July 27, 2009 – Prayer, Part 3

The mobile phone commercial that has coined the phrase “can you hear me now” is a marketing person’s dream. That every time someone says that line they think of that commercial (whichever company its for but that’s a whole other conversation). I think that phrase can sometimes fit the way we think about prayer. God can you hear me now?…but I think God, in prayer, is saying the same thing back to us. Prayer is our way of talking to God but God is speaking too – do we ever shut up long enough in prayer to hear Him?

In John 10:4-5 Jesus said that His sheep will hear His voice and the voice of a stranger they will not follow. I love what that verse is saying – when we are following we will hear His voice but maybe more importantly what this verse is saying is that He is speaking!

Doesn’t that fit into what we have been saying these last few weeks? That God has invited us into an intimate dialog with Him through prayer. The picture we see in Revelation 3:20 (in that verse it talks about hearing His voice again – I love it!).

Listening for God to speak in your prayer LIFE also is in line with what we talked about last week in getting intentional about a time and a place for prayer – getting away from distractions. Getting intentional also is deliberate prayer versus on the go prayer. Sitting and listening compared to “Lord, help me get a parking spot,” “be with me in this presentation,” “please help me find my car keys” prayers throughout the day. If all your prayer life consists of is a list of on the go prayers that is ok but God heart longs for more. He wants intimate conversation.

Get intentional, alone and away from distractions – yes. Get raw, real, honest and bold in prayer – yes. But now, what the Bible is saying is shut up and listen. God is speaking – He wants to share His will for your life, give you comfort, direction, insight and wisdom.

This week lets pray but lets also listen – God is speaking,

Listen up,

Jonathan

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July 20, 2009 – Prayer, Part 2

In prayer getting real, raw, authentic and bold in what we say to God is not wrong or irreverent. If God invites us into an intimate relationship with Him where He wants an open dialog – us including Him in our lives 24/7 and allowing Him to speak to us – He won’t be intimidated by our honesty in prayer. You can only have that level of intimacy in your prayer LIFE if you believe that God the Creator wants that kind of interaction with His creation – He does…He is longing for it.

David, a man after God’s own heart – the Bible says, is a great example of honesty in prayer. Look at the Psalms and you can see honest and raw prayers up to God. “Where are you,” “You are blessing my enemies, why” “I am scared you can’t hear me or won’t deliver me” would be some paraphrased examples. In those honest prayers to God you will also see a level of understanding about who God is and what he wants to do in our lives that is revealed to David in his being real with God. God being a deliverer, a strong tower, a place of refuge, etc. David was real and raw but experienced intimacy with God – beautiful.

This week as we continue to reshape our prayer life don’t feel shy about getting real with God in prayer. There is a time for reverence because God is holy and just but he has invited us into an intimate walk with Him where He is not far away but as close as our breath. You can’t be that close or want to be that close without desiring to see it all – the good, the bad and the ugly.

Get real, get raw, get bold,

Jonathan

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July 13, 2009 – Prayer, Part 1

This week we embark on a journey to better understand prayer.  The way you pray is a reflection of the way you view God.  Think about it for yourself.  What do your prayers sound like?  Think about your relationships and how you speak to different people that our in your life.  A dear friend, a family member, a boss, a stranger.  In what way you view God is the way that you speak to Him.  Just something to think about.

God even though just, and holy, powerful and magnificent desires to be in your world.  Look in the Bible – cover to cover – it gives evidence of a God longing to be with His creation – in their world, in their lives.  He wants us to be dependent upon Him – us needing and desiring Him.  Him living through us.  I am convinced that there is no way I can live a successful life following after Him and bringing glory to Him without staying connected to Him in prayer.  That is why I need to pray but more importantly have a prayer LIFE.

God desires an intimate relationship with us – involved in every area of our lives.  Our prayer LIFE should reflect that.  I hope this week’s message begins you thinking differently about prayer and what it can mean to your relationship with our God.

“Praying for you,”

Jonathan

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July 6, 2009 – Watch Your Mouth, Part 4

In this series we have talked a lot about what not to say. In this final thought on watching your mouth we emphasized what we should be saying. Looking at Jesus’ example He told His disciples toward the end of His ministry here on earth, that everything He had been saying He heard from the Father. In other words, He was repeating what He heard God say. I love to think about that! You know that when you hear something that impacts your life you adopt into your vocabulary – you use it – you say it. From Jesus’ example He spoke God’s Word!

We see this most clearly on display in Matthew 4 when Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness. In each interaction one version says Jesus told (vs. 4), Jesus responded (vs. 7), Jesus commanded (vs. 10) with scripture. “It is written, man should not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God”

God’s Word is a sword. Whether you know it or not you are in a battle, there is an enemy that wants to kill, steal and destroy but watch your mouth because it will direct your life (Prov. 4:23). You must use your sword. To say, “It is written” you have to know what is written in God’s Word. Get it in your heart, fill yourself with the Word of God because we know that out of the abundance of your heart your mouth speaks.

So, Watch Your Mouth Sucka ,

Jonathan

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June 29, 2009 – Watch Your Mouth, Part 3

If you have been at all to Elevate over the past month or have been keeping up with the blogs we have been talking about the importance of our words – the power of our words. James says that controlling our tongue is a sign of maturity and that if we can control it we control our whole life – it’s that important. Proverbs says that life and death are in the power of the tongue – it’s that powerful.

So, this week we finally got to how do you watch your mouth? The answer starts with something Jesus said, “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” Proverbs 4:23 says guard your heart above everything else, for it determines the course of your life. The answer to how you watch your mouth – you guard your heart.

Fear, anger, bitterness in someone’s heart is so easily seen in what comes out of their mouth. This week as we begin to practically learn how to watch our mouth we must guard our hearts against these types of things.

Fill yourself with God’s word, put that in your heart. Watch the kinds of people you hang with. If they are a person that has fear or bitterness in them you might need to stay away from them in order to guard your heart. If you find yourself fearful about the economy, what’s going on in the world’s current events you have to guard your heart from news reports, the internet or newspapers.

Remember if your words direct your life and those words come from what is in your heart you must guard your heart above everything. This week is the final week in the series – you won’t want to miss it.

Have a great week,

Jonathan

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