Seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and then all those other things will be added unto you. Matthew 6:33
Before delving into God's Word I need to be sure that it's going to be about Him and not me. So, I first begin by worshipping Him and giving Him praise for who He is! Then, I ask Him to examine my heart as I confess to Him matters of my thoughts and actions. After believing that I have repented for known sins, I go on to thank Him for everything which puts my heart in a posture of gratitude. In closing my prayer I place my petitions before Him, interceding for others and myself. The crowning glory to the prayer is the AMEN, which means, Let it be, the proclamation of hope!
PRAYER is the process of emptying ourselves for God to fill.
While doing my bible study on Psalm 77 this morning, I clearly saw that Asaph, the author of the Psalm, was so full of his own self-pity and doubt that there was no room for God's hope and joy. Asaph whined with discouragement as his thoughts had overtaken his whole being. Ever been there? I have on many occasions. So full of me, me, me that there was no room for Him, Him, Him! I can recall such severe pity-parties that I dug my feet in and refused to believe He loved me until He actually stopped my pain. Unfortunately, it took years of temper tantrums and conversations with my Master to realize that my pain was magnified because of my bad attitude and doubt. The inflammation that my mind, body, soul and spirit were battling was like a wound that was being defended and healed by an immune system. God was using every situation to heal me, but I fought Him by doubting Him for so long. So, I remained weak and ineffective with hopelessness as my thorn.
But, praise be to God that His pursuing love captured my heart! I surrendered my will to Him and accepted His tender love, finally believing that I had tremendous worth to Him! As He swept over my life and filled it with Himself, I became less inflamed and the fruits of His Spirit began to grow in my life! His love had allowed me to become so sick of my own stink from wallowing in my own childish, immature behavior that I was overwhelmed that He stayed with me through that. What God sits with sin? What kind of love is that? He let me have my childish ways until my desires changed by simply being touched by His presence. All I wanted was to draw near to Him after that. My heart belonged to Him.
Drawing near to God can come in many shapes. We can crawl because we have exhausted ourselves in our own efforts. We can come in a posture of worthlessness as if He will let us around but not near Him. There are those who shimmy up with intentions of wanting something or someone and they are imploring God to give them what they want. Others draw near in sweetness, desiring to lay their head upon the Saviors breast. I was the unworthy one who just wanted to be behind a curtain somewhere yet, still close to Him. I loved Him but didn't believe He loved me. It took years of counseling, being in the Word, having Christian friends...but it was the times I surrendered to Him where I truly learned how much He loved me! His love changed me and my life!
Surrendering is the act of laying down our will, our weapons, our plans, our pride, our time, our resources ... and submitting to His love and His will. Not surrendering comes with many masks such as, avoidance, busyness, laziness, mindlessness, extreme socializing, shopping, distractions, sports, television, chatter... One leads to a purposeful life which is rich in blessings and the other offers a deep sense of loneliness, anxiety, hopelessness and a gnawing inner feeling similar to that of putting something off too long that you need to do.
Asaph also got sick of his attitude and in verse 10 he says, "But then, I thought, I will purposefully and intentionally seek Gods right hand of power and authority, I will REMEMBER the Lord's good deeds and miracles! I will consider those deeds and meditate on those miracles!" He then goes on in a new spirit, a Spirit of remembrance and praise! Recalling God's miracles and goodness and then closing by now calling God his Shepard. Asaph went from a pity-party to The Glory Celebration of God! His speech went from despair to praise because he made the choice to empty himself and let God fill his mind instead!
Are you full of your own selfish needs, desires and wants? Or maybe your heart is filled with anger, resentment and bitterness? Do you believe God is unfair? Do you think He would allow some kind of pain in your life that you couldn't bear? Have you blamed God for something that happened or someone you lost? (That was mine. I was so angry at God for taking my mom.). We either carry our baggage or we let God carry us. Like Asaph, we can go through life with a self-centered heart or a heart that purposes itself to see God for who He truly is. I remember the day when I realized that I was blaming God for all the evil in the world when in reality it was Satan who was the destroyer! God is the Healer and Comforter! What a day of liberation that was for me!
I could go on and on about this topic but let me close with this thought. When you don't believe in God, He still believes in you. When you turn your back on Him, He's got your back. Faith can be a dichotomy of self or God, doubt or hope, negative or positive. Our minds can be filled with either. Which will you choose?
Just so you know, I don't just write about these topics without living them. Let me tell you about this morning. I woke up and it was dreary outside, the cold weather returned and my battle with depression was looming over me. I got up and I couldn't shake it off. I thought of Asaph and decided to challenge myself. Instead of letting my negative thoughts determine my day, I rose my hands to the sky and started praising God. I asked Him to bring to my mind memories of His goodness and times of joy from my life and in His faithfulness He did just that. The state of my mind changed from sadness to joy and I ended up having a day filled with accomplishments and creativity! God is good, He is faithful and worthy to be praised! So, again I ask you, "What will you choose to fill your mind with this day? Yourself and your power or God and His power.
