Opening the Right Doors

Week 30

When we become followers of Christ, Jesus sends his Holy Spirit to live in us and guide us. Listening to the Holy Spirit isn’t always easy. Knowing what God wants us to do is sometimes confusing, but one thing is certain. If we are doing our best to be obedient and we are asking God for guidance, he will use whatever we do to help us get where he wants us to be.

We have Paul’s teaching as an example for us. Paul knew that God had called him to preach to the gentiles. He knew that his mission involved going to other countries and spreading the gospel message. That was made very clear to him. In Acts 13:47 Paul explains to the Jews in Pisidian Antioch what God has commanded him. He quoted from Isaiah 49:6, “I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.” This was what God had asked him to do. 

God has a purpose and a plan for our lives also. Maybe we will become missionaries, maybe we are being asked to preach from a pulpit, maybe we are supposed to let our lights shine in the place where we work. But there is a purpose for each one of us.

How do we know what God’s purpose is for our lives. We have to read his word and invite his spirit to speak to us through the word. Many times God will speak something quietly into your heart as you read and meditate on his word. Years ago as I was reading a devotional magazine I heard the Lord very clearly tell me to write to my mother-in-law and share my faith with her. She knows that I am a Christian, but I had never in all the 30 plus years I have known her, been able to share my faith in Christ. I don’t know why it was important right now, but I know if the Lord asks me to do something like this, I am better off just doing it right away because he won’t let me forget about it until I do. 

I wrote my mother-in-law a letter and shared the basics of Christianity with her. I explained what Christ did for everyone and told her about heaven and eternal life. I used a language that she would understand and didn’t get theological with her, but gave the message to her in a way that I hope she understood. 

I don’t know why it was important that I did this at that particular time, but I wanted to be an obedient child and did what God asked me to do. (Side note - my mother-in-law has died since I wrote this devotional and I am confident that my sharing the good news with her may have brought her some peace as she faced her death.)

What does this obedience have to do with opening the right doors? For me, to be obedient means that I have come before the Lord with my concerns and that daily I ask for his help. My prayers are usually pretty simple ones. Example:

Father, I give myself to you today and ask that you use me anyway that you need me. May you be glorified in me today. Amen.

There are many times that we have options. The way that God wants  for us isn’t clearly marked. Paul encountered a dilema like this in Acts 16:6-10 Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

Paul was doing what he knew to do. He knew he was supposed to preach the gospel to the world and evidently tried to go to Asia, but was kept from preaching the word there. We don’t know exactly how he was kept from preaching there, but it wasn’t part of God’s plan.

Paul also tried to enter Bithynia and the word tells us that the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to enter. He tried several avenues not being exactly sure where God wanted him to go next. 

When God saw that Paul was unsure where to go, he directed him in a vision. The word says that during the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia. Does God still give us visions for direction? I believe that he does. Has he given you a vision of what he wants you to do? We have to note that God didn’t give Paul all the details in his vision, but he pointed him in the right direction. Paul finally knew his next destination. God directed him to the right door.

How can we apply this to our lives today? What can God say to us today to guide us? If we are at a point where we have a choice to make we shouldn’t make the choice using our own understanding. In Proverbs 3:5-6 the word tells us to Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. 

(This was written several years ago) Currently my husband, Don, and I are in a position that seems to require us to make a decision. We know that we are being called into the ministry, however, doors of opportunity have not been opened yet. Don is in a job that he would like to leave, lately he has become completely dissatisfied and disheartened with his job. He had a choice to call a former employer and try to get a job with better benefits and a retirement plan. It looked like this was going to be the way to go. 

We have been praying that whatever God wants for us would come to be and we keep hoping that he will give us a church. But for whatever reason, this hasn’t happened yet. The job with the former employer isn’t going to open up either. So it seems that we are to be content with our present circumstances. The door of opportunity seems to be closed in our faces, but...we serve a good God and we know he is always right on time. So, as the apostle Paul said, we are going to be content whatever our circumstances. (Side note: The Lord did open a door for ministry and for 4 years Don has been a licensed local pastor for a small congregation. He remains in his job, but the company has given him opportunities to be an instructor which suits him much better.)

What does God do when it seems that the way is blocked? What did he do for Paul? It is amazing, if you read the scripture again you may catch it.

