by David Brenneman
"Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." Hebrews 4:14-16.
Wait on Him
Our soul waits for the Lord; He
is our help and our shield.
PSALM 33:20
There are times when you'll go to the Lord in prayer, ask Him about some concern, and feel assurance that He will answer your request. But then you'll experience a long period of silence. To make matters worse, during that time, God may give you little indication of what He's doing, and it may appear as if nothing is going on. You may wonder, Did I hear Him right?
What are you to do when the Lord creates those gaps in your life? One of the most basic lessons you must learn is to let God be God. He will work in the unseen and in ways you cannot imagine. You must leave the "how" and the "when" in His hands and acknowledge they are His responsibility. Do not try to interfere or manipulate your circumstances-you'll only make a mess. He will show you when and the if He always wants you to act.
Remember, the Lord always reserves His best for those who are willing to wait on Him in faith--even when they can see nothing
happening. So consider: do you want God's best? If so, have confi-
dence in Him, stay close to Him, and wait. Because those who trust
in Him are never disappointed
Jesus, I will wait on You. Strengthen my faith so I can always honor You. Amen.
-Trusting God with Today
Dr. Charles Stanley.
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It's difficult at times when we're troubled, anxious even, to get up n go when our thoughts are wanting actions to go with our words...to not do that.
There's times where silence...is loud. When peace seems to be at a distance.
We pray and pray and pray and then, as Dr. Stanley pointed out...we don't see nor hear anything in response.
What we take as silence should be encouragement not discouragement.
If we truly subscribe to the passage that says:
"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified." Romans 8:28-30.
Then our point of view ought to be different than those who have no hope. Their hope lies with luck, karma, whatever goes around comes around or even a fatalistic viewpoint where it's all going to just fade to nothingness with no consequences.
We know is what Paul said.
We know.
Quite often as kids we said something to our parents and we didn't think they heard us so we say it again and almost immediately we get the idea to not say it a 3rd time.
My sabbatical from gainful employment since mid June has been a learning experience in still being busy with the requirements of the state for job searching and yet still looking towards the Lord Jesus for my next job. I sort of put that in the same manner as something Jesus said of rendering unto Caesar what is Caesar's and unto God the things that are God's.
My time with Jesus has never faltered. I have stayed the course in my mornings with Jesus and my nightly study times with the Spirit.
I remember asking my Pastor about studying and what it looks like because I have so rarely needed to do that. That's not arrogance or pride that's mostly because I understood much of what I was being taught wasn't complicated to me.
Not the case when being with the Spirit in training. It requires focus and attention as well as commitment. It requires the study material He chooses for me to use too. Currently that's 6 devotional books and 4 Study Bibles by those whom I consider pillars of the faith.
Nobody should consider that prayers will be unhindered if they aren't living in obedience to God's Word. We don't get trophies for participating. We will only get a "Well done" from Jesus by doing...not watching others do.
We must also believe that He will do what He's promised. Regardless of our seeing evidence of it right away or not. Regardless of if what's in front of us to do makes sense or not.
Our enemy wants us to cultivate doubts and fears. He will try to goad us into disbelief by mocking our salvation's truth by the silence we get from our prayers. He will try to push us into self preservation rather than waiting on the Lord. He will try to get us to even ignore our problems with the hope that they'll just go away. He will entice us into procrastination. Will get us to try our own solutions rather that asking Jesus if it's what He wants. Satan nailed Joshua with that one right after getting into the Promised Land.
Be aware of Satan's schemes. He lost at the cross but will continue to accuse the brethren before the Father every single day. Jesus intercedes on the behalf of those who are His.
Yes, Satan's brought you, my Dear Reader, before God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ to accuse you of this sin or that sin.
We have an Advocate, Jesus Christ the Righteous, as the Scriptures teach us, speaking on our behalf.
So while we will have seasons or moments where our prayers might appear as though unheard by Jesus, my Dear Reader, the truth says every single prayer is always received and recorded in Heaven.
The answers are: yes, no, not right now or wait I have something better in mind. Sometimes there's delays in responses because of the Spiritual battles we cannot see. Daniel's prayers were shown to be that way.
Keep on persevering in prayer.
Keep on with your requests even if you see nothing.
Keep on keeping on. Unless you get a definite no, persist.
All NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission.
New American Standard Bible
(C) 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation.
A corporation not for profit.
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