Who’s prayers does God respond to?
This week’s devotions are based on Week 4 of Rooted – Grounded in Prayer (CLICK HERE)
Prayer by definition is simply words expressed to a higher power or being. Prayer represents conversation to the divine. With this definition, anyone can pray if they acknowledge some entity or being as divine or more powerful than they.
However for the Christian, prayer is a very special thing.
Prayer is our communication with the true God because he has removed in Christ the barrier of sin and made us his children by faith. We are able to call him “Our Father” because he has made us his dear children. As a result, God, the true God, hears our prayers, listens to them and responds. The best example of this distinction I have found in Scripture is Elijah and the prophets of Baal. Both prayed. Only the prayer of Elijah was answered because there is only one true God and he only responds to the prayers of his children. Here is the account from 1 Kings 18:
20 So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel. 21 Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.”
But the people said nothing.
22 Then Elijah said to them, “I am the only one of the LORD’s prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets. 23 Get two bulls for us. Let them choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. 24 Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the LORD. The god who answers by fire—he is God.”
Then all the people said, “What you say is good.”
25 Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire.” 26 So they took the bull given them and prepared it.
Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. “O Baal, answer us!” they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made.
27 At noon Elijah began to taunt them. “Shout louder!” he said. “Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.” 28 So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. 29 Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.
30 Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come here to me.” They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the LORD, which was in ruins. 31 Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD had come, saying, “Your name shall be Israel.” 32 With the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs of seed. 33 He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, “Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood.”
34 “Do it again,” he said, and they did it again.
“Do it a third time,” he ordered, and they did it the third time. 35 The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.
36 At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. 37 Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”
38 Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.
39 When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The LORD—he is God! The LORD—he is God!”
Apply: Take time today to use the privilege of prayer.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for the relationship you have established with us to be your children. As your children, we are grateful that you hear and respond to our prayers. Help me never take this privilege for granted, but use it often. AMEN.
Service is Stewardship
This week’s devotions are based on Week 3 of Rooted – Grounded in Service (CLICK HERE)
When we have the right mindset, we ask the right questions. When we ask the right questions we get the right answers. When we have the right answers we are able to implement the right behaviors.
What do I mean?
Our sinful nature wants us to have the mindset that everything we have in life is ours. It’s our time…our money…our careers…our resources etc. This mindset leads us to ask the question, “What do I want to do with my….?” We navigate life as stewards of our own belongings and manage them for what is in our own best interest. It’s understandable. It’s natural. But it leads us to view service as in imposition or invasion into our time and resources. As a result we don’t see service to the Lord through his church as something that is desirable, but rather an obligation or duty that we have to fulfill to get back to what I want to do.
The Spirit of God desires to create in us a new mindset, not a mindset of selfishness, but one that sees everything we have as a gift from God. When God’s Spirit helps me understand that the earth is the Lord’s and everything in it and that my times are in God’s hands, I begin to realize that my life, resources, gifts and talents are all on loan from God. When this mindset takes place, I begin to ask a different question, “Lord, what do you want me to do with your stuff that you have entrusted to me?” I see myself as a manager of the Lord’s time, money, and gifts and desire to use them as he desires me to. The Apostle Peter put it this way: 1 Peter 4:10 Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.
We are stewards of a small portion of God’s gifts, goodness and grace. He has given us life and faith to be used in service of him and to be a blessing to others.
So now I ask different questions. Lord, how do you want me to use YOUR time? Lord, how do you want me to use YOUR money? Lord, how do you want me to use YOUR gifts?
When we ask these questions, we seek God’s answers in his Word where he directs us in the use of our time, finances, gifts, etc. to use them to glorify him and serve others.
The result? My life becomes one of service to the Lord and to others. I see my part in the body of Christ gathered at my church and desire to join the effort with fellow believers to grow the impact of the Gospel in our community. I realize that the finances God has given to me are first to be given back to him as a statement of trust that he will provide with the remaining 90%. I realize the talents and gifts he has given to me are to be used to glorify him and be a blessing to others.
Service is stewardship. Service is simply doing with the time, gifts, and resources God has given to me as God has desired from me.
The result?
Well done, good and faithful servant!
