You’re unique, just like everyone else

What makes you unique? What separates you from the person next to you? Are we all just plodding along, cogs in the great machine of life?

Uniformity is exemplified in my work environment. Row upon row of cubicles, telephone here, computer screen here, requisite stapler and tape dispenser here…I have a social security number, driver’s license number, employee identifier, employee payroll identifier. I’m a number, a blip, a spec.

Yet, God made me special and loves me for me. He gave me qualities that distinguish me completely from each and other human being ever created.

Long story short, are you accepting a repetitive, meaningless existence or are you seizing the opportunties God places in front of you and running forward without fear? God created humans to be in motion, moving forward, not backward, not standing still. Are you moving forward? Are you living by faith and not being ruled by the fear of the unknown? Are you living your life according to His plan and not your own? You were created to worship Him, to serve Him…what priority have you placed before that? Don’t like these questions? Neither do I, yet I have to face them…I’m completely guilty of not living out His plan and purpose for me.

I’ve lived in fear of the things I can’t control and have shown little faith in my Creator that His plan is perfect and beyond my understanding. He wants good for me and my family and if I will only trust, He’ll be my sustenance. This way of thinking goes against my flesh, my sin nature, the very stain on my soul that shapes my day-to-day existence, yet God provides hope and deliverance from mediocrity. I WILL seize the opportunities God puts in front of me and WILL trust that He is the ONLY source of security and sustenance. Any security I believe I have through my own actions is false security and false hope, a veil of ignorance if you will, set forth by Satan to hide the Source of Life from all men.

The Power of Prayer Revisited

Here are my notes for today’s sermon by Dr. Keith Cowart at Christ Community Church.

References: James 5:16, Mark 9:29

Do we truly believe that prayer is powerful? That it makes a difference? That it is effective or powerful?

“Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The Prayer of a righteous man is a powerful and effective. Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops” James 5:16

“The effective fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” James 5:16 (KJV)

“The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.” James 5:16 (NASB)

James is saying that when we pray, something WILL change. Elijah was a normal man, just like you and I, but when he prayed, God did something.

The Bible is a book of examples, not exceptions… (John Eldridge)

When we read the Bible and see miraculous answer to prayer, we should ask “Why don’t I see that happening in my life?” God not only moves in the miraculous but in the ordinary.

Let him pray in faith and God will move.

Conditions for prayer:

1. Righteousness

• One who is in a right relationship with God
• We are called to live in righteousness by daily submission to God.
• Connection between your life and the power of prayer. The way you live matters tremendously…He is a holy God and cannot have fellowship with unholiness.
• Must live according to the will of God, must PRAY according to the will of God.

2. Fervency

• Scripture indicates that the heart of God is moved by the fervent, passionate, desperate prayers of His people. The challenge is to not turn this act into a work. Seek him PASSIONATELY, not casually.
• Elijah prayed 7 times before it stopped raining. He was persistent, he never gave up.
• When he prayed for it to rain again, it took 3 times before he saw a small rain cloud.
• Anna prayed for 60 odd years (20’s to 80’s) for the coming of the Messiah and after 60 years saw the fruit of her prayer.
• In the garden of Gethsemane, Christ prayed so fervently, he sweated drops of blood.
• The disciples were waiting for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and prayed constantly, corporately for the Holy Spirit to rain down on them.

“So He said to them, ‘This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting’” Mark 9:29

“When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash our face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you” Matthew 6:16-18

Fasting…we fast when we want to submit and give over total control and dependency to the Lord. Giving up total and complete control of your well-being to Him. You are so hungry for Him that human food cannot satisfy. We have gotten away from this as His Church.

Complete and total dependence on God…no plan B, only His plan…rely on Him completely.

Simply pray…

Hello everyone

So…another blog…I know what you’re thinking: He won’t publish anything to this one either…well, you’re wrong. I plan on keeping this blog updated with my own personal journey through life and my walk with Christ, adventures with my friends and family and thoughts I find significant enough to share with you. So, stay tuned, it should be fun.

If you’d like to see the blog I started in 2004, please visit dippity dew