The Answered Prayers You Don't See - Friday Praise & Pray (for others) April 7, 2023

Many of us have been praying for things for years and feel like God is taking a long time answering our requests. As tough as the experience is, this is scriptural. After all, David waited over a decade from being anointed king to actually taking the throne. The Book of Psalms is full of His prayers begging God to keep him safe during that waiting period.

But what if I told you that there are times when we think God hasn't answered our prayers but He actually has? You just frowned slightly. You don't believe that you'd ever miss the answer to your prayers if God had answered them, right?

Wrong!

Let me use myself as an example. I have a prayer point that I've been petitioning on for years. I'd settled into thinking it was going to be one of those long haul prayers - that I'd be waiting like Father Abraham for its fulfillment.

However, the Holy Spirit recently used an unrelated verse to show me exactly how the Lord had already done what I asked for.

My initial reaction was to jump up and down, happy to have understanding and know the Lord answered me. Then, I became stunned. I couldn't believe I'd missed it. Listen, He'd answered the request months earlier and I was still enjoying the fulfillment of the prayer. Somehow, I'd ignored the fact that God had done it. I mean, once the Holy Spirit showed me, it was all so clear and frankly, I felt stupid.

I shouldn't have though, because the Lord Himself has said His ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8). God delights in doing things the way He wants to do things. And it won't necessarily be the way we human beings expect. I simply delight in what He does and praise Him for it. I am content to know that He is mysterious and I can't understand everything He does and why.

Nevertheless, this was a big lesson to be careful. While waiting for something, we can get discontented. In that headspace, we could say or do things to cancel what God has already done for us but we just haven't realized it yet. Again, I would never have realized that God had answered my prayers on my own. It took the Holy Spirit granting insight because God did it for me in a way I could never have imagined. If I had wearied in praying and tired of waiting obediently on God, would I have ever understood that my request was fulfilled? Honestly, I don't know. Regardless, I'm grateful to God that I hung in there and He proved Himself true.

Please learn from my experience. God is answering prayers every day. Sometimes, we just can't see it yet because our human understanding is so limited in comparison to God's. We need Him to show us what He's done.

Habakkuk 2:3 - For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.

Know God's Word & Power - Tuesday Praise & Pray (for others) April 4, 2023

The Bible helps believers become familiar with God's word and His voice. When this happens, it gets easier to identify satan's voice and works in this world. The Savior said as much in Matthew 22:29 - Jesus answered them, “You are deceived, because you don’t know the Scriptures or the power of God. (HCSB).

The failure to be conversant with God's word makes us prey to satan's schemes. This makes sense given that God Himself stated that people are destroyed by their lack of knowledge in Hosea 4:6.

There is something else that opens people up to satan's deception and that is the ignorance of God's power. Many today are in this very category. They don't believe that god can still part the seas or heal the sick. To them, the God of the Bible either doesn't exist or is on vacation, not worried about the affairs of man.

People with this attitude have become like those warned of in 2 Timothy 3:5 - having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people. This verse explains how a self-professing Christian can believe that the occult practices of the New Age somehow don't violate God's word. This is how an individual who 'grew up in the church' has no issue with stealing or lying without hesitation.

These individuals are neither attuned to God's word nor aware of His power. They therefore do not genuinely live in the fear of the Lord and so take actions without concern for the consequences here on earth and in eternity.

Are you one of these people? Are you ignorant of God's word? Do you not know of the power of God Almighty and its capacity to grant you favor or to act as a mighty arm that rains blows on you? So many of us want to imagine the Lord is a caricature of Santa Claus - fat and jolly with bags of toys. But, we aren't to act like impressionable children when it comes to spiritual matters. We are to get familiar with God's word and His power. The knowledge of both are available for free in the Bible. We can tap into both through fellowship with Spirit-filled believers, books written to edify and testimonies to His glory. We can't continue to live in error. We can't be 'lukewarm' with our thumb touching the things of God while our remaining four fingers are rooted in the things of the world.

Revelation 3:16 - So because you are lukewarm (spiritually useless), and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of My mouth [rejecting you with disgust]. (AMP)

Just as ignorance of the law is no defense, ignorance of God's word and power can't be a defense when the day of our Savior comes. May none of us gnash our teeth and be left outside, uninvited from the banquet, IJMN Amen.

The Chicken & The Wheel- Friday Praise & Pray (for others) March 31, 2023

Have you seen that gif with the chicken sitting up on the steering wheel of a car? Here, take a look at the visual.

Funny, right?

Well, in the world, this is not only dangerous but illegal if it happens on public roads. Still, we can all agree, this is a hilarious image.

But what if I told you you were that chicken? You're sitting on the steering wheel of your life barely able to hang on. Would it still be funny to you?

It shouldn't be. So many of us think because we can see the road in front of us, and we can feel the wind from our car flying down the highway, that we really have a handle on the highway of life.

Look at that chicken. Cute as can be but it doesn't have hands or feet to properly guide the vehicle (yes, I know there's a driver we just can't see in the image). However, you and I also have a Driver who is willing to navigate us up and down the highway of life - if only we would cede the wheels to Him.

I pray we shall each stop being the cute chicken that sits on the steering wheel thinking "I've got this!" Truly cede the wheel of the car of your life to the Lord. Let Him have it and don't try to take it back. He is well equipped and has promised that His plans for you are good if you let Him take the wheel.

The choice is yours. Once you give Him control of your life, please don't renege. If you slip up, there is grace so confess, repent, and let the Lord put you back in your seat as He resumes driving you. It is well with your soul, IJMN Amen. God bless you!

PS: no chickens were harmed in the creation of this message.