Apply: What is one behavior that changes when God’s Spirit works his mindset deeper into your life?
Prayer: Lord thank you for everything you have given to me in life. Help me with your direction to use all that you have given to me to glorify you and serve others. AMEN.
You are part of the team!
This week’s devotions are based on Week 3 of Rooted – Grounded in Service (CLICK HERE)
Nothing significant has been accomplished by just one person. One person accomplishes something significant because he is surrounded by a team of people. Think of great inventors that have provided an invention that has changed our culture and lifestyles…the Wright brothers, Edison, Gutenberg…all of these people had individuals around them who enhanced and promoted their ideas. Additionally inventors often build on experiments of people who have tried in the past. Each person on a team brings to the effort their unique abilities and insights. Together, even though the invention is credited to one individual, the invention becomes a staple of the people who live.
When we think about the Christian faith, it works in a similar way. The reality is that Christ, of course, is the initiator of the CHristian faith and movement. However, he has invited and called us all to be part of it. The Spirit of God has gifted each of us with different gifts and abilities that are to be used in service of the Gospel message. The fact that Christ is known around the world is because God’s people have been willing to use their gifts to serve.
1 Corinthians 12:4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. 7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.
When the Spirit of God calls you to faith through the Gospel he also gives you gifts to serve the cause of the Gospel. He makes you part of the greatest movements the world has ever known to bring the solution to sin to the hearts of people. The service we give to the promotion of the Gospel is the greatest work we can ever do. The purpose is God-given and the impact is eternal.
Perhaps at times service to the Lord through your church can seem unimportant, busy work or an imposition on your schedule. Certainly service is not to be driven by guilt or obligation, but by a great sense of purpose and importance to connecting people to Jesus.
So whether it is mowing the grass, teaching Sunday School or kids church, giving an offering, or producing an online broadcast (and much more), the service we give impacts the lives of people. You are also needed. If God was done with you, he would take you to heaven. But if you are still breathing, God has a purpose for you.
When we serve, we participate in the greatest movement in the world and for the world. Don’t sit on the sideline as the opportunities are many and your gifts are needed. You are an answer to Jesus’ prayer:
Matthew 9:35 Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
Apply: How can you use your gifts to serve the Lord through your local church? Your gifts are needed!
Prayer: Lord, thank you for calling me to faith and giving me gifts to serve. Forgive me for failing to use those gifts. Renew my heart to see and carry out the great purpose you have given to bring Jesus to the world. Use me Lord! AMEN
What’s in it for me?
This week’s devotions are based on Week 3 of Rooted – Grounded in Grace (CLICK HERE)
Mark 10:35 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”
36 “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.
37 They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”
38 “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?”
39 “We can,” they answered.
Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, 40 but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”
41 When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. 42 Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 43 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
At some point in our lives we have probably wished for one wish. The “genie in the bottle” of Alladdin fame captures our attention and gets us thinking, “What would I ask for?” Better than Alladdin, James and John, two followers of Jesus, had Jesus in front of them. They make a bold request, “We want you to do for us whatever we ask.”
How would your respond? If you went to your boss and asked him this question…If you went to your parents and asked them this question…If you went to Jesus and asked him this question.
Jesus plays along, but before committing to giving whatever they would ask he asked them, “What do you want me to do for you?”
This question is telling as Jesus penetrates their heart without them even realizing it. He knew they were coming to him to get something from him.
Can we be the same way? Perhaps we don’t start with the same question as James and John, but get to their conclusion even quicker…I can ask Jesus for whatever I want and I EXPECT him to give it to me. Test this by asking yourself, “How did you react when Jesus DIDN’T do for you what you asked!
We can naturally be pretty self-centered in our lives. Even in our relationship to Jesus, we can often approach that relationship as though Jesus were our “sugar-daddy” who is at our beacon call to give us whatever we ask.
So we have to learn what James and John learned.
They wanted a position of power in Jesus’ kingdom. They wanted to be the right and left hand person. They were even so confident to say they could go through the suffering Jesus would go through.
The other ten? They were indignant at James and John either because they thought, “Who are THEY to ask this?” or I could imagine they may have thought, “Why didn’t I think of that?”