Acts 16:6-10 Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

Did you notice? The book of Acts was written by Luke. If you really listen you’ll hear. When they came to the border of Mysia... After the vision, we got ready at once. Luke joined Paul on his journey at Troas. If Paul hadn’t stopped there, he may not have met Luke. Notice that when they leave Troas Luke includes himself in the narrative. He no longer talks about they but instead refers to them as we.

Just maybe God has a bigger plan than you or I could ever imagine for having us stop at a different place than we expected. Maybe, just maybe, God wants to bless us in a particular way or maybe the time just isn’t right for us to move on. We are supposed to trust in him and seek his direction. We can do what we know to do, but we can ask him to close doors that lead us the wrong way. We can ask him to make clear his plans for us and if they don’t seem clear, maybe we should just wait. God also instructs us; “Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” Psalm 27:14

Heavenly God,

You are the one who has a plan for each one of us. We praise you and thank you for preparing work for us to do for your kingdom. We call upon you right now to direct us where you want us to go. We ask that you block paths you do not want us to go down. We ask that you open doors you want us to enter and close doors that are not in your will. We ask that you teach us how to wait for your timing, help us not to run ahead of you. Restrain us when necessary and help us to be strong and take heart and wait upon you. In the name of Jesus, who always acted in your time and not his own. Amen

Healthy Division of Cells

Week 29

There is a mystery within the gospel. It is the mystery of the church as the bride of Christ and exactly how that betrothal will come to pass. No one really knows, but one thing is sure, God will make it happen. Over and over again the church is referred to as the bride of Christ, it is also referred to as the body of Christ. How healthy is the body?

What would cause it to be healthy? What can each one of us as believers do to strengthen the body and make it grow into the perfect bride that Christ is going to come back for? We each have a role to play within that body. We depend on one another and need each other to fulfill our part in the body.

I look at each believer as a cell within the body. We all initially came from one cell. Christ, the life giver, was the first cell and he is within the nucleus of each cell that is formed after himself. The Bible tells us that he is the firstborn from among the dead. (see Colossians 1:18) As born again believers, we begin to grow into his image because he is now living in us.

With Christ at the center of each believer, we have the potential to become just like him. Although each one of us is totally different, yet we have his spirit to make us into his likeness. We have the potential to have his character traits. His spirit can work with each cell in the body to create us into what God intended us to become when we were born.

Just as cells in the human body have the DNA inside to know what to become, so do we as part of the body of Christ have his Holy Spirit that helps us become a part of the church body. Inside each of us is the ability to become an important part of the body. Human cells become skin, eyes, lips, organs, brains and some even become other people. Christ cells become preachers, teachers, helpers, administrators, healers and encouragers within the church body. 

It isn’t us who determine what we will be, but God’s Holy Spirit that knows what is best needed for the body. God already knows where we have been, what we have done and what we know and sometimes he uses our knowledge and expertise to strengthen the body. Other times he chooses to show his power and might by using someone totally untrained to perform miracles, signs and wonders to confound the wise and lift up the humble. We don’t choose what the Spirit will do, our job is to be obedient and to lay our lives before God daily to be used by him.

The body that Christ is coming back for is vibrant and healthy. The church that He wants to marry is in good shape. We get a glimpse of the wedding in Revelation 19:7 “Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given to her to wear. (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.)”

In Matthew 25 we see what happens with the virgins who are ready when the bridegroom came. They had oil in their lamps and were waiting for him when he arrived. When the bridegroom showed up the wise virgins went in with him to the wedding banquet and the door was shut.

Christ is counting on the church to increase, make disciples and be ready when he returns. Are we doing those things? If not, what are we doing? How can we do the things that he expects us to do? We need to be led by the Holy Spirit, listen to God speak to us through the Spirit and be obedient. 

The ultimate division of healthy cells is in making more cells and in planting more seeds. We do this by going into the world and spreading the message of what Christ has done for us. Our testimony is very important in making disciples for Christ.

We are to strengthen or edify the church. That means that we do not gossip and bad mouth others in the body, but we lift them up and encourage one another. As long as there is dissention in the church, we are not that spotless bride he is looking for.

Are we ready and waiting for his return? What should we be doing as we await him? How can we make the body more healthy? In Colossians we read that we are to set our hearts on things above. Set our minds on things above, not on earthly things. (Colossians 3:1-2)

If we are eagerly waiting for his return, we will be thinking about him all the time and when we have our minds on someone, we are more apt to do the things that they like. If we take our minds off earthly things and focus on the things of God we will be growing in the knowledge of him and tuned in to hear his voice when he asks us to do something for him.

