Romans 8:14 - For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
I have heard it said that life is difficult without prayer. I would add to that statement by saying that the Christian life is impossible without prayer. We simply can not know how God thinks, feels, and what He wants us to do without talking to Him on a regular basis.
The concept of being a Christian has become somewhat distorted in our world. A Christian is not someone who believes in Jesus but a Christian is someone who represents Jesus. The Bible tells us in Acts 11:26 that the disciples were first called Christians in the city of Antioch in what is now Turkey. It makes one wonder what inspired others to refer to them as Christians. I believe I know: Acts 4:13 says of Peter and John "they took note of them that they had been with Jesus." They disciples lifestyles imitated Jesus so much that people began to call them Christians. This was most certainly not intended as a compliment among ethnic Jews but as a statement of fact. It could even have been intended as ridicule.
The disciples had spent so much time with Jesus that they began to act like he acted even to healing a lame man which is what sparked this statement. You and I do not have the privilege of physically walking alongside Jesus everyday. That was limited to a handful of chosen men during his brief earthly ministry. Despite claims to the contrary, we do not know what Jesus looked like. We can only guess as to the color of his hair, the color of his eyes, his height and his weight. We don't know if He had a beard or how he combed his hair. Yet we can know him.
We can know Him through the teachings he left us. We can read about the miracles He did and the lessons he taught in the four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. We can read about the instructions he left to the early church through Peter, Paul and James in the epistles. But even more so we can hear directly from Him every day through prayer.
We need never wonder again what God thinks about something. He left detailed instructions. And if we don't quite get the instructions we can simply ask. Many times I have puzzled over the meaning of a verse until I realized I could pray about it. Sometimes the answer the answer didn't come for weeks or even months. But then I would hear a message that opened my understanding. At other times I would have another verse come to mind that went hand in hand with the puzzling one. However it happened God would open my understanding to the verse I had asked him about.
We need not be troubled about what God requires of us. If take him at his word, we can ask. His answer may come in an assortment of ways but it will come. Prayer is the key to unlocking the mind of God. Try it today! It is free and there is a 100% success rate. Just don't be upset if you don't get the answer you wanted. If God is anything, He is honest. Try Him and see!
Trusting Him Daily,
Sullivan Jones
I have heard it said that life is difficult without prayer. I would add to that statement by saying that the Christian life is impossible without prayer. We simply can not know how God thinks, feels, and what He wants us to do without talking to Him on a regular basis.
The concept of being a Christian has become somewhat distorted in our world. A Christian is not someone who believes in Jesus but a Christian is someone who represents Jesus. The Bible tells us in Acts 11:26 that the disciples were first called Christians in the city of Antioch in what is now Turkey. It makes one wonder what inspired others to refer to them as Christians. I believe I know: Acts 4:13 says of Peter and John "they took note of them that they had been with Jesus." They disciples lifestyles imitated Jesus so much that people began to call them Christians. This was most certainly not intended as a compliment among ethnic Jews but as a statement of fact. It could even have been intended as ridicule.
The disciples had spent so much time with Jesus that they began to act like he acted even to healing a lame man which is what sparked this statement. You and I do not have the privilege of physically walking alongside Jesus everyday. That was limited to a handful of chosen men during his brief earthly ministry. Despite claims to the contrary, we do not know what Jesus looked like. We can only guess as to the color of his hair, the color of his eyes, his height and his weight. We don't know if He had a beard or how he combed his hair. Yet we can know him.
We can know Him through the teachings he left us. We can read about the miracles He did and the lessons he taught in the four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. We can read about the instructions he left to the early church through Peter, Paul and James in the epistles. But even more so we can hear directly from Him every day through prayer.
We need never wonder again what God thinks about something. He left detailed instructions. And if we don't quite get the instructions we can simply ask. Many times I have puzzled over the meaning of a verse until I realized I could pray about it. Sometimes the answer the answer didn't come for weeks or even months. But then I would hear a message that opened my understanding. At other times I would have another verse come to mind that went hand in hand with the puzzling one. However it happened God would open my understanding to the verse I had asked him about.
We need not be troubled about what God requires of us. If take him at his word, we can ask. His answer may come in an assortment of ways but it will come. Prayer is the key to unlocking the mind of God. Try it today! It is free and there is a 100% success rate. Just don't be upset if you don't get the answer you wanted. If God is anything, He is honest. Try Him and see!
Trusting Him Daily,
Sullivan Jones
No comments:
Post a Comment