I acknowledge YOU Father, as the Only God in Heaven. The Only God Who has ever existed – Three in One – Father, Son and Holy Spirit!  You said in 1 Kings 8:60 “all the people of the earth may know that the LORD is God, and that there is none else”   


You said in Psalm 100:3 “know ye that the LORD – HE is God: it is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves”   Lord, Abba Father, the people at Mt. Carmel with Your wonderful servant Elijah said “the LORD – HE IS GOD…THE LORD – HE IS GOD” I reaffirm that right now, in the Mighty Name of Jesus.   


Search our hearts and every fiber of our being and see if we are clinging to anything at all – material or spiritual – which we have as the priority, OVER YOU, and then Father, please PULL those small gods which we have set up for ourselves – our homes, our jobs, our cars, our wealth and even our ministries – ROOT THOSE false gods out of every part of us and then let the Flow the Holy Spirit flood me.  


Father I give Your Spirit access to fill every nook and hiding place in my life, so nothing will be there except the Power of Christ! I pray the same for every person reading this immediate prayer.   


Thank you God, thank YOU that YOU are the only God! Only a true Loving God like You could do the things You do. You are God! You are God and nothing or no one else IS! I trust you fully with my life and walk humbly before You, oh Eternal Father, Jehovah my Elohim - Who was, is and is to come.   


In the Mighty Name of Jesus, amen.