Is Your Mind Right?

Sometimes in our prayers we are "me" centered and see God as a genie to be conjured up to fulfill our every wish. Then when we don't get what we want we think He doesn't hear, doesn't care or maybe doesn't exist.
James says, "You do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures." (James 4:3) Selfishness is at the root of many unanswered prayers.

The first petition in the Lord's Prayer is "Hallowed be Your name;" the second, "Your Kingdom come;" and the third, "Your will be done." (Matt. 6:9-10). Note, our first concern in prayer should be what God wants, not what we want. The purpose of prayer is not to conform God to our will, but to conform us to His!

Here are some suggestions for praying with the right mindset:

1) Ask God to slay your sinful nature. As new creatures in Christ we wrestle daily with our old nature. And as long as that nature has the upper hand, our prayers will be hindered.

2) Ask Him to cleanse you with His blood. You can't come to God's presence tainted by sin; (Psalm 66:18) you must confess it and ask Him to forgive you (I John 1:9).

3) Ask Him to fill you with the Holy Spirit. The indwelling of God's Spirit enables you to overcome temptation and live according to His will.

4) Ask Him to guard and guide your steps. God's plan for our lives is always better than anything we could ever devise. (Ephesians 3:20).

5) Ask Him to use you for His glory. Make yourself available as a servant with a willing heart to do whatever He asks.

Bottom line: when you pray with the right mindset you'll get answers you never imagined possible!

*from The Word for You Today Daily Devotional
August, 28, 2012

A BIG Question Often Asked...

How does God speak through the Holy Spirit? What happens if I don't hear and obey? The Bible explains that rejecting the words of the Holy Spirit has consequences. Are you willing to face those?

The following are ways you can be disobedient to what God tells you by His Spirit:

1) Resisting the Holy Spirit. At times, the word may come as a challenge to confront something in your life. It may be a reminder of how you have been wrong in your dealings with others. At times, He will give you clear direction as to what you should do in order to avoid trouble. Proverbs 16:25 reminds us, "There is a way that seems right to man, but in the end it leads to death."  The choice is yours. Resisting God's word is willful disobedience.

2) Grieving the Holy Spirit. In Ephesians 4:30, Paul simply states, "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God." Resisting the Spirit focuses on our disobedience; Grieving the Spirit focuses on the results of our disobedience. Every time you willingly sin, God views it as a rejection of Himself. How does that make you feel? It should cause us to be heartbroken over our sin, for we realize that we have not just broken a rule, we have grieved the Holy Spirit.

3) Quenching the Holy Spirit. "Do not quench the Spirit." (I Thess. 5:19) The word quench means to" put an end to, stop, put out. When we allow unconfessed sin to fill us, the Spirit's work is quenched. We cannot be filled with the Spirit and filled with sin at the same time. When you find the Spirit's activity and words to you becoming increasingly rare, you need to examine the condition of your heart.

A BIG question often asked: "What about blaspheming the Holy Spirit? What does that really mean and am I capable of doing it? " The following is taken from the study, When God Speaks by Henry & Richard Blackaby.

"At times people fear thay are not experiencing God speaking to them because they have inadvertantly blashphemend the Holy Spirit. Matthew 12:31-32 tells us, 'And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.'

The Spirit of God had worked mightily to heal a man who was demon-possessed. This was an occasion for the Spirit of God to reveal to the people watching who Jesus was.

However, instead of recognizing and accepting the word from God, the Pharisees declared that Jesus had healed by the power of Satan. This was not an insult to Jesus but to the Spirit of God. They were refusing to accept the testimony from God as valild.

Jesus warned that to reject and scorn the person and work of the Spirit of God could never be forgiven. This is not something a Christian can do. To become a genuine Believer, you must first acknowledge the absolute lordship of God over your life.

To reject a word openly, repeatedly and defiantly from God indicates you have not submitted yourself to Christ's lordship. If you are truly a Christian, you will not have blasphemed the Holy Spirit. However, if you are not experiencing God as you think you could, check to see if you have not resisted, grieved or quenched the Holy Spirit."

You Need a "Word"....

It's not a matter of IF God speaks, it's more, do we hear Him when He does? As we begin our new, 6-week series, When God Speaks: How to Recognize God's Voice and Respond in Obedience by Henry and Richard Blackaby, we'll discover that God indeed is always speaking and we need to be always listening.

It almost seems like listening well is a learned behavior. It requires a concentrated effort on our part. It sometimes requires our undivided attention and most of all, it takes a willingness to want to hear! Do you really want to hear God speak or are you afraid of what He may have to say to you?

Today, I want to share my devotion from The Word for You Today "A 'word' from God can bring you the solution you need. God created the world with a word, so imagine what a word from Him could do for your situation. The Bible says,"Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying 'This is the way, walk in it. Whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left.'

Notice the words, 'Your ears shall hear a word.' But if your spiritual ears are not open, trained and attuned to God, you won't hear what He is saying to you. Furthermore, if you filter what He's saying through human intellect in order to harmonize it with your own opinions, you will get nowhere. God gives a 'word' to those who have an open ear and an open heart!

When you pray, what are you looking for? A spiritual high, or a time of intimacy with God in which He speaks and you listen? When you read your Bible, are you seeking confirmation of your own thoughts or are you seeking God's will? Imagine what one of God's ideas could do for your life!

If you dream of doing great things in life, get to know God and His voice. He will reveal Himself to you through His Word. You'll hear a lot of different ideas each day; some will benefit you, others won't. But when you get a 'word' from God, it's like a seed; it has the potential to produce a tree; or better yet, a whole orchid of fruit!"

RESOURCE: Here's a great video/lesson from Charles Stanley: Listening to God - Walking with God

SHARE: As God did in the Old Testament, He continues to speak in a variety of ways. In what ways do you hear His still, small voice? (worship service, Christian books, prayer, while walking, Chrisitan films and conferences, music, nature, tragedy, world events, Bible studies, meditation on Scripture, etc.)