God has not given me a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind! 2 Timothy 1:7
Before delving into God's Word I need to be sure that it's going to be about Him and not me. So, I first begin by worshipping Him and giving Him praise for who He is! Then, I ask Him to examine my heart as I confess to Him matters of my thoughts and actions. After believing that I have repented for known sins, I go on to thank Him for everything which puts my heart in a posture of gratitude. In closing my prayer I place my petitions before Him, interceding for others and myself. The crowning glory to the prayer is the AMEN, which means, Let it be, the proclamation of hope!
PRAYER is the process of emptying ourselves for God to fill.
While doing my bible study on Psalm 77 this morning, I clearly saw that Asaph, the author of the Psalm, was so full of his own self-pity and doubt that there was no room for God's hope and joy. Asaph whined with discouragement as his thoughts had overtaken his whole being. Ever been there? I have on many occasions. So full of me, me, me that there was no room for Him, Him, Him! I can recall such severe pity-parties that I dug my feet in and refused to believe He loved me until He actually stopped my pain. Unfortunately, it took years of temper tantrums and conversations with my Master to realize that my pain was magnified because of my bad attitude and doubt. The inflammation that my mind, body, soul and spirit were battling was like a wound that was being defended and healed by an immune system. God was using every situation to heal me, but I fought Him by doubting Him for so long. So, I remained weak and ineffective with hopelessness as my thorn.
But, praise be to God that His pursuing love captured my heart! I surrendered my will to Him and accepted His tender love, finally believing that I had tremendous worth to Him! As He swept over my life and filled it with Himself, I became less inflamed and the fruits of His Spirit began to grow in my life! His love had allowed me to become so sick of my own stink from wallowing in my own childish, immature behavior that I was overwhelmed that He stayed with me through that. What God sits with sin? What kind of love is that? He let me have my childish ways until my desires changed by simply being touched by His presence. All I wanted was to draw near to Him after that. My heart belonged to Him.
Drawing near to God can come in many shapes. We can crawl because we have exhausted ourselves in our own efforts. We can come in a posture of worthlessness as if He will let us around but not near Him. There are those who shimmy up with intentions of wanting something or someone and they are imploring God to give them what they want. Others draw near in sweetness, desiring to lay their head upon the Saviors breast. I was the unworthy one who just wanted to be behind a curtain somewhere yet, still close to Him. I loved Him but didn't believe He loved me. It took years of counseling, being in the Word, having Christian friends...but it was the times I surrendered to Him where I truly learned how much He loved me! His love changed me and my life!
Surrendering is the act of laying down our will, our weapons, our plans, our pride, our time, our resources ... and submitting to His love and His will. Not surrendering comes with many masks such as, avoidance, busyness, laziness, mindlessness, extreme socializing, shopping, distractions, sports, television, chatter... One leads to a purposeful life which is rich in blessings and the other offers a deep sense of loneliness, anxiety, hopelessness and a gnawing inner feeling similar to that of putting something off too long that you need to do.
Asaph also got sick of his attitude and in verse 10 he says, "But then, I thought, I will purposefully and intentionally seek Gods right hand of power and authority, I will REMEMBER the Lord's good deeds and miracles! I will consider those deeds and meditate on those miracles!" He then goes on in a new spirit, a Spirit of remembrance and praise! Recalling God's miracles and goodness and then closing by now calling God his Shepard. Asaph went from a pity-party to The Glory Celebration of God! His speech went from despair to praise because he made the choice to empty himself and let God fill his mind instead!
Are you full of your own selfish needs, desires and wants? Or maybe your heart is filled with anger, resentment and bitterness? Do you believe God is unfair? Do you think He would allow some kind of pain in your life that you couldn't bear? Have you blamed God for something that happened or someone you lost? (That was mine. I was so angry at God for taking my mom.). We either carry our baggage or we let God carry us. Like Asaph, we can go through life with a self-centered heart or a heart that purposes itself to see God for who He truly is. I remember the day when I realized that I was blaming God for all the evil in the world when in reality it was Satan who was the destroyer! God is the Healer and Comforter! What a day of liberation that was for me!
I could go on and on about this topic but let me close with this thought. When you don't believe in God, He still believes in you. When you turn your back on Him, He's got your back. Faith can be a dichotomy of self or God, doubt or hope, negative or positive. Our minds can be filled with either. Which will you choose?
Just so you know, I don't just write about these topics without living them. Let me tell you about this morning. I woke up and it was dreary outside, the cold weather returned and my battle with depression was looming over me. I got up and I couldn't shake it off. I thought of Asaph and decided to challenge myself. Instead of letting my negative thoughts determine my day, I rose my hands to the sky and started praising God. I asked Him to bring to my mind memories of His goodness and times of joy from my life and in His faithfulness He did just that. The state of my mind changed from sadness to joy and I ended up having a day filled with accomplishments and creativity! God is good, He is faithful and worthy to be praised! So, again I ask you, "What will you choose to fill your mind with this day? Yourself and your power or God and His power.
God has not given me a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind! 2 Timothy 1:7
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