Life's Little Frustrations

My little dog would be much thinner

If she didn't eat so much dinner.

As I scold her, me oh my,

I realize so would I!

Conditions for Prayer 5

Another condition for an effective prayer life is faith. Mark 11:24, "Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." James tells us to ask God for wisdom when we lack it, but he also admonishes us in James 1:6, "But when he [a person] asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind."

A former pastor of mine, Rev. O. B. Sansbury, told the story of a man who had a mountain behind his house, and that mountain obstructed the man's view of the sea. One day he read Jesus' words, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there" and it will move." So the man knelt down and asked God to move the mountain behind his house. Then he got up off his knees, looked out the window, huffed, and said, "Just as I thought. It's still there." He didn't exactly pray in faith!

If faith is so crucial to our prayer life, how can we increase our faith? I'm glad you asked.

Romans 10:17 tells us, "So then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God." Our faith grows in proportion to the amount of time we spend in God's word.

Also, faith grows as we fellowship with other Christians and are encouraged by hearing how God is working in their lives.

As we trust God in situation after situation in our lives, we find that He is faithful, and we learn to trust Him. When God is faithful to hear and answer our prayers, we are encouraged to pray in faith. A cycle is established. The more we pray in faith, the more God answers our prayers. The more God answers our prayers, the more faith we have with which to pray.

Thank You, Father, for the privilege of prayer. Even the faith with which we pray comes from You, as does every good gift. Thank You. Amen.

Conditions for Prayer, 4

John 15:7, "If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you."

Not only do we need to abide in Christ to have an effective prayer life, but His words should abide in us, should be alive in our lives. That means we need to hide God's word in our hearts and study it carefully to understand what it says, but we also need to be obedient to what we have learned. We are commanded to be doers of the word and not hearers only. The person who isn't obeying what he already knows may need to bring his obedience up to date even more than he needs to acquire new knowledge.

A minister named Ron Dunn began preaching when he was seventeen years old. He said he had been preaching for about a year when he discovered that God intended for him to put into practice what he was preaching. He laughed and said, "Then I became more careful about what I preached!"

I John 3:22 underscores the importance of obedience and gives us another condition for effective prayer. It says, "And whatever we ask we receive of him, because we keep his commandments and do those things that are pleasing in his sight."

My husband expected me to fix his breakfast. This was one of my wifely duties. If I gave him cereal, milk, and a banana for breakfast, I fulfilled his expectation and my responsibility. But, if I fixed fresh orange juice, country ham, grits, red eye gravy, eggs, biscuits, and homemade jelly, I went beyond my duty and did what pleased him. So not only should we obey God's commands, but we have the amazing privilege of going beyond His instructions to please our Heavenly Father who loves us so much and has blessed us so richly.

Father, may I seek to please You in all that I do and think and am. Amen.

Life's Little Frustrations

I wanted to buy something the other day,

But the cashier said, "There's just no way.

Then she explained, with a worried frown,

"We can't sell. The computer's down!"

Conditions for Prayer, 3

Matthew 11:28, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."

We find two conditions for an effective prayer life in John 15:7, "If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you."

The word "abide" is also translated "remain." We are to abide in Christ as a branch abides in its vine. You know what happens to a branch that has been broken off. Just as a branch is totally dependent upon its vine for life and fruitfulness, we are totally dependent upon God. We can't even take our next breath without Him. Jesus spelled it out when for us when He said, according to John 15:5, "Apart from me you can do nothing."

The abiding life is the life that is one hundred percent yielded to God. We are urged in Romans 12:1 to offer ourselves as living sacrifices to Christ. Remember, Jesus is either Lord of all or not Lord at all.

This totally committed life has been called "the Spirit-filled life," "the Christ controlled life" "the Lordship of Christ," and "the abundant life." Watchman Nee calls it simply "the normal Christian life," and it should be the norm for every Christian.

Sidney Lanier wrote these words, "As the marsh hen silently builds on the watery sod, behold,I will build me a nest in the greatness of God." Picture that little bird who has been navigating the skies all day as she returns at nightfall to rest and relax in her nest. Think how good it feels to us when we come home at the end of the day after navigating our way through our chores and responsibilities. How great it feels to kick off our shoes and relax in our favorite chairs with a sigh of relief. It feels even better to relax completely in the power and wisdom and love of our Father and Savior, and we can find rest there any time of the day or night as we abide, settle down, give the full weight of our burdens to Him, and make our spiritual home in Him through prayer.

Thank You, Father, that rest in You is always available to us. May we constantly abide in You. Amen.

Life's Little Frustrations

It's hard to be frustrated on a beautiful spring day

When it seems like everything is going my way.

In fact, I like the warm weather so much

I hope we won't feel another wintery touch.