Phil 4:6-7 Don’t worry about anything; instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
1. Don’t worry, instead pray. We tend to worry first and pray as a last resort. Try to pray first and leave it with him.
2. Pray about everything. Tell God what you need.
3. Thank him for all he has done. He has done alot. Don’t forget to thank him.
4. Then you will experience God’s peace which exceeds anything we can understand.
5. This peace guards your heart and mind from anxiety and you can continue to be joyful.
From “Too Busy Not to Pray” by Bill Hybels.
“How do you pray a prayer so filled with faith that it can move a mountain? By shifiting the focus from the size of your mountain to the sufficiency of the mountain mover, and by stepping forward in obedience.
I challenge you to shift the focus of your prayer. Don’t spend a lot of time describing your mountain to the Lord. He knows what it is. Instead focus your attention on the mountain mover - his glory, power and faithfulness. Then start walking in faith, following his leading, and watch that mountain step aside.”
From “Too Busy Not to Pray” by Bill Hybels
Divide a piece of paper into four horizontal sections and write down your prayers using these headings:
Adoration: May try to think of every attribute of God you can. Or may focus on attributes of God you have been more aware of lately. If feeling inadequate or guilty may praise him for his mercy. If facing major decisions may concentrate on his guidance. Pray a Psalm to him like Psalm 8, 19, 23, 46, 95, 100 and 148. Also the Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55) and Zechariah’s song (Luke 1:68-79) are good psalms of praise.
Confession: Deal with sin specifically. Call your sins by their real names (adulterer, cheater, liar, greedy, manipulator, etc) and you will get cleansing for your conscience, you will get relief that God has a forgiving nature, and you will feel free to pray “Please give me the strength to forsake that sin from here on out.”
Thanksgiving: Its one thing to feel gratitude, its another to thank God for something. Of the ten men healed of leprosy in Luke 17:11-19, only one came back to say thank you. May thank God for four kinds of blessings: answered prayers, spiritual blessings, relational blessings and material blessings.
Supplication: Requests. May use categories such as ministry, people, family, and personal. Keep a list of what you have prayed about and after about three weeks go back and reread your list. Find out what God has already done. In many cases you will be amazed.
Isaiah 32:8 NIV
But the noble man makes noble plans, and by noble deeds, he stands.
Noble definition: voluntary, willing, “willing of heart,” give spontaneously, generous.
Noble man: willing spirit, generous, giving, courageous, honorable.
Noble plans: plans that will be helpful to others, plans that involve doing the right things even if difficult.
Noble deeds: generous and honorable, courageous and helpful especially when its hard, treats those under his authority well.
He stands: continues, is supported and loved by his followers, makes a place
New Living Translation (NLT)
17 Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable.
Observations
1. You can choose how you “pay back” evil – with more evil or with blessing.
2. This is a command not just a “nice” statement.
3. Never means never.
4. Everyone includes God. He will bless or punish based on what he sees.
New Living Translation (NLT)
14 Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. 15 Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all!
Observations
1. People will persecute you – so be ready
2. Its normal to want to curse when persecuted – must try to go with what is counter-intuitive.
3. Very hard to pray that God will bless them but it releases us from bitterness, hate, revenge and puts mental energy into good. So it helps free you and helps to keep you from running scenarios of revenge. So frees your mind and your actions from disastrous stupid actions.
4. When people are happy – rejoice with them, when they are weeping – weep – have enough empathy to not make light of their situation.
5. Live in harmony – takes work – may have to fine tune your attitude- takes correction and self examination
6. Don’t be too proud to hang out with ordinary people. Easy to get proud and think you can’t hang out with someone because you are “this” and they are “only that.” For example, “I am a teacher, you are only a janitor so I can’t hang out with you, or really even speak to you.”
Really love this teaching of praying that God will bless those who persecute me and the release from bitterness, hate and desire for revenge that this allows.
I was talking to couple friends today and both of them said that before Christ they felt a sense of emptiness, a lack of purpose, and a lack of hope. They went to work but didn’t see any purpose to their lives. I had to agree as before I accepted Christ I had felt the same emptiness, and lack of purpose even though my life looked good on the outside. After I accepted Christ, I had hope and the emptiness went away. I felt peace.
So don’t’ live “without God and without hope.” “All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.”
This lack of hope, emptiness inside, and lack of purpose is what you will feel if you live without God. You may spend your time following your own desires but in the end, you will feel the hopeless, empty feeling. You will know there must be something more but you may not know what it is.
God offers us hope. He gives us life and unites us with Christ. He calls us his Masterpiece. He gives a purpose to “do good things he planned for us long ago.”
Check this out from Eph 2:4-10
But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.
God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
Please, if you have not accepted Christ into your heart ask him to come in right now. It is the best thing you could ever do.
“Humility leads to strength and not weakness. It is the highest form of self-respect to admit mistakes and to make amends for them.”—John J. McCloy
“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” — 1 Peter 5:7 (via honeeybeeee)
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Change the World: Feeling down? Read these, over and over again. -
Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made…
(via glorifyhisname-deactivated20120)
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“God chose me because I was weak enough. God does not do His great work by large committees. He trains somebody to be quiet enough, and little enough and then He uses him.” — - Hudson Taylor, 1894 (via hiswordsneverfail)
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TFI Daily News: The Five Principles of Performance -
By Zig Ziglar, from Born to Win, Jan. 23, 2012
Much of success is about performance. It’s about what we do and what we are able to inspire others to do. There are some simple performance principles I have learned in my life, and I want to share them with you. They really bring success, and what…
(Source: joecatholic, via iwilltrustinyou)
“I have one reason why you should walk away from that temptation right now. One reason: God. Is. Better.” — Francis Chan (via andifihavenotlove)
(Source: ryelink, via behind-myscars)