Friday, December 20, 2013
Hebrews 1:1
Monday, December 9, 2013
Wrestling with God in prayer.
Genesis 32:24-28 ( ESV )
24And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the
breaking of the day.
25When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched
his hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with
him.
26Then he said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said,
“I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
27And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said,
“Jacob.”
28Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but
Israel,£ for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.”
1.
Alone-When we really want to spend time with God
in prayer our best times will always be when we are alone with him. When we
break away from the noise of just life. When we seek not the company of others
but seek to see his face alone. These are the times when we truly will find
Him. We must escape from the noise of this world.
2.
Jesus example: Matthew 14:23 and Mark 6:47 Before his
disciples would struggle in the sea, Lk. 9:18 Praying alone before he ask who
do the people say that I am? Finally in the Garden when His disciples would go
to sleep while he prayed away from them in Matthew 26:36-46.
3.
This man who wrestled with him all night long
was no one other than the pre-incarnate Christ. We know this from verses 39-40.
As he states how he had seen God face to face. A few points need to be brought
up here.
a.
Just as Jacob’s life was a struggle so will our
prayer life. Our prayer life is work. Prayer involves struggle on so many
levels. We need to be rid of the noise around us to get alone with God. When we
pray we are fighting in the realms of spiritual warfare. We will struggle with
being too tired to pray. We will struggle as our desires become conformed to
His desires and what He knows is best for our lives. We will struggle with the
issue of belief such as will He really answer that prayer. We will struggle
with is it our needs or is it just our greed?
b.
Prayer is not only a struggle but prayer is
often about endurance. The Bible tells us that Jacob wrestled with God all
night long into the breaking of dawn.
Have you ever spent the night
alone with Him in prayer? His desires become your desires. You struggle with
seeing things through His eyes. Yet, when you do what a glorious thought this
is. You also at times will have to come back to Him with that same prayer
constantly. It might not be answered overnight it might take years or the
answer you want may not come at all. Yet we are to be persistent in our prayers
never giving up until He blesses. (Sometimes that blessing might come with a
drastic cost. Like a hip that is taken out of joint.) We must learn to be
persistent in our prayers.
Examples of Persistent Prayer.
1.
Luke 18:1-8 The parable of the persistent widow
and the judge.
2.
Matthew 7:7 and Luke 11:9 Ask, Search and Knock
3.
I Thess. 5:17 “Pray without ceasing.”
c.
Prayer will cause a change not only for others
whom you pray for but also will be a blessing as it changes you. No longer did
God want to be known as the Heel Catcher or the Deceiver but rather God wanted
him to be called Israel for out of him the tribes of Israel would be brought
forth. In the same way God wants us to be praying men and it will change our
lives forever. Go forth in prayer and His blessings will come down.
Friday, November 29, 2013
When I fear I will pray
Genesis 32:9-12 ( ESV )
9And Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father
Isaac, O Lord who said to me,
‘Return to your country and to your kindred, that I may do you good,’
10I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love
and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant, for with only my
staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps.
11Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of
Esau, for I fear him, that he may come and attack me, the mothers with the
children.
12But you said, ‘I will surely do you good, and make your offspring
as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’”
OBSERVATIONS:
1.
In his prayer he reflected about how God had
kept his promises to Abraham and Isaac and how he wanted him to come back to
the land of promise. While we pray once again let us remember that if God has
allowed us to be in our present circumstances he will guide us through them
with his kindness.
2.
It is always good in our prayer lives to
remember the mercies and faithfulness of God that he has shown us. We should
also remember that is because of his strength alone that we can go through any
of our trials. Remember to pray for His strength to carry us through. Ephesians
6:10 Finally my brethren be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might.
Jacob now relies upon this God and His strength as he knows that God would do
him good and make his offspring as the sand of the sea.
3.
Like Jacob when we become fearful let us not be
ashamed to pray that God will deliver us. In the ESV version the word deliver
is used around 157 times. Jacob uses that word for the first time here in this
verse.
Here are some more examples of prayers for deliverance.
a.
David when confronting Goliath in I Sam 17:37
tells how the Lord delivered him from the paw of a lion and paw of the bear and
just two verses later tells Goliath how he will be delivered into his hand.
b.
Israel when it would fear the Lord was promised
that God would deliver them in II Kings 17:39 Yet in verse 40 we are told that
they did not.
c.
Job would pray deliver me from my adversaries
hand in Job 6:23
d.
David Ps. 7:1 “In you do I take refuge, save me
from all my pursuers and deliver me. Ps. 39:8 Deliver me from all my
transgressions.
e.
Deliverance from our sins. Ps. 79:9
f.
Matthew 6:13 The Disciple’s prayer Deliver us from
evil.
Jacob will now spend one of his most sleepless nights as he
will now wrestle with God all night long in prayer. Genesis 32:24-31.