Are our hearts and minds set to receive his message? Are we looking forward to spending eternity with the Lord? Are we wondering through the course of the day what awaits us? These are the things that we should be thinking about. We should be aware of those around us that do not know the message of salvation and be willing to share the hope that we have within us.

Holy God,

We really want to be a healthy church. We want to be the bride that Christ can’t wait to marry. We want to share the good news and open our mouths to speak life and joy everywhere we go, but we fail all the time to actually do these things. Why can’t we be that beautiful bride we want to be? What is keeping us from being all that Christ died to help us become? Please forgive us for not hearing you speak to us. Forgive us for not inviting your Spirit to lead us. Forgive us for living our lives according to our plans and not yours. We invite you, today, to rule and reign in our lives. We lay our lives on the altar and ask that you use us to share the good news with those we work with, those we live next door to and those we are related to. May our very lives be a beacon shining your light to those around us. We ask these things because Christ is in us and is our hope. Amen.

We are seated in the Heavenlies

Week 28

In Ephesians 2:6-7 we read “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incombarable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.” 

As believers in Christ we are raised up with him and seated with him in the heavenly realms. How can that be when we are physically walking on this earth? Once we accept Christ as our savior and he sends his Spirit to live in us we are considered spiritual creatures. Our identity is in Christ, we no longer identify with the old sinful body, but we are new creatures in Christ. 

It is hard to envision that we belong more to heaven than earth, but it is true and as our spiritual walk becomes stronger our thoughts of heaven become stronger. The pull is toward God and Jesus and away from the things of the world. Ultimately we will be where our hearts long to be, with God.

In Isaiah 66:1 we read that God’s throne is in heaven and the earth is his footstool. It isn’t hard to understand why we long for heaven when we come into a relationship with God through Jesus. That is where God rules and as his subjects that is where we want to meet with him. That is why we spiritually enter his throneroom everytime we pray to him. 

But the scripture calls the earth God’s footstool. As I meditated and prayed about this, God spoke very clearly to me. He originally made the earth and put man here to be in a realtionship with him. He walked in the garden with Adam. (Genesis 3:8) When sin invaded the earth and mankind let satan have control, God only came to earth when he found men righteous enough to walk with. Through the ages he walked with different men, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David. But he wanted to get the earth back, he created it in love and longed for it. 

The only way that he could get it back was by coming here himself in the form of Christ and living such a righteous life that he could take it back. When he died on the cross he bought it back for us. His blood paid the price for us. But he still has to work through mankind to get possession of it. People have to take back control of the earth from satan because he is not going to leave it willingly.

Jesus told his disciples, and that includes you and I, that “all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20.

If authority was given to Christ and we are in him, then we also have that authority. He has passed it on to us. Jesus couldn’t be everyplace on the earth as a physical man. He was still only one man, but through us he could cover the face of the earth and take back what the devil stolen. It is up to us to do this for him. As his disciples we are given authority over satan and his demons. Jesus told us that he had given us authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the powers of the enemy, that nothing would harm us. So what are we afraid of? Why don’t we take back control of the earth?

In Matthew 16 Jesus tells Peter that he would be the rock on which he would build his church. Peter was indeed the spokesman for the disciples when the Holy Spirit entered the church on the day of Pentecost. He spoke boldly and eloquently winning people to Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. God used him in a mighty way to establish the church on earth. 

Jesus also told Peter that he was giving him the keys of the kingdom of heaven and whatever he would bind on earth would be bound in heaven and whatever he would loose on earth would be loosed in heaven. He was passing his authority over to the church. We, the universal church of Christ, can take back legally what satan has taken from us. We just need to do it. By reading God’s word and asking the Spirit to help us we can begin right where we are to run the devil off. He has to listen to us when we order him to leave. 

A good place to start is in our own homes and with our families. Start claiming your home for the Lord. Order anything that is not of God to leave your property and claim the lives of your family members for the Lord. Speak boldly in the name of Jesus and it will be done. God wants us to stand for Christ.

Once we give our hearts to Jesus our citizenship is no longer connected with the earth. Our allegience is to Christ and he is in heaven. That is the direction we should look. In Philippians 3:20-21 Paul says “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.” 

