"A Snake In Prayer Places"

"Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made." Genesis 3:1a

One of my favorite places to pray is on my front porch. It is quiet and no one disturbs me, and I love being outdoors with the Lord. Yesterday morning I stepped out on my porch and headed to the swing to have my usual quiet time when something caught my eye. Between the swing and wall, laying on the porch, was a snake. I wasn't sure what to do for a moment. Then I went and got my wasp spray and hoe to kill it. When I returned, it was gone. It gave me an eerie feeling to sit on the swing knowing a snake had been right beside it. But I was armed with my "weapons" if it came back. Then it made me angry that a "snake was in my place of prayer"!

Of course, immediately I sensed a "sermon" coming on. The Bible calls the devil that "old serpent". Don't think for one minute that he will not try to worm his way into your prayer time. He will do all he can to distract you. He will try to make you get your mind off of the Lord. He will try to come in on your prayer to confuse you, to cause doubt and steal your faith. He doesn't just stay away because you are praying. He doesn't excuse himself from tempting you while you are making your request known to God. He is trying to stop you from praying. He knows that prayer is powerful. It isn't just conversation with God. It is the avenue by which God moves in the earth-- He acts in response to our prayers of faith. (Matthew 7:7)

The snake had gone but as I was sitting there, I heard birds in the tree behind me begin to do lots of chirping. I knew that sound. (They are good to let you know when a snake is around.) So I got up with hoe in hand to see if it was around. I saw it. I prayed for the Lord's help to kill it and down on top of it with the hoe I went. Needless to say that snake won't be in my prayer place again! When the devil tries to distract you in prayer, listen for the voice of the Spirit who will make you aware that what you are experiencing is the devil's scheme to get you to stop. Then use your weapons that you have been armed with to destroy him. Put God's word on him and cut him up. He will leave and you can continue to win victories through prayer.

Have a great day. When the devil tries to get in your place of prayer, use your weapons and destroy him.

For further reading:

2 Corinthians 10:4
Revelation 12:9; 20:2
Matthew 4:1-11

"God Is Good And Great"

"The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works." Psalm 145:9 

There is a certain prayer that has been taught to children for generations that they say before meals-- I learned it, my daughter learned it, my granddaughters have learned it. "God is great, God is good, let us thank Him for our food. Amen." Many times it is repeated without any thought to what it says, we just say it out of habit.

The truth is God is good, and God is great. God's goodness is seen in His kind and tender mercies that He shows to us daily. His goodness is connected to His glory. Moses desired to see His face and He showed him His goodness. Goodness is not just something the Lord possess; it is what He looks like. His goodness is with us because He is with us- never leaving or forsaking us. His goodness follows us all the days of our lives.

God is great. His greatness is seen in creation. He created the smallest atom and the largest planet. His greatness is shown in His saving, delivering, healing power. Sin is not too great that He can't forgive and cleanse a repentant heart from it. There is no bondage, or life controlling substance, that can withstand His delivering power. There is no disease or sickness that is more powerful than His ability to heal.

The next time you hear a child, someone else or even yourself say that simple little prayer think about what is being said--- God is good and God is great indeed.

Have a great day. God is good and God is great.

For further reading:

Exodus 33
Psalm 23:6; 48:1; 145:3

"Get Dressed"

"Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." Ephesians 6:11

I want to encourage you this morning to put on the armor of God before you begin your day, before you go to your workplace, before you have dealings with any person, before you step out of the house. Daily we fight battles. They are spiritual battles, but they are very real-- more real than the natural ones. In these battles we don't fight against flesh and blood-- other human beings. Our fight is against the enemy of our soul, the devil and his forces.

I also want to encourage you to make sure you have it all on-- the full armor. Don't leave off any piece. Whatever you leave off will be unprotected and make you vulnerable in that area. If you leave off the helmet of salvation your mind will not have any protection from a flood of evil thoughts and lies. If you leave off the girdle of truth your spirit will be left open to attack by discouragement and false teaching. If you leave off the breastplate your heart is left open to temptation. And so on with every part. There was a reason why God gave us individual pieces for specific areas and then told us to put it all on. They all work together to protect our whole self.

So, let me ask you this morning, "Are you fully dressed? Or are you going out into the world only partially dressed?" Every article of the armor you leave off leaves you exposed in that area.

Have a great day. Are you entering the world today fully or partially dressed?

For further reading:
Ephesians 6

"Races Of Faith"

"... let us run with patience the race that is set before us." Hebrews 12:1b

Don't give up. Don't quit. Don't stop running the race that you are on. There is a prize that awaits, and it is only given to those who finish. We often think it is about starting the race, but it is about finishing it. Anyone can start it, but it takes patience, perseverance and discipline to finish it.

This race that you are on is not a sprint or 50-yard dash, it is more of a marathon. It is not ran in a few seconds or minutes, it is ran over a lifetime. Anyone who has ran a marathon can tell you that you have to stay focused-- you have to keep your eyes on the goal. You can't be distracted by what's on the sidelines, or the cheers of the people that are looking on hinder you. They also know you have to keep looking forward, you cannot look behind. They know too that you have to press through the fatigue and not give into the weakness that you are feeling.

The race that I am taking about is the race that you get in when you receive salvation-- it is the race that we run through life to eternity. But there are many other races that you run while on this "racetrack"-- races of faith. You may be running toward a dream, you may be running toward a promise, you may be running by faith concerning a relationship, you may be running toward the plan of God in a particular area-- well, keep running. In order to finish this race you can't be distracted by the cares of this life or by the words of others. You can't look back; you have to keep looking ahead. You can't give into weariness or impatience. There is a prize that awaits every race we run-- the fulfillment (the time when faith becomes sight).

Have a great day. Whatever race you are running, don't quit because there is a prize that awaits those who finish.

For further reading:

Galatians 6:9
1 Corinthians 9:24
2 Thessalonians 3:13

"It's Simple To Seek"

"Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near." Isaiah 55:6

Do you need answers this morning? Do you need guidance? Do you need direction? Do you need wisdom concerning a situation you are facing? Your answer is simple, it is found in the verse above-- "seek ye the Lord". While this is the answer, many will do everything but follow its instruction mostly because it seems too "simple". We want to make everything difficult. We think we have to do more-- we have to strive, we have to do some sort of works, we have to go around in circles. No, all we have to do is "seek the Lord".

He has the answer to the questions. He has the solution to the problems. He has the wisdom in the matter. And in seeking Him we will find whatever it is we need.

Seeking Him is simple, it is not difficult. The discipline to seek Him is what is difficult. It is so easy just to run here and there to get your answer. It is so easy just to seek out other things. "While He may be found" implies that He may not be found readily, at the instant you begin seeking Him. It takes discipline to stay on our knees until we "pray through". It takes discipline to learn to wait for Him to answer. It takes discipline to train yourself to hear what He is saying. And it takes discipline to obey what we do hear Him say once we have sought Him. Often, He speaks but we don't like what He says. He doesn't always give us the answer we want. His answer often involves more waiting.

The answer you are looking for is simple-- "Seek the Lord" because He has and is your answer. Learning to discipline ourselves to seek and to wait until He answers may not be as simple. But if we will seek Him and if we will learn to wait until He draws near to answer, we will have the right answer to meet our need.

Have a great day. Seeking the Lord is simple, it just takes discipline to do it and to wait until He answers.

For further reading:

Matthew 6:33
Psalm 37:7