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Prayer Heritage: Isaac
Genesis 25:20-21 ( ESV )
20and Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah to be his wife,
the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the
Aramean.
21And Isaac prayed to the Lord
for his wife, because she was barren. And the Lord granted his prayer, and Rebekah his wife
conceived.
1.
Most scholars believe that Rebekah and Isaac
were married for 20 years and like his father before him they did not have any
children for a long time. You can’t tell me that he did not think about his father
during these days. He had to have heard the stories over and over again. He,
the promised one had even been offered up as a sacrifice by his own father. His
father believed so much in the promise that if he would have killed Isaac he
believed God would raise him back from the dead. Now he was going through what
his father had gone through before him. What did he do? He prayed that Rebekah
would be able to conceive.
One of
the things that will encourage others to pray is when we tell our stories of answered
prayer by our Father. As parents,
grandparents or relatives do we pass this heritage on to our children?
Secondly, do they see us in prayer? Even
as an unsaved lad I remember my great grandparents praying in the morning as
well as at bedtime for us as a family. I would see them bend their knees for us
and for those around them. It was a legacy that I will never forget. Do our
loved ones see that legacy lived out in us?
2.
One of the most practical things that we can
also do in our prayer lives is to pray for those who desire to have children
and are unable to. When we have friends or loved ones who tell us of this deep
sorrow. We should take time to humbly bow before our Lord for them.
I
Here are others who prayed to their
God for children.
a.
Abraham Genesis 15:2
b.
Rachel Genesis 30:1, 22
c.
Hannah I Samuel 1:10-11 and 2:1-10
d.
Zachariah’s prayer Luke 1:5-7, 13-17
3.
Don’t miss it though Isaac had prayed for an
heir. God would answer even beyond that in that he would be given not just one
son, but two. In our prayer lives sometimes God will even do abundantly even
more then what we could even think of.
Saturday, November 16, 2013
ELIEZER: A SERVANT'S PRAYER
Genesis 24:12-14 ( ESV )
12And he said, “O Lord,
God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast love
to my master Abraham.
13Behold, I am standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of
the men of the city are coming out to draw water.
14Let the young woman to whom I shall say, ‘Please let down your jar
that I may drink,’ and who shall say, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels’—let
her be the one whom you have appointed for your servant Isaac. By this£ I shall know that you have shown steadfast love to my master.”
OBSERVATIONS:
1.
Eliezer was Abraham’s head servant and oversaw
Abraham’s household. He was trusted so much that Abraham made him promise that
he would search for a wife for his son Isaac. The longest chapter in the entire
book of Genesis deals with this search and how God answered a servant’s prayer.
2.
In verse 12 he starts his prayer as an act of
intercession for Abraham that God would grant him success and show his
steadfast love to Abraham by allowing him to find a mate for Isaac. We should
have a servant’s heart as well and take time out of our “busy” schedules to
intercede for those around us. We need to put ourselves in their place.
3.
One of the great things about this prayer is
that he prayed very specifically. Note the detail of how he prays. The amazing
part is how God answers this prayer in verses 15-21 by what Rebekah does. Every
part of it is fulfilled and Rebekah would soon become Isaac’s wife. Often we pray shallow and so very broadly.
Our God is a miracle working God who loves us to be more specific in our prayer
lives concerning our needs and the needs of others. It is not enough to pray
for the souls of all men but that we will plead and cry out for them. Learn to be specific in our prayer lives.
Thursday, November 7, 2013
Abraham the Friend of God
ABRAHAM
Genesis 15:1-6 ( ESV )
1After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your
shield; your reward shall be very great.”
2But Abram said, “O Lord God,
what will you give me, for I continue£ childless, and the heir of
my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”
3And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a
member of my household will be my heir.”
4And behold, the word of the Lord
came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son£ shall be your heir.”
5And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and
number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So
shall your offspring be.”
6And he believed the Lord,
and he counted it to him as righteousness.
Observations:
1-The Lord knows the heart of Abraham and He knows his
fears. You and I must understand this fact about ourselves when we come into
His presence. Even before we speak our Father knows
our needs, desires and fears. He is not displeased with us but wants us
to share these things with Him. This was an intimate relationship that Abraham
had with God. We know this to be true as we read in
James 2:23 and Is. 41:8 that Abraham is called a friend of God. One of
the reasons why we struggle with prayer is that we forget that we are simply
building a relationship with our creator. He wants to hear our voice. He wants
us to draw close to Him.
Note how the
Father talks to Abraham, He wants to remind
him how He is his shield. The one who will
guard him. So when we walk through the shadow of death we to can come to him
with our fears and He tells us how that He will watch over us and that our
reward will be great.
2-3Abraham like us forgets that He has promised to take
care of us. He can only see that he is still childless. What reward? My
greatest desire has still not come true. If you will notice he even goes as far as
blaming God for not giving him an heir.