With our citizenship in heaven that makes us ambassadors on the earth. And we read in 2 Corinthians 5:20 “we are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.” Our minds are focused on Christ and our bodies are still here on earth to win souls to Christ. That is our sole purpose in life once we commit to Christ.

What are you doing as a disciple of Christ to share the good news? Are you letting your light shine in your home? In your neighborhood? In the workplace? Who are you sharing God’s love with?

The Bible is full of shadows of heavenly things that are portrayed on earth in terms that we can understand. One of the shadows is the priesthood. 

Over and over the priest would offer the same sacrifices and the blood would cover the sins of the people. But the sins would never be taken away only covered. When Jesus came he willingly gave his blood, the blood of a perfect man. Then he took that blood and offered it to God himself in that heavenly tabernacle. His blood, the blood of a righteous man, not only covered all the sins of the world, but also erased them. He took all those sins to hell and left them there. And after he took the sins of the world there, he overcame death itself and came back to life. 

All this is hard for us to imagine and it doesn’t make sense to a logical mind, because it requires faith. If we have faith that Jesus did this for us, then we can have the faith to believe that right now he is sitting at the right hand of God waiting for us to spread the good news to all the people on the earth.

Our feet are here on the earth doing the work God gave us to do, but our eyes are fixed on Christ the one who died for us. There is a beautiful verse in 2 Corinthians 4:18. “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” Heaven is our real home. It is the place where God dwells and it is close enough for us to visit every time we pray. The more we pray, the more time we spend there.

Heavenly Father,

We seek you today and we thank you that you have prepared a place for us to spend eternity with you. Sometimes it gets so hard being on this earth. We long to be with you all the time and yet we know that you have work for us to do here. Forgive us for failing to do the good that we know we should do. Forgive us for not remembering all that Christ did for us. Forgive us for not seeing that he died for each person in the world. Open our eyes to see those around us who have never heard the good news. Open our mouths to speak to them about all that Christ did for them. Give us a boldness like you gave to Peter. We know that the same Spirit that spoke through him can also speak through us. Use us today. Because of Jesus. Amen

Make straight the pathway

Week 27

Left to our own devices we try and try to find a way to God. The Hebrew people were given laws to live by and they created even more laws trying to attain perfection. It is impossible to reach God this way. He knew that we couldn’t do it, but he also knew that we would try. How sad for us. No matter what we do, we are still outside of heaven. 

God revealed this to the prophet Isaiah 700 years before Christ was born. Isaiah tried to tell the Jewish people that God was going to take care of the sin problem they had. In Isaiah 40:3-5 we read about one who was coming before Christ to herald his arrival. A voice of one calling: “In the desert prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken it.” John the Baptist was the herald sent by God to be the voice of one calling. He was calling people to repentance. He was preparing the way of the Lord.

Jesus explained this to John’s disciples when John was in prison and wanted to know if Jesus was indeed the one who was to come, the Messiah that the Jews had been waiting for. Read Matthew 11:2-10.

John the Baptist was a relative of Jesus he was born just a few months before Jesus and was filled with the Spirit of God. He knew the scripture from Isaiah and was looking for the Messiah that was promised. Imagine his joy and how humbled he must have been knowing that God was going to use him to announce the arrival of Christ. He was trying to prepare the hearts of the Jewish people to receive what Jesus was going to give them. 

I believe that the Spirit of God convicts people of sin and most certainly when John preached in the wilderness people were drawn to him and the message of repentance that he preached made their hearts sad. They knew they had a sin problem and were seeking an answer. They knew that the yearly sacrifices were not removing the sin. They knew that the religious leaders did not have any answers for them. They were hungry for God.

What exactly was this highway for God? How could valleys be raised up? Mountains and hills made low? How could the coming of the Messiah make the rough ground level and the rugged places a plain?

The Jewish laws were like a continual maze for the people. There was no way out, at least none that they could see. All through the old Testament God tried to prepare the Jewish people for what he was going to do. In Proverbs we see this clearly spelled out several times. Proverbs 3:5-6 we hear these words, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” In Proverbs 4:11 God told the people, “I guide you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths.” In verses 25-27 they were reminded to, “Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you. Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm. Do not swerve to the right or the left, keep your foot from evil.”