Jesus had 12 hearts he needed to mold away from their selfishness to understand what life in his kingdom was all about. Life in his kingdom was not about being the top person and demanding service from others, but being willing to serve others. Serving others moves our heart from being self-focused to others-focused.
And when God molds our heart to be others-focused through service, we no longer care what’s in it for me.
Apply: What changes in your day if you embark with the spirit of serving others vs. seeing how much others serve you?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for confronting my selfish heart and directing it away from sin to serve others. As you have served me, may your love for me motivate and guide my service to others. AMEN.
Serve with your gifts…Part 2
This week’s devotions are based on Week 3 of Rooted – Grounded in Grace (CLICK HERE)
This morning’s devotion is reposted from February 23, 2022…
Romans 12:6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. … 8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead,[b] do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.
If…then…day two…
Between writing yesterday’s devotion and today’s devotion, I was thinking about the question, “Why wouldn’t I use a gift God has given to me?” How would you answer that?
I was out in my garage. I have been blessed…or accumulated…many tools. But not all of them are getting used. Why not?
- I don’t know what it is or how to use it. There are some tools I have inherited from others that I’m not sure exactly how to use them. I’m sure with a little research and a little practice, I could benefit from them.
- I know what the tool is, I am just too busy to use it. The tool lies idle because other things in life prevent time in my shop.
- I don’t have a project to work on. This is rare…but the tool will do no good if it is not put to use to help accomplish a project for a greater good.
Do you see parallels to spiritual gifts? We may not know what they are or how to use them (See link again in the “Apply” section). We may know our gifts, but find ourselves too busy to add them to the body of Christ. We may feel like there is nothing for me to do with my gifts and therefore feel like they are not important.
All of these need a commitment to change. I commit to discovering my spiritual gifts and using them. I commit to decluttering other aspects of my life so I can use the gifts God has given me to be part of his church, his body and add my gifts to the collective of others. I commit to seeking ways to use my gifts, not waiting to be asked, but offering them to the service of the Lord. Commit with the Spirit’s help to use the gifts God has given to you. As we’ve said all week, “You have a gift…use it!”
So, if you have the gift to encourage, then give encouragement.
One with the gift of encouragement is willing to come alongside someone to support and walk with them. Perhaps you have the ability to see when someone needs a kind word, appreciation or just recognition for a job well done. If you do…use this gift often! People all around you need encouragement!
If you have the gift of giving, then give generously.
Giving to the Lord is the responsibility of every Christian. Giving the first of your income and a tenth of your income is just the regular activity of a Christian. Giving beyond that is the gift of giving. The gift of generosity enables one to give beyond their ability, at the sacrifice of some things personal, but for the advancement of the ministry of the Gospel in some way. Generosity is certainly financial, but the gift of giving can extend to a generous giving of time to serve or use of talents to help.
If you have the gift to lead, do it diligently.
Some people don’t like to be out in front. Some do. Maybe you are one of those. You are comfortable casting the vision, organizing the team, and motivating action for the kingdom of God. People look to you for direction or just affirmation that things are moving in the right direction. You are ok making decisions because often the “buck stops with you.” If this is your gift follow the lead of your Savior and find an area of ministry to lead God’s people forward with great things for the Lord!
If you have the gift to show mercy, do it cheerfully.
I think it is hard to walk in someone’s shoes, to carry their burden, and do it cheerfully. But maybe God has gifted you to do this. You are willing to help when no one else is. You are willing to lend a hand when others are too busy. You are willing to show compassion when others aren’t. And…you keep a smile on your face because you know it was for this reason God put you in a person’s life. If showing mercy is your gift, use it and do it cheerfully!
What are the gifts/tools God’s Spirit has given to you? Don’t let ignorance, business, or lack of opportunity keep you from using the gifts God has given to you. Talk to your pastor and other Christians…discover your gift. Take a look at your calendar…make time for your gifts. Take a look at the opportunities around you…and USE your gift!
Apply: Monday’s devotion had a link to a Spiritual gifts assessment. There are others, simply google “Spiritual Gifts Assessment” and try a couple. See if they share similar results. Experiment with what you find and enjoy the process of using them.
Prayer: Lord, help me see the gifts you have given and then put them to use! AMEN