When we come to the Lord we need to be
honest with Him about how we feel. We must come to Him with
the burdens of our hearts and even our disbelief. Often we forget the cry of
the father who said, “I believe, help my
unbelief.” It is during these
times that we can draw closer to Him. When we forget His promises towards us
that is when it is time to pray. Why? Because often just like Abraham we are
reminded by God how He will keep them.
4-5-I believe that God
delights in building up our heart when we pray. Abraham was reminded
that he has a prayer keeping God. A God that will keep every one of His
promises. The end result of this conversation and prayer with God is that in
verse 6 We are told that Abraham believed in God and He counted it to him as
righteousness.
Next we will see the heart of Abraham as he intercedes for
the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 18:22-33.
Thursday, October 31, 2013
The Call to Prayer
THE CALL TO PRAYER
1 Timothy 2:1-8 ( ESV )
1First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers,
intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people,
2for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a
peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.
7For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling
the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
8I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting
holy hands without anger or quarreling;
OBSERVATIONS OF THE PASSAGE
1-First of all-This is in light of the context
esp. 1:18 Paul wanted Timothy, “to wage a good warfare.” The first thing we
must realize about prayer is that when we enter into prayer we are entering into a warzone.
·
Daniel in Daniel 10 after seeing a vision
Daniel is trembling when a hand touches him. He stands up still trembling when
he is told in verse 12. 1. Fear
not. 2. God heard his prayer the first day because he was willing to set his
heart to understand and was humble before God. 3. There was spiritual conflict
in heaven between this one for 21 days with the Prince of Persia and then
Michael came to His aid. Verses 13-14.
·
Ephesians 6:18 I believe that along with the Word of God prayer is part of our
spiritual armor.
·
Of all the wars that men
have fought our spiritual warfare is more important than any other, for we
fight for the honor of His name and for the kingdom.
·
Note the kinds of prayers
that he brings up that we can offer.
1.
Supplications: The idea of the Greek root word here according to Macarthur is, “to lack or to be deprived.” As men
we are to come to God with our needs. (This is esp. hard for men who are taught
that they are to be self-sufficient from day one.)
2.
Prayer-This is the most common usage for prayer and has the idea
according to Wiersbe that we are to see the
sacredness of who we are talking to. We are talking to the
king of the universe. The one who created us and knows us better than we know
ourselves.
3.
Intercessions: We are to be a people who will stand in
the gap for others. When we look at the context of these verses it is esp.
for us to stand in the gap and plead for the souls of men to come to the
Savior. We may intercede in many other ways for physical needs of others and so
forth but in this context it especially for those who need Christ.
4.
Thanksgiving-We should spend time with the Lord expressing
our gratitude for who He is and also for what He has done for
us. So often we see answers to prayer and we act like the 9 lepers who were
healed rather than the one who came back to thank him for the miracle that took
place.
2-In this passage
who are we to pray for? We are to pray for those who rule over us. What are we to pray for? We are to
pray that God will allow us to lead a peaceful and quiet life under their rule. That we might act godly and dignified in every
way. Lord no matter who rules over us help me to live godly and be earnest in
my walk before you and mankind. Verse 3 then tells us that this type of
lifestyle is pleasing in the sight of our Lord
3-7-Why is this
type of praying and lifestyle important? Because our Gods greatest desire is to
see men come to know Him and to come to the knowledge of the truth. This ransom for man can only be done through the one mediator
between God and Man and that is Christ Jesus.
8-So don’t
miss it in verse 8 when Paul uses the word desire again. We know that God desires or longs for men to come to know him in
the above verses. Yet now he tells us that He desires to see something else as
well. God longs to hear MEN pray. Men are to be the spiritual leaders of their
family. We are to be the ones who lead our families and our churches into
the warfare but we must do it through the power of prayer. (As men we would think it ghastly to allow our women and children
to go in our place in the front lines of a war. Yet, we think nothing of
allowing them to take the lead in prayer in the midst of the greatest war that
has ever taken place. O Men of God where are you?) We need women to pray, we
need their prayers to go with us. We have numerous examples of women who cried
out to God and God hears them but the vast amount of time in scripture when
people prayed it was the men who led the charge and this is what we will see in
our study on prayer.
How should we pray in this verse? Lifting holy
hands without anger or without quarreling. Not a specific posture necessarily
though we have examples of this being done constantly throughout the scripture.
Note the emphasis though of the attitude of the hands. They
are to be marked by holiness. We should be men who are
living an unpolluted life. We are to live a life that is marked by
Christ-likeness.
In our society we push the macho image on so
many levels. As men we are taught to stand and to fight. Paul though reminds us
that as believers we are to remember who our true foes are.” For we wrestle not
against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the authorities,
against the cosmic powers over this present darkness against the spiritual
forces of evil in the heavenly places.”
Ephesians 6:12 We should not be men who are known for our anger and
disputing or quarreling with other believers and especially with our mates for
He will not hear us. (I Peter 3:7 ) We
are called to holiness.
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