The answer was coming if they would trust God, if they would continue to focus on him, if they would do the things that they knew to do. It is no different for us today. Our answer comes from God when we trust him and focus on him. When we are obedient to the things that we know he wants us to do. He will reveal his salvation to us.

Faith can move mountains. Jesus told us so. The mountains that seem to overwhelm us because they are so enormous are nothing to Jesus. From God’s perspective they are small. Jesus came to remove those barriers from our lives that would keep us from moving forward. All we have to do is believe. 

In Matthew 21:21-22 Jesus explained to his disciples about how he had been able to make the fig tree wither. “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

When my husband’s pay was cut by 28 percent in January 2000, we knew that we had some difficult decisions to make. We could not afford to stay in the area of the country where we were because the cost of living was so high. After praying about the situation, we chose to move back to Ohio. We did not have jobs waiting for us, we didn’t know what awaited us, but we knew God. He was a God of provision and had proved that to us many times before. At that point in time we were living in faith completely. 

Psalm 46:1-3 is a promise that is tried and true. “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.” 

God wants us to come to him and he has made the pathway easy by coming to earth himself, as Jesus the Christ. He himself laid low every mountain and hill. He is the one who makes the crooked pathways straight. 

In Psalm 90:2 we see that God was God before the mountains were born. If he made the mountains then I guess he can do away with them as well. If we would just get hold of that truth and hang onto it. We could all be like John the Baptist and prepare the way of the Lord. 

We are supposed to prepare the way of the Lord because he is coming back as a conquering king and he wants to rescue everyone from the enemy. How can we preach repentance like John did? The way has been made straight for everyone who accepts Christ. The same Holy Spirit that lived in John the Baptist is living in each true believer of Christ. It is that Spirit that convicts and convinces people of their sin. It is that Spirit that causes people to repent. 

It is up to believers to let the Spirit of God lead them. God wants to direct our paths. He knows where we should go and who we should speak to. He wants to reign in our lives. Why don’t we let him? What is the fear? Are we afraid that we will end up like John the Baptist?  It is a possibility, but really, how many people do you know who die trying to tell others that the kingdom of God is near? What keeps us from sharing the good news? 

Listen to these words in 1 Peter 3:13-15a “Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened. But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.”

As believers we do have an undying hope. Christ has made straight the pathway to our heavenly Father. He has provided us with all we need to hear from God and to obey him. If you have never let the Holy Spirit speak to you now is the time. It isn’t easy turning over control of your life to God. We all like to think that we are in control of our own lives. But I can assure you that letting God rule in your life is the way to become all that God created you to be. He wants only what is best for you and he wants you to ask his help along the straight path. 

Holy God, 

You have made it so easy to find you. There are no obstacles in the way except ourselves. Today we lay our lives before your throne and we invite your Holy Spirit that is living in us, to speak your truth to us. Let us see one answer to prayer today. Give us one revelation of who you are and what you have planned for us. We trust you to remove mountains in our lives that have been keeping us from seeing you. We give you praise for you are worthy of praise. We thank you for Christ. Amen.

Blanket Prayers

Week 26

Blanket Prayers

The Bible tells us to pray without ceasing, but isn’t that impossible to do? Surely God didn’t mean for us to be in prayer constantly. That is just asking too much of us, isn’t it? 

Why should we pray? Deuteronomy 4:7 tells us, “What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to him?” We have a God who wants to be near us and wants a relationship with us. Prayer is the way we keep in touch with our God. It should be a conversation. 

Many times I just imagine Jesus sitting in the passenger seat of my car while I drive down the road. I just speak to him like I would a friend. If there is a problem I am dealing with at work or at home, if I am having a problem with a relationship or a financial hardship, I just tell him. He wants to know about these things. He really cares about our daily lives. My prayers wouldn’t even sound like prayers to some people. But God knows my heart and he knows that I want to share my concerns with him.

In 1 Samuel 12:23 we read about Samuel the prophet speaking to the people of Israel. “As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you.” What we see in this instance is that God expects us to pray for others. His spirit puts people and their needs in our hearts. If we fail to pray for them, it is a sin. 

