Monday, January 11, 2016

Pray For Results

"O God, you are my God; early will I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water.  So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, to see Your power and Your glory." Psalm 63:1-2

Prayer.  It is that special conversation we have with God.  Our prayer conversations can be about any and everything that is on our hearts or minds.  But they are those times when we can also deepen our relationship with our Father through Christ by the Holy Spirit.

God loves having prayer time with each of us.  We are told to pray without ceasing, I Thessalonians 5:16-18.  It can be as quick as a phone call to a friend just to check in or as long and deep as a special vacation you take with one that you love.  But just as we communicate with many others throughout the day, we should stay in constant communication with our God.  How do we do that and how do we have time to do that?

God made us people of choice.  We can choose when to get up, whether or not to go to work, what to wear, where to go to church, etc.  But with each choice there are consequences. Based on the outcomes we desire to have in life, we choose to do one thing or another.  For example, most people will get up and get up in enough time to make it to work by the right time. When it comes to praying and finding time to pray, we must do the same thing; Examine the outcomes of spending time in prayer with God in order to help us make the right choice about how and when to pray.

Prayer will move and even disintegrate mountains.  It will change circumstances in your favor.  It will cause you to gain favor with God and the least likely of people.  It will cause doors and windows of blessings to be opened for you.  Prayer will stop the hands and tactics of death.  Prayer will change things, advance things and manifest things.  Prayer will make the difference in your life.  Therefore, when should we ever NOT pray?

How do we pray for this type impact?  You have to first know who God truly is and what He will and will not do.  He is love.  Therefore, He will never hate or despise you.  He may not like some things you do, but He will always love you.  You are His seed that He birthed and has known since the beginning of time.  He wants to prosper you and use that prosperity to show the rest of the world how great He is so they too will follow Him.  God has no desire to harm you and will not harm you.  We get harmed when we step outside of Him to follow the world.  Yet, He forgives, again and again if we repent for disobeying His instructions.

Then you need to know who you are to Him.  You are His beloved child.  whether you do right or wrong, you belong to Him and have been reconnected to Him through Christ once you chose Him over the world.  You are His heir and have access to everything He has: His power, authority and life.  It is from this place of confidence, or faith, that you must pray in order to have results.

Be sensitive to His presence.  He's always right there with you.  You can pray while walking down the street or even at your desk.  It doesn't have to be loud or even heard by anyone but Him and you. Just stay in constant communication.  Ask Him what you should do with your circumstances and how to fight any battles you face.  He will direct you.  Start each day by asking Him what He wants out of that day and how He wants you to do things.  He will guide you.  As you do these things, you will start to see things change, first inside you and then around you.

When you consider whether or even when to pray, consider the results you want in each area of your life; the areas of faith, health, relationships, career and finances.  Ultimately, we each want peace in each area of our lives and that peace looks a bit different for each of us.  The Bible says God will keep in perfect peace, he whose mind is stayed on Him, because He trusts in Him. (Isaiah 26:3) Speak to God throughout the day leaving room for Him to speak back to you. As you keep your mind on your dearest friend and protector, you will have the results you seek in each area of your life.  May the Lord, our God, grant you abundant and overflowing peace in each area of your life.

To learn more, get the Live For Results EBook Manual by clicking here.
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