Years ago I was impressed to pray for friends and relatives in a different way. I don’t live in the town where I grew up. All of my family members live at least 100 miles from me. Most of us have been shopping or driving down the road and seen someone who reminds us of someone we know. When I see someone who resembles a family or former co-worker, old neighbor or friend, I see it as an opportunity to pray for that person. I figure that God has put that person in my pathway for a reason and maybe their look-alike needs a blessing at that particular time. This is a form of praying without ceasing.

Jesus taught his disciples to pray and not give up. He told them a parable about a widow who kept approaching a judge about her adversary. Day after day she would come before him with her request. Finally, out of frustration and just plain getting tired of listening to her, he granted her request. 

Now, I’m not sure that this parable means we should wear God out with constantly asking for the same thing over and over, but I do think that we have every right, as children of the king, to ask for God to deliver us from our adversary, the devil. 

So when we are having spiritual problems and we know that the evil one is attacking us, we have the right to ask God to take care of the problem for us. In Luke 18:7-8 we read, “And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice and quickly.” These chosen ones cried out day and night - they prayed without ceasing.

How many times have you been standing in a checkout line at a department or grocery store and the people in front of you have an item that won’t scan? How many times have you been shopping all day and it’s late, you’re tired and so is the little kid in the cart in front of you. He’s crying and you just want to join him. What do we, as Christians, do when we find ourselves in this situation? I used to mumble and complain about the line or the cashier being so slow.

But the spirit put it in my heart one day to pray instead of getting upset. Now I see delays as an opportunity to pray what I call “blanket prayers.” As I wait in line now I ask the Lord to bless everyone who is in the store at that moment. I also ask him to draw everyone close to himself. Not just the people there right now, but also everyone who has entered the store during the course of the entire day. I ask him to put Christians in their pathways, I ask him to give each person the opportunity to hear the message of salvation. The longer I wait, the more I pray. I pray for cashiers, for babies, for parents and teenagers. And as I start to pray for all these people, I begin to see them through God’s eyes of love. That is praying without ceasing.

Paul wrote to the church in Rome, “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.” Romans 8:26. Ever feel that you should pray, but you aren’t sure just what to ask God? Some situations are so overwhelming or devastating that we just don’t know what to say. But we don’t need to worry because the Spirit of God knows how to approach the throne, God’s spirit knows the right words to say. 

Jonah was swallowed by a big fish. He knew he had messed up. He didn’t do what God had asked him to do and now he was fish food. He wasn’t dead, but he might as well be. What did he do? Jonah 2:1 says, “from inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God.” His prayer came from his heart and from God’s Spirit. He didn’t know what to say, but the Spirit prayed for him. He had a repentant heart, that was the necessary ingredient for prayer.

In Luke 18 we read about two men praying in the temple. “The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: “God, I thank you that I am not like other men-robbers, evildoers, adulterers-or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.” The tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’” God knows our hearts, we can’t fool him with wordy prayers.

Praying for the needs of others especially for the needs of other believers is an acceptable prayer. Are your prayers self-centered? Are you more concerned with getting your needs met than those of others? That isn’t what prayer is all about. It is one thing to tell God your problems, he wants us to talk with him about our concerns, but it is like spending time with someone who can only talk about themselves. The conversation is too one-sided. God wants us to be concerned for others, that shows that we have a heart like him. 

When you watch the news and you hear about a flood or a tornado, an earthquake or typhoon, do you immediately pray for the people in the midst of that situation? Do you ask God to minister to their needs? Do you ask him if he can use you in some way to help? That is God’s heart for people. 

The prayers of righteous people are pleasing to God. “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” 1 Peter 3:12. He loves each person on the face of the earth and he wants us to have a heart like his. When we show a desire to pray for the needs of others, he knows that we are exhibiting his love. We are his hands and feet on this earth, we are his voice of comfort and we represent Jesus to everyone we meet. Look for opportunities to pray in behalf of people. That is praying without ceasing.

Holy God, 

You are so mighty and powerful, you are so gracious and loving. We want to be like you. We want our prayers to be mighty and powerful. We come to you on behalf of lost souls, we come to your throne every chance we get to lift others up and ask for blessings in their behalf. We know that you hear our prayers when we don’t have the right words to say. We trust in your Spirit to direct us in our prayers to you. We want to have a continual conversation with you and we realize that it is possible only because Jesus Christ is our mediator. Give us opportunities and teach us new ways to keep our relationship with you fresh and new. We ask these things in the name of Jesus, our savior and friend. Amen.